Hey, friends! I just thought I'd update everyone that hasn't been on our tour route about what we've been up to on this month! It has been a great time of music and friends, if not a complete whirlwind. Today is actually day 25 on the road, enjoying this van/tour life.
Things started off in Michigan way back on September 29th (although planning started months before of course). We picked up our merch and lovingly packed up the drum kit that was gifted to us by friends (below), packed a few carry-ons, a lunch cooler and a laptop and loaded the van. Dylan and I did a little bon-voyage acoustic show that night and sold Koozies to raise money for hurricane Harvey victims, which we gave to friends in San Angelo, TX. They are putting the money to good use with no middle man in the Port Aransas area. Thank you to everyone that shared the evening with us and purchased Koozies!
From there we made our way down to Dallas with 3 stops along the way including a live recording in Saint Louis (which we will be wrapping up on our way back home). We also were able to stop in Springfield/Riverton, IL and perform for some of the kindest people anywhere. Besides hosting a great show for us, they loaded us up with supplies of snacks, gift cards for coffee, and adult drinks!
We picked up our bassist, GS, at the airport in Dallas the afternoon of the 2nd and headed out to Amarillo to rehearse with our drummer, Marcus, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning after our show there. We stopped for about 5 hours to sleep in Wichita Falls and used the rest of Wednesday for rehearsal.
Thursday morning marked the start of the full band portion of our tour as we headed to San Angelo for Rockin The Ranch (in support of the West Texas Boys Ranch). Just 5 more hours in the van! It was a great honor to share the stage again with the super talented Jason Eady and his beautiful wife Courtney Patton on Saturday. They are on fire and breaking onto the national scene. All the other bands there were stellar. We also performed at the VIP Sponsor party for Rockin the Ranch on Thursday and Friday for a private party.
The San Angelo paper wrote up our return for Rockin the Ranch which was really humbling with all the great talent on hand that weekend. I love overhearing people talk about us as their own - San Angelo/Detroit band. Indeed, we are truly treated like family and made to feel so welcome by Toni, Phyllis, Bug, and even the newly elected Mayor Brenda along with so many others. And it doesn't hurt to have one of the best pedal steel players around join our band for each visit - Mr Leon Langley.
We fit in as much time as we could catching up with friends and found the time to visit our favorite Icehouse in Texas and Baker over at Blaine's Pub, as well as an appearance at a local TV station.
Sunday we bid farewell and headed to Austin for a 6pm show at the Whitehorse. If you have not been to the Whitehorse in Austin it is definitely worth your attention. Any night is a great night for music there. It was so great to catch up with friends we haven't seen a while and meet people we've only known on social media. Special thanks to Howdy from Palomino Shakedown as well for having us back there!
By day 9, Dylan and I have had 8 shows and a rehearsal under our belts and have traveled over 2,000 miles. Dylan is always behind the wheel, no matter how long the drive. We are always up between 6-7am for breakfast and then I cram in work on my laptop while he gets a little extra shut eye. I get the rest I need in the van. At this point everything has gone way more smoothly than we could have hoped. Nothing short of miraculous (and some OCD planning). The cherry on top is an actual day off in Austin! After getting a little work done in the morning, we spent the afternoon on South Congress and met up with fellow musician Rodney Henry (Food Network/Dangerously Delicious Pies) over at Saxon Pub. In the evening Dylan and I checked out some more music and hung out with super talented Bo Porter. A great way to wrap up the first leg of our tour.
On deck, Louisiana, Florida and more Texas!
