november 24th, 2009
loyal fans and new fan followers,
we’re in our final moments here in boston, and it’s been a really great visit. Thank you to Marrissa, Diane, Emma, Michael, and Amir for the Brooks Street love, to Tom and Carrie for the nicest stop we’ve had on the tour–I’ve never felt more welcomed, to John and his crew for having us over for the game. To John Harvards or whatever that restaurant was called that had 20 delicious wings for $4.00.
Boston is much prettier than I expected–it was my first time here and i was truly expecting a city much more like nyc or la, but instead i got a colonial town with a rich history, strong love of their sports teams, significant traffic (which WAS like nyc and la), and beautiful buildings everywhere. good job, boston!
we got to also go play pawtucket during our stay here, and that was great, too. thank you to marion for that one! we performed after the most interesting opening act i’ve ever seen. this guy, who was pretty much a prick to everyone coming in and our friends and fans, although to his credit he seemed like quite a loner to begin with, gets up on stage and starts playing acoustic music. okay, i think, this guy is just having a long day and i bet it feels good for him to finally get up there and perform (if you do not perform, try it! it feels so good). … well, the guy then breaks into his songs … go outside and find a groundhog. attach him to the back of a car and pull him down the street. shove a bull frog in his mouth. and then tons of hot peppers just so he has the worst stomach ache he’s ever had. don’t tell peta about this. that loud, horrible growling sound of death is exactly how this guy sang. to his credit, everyone is still talking about him today! and i’m writing about him, too, although i’m leaving his name off. he’s not on the billing. don’t worry about looking him up. just know he exists. so good job on that one. but holy shit was it the most terrible live act i’ve ever seen.
we also got to stop and play northeastern radio, which was a good time. thanks, marshall!
so now we head down to danbury to play cousin larry’s tonight, and then down to nyc before morning! which, if you know me, is exciting as i just absolutely love nyc!
i hope you are all well! more soon, my friends. more soon.
november 14, 2009
from burlington, vt, … what i believe to be one of the world’s most beautiful cities. it’s absolutely to die for–from the mountains and streams to the people, places, and shops, … it’s the world that america has forgotten. it’s untouched, for the most part, by the clutter and buzz that i’m so used to in cities like los angeles, but yet only an hour from montreal and a few more to boston. it’s all one could ask for. the fresh air surrounds you like your first steps into a swimming pool. just in time to warm up, and you are experiencing a coziness not unlike the late-night hours of a ski trip. for all it’s worth, this is by far one of my favorite places in the world today.
again and again, i’m so overtaken by the incredible warmth of the people we meet–people have understood, appreciated, and welcomed all that we have created in ways i never expected. it really makes things so wonderful, after months and months on top of years and years of such hard work, to have others fall in love with what we have done and to welcome us into their lives and their homes, … it’s truly remarkable and it is re-writing my feelings about america, replacing my pencil scribblings with bold, dark sharpie writing, using only one word, … “love.”
to continually travel to new cities each day is also a welcome change from my time in los angeles–spent so much behind a piano and laptop helping to make the wonderful tunes that are lemonwilde… so rarely finding time or opportunity to adventure out and melt into the city… to having to learn about each city through a wonderful trial by fire, finding streets, people, laundromats, stores, etc. each day is a little confusing (albeit delightfully), as time and location really don’t seem up to standing just 24 hour periods before a complete sea change.
thoughts also turn to the possibilities of the world, which is probably the best part of touring–when vast expansions of land and countries become your home, you see the world from such a larger perspective … los angeles is just minutes away and the furthest thing from here at the same time. it’s like zooming out on google maps and realizing you can fit an entire country onto one computer screen. but it’s real. the screen turns into your definition of home. and it opens up so many possibilities. possibilities that i not only plan, but will, capitalize upon as soon as possible.
