Lost Phones, Sickness & Rock

So it's been a while since I've updated this blog and quite a bit has happened. I lost my phone somewhere in Tennessee at a rest stop and have been out of the loop for a while. It's amazing how much you come to rely on these little smartphones to keep you in contact with the rest of the world. I didn't sweat the loss of my phone too much - in the grand scheme of things it's not too big a deal. Right now billions are starving. Losing my Nexus seems small potatoes when looking at the Big Picture.

So here's the inside scoop. We're all sick. And the road isn't very conducive to getting well. Little sleep, lack of health services, smoky bars every night, 0 days off and hard manual work makes for a bad sickness. I've been coughing incessantly for almost 2 weeks now and have even pulled a muscle in my rib from coughing so hard. It's definitely easy to see why this kinda life can wreck people and why Kim says you need to be a little crazy to want to live like this. (which I hope to one day, actually playing).

Kim had to cancel the Rochester show because she's completely lost her voice due to illness and we all need at least one day to sleep, rest and re-organize. And here's something that really pisses me off - we had to go to a pet store to buy Keflex which is a fish antibiotic so Kim could get some form of antibiotic in her to fight off her infection. It seems almost unreal that in pretty much every other first world country on Earth Kim could walk into a doctors office, tell them what's wrong and could medicine at a reasonable cost. Not here though. Here there's endless red tape, medicinal cost through the roof and the requirement to have insurance in order to receive sound treatment without incurring said cost. It pisses me off that we have to go to a fucking pet store to get her the medicine she needs.

But that's a whole 'nother blog in and of itself. Needless to say Kim did what she needed to do in order to get well for Pittsburgh tomorrow. Shes a Badass to the max. When she's in the rock n roll hall of fame I'm glad ill be able to say I witnessed and lived first hand these escapades.

But I digress.

Last night we were in New York City. First time I've ever been there and I thought it was an absolutely awesome place. I know I didn't get to see very much of it but what I did see I absolutely loved. And the crowd was amazing. So into what was going on onstage. I get to sound check every night and by far that was the best one as I got to actually play a couple beats. I also got to meet the director and costume designer of Committed and You're a Vampire - Olga and Phil at our sushi dinner. Olga brought a bag full of clothes and goodies for Kim to wear which she absolutely loved. Needless to say everything she brought looks great on Kim. Once we were all done eating sushi we headed back to the venue and got ready to take stage. Kim and Jason killed it as usual and NYC seemed to really love OED. The VIP after party was at an all night Russian restaurant . I had the chicken noodle soup and it was absolutely divine. The only thing that compared was the home cooked soup we had waaaaay back in Kansas. God that feels like a lifetime ago.

After the VIP party we went to the all night underground (literally) apple store where I got my new phone. Jason surprised me and paid for the cost of the phone. Melinda told me Kim told her a few days prior she was going to try and get Jason to cover the cost. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and thanked Jason immensely. When Kim woke up today I made sure to thank her profusely and gave her a few big hugs.

The night before that they played in Virginia. I don't remember much of the show except Kim climbed a big stack of speakers. I immediately ran over and under in case she fell. I know it looks cool and is rock n roll as hell but the first thing that comes to my mind is if she falls I better be there to catch her. Thankfully everything went smoothly and the rest of the show was Killer. The VIP after party was at this hookah bar around the corner. Everyone there was great and it struck me how eclectic OEDs fanbase is. There are all sorts of people who dig 'em. One of which was this cool web designer named Chrisi West. Her twitter is: @PittGirly and you should follow her. I really hope she follows her dream of working on a campaign someday. I'm living mine right now and while its nowhere near perfect I'm so glad I did it.

The night before that we played in Norfolk VA which had the most badass green room of the tour so far. There was a hot tub, grand piano, pool table, ping pong table, multiple dressing rooms and the place looked super nice. It really sucks not being able to play every night but there are definitely some perks to the job. At the VIP party I met this awesome dude named Lannie Armel. Who also happens to be a sheriff. I rode with him to and from the VIP after party and got a chance to talk with him a bit. He's a really great dude and I hope our paths cross again one day.

