I Flew...

From here...


To Here...


So there.

Signs Of The Apocalyse

This is what listening to the radio makes me feel like...


I can't believe that this is still their logo. I mean, come on, at least pretend to give a shit about the planet that you want to dump red paint all over. "Cover the Earth" it says. Fuck you.


And what is there to do at midnight on the outskirts of Indianapolis? Walk to the Wal-Mart "supercenter" for clean socks and undies...


This is simultaniously what's great and so wrong about America...

From Music Hell To Music City

Sunrise over Austin airport...



I've been kind of obsessing on older music lately, mostly the 50s Sun Records stuff. All that music- the first (and best) recordings by Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and a bunch of other more obscure artists- was recorded in the same room by one guy. I really wanted to visit the studio when the Strokes were in Memphis but basically slept thru my window to do so. Now, as we move from Austin to Atlanta to Nashville, it all seems like a perfect soundtrack for this part of the country. I'm also reading Cash, the autobiography of Johnny Cash, so that adds to the overall aesthetic. The book is amazing, just JC speaking plainly yet profoundly about his life & career. I had to struggle not to weep openly on the plane when I was reading about when Roy Orbison lost 2 of his sons shortly after the death of his wife. Poor Roy. Such a rough life for such a good man.

So anyway, after a few hours rest at the hotel after the Blender party, we got to the airport in Austin just in time for sunrise. I hadn't slept at all. Most everyone else had slept a couple hours, which I think was worse. I'm much better at staying up all night than getting up after a few hours sleep. We flew to Atlanta and took a van straight to the gig. The bus wasn't there yet so we went to Whole Foods for food. It's always a treat if there's a Whole Foods walking distance from the gig. It was a cool but nice day in Atlanta. The sky looked like this as the day faded...


Another show came and went and we rolled off into the night towards Nashville. Being on tour for so many years I've come to develop a strange relationship with the Great American Night. It's a whole other world going on out there while everyone else sleeps. The sights, smells, sounds and especially the people of a truck stop at 3am somewhere outside Memphis, Tennessee or Davenport, Iowa take you a long way towards understanding America. Maybe I hyper-romanticize it. I did read a lot of Kerouac when I was younger. Still, there's something about it that makes me feel at once like I belong here yet totally alienated, much like America as a whole. And so, after another night spent flying across middle America, I awoke in Nashville. Music City. Home of the Opry. Strange then that we had my least favorite show of the tour there. As complaining about venues and such can't make for interesting reading, I'll skip that part. We did the show and went to sleep at the hotel.

Downtown Nashville, just before a rain...


We had a day off in Nashville so I walked downtown with Bri. Downtown Nashville (or at least the 'Music Row' part) is lined with historic bars (all of which have live music ALL the time-including 4pm on Monday) and record stores and such. The Ryman is right there which is where the Grand Ole Opry was for years. We checked out Ernest Tubb's record shop which I think must be the site of the first ever 'Instore performance'. They've been doing the 'Midnight Jamboree' there since 1947 and it's still going. On Saturday nights, after the Opry ended, various folks would go across the street to Tubb's and play on the little stage in the back and it was broadcast on the radio. That little stage has seen the likes of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn and countless others. It was pretty cool to see it. It's still going on every saturday on WSM 650am only now you can also listen online. Ah, progress.

Ernest Tubb's...


Across from Ernest Tubb's is Gruhn Guitars, a pretty famous guitar shop that I like to visit whenever I'm in town. I've never bought anything there but it's always fun to gawk. They have a ton of sweet, vintage guitars.


This time I was in the mood to buy something. I actually went there in hopes I'd find something I liked that I could afford. There were about 12 guitars I could've easily walked out of there with but this one spoke to me...


It's a 1955 Gibson ES-225. And it's mine. Defintely one of the best purchases I've made in ages. It sounds great without even plugging it in. It's the first guitar I've bought in 10 years which is strange given how much time I've spent drooling over them. It looks amazing with it's perfectly cracked finish and classic sunburst. It seems apt to have bought it in Nashville. And so, new baby in hand, we were off to Indianapolis. A darkness looms...

Deep In The Heart

It's 4am Saturday morning. In 3 hours we leave to fly to Atlanta. I can't wait to get out of Texas. Can. Not. Wait. We flew into Dallas and did a show at the Gypsy Tea Room.


Albert loads in
It's in the 'cool' part of Dallas known as Deep Elum. While I concede that it is the 'cool' part of Dallas, it's still one of the most depressing places I've ever been. Every time I come here it makes me question my career choice. We watched some really ominous clouds blow in over the city and bring a massive thunderstorm.


We did the gig and the bus rolled to Houston. Possibly my least favorite city ever.
Richard has taken to buying stuffed animals for the bus. The teal bunny is the softest. It gives Richard solace as we close in on Houston...

