… sitting in Tucson, AZ and reflecting on the last few weeks.  one more show and it’s back home!  let’s do a replay…

i left you in Oregon.  amazing Oregon.  let’s see, what do i remember…  Rosie’s scones…  hoppy beers…  fun musical times (Bend Roots Festival and Fresh Hop Festival in Sisters).  oh yeah, and being treated like a queen - an amazing offer to rest and relax on the Deschutes River couldn’t have come at a better time.

off to Ukiah, CA for more beautiful views and catching up with a former cubemate.  Random fact:  Ukiah Brewing Company, where I played, was the second restaurant in the United States to be certified organic, back in 2001.  And they have beers with names like Emancipator. How could you go wrong?  Stayed on a winery with actual roosters (not fake) crowing for a wake up call.  A little early, but, the romanticism of it made up for the lack of sleep :-).  View of said winery from cubemate’s porch:

and then off to the coast!  i played a good friend’s wedding, and it was just a great event - awesome views, awesome food.  Had a hilarious pedicure experience - to sum it up, it took 2 hours (!) and by the end of the day it was ruined (and not because of something i did).  But, the woman who fit us into her schedule before the wedding sparked some incredibly random conversations and tried really hard.  ha.  Anyway, the music for the wedding went over well, and i met some great folks and hopefully made some new fans.

vogueing

  delicious steak

bad pedicure

and down the coast we go…  Highway 1 (PCH) never gets old, but carsickness does.  this was a familiar, and not good, look for me the next few days:

still made it safe and sound to Santa Cruz and played to a great crowd at The Crepe Place.  Thanks to the owner Adam (formerly of IOTA) and local songwriter Chrissy MacLean for helping put together a great show.  Can’t wait to go back and do it again.

getting distracted because Eddie Murphy “Party all the Time” is on the radio.  This is how it really goes down in the studio, folks.

Got to play a couple of great little songwriter showcases, hosted by former DC local Steve Key in San Luis Obispo (let’s just go with SLO) and Santa Margarita.  He has a great song about DC citizens not having a vote - I think it needs to get hooked up with the DC statehood campaign.  Anybody out there work with the campaign?

Stuck in the middle there was San Francisco.  Fantastic show in the Castro at Dolores Park cafe.  Lots of old faces and new ones too.  One of these being, after several sightings, the mascot of this tour - the Pomeranian.

The NoCal/SoCal social rivalry is a study.  Like a Civil War?  Not quite that extreme, but there are some strong feelings on either side.  I just take the best of both and say “I like California”.  Ever the politician.

So, the SoCal shows…  serious tour highlight at the Antelope Valley Thespians black box theater in Quartz Hill, CA.  Just a great night of really feeling connected with an audience - young/old, male/female, etc.  It is what I strive for every night - great touchstone to have from this tour moving forward.  Glad I made you think…

Another visit to Scripps College - this time coupled with the discovery of Yogurtland.  Can someone please open a franchise in DC?  Thanks.

A few days off in LA - gossip, sun, football, you know…

A few shows in the LA area - reconnecting with some longtime fans.  Hoping to work on developing this area a little better in the coming year.  To that end, I’ve got lots of work to do when I get back home to DC.  Planning my tour schedule for next year, getting back to these areas more strategically, all that good stuff.  Lots of progress made - still more to strive for.  Looking forward to it.  Speaking of…

Another wonderful house concert at the Keller/Potter residence.  Thank you so much!!!   Really fantastic audience - great to see a base expanding in Phoenix.  Thanks in so small part to the loyal fans I’ve got there…  apparently they heard about the mascot announcement…

Took a day to explore some of Arizona.  I have old ties to the state, and it was great to walk down memory lane a bit.  Sedona, Sedona…

And finally we come to last night in Tucson.  Another good crowd - really encouraging to see more and more folks out in these venues I’ve played before and feel my audience growing.  Hoping to put in much more hard work and see even more growth.