I'm fading fast - that's not all that happened in the time between posts but that's all I can remember for now. This post will be missing pictures as I just got this new phone and haven't had the chance to take some at shows . There will be only 1 pic and it'll be that of Kim about to drink the fish anti biotic. I wanted to get proof and to tell the world she's even more badass than people know.

Til next time....

Houston> Beaumont > Tampa > Jacksonville

Time sure does get away from you on the road.  Things stretch.  Days meld together.  Weekdays, weekends, weeks - the concepts start to mean very little.  There's only The Next Show.  Moving forward in a perpetual state of active animation, sleep deprived makers of music and We Who Carry Stuff and We Who Sell Stuff makes reality an entirely different beast.

Suddenly I'm finding the life left behind less tangible.  Like a fading dream.  Like it wasn't real.  And I feel, as Bilbo Bag put it, like butter spread thin over too much bread.  It's a good thing I fucking love this shit or else I'd be miserable.  Jason said people wash out usually after two weeks.  Its been almost 3 and I feel like I'm hitting my stride.  Actually playing and traveling would be dreams realized - A Waking Life finally being lived.  Moving across this Earth making music as Jason and Kim are doing.

I'm stalling.

Im trying to remember what happened in Houston, TX.  I'm attempting to rack my brain, separate the faces, separate the venues, separate the days and bring forth the synaptic connections to get a good picture of the events that transpired. 

There was a show - definitely for sure about that. 

Kim rocked it - definitely for sure about that.

Jason drummed it - definitely for sure about that.

Ah!  I know.  I will consult my pictures. BRB.

In fact.  I think this post will be mostly pictures because I'm having trouble remembering everything.  When life is a whirlwind it sure ain't easy holding onto memories.

Needless to say - Kim and Jason rocked their shows, made new fans, pleased old ones and further embed their place in rock n roll history with every show. 

I've been meeting fans all over the country and its been a great experience thus far.  So many awesome people to meet and greet.  Sometimes I'm tired as hell during the VIP after show get togethers and probably come off as standoffish.  Which is not the case - I'm just struggling to keep my eyes open. 

I feel more sure of myself and what I want now that I've experienced this kind of life first hand.  I feel great gratitude towards OED for giving me this opportunity to experience the road first hand.  It has given me great insight into the world of touring.

Speaking of which, gotta get back on the road again.

Til next time...

Little Rock, AK > Longview, TX > Austin, TX

I finally picked up my laptop in Austin so these things should be a bit easier to do from here on out.  

First - Arkansas.  OED played Little Rock, AK and totally rocked it again.  Kim jumped on stuff, crowd surfed, people sang along.  All in all, a pretty rockin' show.  The VIP party afterwards at IHOP was a blast though.  We had this badass waiter named Michael who was funny AND a good waiter.   He took all of our orders, remembered them all without writing them down and had the time to come over and entertain us.  At the end of the night we wanted to take a picture with him.  Well when we did this man from a large group across from us said he was going to take a picture of us taking a picture.  And then someone from another group said he was going to take a picture of him taking a picture of us taking a picture.  OED VIP inception through and through.

We hit the road afterwards and headed back to TX.  I drove all the way to Longview, TX and I have to be honest.  It didn't seem like much of a metal town.  Especially with the sign we saw outside.  However that night, those that showed up showed me that they were metal as fuck.  People were on tables, lotsa yelling, lotsa energy, lotsa shouting.  It was another good night. Earlier in the day we had to drive around and re-fill 

Kim's hat bag as it was running low. Luckily they had an awesome party store there. After the show we hung out with a couple of cool VIPs and some other friends of Kim and Jason. Afterwards it was on to Austin! Coming back to Austin was kinda weird. The city felt a lot smaller than it did two weeks prior. I was able to sleep in my own bed which was pretty nice. Vaporized some bud and I was feeling alright. Ran around running various errands during the day and then it was time for the show. It also felt kinda weird being in the Dirty Dog as I'd been there before but never in the context of being a roadie. Kim absolutely ruled the Austin show. Homecoming was a cool thing to see. Eric, the bassist for Otep, had his knee pop out during the show. He snapped it back in place with the wall during the show. What a bad ass. At the end of the night we went back to OED headquarters and rested up, restocked supplies and in the morning made our way to Houston....