I was awakened at 6 am in the town of Arcata after driving all night. I got some coffee and explored the foggy coastal town on foot. I also got to take a self-guided tour of Humboldt State University. Later in the day we headed into Eureka and explored the town, looked through book stores, and got some food. The town was very peaceful and quiet, the only noises being the occasional fog horns of a small fishing ships coming into the nearby port. We played an open mic at Has Beans, and then headed over to our show at Old Town Coffee. The show went well. We were surprised by two friends from Chico who were on vacation in the area and came by to see the show. They were nice enough to let us stay with them at their campground they had in the redwood forests nearby. It was beautiful. The next day we did some sight-seeing and a small hike along the far northern coast of California. There were beautiful redwoods and lush ferns growing everywhere. We headed through Crescent City and eventually stayed in the small town of Brookings, Oregon. This morning we drove to Ashland and checked into a small motel.
We were awakened by then sun early yesterday morning and headed through rolling hills and vineyards into the town of Sonoma. We wandered the town most of the day checking out some of the historical landmarks of the area. We had a last minute show at the Barking Dog Roasters in the early evening, and then headed out to the town of Sebastopol to play at the Ace Cider Pub. The environment at the pub was great. Everyone was really friendly and the music seemed to be very well received. We stayed for a while, made some new friends, watched the house folk band for a while. Then we headed out for Eureka. We drove for almost 5 hours on a dark highway through forests that were filled with smoke due to the nearby wildfires. We made it to Arcata around 3am. Show tonight at Old Town Coffee in Eureka.
We left Brett's house in San Francisco yesterday around noon. We will greatly miss the comfort of staying there. We drove out across the Golden Gate Bridge and up through the north bay to Santa Rosa. We had a show at 8 pm at A'Roma Roasters Coffee, which was a quite large coffee shop that served a fine dark roast. Shortly after becoming jittery from the coffee, we set up and played music for a solid 2 hours. As the night went on, the establishment was getting increasingly more crowded. We found ourselves trying to project as loud as possible so people could hear us. After the show we drove to a Jack in the Box and we both ate for $5. We then we went back to the hotel..........................parking lot............and slept in the car. But it was totally cool cause there was a security guard on duty. Oh my.
This video does not do our night justice, but then again- nothing could.
This is "Lady George" performing her Stormy Plough song. If I knew her address I would send her my therapy bills for the next few months.
Jon (from home, with no Neck Beard)
God Speed guys, best of luck Patty Popsicle and Stinky boom booms. Have some fundo bundo. ps. Sorry about the ticket money, have Pat pay and I will throw him some loot in August. Just kidding I donated all my money to Lady George, just kidding I didn't..but seriously, I will.
We have been a bit busy running around the city so we have not been able to update for a while. Sunday was collectively decided as one of the greatest nights of the tour. We played a show at the Green Tortoise Hostel in the North Beach District of San Francisco. There was a crowd of people that we encountered nowhere else. We played to a quite large crowd of young international travelers. Before and after our set, we enjoyed ourselves meeting new people from London, Dublin, Canada, and various parts of Germany. We shared the stage with "Cryns #3", a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. As the night went on, we lost track of the time as Pat proceeded to turn the fairly large hall into a dance party when a classic James Brown song came blasting on the large house system. While engaging in a conversation with a new friend from London, I turned around to see Pat and Jon tied up in a makeshift game of indoor soccer against two English fellows. Before we knew it, it was 2am and it was time for us to head home to our friend Brett's house in the Richmond District across the city. We arrived at Bretts house only to realize that we did not have a key to get in. We sat out on the sidewalk pondering what to do while experiencing just how cold it gets in San Francisco at night. We luckily got a hold of a friend who works the night shift and were able to stay at her house in the close by Presidio District. Great fun.
We opened up for a couple of Jazz groups at Mama Buzz in Oakland-Steven Lugemer Sextet and the Danny Lubin Group. Before we played, we hung out at the Mama Buzz cafe all afternoon. Jon drew, I read, we all played silly computer games and drank coffees. We started to play around 7:30 with only one mic on Mark's nylon guitar. I belted through the cafe and reached the ears of nostalgic parents who said I reminded them of Neil Young and Simon and Garfunkel. They said I would be suited for the 60s and 70s. The audience was super attentive which was a big morale boost for all of us. We stuck around for some Jazz. A man named Raffy blew us away on the saxophone. Our friend Brett came to the show, and now we are hanging out at his place in San Francisco for the next couple days for open mics and a show at a hostel called The Green Tortoise. Bob Reynolds is the coolest. -Pat
Woke up today, walked to the beach next to the Golden Gate Bridge, took a stroll through a nude beach by accident. So I am glad we all got to share that experience together...Then we drove/got lost all the way to Santa Clara. Santa Clara is a little gem in the golden rolling hills south of San Francisco. This little paradise land is as close to the Garden of Eden as you will get. It is scattered with Car Dealerships-fast food restaurants-Car Dealership-chain store..etc. Its amazing, takes the breath away(literally). If I could settle down here and raise a family I would in a heart beat. Oh yea, and in the heart of the town there is an upscale shopping center-community. Its as if Disney World, a high end outlet center and the Cheese Cake Factory had a threesome and artificially created a little plastic child (with the help of a turkey baster). It rocks! I think they kill all the bugs and pump fresh air in(and kick out anyone not wearing designer clothes sold at their stores). I felt like I was on a movie set and everyone around me was made of plastic. And there are apartments for rent here!!!! You can live IN an outlet center!
