Post-show/late night - Day 23

After a late night last night, my cousin Mike and I had a very mellow, relaxing day. We went to an after show party right around the corner from the Way Out Club here in St. Louis and then came back and had some food and started watching a movie around 5 am. So that's the reason for our unambitious day.
Yesterday the snow started around 2pm. It didn't stop until about midnight. It came down in big, fat flakes - clumps almost. It quickly built up and it was strange to see the newly blossomed trees covered in snow. Overall it was about 6 inches - it was piled up on my car which had been sitting there the whole time. I also realized that the weather would most likely affect the turnout to our show that evening - which it did.
Before the show we were going to rehearse again with Dan who was going to be sitting in on bass while Mike played drums. Dan and Mike are also in the band the Homewreckers who were the headlining band that evening. I was surprised by all the snow which kept coming relentlessly down as we drove around the town.
We hit O'Connell's on Kingshighway before the rehearsal which has one of my favorite burgers. It's cooked to order, has a great fresh meaty taste, and needs very little, if anything, extra at all. It's a great deal - $5.50 and $5.75 for a cheeseburger. Whenever I'm in St. Louis I always try to go there.
The second rehearsal went well and I knew it was going to be a good time on stage. It's been a while since I've played with a band where we had rehearsed. But as we took a break and I looked outside to all the snow that had fallen and was still falling I knew that it was going to probably be a light attended show.
When we made it to the club we were told that there was going to another band added to the bill - JP & the Gilberts. They're from Brooklyn and were also on tour and had a show lined up down the street somewhere that ended up getting cancelled - so they were able to get on the bill there. They were awesome - sort of blugrassy, country/rockabilly - great musicians - bass, drums, accordion, lead guitar player who was incredible, and lead singer/acoustic guitar player. Overall it was a great set full of good songs and I was more than happy to trade them CDs.
We were up next and felt that things went well for the set. There were a few sound issues since the sound guy didn't really seem like he knew what he was doing - feedback here and there - way too often in my opinion. The other bands hung out and seemed to like the sounds - and so I'm looking forward to heading back to St. Louis in a week and a half to play some more band shows.
A band called Dinofight played next and it was a trio - sort of a punk band - girls on bass and guitar, and a guy drummer. They were good too - loud, but I enjoyed their set. They played a great version of Bad Reputation. The Homewreckers finished off the night playing with a country/indie rock feel. I had fun hanging out listening to everyone.
A girl at the bar who was friends with the New York band invited everyone back to her place which was close by for an after party gathering. Mike and I thought what the hell and went to check it out. It was cool and I was able to talk a bit to everybody. The night ended with Mike and I eating a frozen pizza in the early hours while watching 24 Hour Party People.
Tonight my aunt made dinner - green beans, ham, and potatoes mixed together - and an arugala salad - very good. Now we're back at my cousin Eric's apartment watching movies - first was Air Guitar Nation - which is an amazing and fun documentary about the first US air guitar championships - directed by my friend Alexandra Lipsitz - I highly recommend it. We're now watching, which I think will close out the evening, Stop Making Sense - the Talking Heads concert movie which blew me away the first time I saw it several years ago at the Arclight in Hollywood as part of AFI's music series.
Tomorrow I head back to Nashville where Lauren and I will be playing the New Faces Night showcase at The Basement on Tuesday night, then on Thursday we're heading to Knoxville to play the WDVX Blue Plate Special show and then Louisville later that night. On Saturday we'll be in the Cincinnati vicinity at the Southgate house.
If you would like to donate and contribute and help fund the tour - contact me here at Jeremiah125@hotmail.com
thanks,
yours truly,
Jeremiah


Driving around town listening to Wilco

Mike Evans post-rehearsal playing a guitar-synth thing

JP & the Gilberts at The Way Out Club

Dinofight rocking out

The Homewreckers finishing the night

More Snow - Day 22

This afternoon I went out for coffee - right at the same time that the snow started really coming down. By the time I made it down the road about 2 miles or so my car was covered - as were all the surrounding areas - in the white stuff. I made it back to my cousin's apartment safely - but I heard that not too long after there were several accidents close to where I was.
Tonight we get to play - with Mike on drums, his bandmate Dan playing bass, and me on guitar and voice. We rehearsed last night and it went well - Dan picked up everything really fast and so I'm looking forward to playing even more so. I'm hoping to record it somehow - maybe just setup my laptop again and do it that way.
So we have lot to do this afternoon - a trip to Guitar Center, food, a quick rehearsal, then head out to the gig - which I guess is Way Out. So hopefully the weather doesn't keep people away.
Yours truly,
Jeremiah

PS: after reading some of the past posts I realize that I've made some writing errors which I hope you'll forgive me for. I've been doing my best to catch my mistakes but I know things sometimes slip through the cracks. Thank you for your understanding -

snow in St. Louis - day 21

This morning as my cousin Mike went off to work, I got up and looked out the window and saw the ground all around covered in snow. I was told earlier by my family that St. Louis went through the same weather change that Nashville went through - it was warm and spring like, and then a storm cam through and the temperatures dropped.
As I drove up the roads yesterday I could see the grey skies - growing darker as the evening came on. I also noticed how the temperature stayed around the 40 degree mark and was wondering if snow would be coming our way. Still, I was a little surprised with I saw everything covered in white. A lot of it has melted away, but it remains chilly out there.