The Houston venue was the worst so far. A nasty little room with crap gear in a grey, industrial section of what seemed to be Chinatown. It was pouring rain all day & night. The slideout of the bus leaked and a whole side of the front lounge got soaked.


I woke up with a lot of neck & shoulder pain and had a hard time being up & about trying to work. Then, while going to the bus for more meds, I tried to run thru the rain and tweaked something in my shoulder. I spent the next hour or so in periodic bouts of painful muscle spasms that were causing weird, involutary contortions. I took 2 percocets which got me thru the show but that basically left me high & nauseous for the show. I was glad when it was over and felt good about putting Dallas & Houston behind us.

We've spent the last 2 days in Austin for the South By Southwest music festival. While I have to say that everything went pretty smooth and that all in all it was a much better experience than I've had here previously, I still consider SXSW to be one of the darker circles of hell. It's basically this one week every year when all the underlings and minions of the music business get sent to Austin to 'network' and 'scout talent'. This basically translates to thousands of 20-something, pseudo-hip, fame-worshipping posers getting shitfaced and parading their credentials around like badges of honor while they force virtually every band in the world to come play in every kind of makeshift, shithole venue to entertain them. Interns feel important. The 47 'next-big-things' dress up in a homogenous, ridiculous emulation of the latest East Village fashions. Vapid groupie girls stumble around in absurd heels and show off the hottest in rock-skank chic. All the lamest elements of the music business are all in one place at the same time. And forget actually trying to see any music. Anything worth a shit will be at best a pain in the ass to get into and the crowds are all industry wanks so they give nothing back to the bands, who usually proceed to fake their way thru as short a set as possible so they can get the hell out of there. And now, after having finished our 2am slot at the Blender party, that's exactly what we'll do. At 7am we're off to catch a flight to Atlanta where we play a show tomorrow. Sleep is for the weak.

6th Street, Austin, SXSW


Filming an acoustic session for Yahoo

The enthusiasm was palpable

Space was so tight we had to pack Richard in the back with the gear...

Ron Gantles, Mgr.

The coveted SXSW badge...

Rocky Mountain High

Colorado: Day 1
We flew in from SF in the evening and Matt & I, having decided to skip the 900 mile drive to Dallas and spend a couple nights in Boulder instead, picked up a rental car and drove to the hotel in Denver. After resting up a bit we went with Albert to dinner at one of the best Japanese restaurants I've ever been to. It was easily one of the best meals I've had and we left stuffed and sleepy. Not a bad way to land.


Colorado: Day 2
Yesterday was the first day that I was hit with a bout of tour depression. We started the day with a drive to Boulder to do a radio session in the afternoon. It went smooth but the weather was getting pretty ominous by the time we headed back to Denver for the show. By the time we got there it was pissing down rain and cold. After a frustrating sound check spent trying to make the best of a shit venue I set out to eat my first meal of the day (at 7pm). The only thing around the venue was an Irish pub and I had a rental car so I set off to find food. After driving around the most bleak industrial areas of Denver for 20 minutes, I gave up and went back to the bus where I made a sandwich of muenster cheese and potato chips. I think this is pretty much when I felt a million miles from anywhere I actually wanted to be. The fact that I'm still having serious pain in my neck and back is starting to wear on my spirits a bit too. Anyway, the gig went ok but I was glad it was done with. Matt & I had to drive to Boulder to check into our hotel there but Matt was wanting to hang out in Denver for a while to have some drinks. A friend was in town for a DJ party but that ended before we could get there so we ended up meeting them at some after hours party. We found the place in one of the previously mentioned bleak industrial areas and was in some dilapadated garage type space. When we tried to get in there was a bit of a weird vibe with the door guys and we started to get a sense that this wasn't someplace we were exactly comfortable. The friend who brought us here is Danny Masterson who, as one of these guys deftly pointed out, is "that smart-ass mutha fucka from That 70s Show". This combined with Albert being "that dude from the Strokes" managed to secure us entry without paying the cover so, in we went. It immediately became one of those "what the fuck are we doing here?" kind of things. The place looked like some sort of hip-hop squat house. The first room had a makeshift kitchen and a bunch of weird people hanging around. We were told there was a keg in the back so we went thru the next room which was a big open room with a small stage where there was some local hip hop crew spouting a bunch of bullshit to a lackluster crowd of 20 or so people. Thru there was a weird garage type place with the keg. We stood around taking in this bizarre glimpse of the Denver underground, feeling vaguely uncomfortable and drinking nasty keg beer. After a half-hour or so I managed to initiate our departure and Matt & I were off to Boulder.


