It's been two weeks since I've made it back to Southern California - and it feels good to be home. The weather has been pretty perfect - warm - in the 80's, a little breezy at times - a mellow summer full of sunshine. It does make me feel a little bad for those out in the middle of the country where they have been experiencing a major heat wave - I was out in it last summer as I traveled from LA to Phoenix to Denver to Nashville and Austin. This is actually my first summer in California in about two years - and I'm happy to be here.
This recent trip was a pretty good one overall. I did hit many of the same cities, and did some audience building. Flagstaff was awesome as always - it's an amazing city up there in the Arizona mountains where my soul feels at home - and hopefully I can get back up there soon. Austin was fun. I stayed there for a week with my friend's Mikaela Dewar, who played a couple shows with me out at some farmer's markets, and Jackie Bristow - both who are from New Zealand and I left town with a kiwi accent in my head.
The Emmy awards in North San Diego county were a good time - would have been better if I had won - but oh well - next time. My friend Kristie came with me - along with my parents who met us down there. It was quite an extravagant event - quite a few people were wearing tuxedos - and I'm happy to report that we all looked good. I'm glad that I made it back for it, but would have enjoyed a few more days back in town - but I was due in Nashville so the next day I caught the train back to Albuquerque where I had left my car and then took off east down the road to Tennessee.
I enjoy visiting Nashville and seeing my friends there - especially my close friend and musical partner Lauren Austin. We've been working together for over 5 years now and I look forward to seeing her always. She has a cool dog named Nando who comes over and jumps on my bed in the morning and will just hang out. Our late show at The Basement went well - and I look forward to getting back there - well after the summer heat has passed.
On this trip several big storms passed my way. When I was in St. Louis for a week we had some good ones roll through. It didn't stop my cousin Mike and me from getting the grill going. On the Fourth of July it rained but cleared up enough by the evening so that we could see fireworks off in the distance downtown by the Arch.
I was able to play with a band there in town - Mike on drums and his friend Dan on bass who are both in a band called the Homewreckers and I've played shows with them earlier in the year. I would like to get something regular like that back here in LA - and I have been building things up a little bit. Since January I have my friend Matthew playing drums and that's been a good thing. I'm hoping we can get back out to Arizona and do a run from Flagstaff down to Tucson.
One place that I'm really looking forward to getting back to is Newport, Kentucky which is right across the river from Cincinnati. There's a place called the Southgate House and this trip is the second time I've played there. It's a venue that draws people in - so there's always a decent and supportive crowd. People showed up who had seen my videos on You Tube and who had read the description on the website calendar page and decided to come down and check it out. I had a good time playing there and like I said, I'm looking forward to going back.
By the time I reached Denver on this trip which was at about week 5 out of 6, I was feeling exhausted. Sleeping hadn't been easy for a lot of the traveling on the road. It was a combination of uncomfortable sleeping places, late nights and early mornings, long drives - and they all just built up and built up. So Denver was a place where I was able to crash - I had my own room on the 3rd floor and that allowed to do some catching up.
Denver was a good stop overall. My cousin Chris and I played at the little coffeehouse KJ's again and had a decent crowd for a Friday night. Again, storms came rolling in one after another, but we we're still able to get in barbecuing a pork shoulder - which came out great - it was even better the next day.
This trip I didn't really hit up that many awesome food places - well there were a few. But food wasn't really the focus this time like it had been in the past trips. Although my friend Arthi took me to a great breakfast place outside of Chicago in the suburbs close to her house - I can't remember the name right now. I also did get to go to Cooper's BBQ in Junction, Texas on my way to El Paso from Austin which was pretty good. And I did go to a good diner in Albuquerque right on Route 66 but I also can't remember the name right now.
I guess a lot of the better food I had was stuff that was made at home. I made burgers, steak, and smoked a pork shoulder in St. Louis while I was there. I made pizza in Nashville, a couple chicken dishes in both Austin and St. Louis. I know I cooked some fish somewhere - and it didn't turn out all that good. I did have some bad stuff on the road, but I really don't need to write about that.
After Denver I drove to Tucson through several awesome storms along the way - and then the following morning drove home to California. I was happy when I crossed over the Colorado River - knowing I had just about 3 hours to go. I was grounded for several days, trying to recover from the all the traveling and catch up on my sleep and rest. Finally when I was able to get out of the house it felt good - felt good to exercise and move and head up to LA to see my friends - and overall it just feels good to be home again.
Right now I don't have any plans to do any major traveling for a while. There was a slight chance earlier about getting into the Americana Music Association conference and showcase in Nashville in October, but they passed over us again this year. So I'm not thinking about traveling until January at least. Just this week I started looking at cities and the map to try to get things sorted in my head for the next trip. There are some blanks to fill in between cities - like between Austin and St. Louis - Kansas City would be cool or somewhere in Arkansas - so I have my work cut out for me. I'll keep you posted on it all.
So I have people that I would like to thank:
First off my parents who have helped me tremendously, my brother and sisters: Bridget, Jennifer, and Will - and their families, Susan Barth, Lauren Austin for both of their continued, undying support, Lori Boland Sutton and Paul Sutton for asking me to be a part of their documentary, Prison through Tomorrow's Eyes (which can be seen online at Vimeo.com), Eddie Elliott and his family, Matthew Magener for meeting me out in Tucson and bringing his crew, Mikaela Dewar and Jackie Bristow for letting me crash at their place, Mark Gonzales for helping me set up the show at Momo's, Kristie Puls for coming with me to the Emmy awards, Arthi Meera and Tyler Beech for coming out to the show in Chicago and for introducing me to your families and also to Arthi and her family for putting me up while I was in town, Moira Alter for telling me about the Southgate House, Mike Evans for taking care of me while I was in St. Louis, Dan Niewoehner for playing bass, Chris Evans and his family for taking care of me in Denver, Tracy Huffman and his family for putting me up for the night out in Cosby, MO, and Dafni and Pete for coming out to see me in Chicago - a pleasant surprise.
And also for all my Kickstarter supporters: Vadim Gordin, Adam Mackintosh, Birte Howdle, Richard Haxton, Anna Sacks, Penelope Sevier, RA Allman, Erica Legum, Tim Hammer, Karen Broome, Tricia Rice, Ellen Winter, Ian and Becky Dodge, Andrew McMaster, Jennifer Bork, Bridget Driscoll, Annie Nelson.
I'm sorry if I've forgotten any names - I will make amends as soon as possible
yours truly,
Jeremiah
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