More on that next time.  Now it’s time to drive to Texas (Austin house concert Saturday night! - if you want to attend, please contact bridget@overtimerecords) and stay away from Mexico.

I spoke prematurely. Oregon is the new #1.

time for an update.  or a recap.  or jeez, at least a post!  there’s been a lack of time and internet connection that has affected my ability to blog.  i have the capability of blogging from my handheld, but i think my tendency to want to be completely and utterly thorough may hamstring me…  i’ll see if i can release my grip on myself in the coming weeks for the sake of more frequent blog entries.  or maybe not…  i am a firm believer of quality over quantity (and that’s what twitter is for right?  banality after annoying banality?)  so, just let me recount while i’m here…

hmm, where did i leave off?  oh yeah, chicago.  seeing one of my oldest friends is a serious perk that will always bring me back to this city.  got to see the first NFL game of the season and see rabid Blackhawks fans continue their Stanley Cup celebration with this massive Stanley Cup replica beer “dispenser”.

played for some new folks and moon high alums (punks, if you will). it’s a loving term.

on to sheboygan, wi.  everyone just seems to love to say that word.  sheboygan.  it is, in fact, a cute town, and the venue i play there is a great little oasis.  had an awesome surprise in seeing a friend from the law firm where i used to work.  wonderful to catch up.  he’s a constitutional law professor, as is his wife, so i got a little window into the current climate of the supreme court and recent high profile rulings.  maybe i’ll understand a bit more when i hear nina totenberg’s updates?  i don’t know, my retention level is suspect.

milwaukee provided one of the better soundbites of the tour so far…  “when i see your name i think, “pythagorean”.  hmmm.  i guess there are worse things?  nicest venue owner may go to the sugar maple, a beer connoiseur’s haven… 

iowa city!  home of corn!  i was struck by how really pretty this state is.  almost calming, all that corn.  was great to see a close friend who’s doing fantastically as the head coach of a division one sports team - inspiring to see a friend’s hard work and patience pay off.  i think i’ll be rooting for iowa any chance i get now, and not just because their colors are modeled after the steelers.  go hawkeyes!

iowa state’s “m shop” was a great little stop.  pretty campus.  i didn’t mention my allegiance to the hawkeyes during my set.  i think that was a good decision.  looking forward to going back there.  thanks for the hospitality, cyclones!

ah, colorado - if not for it’s mountains toward that western edge, it is close to looking just like iowa.  but it’s plains are for some reason not as picturesque.  maybe it was the weather.  anyway, the mountains do eventually come into view and so does the memory of really liking this city.  however, i have to admit, not as much as i do it’s neighbor, boulder.  i love boulder!  so much hiking and biking!  although i came to town unsuccessfully fighting a cold, i swear i could feel myself getting healthier (in a body, mind, spirit sort of way) at the first sight of mount sanitas.  met some great new friends and am already planning my trip back.  maybe it will be for longer… much longer…

at the summit (yes, i touched the pole!)

on the walk “home”

great shows in both towns, and lots of new followers scored.  thanks friends for puting in some elbow grease and putting butts in chairs.  i need butts in chairs, people!

a stroke of good fortune put me in jackson, wy next.  a wonderful host offered sage advice on exploring the area and a day/night of camping in grand teton national park ensued.  was amazing to be able to fit this into the tour schedule and have such great weather to do it.  yes it was on the chilier side, but, as long as the sun is out you can’t really go wrong by me.  cries of “where’s the wildlife?” were answered with jaw-dropping sightings of bison and elk.  no bear, which is probably best.  overused phrase of the day:  elk bugling.  more animal encounters actually happened in yellowstone (which is just up the street), but the tetons really were more interesting to me, so, i’m just going to give all credit to the GT.

jenny lake

the main attraction

missoula, missoula.  what’s happened to you?  maybe it was just the gloomy weather or the remnants of the flu bug (one must take every opportunity to use this moniker at the onset of upper respiratory distress, fever, or just general lousiness of feeling), or the fact that brad pitt and tom skerritt weren’t there.  but, i just didn’t feel the love for missoula this time around.  maybe i’ll give her another chance.  just not stay overnight. 

