8/24 The Anchor - Kingston, NY Kingston, NY is a 277 mile drive from Rochester, NY and all toll roads. I come from the west where our roads are toll free, only select bridges have tolls and theyre only a few dollars. Since Ohio weve travelled primarily on toll roads that charge hefty fees. This makes me wonder about the very idea of a free country. If I had grown up where these are the norm, I would feel differently, but the road symbolizes freedom to me. And these roads arent free or in great condition. So what are the tolls for, wheres all this cash going? We arrive in Kingston, a cute almost story book town with lots of old beautiful Victorian-style architecture. There are painted ladies like I havent seen since San Francisco standing proud beside bail bond shops and probation centers. Its an intersection of humanity, for sure. The Anchor is unassuming from the exterior, but inside its immaculate with a grand bar and welcoming staff. We load straight to the stage per instruction from the staff and were nearly set when the other band arrives, assuming theyre supposed to play first. Its really not that big of a deal but there is that certain air... Next, they want to share drums. And here we go. They hauled their kit all the way down from Massachusetts only to ask to share drums? We dont share drums. We dont share instruments. We share good times, misery, dreams and creative strategies. We even share booking contacts but we dont share instruments. Our drums are integral to our sound - like my guitar, like my voice. Were a band and our sound is all we have. Weve been gigging constantly for just under 2 years now and it amazes me that people/musicians - simply for the sake of convenience - expect or accept the need to share equipment. Are you or arent you a band? Are you or arent you after an original, creative sound? Are you or arent you trying to find the sharp edge of creative passion? Are you committed? Are you an all-in uncompromising artist building your intent to develop your unique musical process in an effort to connect and share with the world around you and to provide a future for you and yours? These are the questions I ask myself and my band. I dont always answer them truthfully or the way I want too but there it is, its on the table and every song, album and gig gets my soul closer. After I order some grub their bassist asks if they can backline their gear on the stage. Sure dude. It isnt a huge stage. Its somewhere between The Skylark and Barboza (for you Seattleites) I tell him he can put a few amps behind my amp, but don’t put things behind the drums because frankly, its asinine to needlessly cramp everyone on stage and it looks like shit from the audience when the stage is overcrowded with gear and cases - why are there cases on the stage? Hes concerned with a fast turn over, I get it, but you know what? Theres only two acts tonight dude, its Sunday - were both out of town bands and at this point (20 minutes to show time) theres more wait staff than customers - I think theyll be enough time. Anyway, when we take a seat at the bar menus are presented and the bartender explains that a meal is part of our compensation. YES! FOOD! The 4-5 hour trek in the humid heat wore us down and a hot meal is just what we needed. I cant stress this enough: venues, bars, and anyone hiring musicians: Feed them! You want a good show? Give your musicians a damn meal. Sticks, strings & drumheads are expensive consumables and fuel is through the roof. Good hospitality = good juju = great show! And of course our eyes are bigger than our bellies and half a plate later we find ourselves in the throws of food coma. Show time rolls-up and the night becomes ATTACK OF THE FOOD COMA set. Push-ups save the day, push-ups always save the day. Throughout our set folks pop down from the upstairs, which we later learn is a recording studio. I LOVE the idea of a recording studio as part of a venue. It makes sense. And has to help the local scene, kinda like a record store that hosts shows. After our set we meet Kevin of Tiger Piss and Red Neck Romancer, hes a tall dude with a long beard and a warm smile. Kevins the very definition of good people and invites us to his Taco Shack the next day for some belly-filling grub - and get this - its food for free! That act of kindness toward touring musicians almost brought me to tears. I didnt know people were like that anymore and that sense of camaraderie is few and far between. From the bottom of my heartburn loving heart - Thank you Kevin, thank you so much! The Taco Shack in New Paltz is amazing. If youre on I-87 South heading to NYC then Kevins Taco Shack is the place to swing in. The fire sauce will blow your mind and they even have west coast sized burritos, baby sized, as in, the size of a baby. 8/25 Spike Hill - Brooklyn, NYC Im kind of, and I mean really-really, a bad navigator. My inability to interpret a map made getting into NYC way more of a chore than it needed to be. We wound up crossing the George Washington Bridge twice due to my spectacularly shitty navigational skills. So it was a huge relief once we finally made it to Brooklyn, and of course the first place we end up is a surf bar with sandy floors. West coast kids, thats for sure. We hide from New Yorks heat with a cold beer and something frozen and fruity called a painkiller before taking a stroll, eventually linking-up with Seattles own: Whitney Lyman! Whitneys in NYC for a couple of shows and exploring the city. Whitney and I went to Cornish together, shes a fantastic musician and a class A awesome human. Its been more than a hot minute since with been able to hangout and we have a blast swapping stories until load-in. I go to introduce myself to the engineer at Spike Hill, another bad ass sound woman named Ronnie, and a bar-back hands us each a slice of watermelon. Ronnie shows me the stage and theres a beat to shit drum kit and a few amps already loaded-on. Were expected to use the house kit, but I ask Ronnie if shed mind if Johnson plays his own kit. Hes currently playing a Ludwig 4 piece from 1965. Weve put the effort into the band to cultivate the drum tone the same way I fine tune my guitar tones. We play rock-n-roll and when engineers decide that our ROCK kit needs to sound like a dead cardboard box we tend to disagree. Drums need room to breathe. Close-micing everything can lead to musical sameness. You want the drums to sound like rock? Throw up two overheads, mic the snare and kick and let the drummer play the kit as a whole instrument. Live sound isnt one-size-fits all. Especially not drums. Engineer Ronnie gets it and shes down for us to use our kit. We cheers over watermelon slices, then I grab Johnson and we load in. I find a parking spot around the corner from the venue and stand guard while Johnson grabs the van. A suburban tries to pull into my claimed spot and I yell, Hey! hey! hey! Im holding this here! The driver yells back at me, You holding that spot? Yeah, work van coming in! Magic words!? Must be cause suburban-guy nods and drives off. And I feel just a little bit like a New Yorker. Load-in is navigating traffic lights and mazes of pedestrians. We hustle and its not long before the gear is in and were set up - beauty of a 2 piece. Johnson plays a beat on the drums and Ronnie asks, Are you sure your drums are in check, man? Youve got time to tune. First show all tour where the engineer allowed us time to tune the drums and expected us too, it only takes half a minute, but everyones always in such a hurry to start the show. Show time! We rock out in our Yev way and pull a few people into the club from off the street. Two of them being members of the Baltimore band, Noble Animals. The sound was great and the stage was fun. Post show Whitney takes us to an awesome pizzeria around the corner. We each grab a slice and enjoy the show high. The night comes to an end and we hit the road to Philadelphia. Meeting new people and making new friends is one of the most special things in the world, but seeing an old friend and a familiar face in a foreign city just warms the soul. Thanks for kicking it Whitney!
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 19:23:49 +0000