Home - after 14 days

Earlier this afternoon I made it home to Southern California - after 14 days on the road and covering 4518 miles. I started here from the west coast and went east to St. Louis, then Nashville, and Memphis - then headed back through Dallas and Tucson - and I was very happy to make it home and take a nap in my bed.
Overall it was a good trip - I saw lots of friends along the way - met plenty of new people - especially at the Folk Alliance conference. This trip I didn't really focus on food like some of my previous trips - of course there were exceptions like those ribs in Memphis at interstate BBQ, a good tri-tip sandwich in Flagstaff at the Lumberyard, and also catfish in Memphis on Beale Street. I think for my next trip to Austin in a week and a half I'll search for good food along the way.
On March 12 I head back to Texas for South By Southwest - the huge music festival that takes over Austin. We have two shows right now and waiting for confirmation of a third. I can't wait to get back to that town. I'm not crazy about the drive from El Paso to Austin - but the drive from Dallas to El Paso yesterday went well - so maybe it won't be so bad.
Yours truly,
Jeremiah

from the City Tavern in downtown Dallas - enjoying a Breckenridge IPA

Pecos, Texas

The dusty road through Texas

New Mexico at Sunset

Heading out of Texas

Today I have a big drive ahead of me, so I'm going to be brief here.
Last night at the Opening Bell Coffee in Dallas went well. The other players were good - and when I get more time I get their names figured out and let you know who they actually were.
But - all right - I have about 14 hours to go - so I need to get on the road.
Yours truly,
Jeremiah

Monday - on the road to Dallas

Last night I finally was able to get some good sleep - after missing out on a lot Saturday night. I found a cheap motel in Texarkana - which is right on the border of Texas and Arkansas - and crashed out on the bed - watching the Oscar's. It felt so good to rest.
Right now I'm on the outskirts of Dallas working from another Starbucks. I have some time before I have to head into the city and find the place where I'm playing tonight - The Opening Bell Coffee shop. I have a good idea of where it is and will probably head out in a bit. The drive was easy and I'm glad about that. Tomorrow though I have a fairly big drive a head of me - something like 14 hours or so - to Tucson. From there it's 8 hours back to Southern California.
Earlier today I loaded photos to Photobucket and realized I have a bunch to post - so I'll get to it.

From the Civil Life Brewery in St. Louis - good stuff

Johnny d'Artnenay (on bass) with Kenny Vaughn (on guitar) at the 12th South Tap Room in Nashville. If you're ever in Nashville on a Monday night, go check them out.

From East Nashville

Tommy Womack and band at Grimey's in Nashville

The Gibson Factory in Memphis - I only went into the store but it was very cool

Quinby and Johnny Hawthorne in the Wine and Nut Room - 1910 for Folk Alliance in the Marriott in Memphis

Beale Street

David Olney and Dan Seymour

Charlie Faye - with her co-hosts in the Wine and Nut Room. Will Sexton, Andre Moran, and Noelle Hampton. They had the room that was the most fun - and a good supply of Lone Star beer and Tito's Vodka too

Ribs from Interstate BBQ - they were good - really good!

the Black Lillies - who were awesome

The Elephant Revival

From Graceland - what can be said about that?

The platinum tour ticket

The front room of the house

The "jungle" room



The hall of records

from the racquetball room


The front of the house

and Lauren and I in front of the house

A blurry photo of Steve Poltz - he played a couple songs with such a fun and intense energy - folding chairs were flying - it might have been the highlight.

Almost the end of the night - The Carper Family and the Atomic Duo - The Atomic Family

Outside of Sun Studios - and right before I left Memphis

Thanks for looking,
Yours truly,
Jeremiah

End of the Party - Sunday in Memphis

It's Sunday afternoon now and I'm sitting back at a Starbucks on Union Ave. - still in Memphis. We had a late night - almost saw the sun come up - well if our motel room was facing east we would have seen it. But that just happens when hanging out with Lauren. We barely made it out of our room in time for the noon time check out - but we made it - and now that the Folk Alliance Conference is over, I've got to start to head back to the west.
Overall the conference was cool and I'm glad that I came. It was great seeing so much music and meeting so many people - and like I said before seeing some old friends that I hadn't seen for a while. It was interesting going from hotel room to hotel on the 17th, 18th, and 19th floors - people were everywhere - lingering in the hallways, in the stairwells, in the lobby, outside - and music just flowed from almost every corner. At times it was a little overwhelming, especially when you were trying to get one place or the other - and there were several times when we just stepped back and found a corner to catch our breath.
I'm looking forward to, when I get home, check out websites and hear more tunes from several of the people and bands we met and saw. The Hems are a duo from Austin that were checking into our Motel 6 at almost the same time. I caught a couple of their songs and they were awesome - great harmonies and guitar playing. We ran into each other several times over the past days and they were really nice and I look forward to seeing them again.
There were quite a few people that played in room 1910 - The Wine and Nut Room - that I want to go look up their names because it was hard to do it at the time and remember it all. That room was so much fun - almost all Texas singer/songwriters - a few exceptions but there was just a good fun vibe and we spent a lot of time up there - including last night. They finally shut down at about 4am - and I remember being sad about that.
So today I start the drive west - probably stopping in Little Rock, Arkansas - and then tomorrow make my way to Dallas for my show at the Opening Bell - and songwriter in the round show that I'm looking forward to doing. Now that I've been playing a lot over these last several days, I want to keep going.
So that's all for now - when I get more time - maybe later today - I'll write about our trip to Graceland and add some photos finally -
yours truly,
Jeremiah