Last night I went out with Mike over to an open mic - it was this bar called Fred's Six Feet Under which is in a basement below a restaurant called the Iron Barley - which is a BBQ/grill place that smelled amazing. We had a bit of some lamb stew which was pretty damn good - the meat just sort of melted in your mouth. We're thinking of going back there tonight - or O'Connell's which has one of my favorite burgers - we'll see. But the open mic was decent - I really liked the room - small, low ceiling, decent sound, but a good feel and great owner/bartender. I am looking forward to going back.
Later tonight we're rehearsing for the show. Mike is going to play drums, his buddy is going to play bass, and I'm on guitar and voice. It's been a while since I've played with a full band so it should be fun. There's also a slight possibility that Lauren might show up, but she wasn't sure about it.
Here are some photos:

A mellow Nashville evening - the evening before the storm

Tommy Womack at the Family Wash in East Nashville

This afternoon on my cousin's porch - the remnants of last night's snow fall

yours truly,
Jeremiah

Chilly St. Louis - Day 20

It's amazing at how fast the weather has changed. It happened in Nashville yesterday - there was rain and tornado warnings - then it got chilly. The last couple days we had been sleeping with the windows open and the fan on - but not last night.
This morning I packed up my things and said my goodbyes, and got ready for the drive. It's an easy drive that I've done many times before and after a cup of coffee from Bongo Java in East Nashville I was ready. I cruised along, making sure to keep within 10 mph of the speed limit so I wouldn't get pulled over (it worked) and crossed from Tennessee to Kentucky into Illinois, and lastly, over the Mississippi River into Missouri.
Along the way I saw purple blossoms in the trees which stood out since most of the trees all around were still bare. I crossed several rivers: The Kentucky, the Tennessee, the Ohio, the Cumberland and all were high due to the rain fall from the day before. I know it probably makes lots of people weary from all the flooding that happened last year - and I can see why. I saw all the water last year in Nashville - water where there shouldn't have been water - houses and businesses destroyed - a very surreal sight to see. Luckily, nothing like that this time.
Last night the pizza came out good and it looks like I'll be making some here in St. Louis at the request of my aunt - and I'm more than happy to oblige.
yours truly,
Jeremiah

Pizza and rain - day 19

Yes - pizza and rain are what's happening today - although it took it a long time to get around to raining. It seemed like it was going to happen earlier - the sky grew dark and the wind picked up, but then it blew away and the sun came out. Now though it's back to dark skies and rain. A flash of lightning and a crash of thunder just happened, followed by some more. It's kind of nice really.
Earlier I made it out to get the ingredients for pizza - so glad I made it out before the rain came - although people here can drive in the rain - not like LA. It's been a while since I've made pizza but it's not too hard to do and the dough has been steadily rising slowly and soon it'll be ready for the oven.
Tomorrow I'm heading up the road for St. Louis for a show at the Way Out Club on Saturday night with Dino Fight and the Homewreckers. I'm looking forward to playing - it'll be a week since my last show when we get to Saturday.
Finally - any contributions to support this tour would be greatly appreciated - since my Kickstarter project to fund this tour failed to reach its goal. I have a Paypal account connected to my e-mail address: Jeremiah125@hotmail.com
I can send out CD's and arrange for a house concert - something.
thanks - I'm gonna go enjoy the post-rain evening,
yours truly,
Jeremiah