Colorado: Day 3
It's been a long time since I spent any time in the mountains. I spent a couple winters living in the Rockies in Colorado, working shit jobs and snowboarding most every day. It was probably the healthiest I've ever been in my life and I loved living amidst such grandiose scenery, but work called me back east to Vermont and I haven't spent much time in the Rockies since. Today we drove up thru Estes Park and into the Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped for breakfast along the way at some little 'family restaurant' where I had the worst restaurant experience ever. It was similar in some ways to the squat house party. A bizarre scene which I wanted out of as soon as I walked in. Some moronic teen ager was our waiter and literally got everything wrong. When I sent my breakfast burrito back because it was wrong, they gave me another one that had nothing but potatoes in a tortilla. We left an $0.11 tip.
A lot of the park was closed but we still got to do a good bit of driving on some amazing scenic roads. Saw some elk and some mountains then headed back to Boulder for another great dinner. Tomorrow we fly to Dallas for a night off there before the gig on Tuesday. We're looking at a week straight of madness, mostly in Texas. I don't want to sound negative or anything, but I fucking hate Texas. Yes, even Austin. Austin only seems cool relative to the rest of Texas, but that's not saying much.

Poor BK

I did some touring with Ben Kweller a few years back. I really liked his music and he's a super nice guy. The bass player in Albert's band was BK's bass player then and he showed me BK's new video which he filmed himself. It consists solely of his 80-something year old grandmother dancing to his song in the fitness room at her condo in Florida. You can see it here. Scroll down to Ben Kweller on the list on the right. It's amazing.

While I was looking on YouTube for this video I came across this guy doing covers of 2 of BK's songs including what I think is his best song (In Other Words). If I ever had to bear witness to somebody doing to one of my songs what this kid does to Ben's, I would shed a thousand tears in mourning.

Wonder Why In LA

The west coast portion of the tour has come and gone. The show in LA was the highlight so far. It was at the El Rey which is a really nice room with lots of big red velvet curtains and chandeliers. It was sold out and, as is usually the case at Strokes-type events, well-attended by celebrities of various levels. Dustin Hoffman & Borat were the only ones I really got a kick out of. Fab & Nick came down so it was a bit of a reunion. The show went really well and there was an afterparty at Cinespace which was a madhouse club scene. Nothing makes me feel old & lame like a packed dance club. I always wonder why people try so hard to get past that velvet rope just to be crammed into a dark room that's so loud you can't converse with anyone and get charged $12 for a drink. I wonder why...

The next day we did an instore at Amoeba records which, while a pain in the ass, went pretty well too. Afterwards I jumped in a cab and barely made a flight home to SF where I got to spend 2 nights at home while we did a gig at Popscene. I hate Popscene. That's all I'll say about that.


I had a bizarre experience while I was riding the 5 Fulton bus home from downtown the other day. I was listening to my iPod so I missed some of it, but basically this woman, not a crazy looking woman but a normal looking, middle-aged Asian woman, stood up at the front of the bus and asked all the people in the front to tell her whether she should "go ahead and go away or, you know, stay alive". I missed when she explained whatever it was that motivated this question so I wasn't ready to yell out "stay alive!" but some woman sort of meekly gave her this advice. Then after a minute a youngish (late 20s?) hip-looking black man went and sat next to her and talked to her for the rest of the ride. I felt glad that someone had stepped up and given this woman a little bit of humanity and couldn't help but wonder what her story was and what he was saying to her. And I couldn't help but think that that guy might've saved her life. Maybe that's a bit dramatic, but maybe not. I also found myself wondering if anyone would've reached out like that if the same scene had played out on a NYC subway. Regardless, it was a surreal bus ride, even for SF, which provides no lack of surrealistic moments.

So anyway, now I'm in Denver. After a couple days here we're looking at a week in Texas, including 2 days in Austin for the SXSW festival. If it's anything like my last experience there, I'll be venting about it here soon enough.

Bring Out The Gimp

Another week and a half has passed since 'the taxi incident' and I find myself on a tour bus flying down I-5 towards LA. I'm 2 shows (Seattle & Portland) into a 5 week tour with Albert Hammond, Jr. I've worked with Albert for a few years with the Strokes and Matt 'DJ Ro-Ro' Romano is playing drums (as opposed to his usual role of drum tech/shit magnet with the Strokes) so it's good times. It's a fun band to mix and it's good to be out of the house. Actually, everyone on board on this tour is pretty agreeable to be around. Even legendary mad-bastard Brian 'Machine Gun' Dunn has been well-behaved. We'll see how long that lasts.
If was smart I probably would be at home resting and going to physical therapy and generally attending to the process of healing. Of course I'm too hardcore for all that. My injuries are making progress but slowly. I'm definitely noticing the toll being on the road is having on my body already but I'm hoping if I take it easy I can suck it up long enough to heal up properly.
Wish me luck.