Oh the road.  I find its where a band can truly find themselves for better or for worse.  Kudos to the bands that can tolerate one another after a long tour: shows night after night, lack of sleep, McDonald’s (I admit its delicious the first time, chicken nuggets!) Using up all the drink tickets like you will never be able to have a free drink again, and the overall stress of making sure no gear is left or stolen at the venue.

Miles and I have had the immense pleasure of touring with our best road friends, Blake and Mitchell.  For those of you that have been to our out-of-town shows have met these wonderful gentlemen.  They never complain! They don’t need much, Blake can use his shoe for a pillow, they put up with our bickering (nah, we don’t argue) and they don’t mind the long driving.  For instance, Mitch helped drive us from Austin to Chicago, it took 24 hours mind you, just so I could get back to my cello students the next day.

For the “Hiding Places” Tour, we are embarking on our first tour as only two.  You would think that we would be used to this seeing how we’ve played every concert as a duo.  But there’s a first time for everything and our trip to Kansas City, Colorado Springs, and Denver will feel like a new adventure, just as long as we don’t get roped into the usual road cuisine of McDonald’s.  Plus, we won’t have anyone to referee our quarrels, lady cello is 90% right most of the time anyway   We’ll have a couple days in between our shows to really take in each city.  Maybe we’ll try Oklahoma Joe’s in Kansas City, play my cello on the top of the Rocky Mountains, or drive through the “Garden of the Gods” on the way to Colorado Springs.  One thing we’ve learned while on the road is to make it the best vacation that you possibly can.  We’ll have our trusty GPS that we appropriately named, Nicki, because of her Aussie accent, and all the red vines and gummi bears to keep me sugared up before our shows.

We learn a million things while on the road, but this is just a few that stands out.

Top 5 things that we have learned about from touring on the road:

1. OK, the venue says to be there at 8pm, you don’t have to be there right on time. The sound guy is probably still on his way to the venue or outside for a smoke break (I have trouble dealing with this due to my classical training where you have to be in your seat ready to go at least an hour before the downbeat, I’m working on this Miles!)

2. The little towns you least expect to do well in are the ones most likely to wow you because of the amazing people and loyal following: ex. Terre Haute! Colorado Springs! Providence!

3. Try out a new idea on stage and take a chance: A new audience means fresh ears.  A mistake to you won’t matter to the audience because it’s a brand new song to them.

4. Talk to the other bands that you are performing with that night. If you make the right connections and network you will have a new found friend in the city, trade albums, etc. a new friendship goes a long way.

5. Play your heart out. Your hometown will be happy to know that you are representin’.

 

I’m envisioning the open road now.  See you soon Kansas City, Colorado Springs, & Denver.

Love.

The Loneliest Monk