Down time - Day 18

It feels good to be here in Nashville. I've definitely needed some time to relax and rest and have no real plans. The last 17 days have been pretty action packed - lots of driving, lots of music, lots of running around various towns. So it's like the calm after the storm over here. It seems also like I've brought with me some good weather - instead of how it usually is where I bring storms and floods, tornados - bad weather usually surrounds my tours more than not.
The sun is shining which everyone around here seems very happy about. I heard it was a pretty cold winter down here - a couple days there was some traffic paralyzing snow that practically shut down the whole town. I thought it was cold when I was here for that year, but I guess it was worse. Now, I'm happy for the mellow weather - it's a little humid, like Austin was, but still pretty nice.
Last night I was able to cook which I hadn't done for this trip yet - besides some broccoli as a side dish in Austin one night. I made some pan-fried salmon, some Brussels sprouts, and mashed potatoes - which all came out like I had wanted them too. Cooking puts something in my mind at ease and it's something that I really forward to doing. I'm a fairly simple cook - nothing too elaborate - basic seasonings: sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper - those are my mainstays - and I feel like I do a pretty good job. I feel confident in cooking beef (steaks, burgers, and tri-tip - working on my brisket), chicken and fish - certain vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Then there's pizza and I love spending the time to make homemade pizza - because it's so much better than delivery and better than most places - if I say so myself.
This evening I'm going to get the grill going and cook some chicken that I started marinating yesterday. Also I have some red and yellow bell peppers that will also go on the grill. Then lastly maybe some mashed sweet potatoes - I haven't decided yet. It's funny coming to the South because there is a difference between barbecuing and grilling and people will correct you and tell you what's right.
Barbecuing is is a process of slow cooking - using wood preferably - and then cooking tough cuts of meat like brisket or pork ribs for hours until the heat breaks the meat down and makes it easily edible (that's an oversimplified explanation I know but all that I can recall off the top of my head). Grilling is where you're cooking things quickly over a hot fire - like burgers, chicken, tri-tip, vegetables - that kind of thing. I'm definitely better at grilling, mostly because it takes time to BBQ - minimum 7 hours or so and it's been hard to plan that. Also, I don't have the right set up. I need a good Weber grill.
On Thursday I head up to St. Louis to get ready for a show on Saturday at the Way Out Club with my cousin Mike and his band the Homewreckers. I like St. Louis and I feel like I know the town well. I have a bunch of family on my mom's side in the area - and we lived close by across the river in Alton, Illinois for a few years when I was growing up. It was nice having so much family around - there was always someone to play with. So it'll be good to get back there and then in a couple more weeks I'll be heading back to play two more shows. But before those there will be a lot more happening.
So for now I think that's it - it's about time to get cooking
yours truly,
Jeremiah


my buddy Nando

Monday morning in Nashville - Day 17

Just after midnight last night, we rolled into Nashville and landed safely at lauren's house. It was a good 14 hour drive - and with the exception of the first hour - which was a very slow drive as we drove north out of Austin due to a very bad wreck on the highway - we cruised along nicely. We made a stop for BBQ just east of Dallas - which was all right - and kept going.
I was very glad to have Lauren as my co-pilot which hasn't happened for a while - since I've done most of my traveling since last summer alone. So I was glad when she took over driving and I was able to catch a much needed nap. She also had snacks for us - carrots, sandwiches, drinks - so I was very happy about that. From Little Rock I drove on, with another quick pit stop in West Memphis. The nap really helped and I felt good as we crossed in Tennessee and drove on beneath the bright moonlight.

Austin really was fun - although we heard about some troubles through out the town during the festival. It has just grown and grown and there are so many people that come to town (us included) but some just show up for the free beers and food and to party, than to go out and hear and discover music. We stayed away from the craziness as much as possible - with the exception of me going to see The Strokes and walking in when the gate was pushed down - but the shows we saw were fun.
The Lost Highway/BMI show on Friday really was awesome - Black Joe Lewis played some high energy soul, followed by Hayes Carll who rolled forward with a great band and amazing songs - as did Robert Earl Keen who was also incredible. Lucinda Williams closed out the night and I was so glad I was there to see it. Her set was a good one - old and new songs - an awesome band - and she sounded wonderful. I was so glad that Lauren was able to get us in to the show and into the VIP section- where we sat center stage and able to enjoy the whole night.
On Saturday morning I rushed out to see my friend and new Austinite Mikaela Dewar - who just moved to town from Nashville. The place was north of town and I was able to catch her friend (and now mine) Jackie Bristow as she finished her last songs. Then Mikaela played a good set of songs - some that will be on her forthcoming CD - which I'm looking forward to getting.
That evening we had a show out at Sam's Town Point - but before we went down to South Congress to catch the Mother Truckers at the Continental Club. Our friend Mark Gonzales is the manager so we were able to catch up with him while the band played a rocking set. We were also able to hang out with Todd Kivi again who we knew from LA and the Cinema Bar and who we had seen at Maria's the day before, and at the Lost Highway/BMI show. He's been coming to SXSW for 14 years and it's always good to hag out with him since he seems to know everyone.
Now we have to wait until next year, until the next SXSW - and hopefully we'll take another step up like this year, and the year before that.
It's a nice mellow day here in Nashville. Soon after getting a much needed shower I'll head out and check out the town.


Lauren and I post show at Uncorked on Saturday night


Mikaela Dewar at the Lakeline Farmers Market

yours truly,
Jeremiah