Oh yea, and the open mic did not happen. So we are back in Clara tonight to kick some tushes.
Fundo Bundo. So....don't watch Requiem for a Dream before bedtime.
Me and Mark are sipping on Raymond Hill, a cheap bottle of red wine, Jon felt sleepy and went to bed to get his 9 hours of sleep. We are both reminiscing and looking forward. San Francisco has been strange. We played open mics, which are inherently strange. But we traveled most of the city and became somewhat familiar with the layout, which is nice. We stayed at Mike Baldwin's house one night, a friend from Branford, CT- super friendly human being. He had a dog named Louie who needed attention or else he would leap on you and demand it. I think I am going to start to do that. We are now at a friend's mom's house who works the night shift-she has beautiful China. We will leave for Santa Clara tomorrow. Best. Pat
We awoke today in our sub-par hotel on Van Ness in San Francisco to the constant knocking of the maids. We arrived in the city yesterday with high hopes of the two open mics that Pat and Mark were scheduled to play. Finding a parking spot was like finding a parking spot in a city, with a festival going on. The weather was nice, everything was good (and normal), but there were clouds and weird times on the horizon. We found the venue- Octavia Lounge. Off the bat, I knew it was a gay bar, and the waiters inside sealed the deal. Ok, new demographic for Pat. We parked, found free Wi-Fi(the story of our days), took a quick, free Tango lesson and returned to the lounge for sign-ups for the "open mic." My words will not do this scene justice: An old, colorful, cartoon like lady stood outside the joint smoking a cigarette as we entered. It was empty, with a few patrons and a couple gay waiters in black. The night's coordinators were late. They were two guys in their mid 50's, resembling Robin Williams in "The Bird Cage." They signed up, before finding out that it was a Cabaret style show. Not exactly what we had in mind. The twoflamboyant hosts started the show with some show tunes and the acts went down hill from there. Pat started to feel very strange, but the weirdest was yet to come. We were told that tonight was someone's surprise birthday party, so the lounge began to fill with friends in party hats. We started to have second thoughts. Mark decided it would not be easy for them both to play, as they lacked the equipment needed for a two man act. A hobbit-like old guy took the stage in his long gray beard and started to sing God knows what. I saw sheer terror in Pat's eyes. I have never seen him so nervous and bugged out before playing, but the show must go on. "She's here...ok...Surprise!!" a crowd of people yelled as the elderly birthday girl entered, and started to cry. Pat walked out of the bathroom as they sung her Happy Birthday. And...then it was his turn to go up, and sing to the lady. The host came over to us, we told him it would just be Pat and he replied, "Mark, you son of a bitch, where's your guit-fiddle??"( that could sum up the entire night). And then Pat was thrown to the wolves, or in this case- middle aged gay men, and the wrinkly birthday girl and her crew. I felt like I needed a Xanex but they were in the car. None of us felt like we were actually living, and Pat proceeded to play an original acoustic song in a cabaret-gay lounge for a 75 year old lady's surprise birthday party. I will say this could have easily been the pinnacle of his music career. As we quickly left the lounge, one of the waiters said to Pat, "You should so try out for 'Idol', you got the voice." We needed a cigarette asap. The next open mic was more like what we were looking for, but Mark was thrown out for not being 21, and Pat, once again, played alone to a couple of people sitting at the bar. Sold a CD and left. Searched for a hotel for about an hour. Weird day.
High off energy boosts from Jamba Juice shakes used from Mark's gift cards, we drove to Sacramento to play two shows: one at the Coffee Garden and the next at Fox and Goose. The Coffee Garden is a secret hideout enclosed by plants and pottery. We stayed there pretty much all afternoon until we played at 7 pm-we drew pictures, played with Mark's photo booth program, and ate peanut butter and nutella sandwiches. We were treated very well by the owner and played to a pair of friends, who said we painted a nice picture. Katiebear from Chico was waiting for us at Fox and Goose where we opened for Justin Farren and Liz Ryder. It was an English pub-I drank a frothy Guiness after the show. We went to a Motel 6 after the show in Vallejo. It was a smoking room, which reminded me of a grandmother's house, even though my grandmothers did not smoke. Off to San Fran tomorrow. Cheers. Pat
While playing at the market yesterday, we got invited to play a show this afternoon at the Briar Patch Co-op, which is a brand new organic natural food market in Nevada City, CA. It was a good time. After we played we enjoyed a fine meal of freshly cooked organic food, free of charge. Later we headed over to downtown Grass Valley for our show at Rhythms Music Cafe. We had a great time playing to a crowd of friends from Chico and local folks alike. After a long 3 hour set, we headed back to the car and indulged in a glorious dinner of peanut butter sandwiches and Kix cereal. We met some new friends who were nice enough to put us up for the night in their home. We encountered a cat that was quite large, possibly the largest we have ever seen. We are all looking forward to both shows tomorrow night in Sacramento.
Our first musical tour experience was at the Grass Valley market-me and mark played right next to a hot dog stand, for various passer-bys and dancing children. It was nice. We played for abot 2 and a half hours. We were planning on using the money we made to buy a hotel, but Mark ran into a dorm friend who lives in Nevada City, 3 miles from Grass Valley, who offered to put us up for the night. Huge. Now, me, Jon, and Mark are hanging out in a coffee shop listening to music, enjoying doing nothing. Tomorrow we have another show in Grass Valley at the coffee shop we are sitting now. Bye.
