Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Almost home - March Tour
My last official show was Friday night in St. Louis - it was good one at the Heavy Anchor - a crowd that was listening and I caught up with an old friend - and the Dead Soldiers who were from Memphis, TN were really good. My cousin Mike and I ran into them later at Mangia. The next day I drove back to Nashville to see friends before leaving the area completely. The drive is only 5 hours and by that point really easy to get there.
It ended up being a quiet, relaxing night and after a decent night of sleep I woke up ready to head back to the west. I had wanted to get to Dallas, but I got out of town a little later than expected - I had stopped by Trader Joe's on the other side of town to see some friends before leaving. A storm started rolling in - a storm that brought rain and later, snow. That night I only made it to Texarkana which isn't too far down the road, but the weather and my late start and the fact that Dallas was still a ways away that night, I stopped right there on the Texas border.
The next day I had wanted to make it to Las Cruces, New Mexico - a good 12 hours away - so I prepared myself for a long day of driving. I made several stops along the way - once for BBQ in Sulphur Springs and coffee in Abilene - and then no major stop until I rolled into New Mexico. I was pretty beat. It's a strange thing to be in your car driving for that long alone. Thoughts of the past come into my mind - and thoughts about the future - listening to music keeps things interesting, although occasionally I'll continue with no music. I was happy when I got into my motel room that night and was able to rest.
Yesterday I woke up not sure of where I wanted to go. It's about 13 hours or so to get back to LA and I didn't want to spend another day driving. So I asked some friends in Arizona about what was going on and my friends in Flagstaff said that they were planning dinner and a bit of a guitar jam - so I decided to head there.
I drove up through the mountains of south west New Mexico and into the eastern mountains of Arizona - all places I hadn't seen before. It was a good drive - although by the 5th hour I was ready to be there. I hooked up to the I-40 in Holbrook and cruised into Flagstaff just as the sun was setting in the sky. It felt good to be back in this town - and out of the car. I was able to see the full moon rise up into the sky and had a great night with some great friends.
It's about a 7 hour drive back to LA from here. I need to time it so that I miss the worse of the LA traffic - so I'm more than happy to just hang out in town for a bit more - a bit more of a reprieve from reality.
yours truly,
Jeremiah
Friday, March 15, 2013
In Between Days - Tour Break
WDVX Blue Plate Special
From Knoxville I head up to the Cincinnati area and play from 10pm to 1am at The Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY - which is right across the river from downtown Cincinnati. This place has been good to me in the past and I'm looking forward to coming back to this venue.
After the Southgate House I'll be driving over to St. Louis to play Friday night, the 22nd, at The Heavy Anchor - which is a place I played last year - it's a cool spot and I'm glad that they're having me back.
It'll be nice to be out on those midwest and southern roads once again - I'm looking forward to getting some BBQ too.
www.jeremiahandtheredeyes.com
www.mikaeladewar.com
Here are some photos from the rest of The Homesick Blues Tour
Mikaela Dewar at Vino Loco in Flagstaff, AZ
The road out of Flagstaff
Monument Valley
The town of Frisco, CO - a rest stop on our drive through the mountains as the snow fell and fell
Chris Evans and yours truly in Denver
Mikaela and I at The Laughing Goat in Boulder, CO
Chris and I at The Laughing Goat
Mikaela and I at the KRFC studios in Fort Collins - after our Live @ Lunch show
On the road to Taos - Southern Colorado mountains
The sign for the Taos Inn - where I played that night
Taos, New Mexico
Some mighty fine huevos rancheros at The Coffee Spot in Taos
Flying high over Colorado
thanks for looking
yours truly
Jeremiah
Monday, March 11, 2013
Southwest Tour - Day 8
It's been a busy 8 days - a little stressful with the storms that rolled through the areas we were in - or going to be in - so that's why I've missed writing here over the past several days. We made it from LA through Arizona - up through the east side of Utah and then western Colorado. We heard about the storm that was going to hit the mountains with forecast of some large amounts of snow - Denver too. But luckily it wasn't as bad as expected and slowly and carefully we made it into town - with enough time to get to our gig on Saturday night. We had a show in Boulder last night and today the radio show.