Friday in Memphis

It's Friday here in Memphis and I've made it through two nights of the Folk Alliance conference. It's been fun so far. I've seen and heard lots of music - it has taken over the whole hotel. There are people playing everywhere - and it's pretty cool.
We've played three times already and the shows have gone well. The people that have been there have been interested in what Lauren and I are doing and I'm glad about that. It would be nice to get some bookings out of this gathering - but it's been great meeting up with old friends - from Nashville, Austin, and LA, and elsewhere too.
Tonight we have the night off and I'm looking forward to going around and seeing several people play - including David Olney who I really like and who I've shared a few shows with in LA. There are a few other people that are playing that I'd like to see too - but I have to check my program guide and work out the times. Hopefully I can get into a jam session at some point too.
I do have some photos and I do plan on uploading them soon and sharing them - so stay tuned.
yours truly,
Jeremiah

Memphis

Last night I rolled into Memphis ready to experience this Folk Alliance gathering. First though I had to get our room at the Motel 6 not too far away. I settled in and then head on over.
The Motel 6 is right off Union and within walking distance of Sun Studios which is always cool to see. It was a nice mellow evening and made it there quickly through the downtown streets. I could see the top of the Marriott found a decent parking place and went inside.
It was fairly chaotic - or so it seemed. There were people everywhere cruising around - some carrying instruments - others looking like me - trying to find what to do and where to go. I made it through registration - where right beside me was Jed Hilly, president of the Americana Music Association - who I knew through Lauren, and Tommy Womack, who I had just seen in Nashville the night before for his CD release show at Grimey's. I wondered around a bit and then heard from Lauren who was rushing into town - so I headed back to the motel and waited for her. Our first show wasn't until 11pm and I was feeling ready to play. Finally Lauren made and we rolled back to the hotel and got ready to do our thing. There were less people wandering around but we soon found out where they were - they were upstairs in the private showcase rooms on the top 3 floors of the hotel. After waiting for the elevator we made it up there - to the crowded hallways where people were drifting from room to room listening to one artist after the other. We found our room and quickly set up and got down to playing - and felt good afterwards about what we'd done. We then went into the Wine and Nut Room that our friends Noelle Hampton, Charlie Faye, and Wil Sexton we hosting. It was crowded but we got some beers and listened to a bit. We escaped to a little corner by the elevators for a breather - just to relax and collect our thoughts.
Our next one was at 1am and after listening to some other people in other rooms we made our way down to the room. We met the guy who was going to be in our songwriter circle with us - and got ready to play. The round went well - we had a decent crowd in the room - and everyone we had met so far was very friendly and cool.
So today I'm going to head back over there while Lauren gets through her day of work. I'm looking forward to tonight and playing again - I think it's going to be a late one.
yours truly,
Jeremiah

Lazy Nashville Day

The title pretty much sums up my day yesterday. I had nothing planned and I took advantage of my down time to do not much of anything at all. After all the driving and having to be here and there, it felt nice just to relax, watch some tv, play a bit of guitar, drink some tea, and just sit around. So that is why I missed adding something here yesterday.
The drive down from St. Louis on Sunday was easy - it's a five hour drive and there are some very scenic landscapes that you pass through. There are lots of trees, lakes, rivers - birds gathering in fields, then take off in a group - there are signs for deer - but the only ones I've seen are the ones along the side of the road that have been hit by the trucks - sometimes it's a very gruesome scene.
On the way down I stopped in Paducah to rest and to also check out the live feed from San Francisco from Warren Hellman's tribute show. Warren Hellman, who died recently, was the organizer of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival which is a free three day music festival held in Golden Gate park in the first weekend of October. The line-ups are amazing over those three days and thankfully the shows will carry on. I missed this last year's show but planning on being there this next year.
During my stop I was able to catch Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlins and most of their set. They are amazing together and was glad that I had stopped at that time. I wish I could have seen the whole show - which included John Doe, Old Crow Medicine Show, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Robert Earl Keen, and a few more - but I had to make it to Nashville on Sunday. But I guess you can watch the whole - it has been archived on some site so I'll have to look it up.
Last night - after I was done with laying around for the day, I made it out to the 12th South Tap Room to see Kenny Vaughn. My friend Johnny plays bass with him and there was a good crowd. I met up with a few people there - Mark Huff who I had met through my friend Brett in LA - we had done a show together at The Cinema Bar in September - also Noelle Hampton and her husband Andre and Charlie Faye - they were all on the road from Austin and heading to the Folk Alliance conference just like me.
It looks like the Folk Alliance is going to be fun. I'm looking forward to it and can't wait to get there. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
This evening Tommy Womack is playing at Grimey's - looking forward to that
yours truly, Jeremiah