the never-ending mountains of montana made up for what it’s most liberal city was lacking in my eyes that day.  robert redford would apparently agree with me (see:  location).  montana = most beautiful state to me.  rolling hill after mountain after running river after rolling hill, hands down most picturesque state i’ve seen. 

no way that washington state beats out montana in my mind, unless you are just going to stay in coeur d’alene.  pretty stunning there - baba wawa thinks so too.  people that live there are apparently super proud of this - it is hard to find an establishment that doesn’t have coeur d’alene in it’s name.

off to gonzaga university for a great show at the crosby student center.  didn’t know bing crosby went to school here.  i don’t really know much about bing crosby but i think i should.  let’s learn together.  wow, ahead of the pope?  i digress…  great show here, playing for lots of enthusiastic undergrads (and grad students…  i know, you reeeally went out on a limb to come - thank you!) after being calmed by the tranquility of the impeccably manicured lawns on campus.  preshow, with bing:

more driving…  more subway sandwiches…  actually, let me stay here for a second.  i don’t know what happened, but i actually like subway now.  just the veggie delite (why forgo the “ight”?  maybe the “ite” subliminally influences my sandwich choice?).  but still, this is a huge turnaround.  i mean, we’re talking i couldn’t even walk past a shop in the past without commenting on how much i couldn’t stand it, and now i’m craving it?  maybe it’s the new breads?  my love of “the biggest loser”?  seriously, my mouth is watering right now.  ??!?!?!  sponsorship anyone?  really, i just want to work out with bob harper…  love his energy!

and now i’m in portland, oregon.  home of wonderful coffee.  i have definitely had some subpar offerings in the past couple weeks, and today’s espresso made up for them all.  really cool venue that i played here last night, albeit a little creepy.  the woods, a former funeral parlor (that’s done nothing to take your mind from this fact), turned into a great listening room.  there was a really crazy radio frequency bleed going on during the sound check…  every time i plugged in my amp (using an aer compact 60 for this tour and really liking it), soft voices seemed to emanate from the walls - first it was serious right wing radio, then came something that sounded like something from the 50s.  i don’t know which was scarier - the ignorance of the former, or the ghostly implications of the latter.  luckily the able soundperson (i’d say soundlady, but, i don’t want it to come off like “lady *insert_high_school_mascot_here*”…  anyway, now you know it was, in fact, a more than capable female) resolved the issue and a fun and relatively non-creepy time was had by all.

so, i’m all, err, you’re all caught up with what’s going on with me.  to sisters, oregon tomorrow (yes, that’s the name of a town) and bend, oregon on sunday…  then a couple days off and to california i go. 

It seems I’m going to miss Ribfest today in Chicago, unfortunately. This is only made up for by the recent discovery of this pizza the hut inspired artform.

I forgot about South Bend. Ohio, you may be spared your previously mentioned dubious distinction.

Sorry Ohio. You have made my list of “Top 5 least picturesque states”.

Getting to bed early before a long travel (and show) day tomorrow. Looking forward to getting started and seeing Madison for the first time in years. I’ve always loved the town but have never seen it without snow on the ground!

a shelf waiting to be installed

New blog for a new day. I’m excited to keep folks updated on my upcoming tour (and beyond) here.

Hitting the road on Tuesday to make it to the Chicago area for the first round of shows in Madison, Chicago, Milwaukee and Sheboygan. My past tours through these spots have been during the cold months, so, it will be a nice change to get some upper midwest warmth.

I still have lots to do before packing up the car and leaving DC behind!

Check the tour schedule to see when I’m coming through your area. If you’d like to help promote a show (in your area or an area where you know I’ll be travelling and you have friends), go to the show promotion page on my website to find a great new video to share and an editable flier to send out or post around.

Thanks for following and supporting!

lt