The drive from Phoenix went as smoothly as possible and I was glad about that - but it's long - long is putting it lightly. It's all down Interstate 10 and you go from the dry desert and hills of Arizona, across a little bit of New Mexico, and then down through El Paso along the Mexican border at the beginning of the western part of Texas - and it rolls on through desolation. There are a few towns along the way, a couple rest stops, but not much else really.
Slowly the landscape gets a little greener here and there - the brush turns into short trees, then taller ones with green leaves - and then you feel the humidity. Then you also start seeing a few more houses and signs of civilization - more than just gas station stops - and then you start looking for the highway that cuts over to Austin - and it seems like it'll never come. Then there's Cooper's BBQ at an exit a few before the highway to Austin and I highly recommend stopping and checking it out - I would have stopped this time but I was in a hurry to get to town.
The highway that goes to Austin rolls through farm lands, small towns - lots of cattle, wineries too. I stopped in Fredricksburg which seems to be an old town settled by Germans - since a lot of the stores had German names and a few of the buildings had that sort of European/German style architecture. I stopped for a coffee and then kept on going. From there it's only about an hour more - but sort of like looking for the cut off highway from the I-10 - it seems like it's never going to end. I felt like I was inching along even though I was going 70mph. I was so happy as I knew I was getting closer - since I remembered all of it from the last time I drove through here a year ago in March. Then I hit the main highway and saw the downtown Austin buildings in the distance. I sent a message to my friend Mikaela who I was going to be staying with and I was so ready to get out of the car and get cleaned up and rest for a bit - which is what I did.
That afternoon - yesterday - Mikaela and I had a gig at a farmer's market on the north side of town. So we got our things together, loaded up the car and made the drive. Like I mentioned, it was pretty warm out, but the setting was pretty nice - right beneath a big ol tree in the shade and thankfully there was a breeze. It was next to a minor league baseball stadium and there were guys playing a game out on the grass - tossing washers. We had from 4 to 8 to play so we decided to switch off hour sets. Families showed up to shop and some stopped and sat and ate and listened to us - kids were hanging out listening, dancing in some cases - and it went well. We made some tips, including a melon, and some other food items from vendors as tips.
From there I had to get to another show - downtown at BD Riley's - a place that I played both in March and in April, the last time I toured. I dropped Mikaela off and then took off knowing that trying to find a good downtown parking place wasn't going to be all that easy. I did get lucky though and found a decent one - although the tail end was ever so slightly in a no parking zone - but I took the risk - and asked a local about getting towed, who said probably not. I carried my gear down the street to the bar on 6th St. - which 6th Street was hopping as usual - the noise from the bands playing out around town rang out and clashed with the traffic. I set up again in the corner of the bar and got ready to play. Wednesday night is trivia night there, so it's full of people - although most take off after it's done at 10 - which is when I get started - so it's kind of funny in way to start playing and watch everyone take off. The first time Lauren and I played there in April we were warned about it - and were told not to take it personally. But last night was fun and I felt it went good. Mikaela and her roommate Jackie showed up and they got up and sang along with me during You Ain't Going Nowhere.
After the set we decided to meet up at another place to hear some music - closer to their place - but the band they wanted to see wasn't playing, so we went to another place over on South Congress - the Continental Club - well the Gallery above the Continental. A great soul band was playing and we ended dancing until 2 am - which was fun and I don't know where I found that energy. Before heading back we stopped at a 24 hour drive thru taco place, since I really hadn't eaten much yesterday. Then finally sleep - and it felt so good.
Today I'm hoping to get to Maria's Taco Express for some music and tacos, then my old friend Izzy Cox at Headhunter's, then Jesse Dayton at the Broken Spoke which is right down the road from where I'm staying on South Lamar.
So that's all for now -
yours truly,
Jeremiah
crossing into Texas
Mikaela Dewar "onstage"
our tips, plus some green beans that didn't make the photo
No comments:
Post a Comment