let me see if i can give enough shoutouts here to cover everything, but i bet i forget some: mothball, lemonwilde, the guys at advance music in vermont, ross and company, kassie and the 114 crew (cheese, cheese, cheese) who knew damion was superman before anyone else, the fifth business, the monkey house, mbmg, the silver dollar, melissa parrott and london indie, brother through glass, la quinta off of 89 in vermont, burger king, ross in montreal, the green room, charlie o’s, becky, jenn @ stix, stix, rob, sarah, emily, deb amd gary, dali’s ghost, lydia, courtney, abby, ken, jerry, algonquin college, those girls that came back to buy a cd just cause they heard our soundcheck and couldn’t resist, sarah in burlington doing a great job being an actress, jeff from shapes of state, peanut brittle, the loft, kevin and the boathouse, mack and aseon, roydin and the imports crew, the eatons, the know-nothings, the last names, linty fresh, arka, suburban riot, goodjoe, blackeyed tees,exact science, chuck schneider, the rosewoods, olga @ shadyside for helping me realize some really important things about life, montreal for teaching me to remember how wonderful the stuff i have actually is, blue mics, performer magazine, ben hardt, the rex, jeff furman, jason black, colette kooper, james brion, and the rest of goldfish, everyone who came to any show, the merch guys who helped us so much get everything together, the leather blow-out sale people that provided me this great bomber hat, the penguins hockey team, and a few other people who will remain nameless because you are the little bit of a private life that i have and i want to not share absolutely everything i am with the world… but you know exactly how thankful i am for you and what you mean to me. i’m sure i’ve forgotten a lot. my mind remembers things in blocks. i’ll give more shoutouts as the new block loads up next time.
okay, i gotta catch the ride to stowe mountain resort and go rock the fuck out of the matterhorn.
november 8th, 2009
well, our run of non-stop shows has finally shown a break in the clouds, and i sit in kingston, ont, at a sports bar … surrounded by televisions playing american football games and watching a few people who obviously have money on these games cause they are talking to the televisions as if they were on the field. granted, the televisions are big and it can be confusing. 
canada so far has been both absolutely wonderful and absolutely exhausting (physically, not mentally) and i love it. in canada, our connection to the outside world is a little bit cut off–phone calls are rather expensive, for example, and not everywhere has internet (right now i have it just briefly), so it’s an interesting approach. no outside contact from loved ones, three guys in a van traveling (eating when we can, sleeping in the van when needed), listening to fuzzy AM talk radio channels etc. it’s so post-apocalyptic. so wonderfully post-apocalyptic. we just need a cannon mounted to our van, mothball. oh and once every night we play a great rock and roll show to very supportive people that help me remember so much exactly why i got into this in the first place.
so… now, as we pack up and head to ottawa, i need sleep. and i will dream of you, my loved ones, and all the wonderful shows we still have left. and free healthcare in america. i’ll dream about all of you being really healthy at a huge concert of ours and we just play and love and dance until the sun again meets the sky. that’s what i’ll do. in mothball. during a quasi-post-apocalyptic drive across the fields of southern canada. freedom.
november 7th, 2009
hello streetsville. this town is immediately out of some christmas story… such a great little place. the town has a real character, and we’re about to play in just a little bit…
toronto was a blast. thanks to akira and brett and MBMG for such a great time–it was a wonderful show with the darlings of chelsea joining us, too, and the afterparty was great, if not exhausting. the city was par the course, as i’ve been there when i was younger and it was just as great as it’s always been.
i had this great idea to write about the good and bad of touring, and unless you want to hear about being a little tired and a little hungover, i don’t have any deep insights at this point, other than Canada is really, really wonderful.
cats make me itch,
ter
november 6th, 2009
we’re about to play at the silver dollar and i just wanted to tell everyone how wonderful this whole tour has been. canada has been incredible to us, and the fans and people we’ve met will last a lifetime. thank you!
a special thank you goes out to melissa, rob, sarah, emily, deb.
ter
november 4th, 2009
space race 2009 has been truly incredible. so many things i never expected, and most of all my world is just so much bigger. we’ve gotten to meet great people in every city, and the kindness of others is overwhelming. the list is already significant–from the ghost crew in buffalo to deb and the nomads of barrie to rob, sarah and emily here in kitchener … and so many others, we just keep running into people that you’d never expect to meet but, once having met them, cannot understand how you thought you knew the world before this moment. what used to be names on a map are now warm faces and memories i’ll never forget–and for this, this is by far the greatest part of touring.
of course, i cannot skip mentioning the scenery, the people, the other bands (everyone from the last names to dali’s ghost to the shape of states), venues, animals (deer abound), music, the band itself, etc. i just love it all. it’s incredible, and i am so glad this is going to continue and continue and continue and continue and continue for many years ahead. the road is beautiful, and so inviting.
we’ll be playing kitchener tonight, london tomorrow, toronto on friday, streetsville on saturday, and so on. you can always stop by the myspace or look up the tour dates on the website to see where we’re playing and be sure to come down and check out a show.
i’ll write a lot more here in a little bit, but we have a soundcheck to hit up and the road is again calling.
ter