It's been a good road trip and I look forward when we can hit the road together again - hopefully before the year is over. It's nice having a road partner again - I've definitely missed having someone to share the experience with and I felt that we had a good mix.
After a trip back to LA over the weekend to take care of some business I'll be heading east - stopping in St. Louis and Nashville - and then on Thursday, March 21 at 12pm EST I'll be playing on the radio again out of Knoxville, TN on The Blue Plate Special show -
listen in here through the link: WDVX Blue Plate Special
Then later that evening I'll be in the Cincinnati area at the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY - which is right across the river from downtown Cincinnati from 10 to 1am. On Friday I head back to St. Louis for a show at The Heavy Anchor - then eventually make my way back to the West Coast.
yours truly,
Jeremiah
Friday, March 8, 2013
SW Tour - Day 5
We finally made it to Fruita, CO - which is on the west side of Colorado just past the Utah border. Mikaela and I had a good gig in a nice little venue - attentive crowd, great sound - it's called Cavalcade - and hopefully I'll be back there before the year is over.
Tomorrow we're supposed to head to Denver, but there is a blizzard that's going to hit pretty much the entire state - so we might be stuck over here for another night. I'll be checking the weather report when I get up in the morning.
I think that's it for now - after a couple nigts of not sleeping all that well or that much I'm feeling pretty beat this evening - so over and out
yours truly,
Jeremiah
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Tour - day 3
Tonight we played in Cave Creek at Janey's Coffeehouse and Bodega - a cool spot in a cool little town that's north of Phoenix in the hills. The town has a relaxed feel - and Janey's has that feeling too. We set up the gear and soon got down to playing some music. People showed up and we worked our way through our sets. Things are feeling more familiar to me as we keep playing each show and it was a good idea, I see now, to book the radio show towards the end of this run - but that's on Monday.
Tomorrow we're headed up the road to Flagstaff - I can't wait to get back to that town. We're doing two shows. The first is at Vino Loco from 6 to 8 - and the second is at the Flagstaff Brewing Company from 10 to 1 am. I'm sure we'll be pretty tired at the end of the night. On Friday we head to Colorado - I'm hoping that the snow that's supposed to fall won't be too bad
yours truly,
Jeremiah
The Spirit Room in Jerome, AZ - and the room at Conor Hotel that we had was nice a big
Miss Mikaela Dewar
Me, at The Spirit Room
Looking out from Jerome to the east
The stage is ready - at Janey's Coffeehouse and Bodega in Cave Creek
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
The Homesick Blues Tour - day 2
- we played last night at 4th Street Vine in Long Beach which was the official start of the tour that my friend and singer/songwriter Mikaela Dewar are doing together. I felt that it was a good night - even though we're still getting things worked out and I know things will be getting better with each show - it feels good overall and I'm looking forward to playing tonight up in Jerome, Arizona at The Spirit Room.
Yesterday morning I was up early and started getting my things ready - knowing that I had to pack the car. I had my check list of things since in previous trips I always seem to leave something important behind - I have yet to realize what I've left behind so far. Midday I made it to LAX to pick up Mikaela who was flying in from Nashville where she recently relocated back to after two years in Austin (she's originally from Christchurch, New Zealand). I met her just about 4 years ago when I was living in Nashville and have been good friends since.
After some food in Echo Park we got down to some rehearsing - looking through lyric sheets and and chord charts and felt we were ready for the gig. We packed up the car, managing to get everything inside - a lot of stuff for this 9 day tour and I had to leave some stuff home - but we're ready.
I'm looking forward to the drive up through the middle of Arizona and over the mountains to get us to that crazy old hillside mining town of Jerome - more later...
yours truly,
Jeremiah
www.jeremiahandtheredeyes.com
www.mikaeladewar.com
yours truly and Mikaela Dewar at 4th Street Vine in Long Beach