Today just feels like a good writing day. So I guess I’ll just dive in and try to catch you up on what’s been going on the past few weeks. It has been a lot. I might be here a while writing. Right now it is Sunday afternoon about 1pm. We have a show at 6, so hopefully I can get this done and sent out before then; we shall see.
I think last time I wrote was on my birthday. Let’s pick up from there.
We left the following day and headed toward Duluth,
MN. We had been home for ten days prior
to leaving, so I had gotten used to sleeping in my own bed again. I say that to say this: the first night of a
tour is always the worst night’s sleep for me.
I just about get used to sleeping in my own bed for a couple nights,
then we head back out and I’m in another shitty hotel bed again; with a
different pillow too. Every time we
leave for another tour, I can’t sleep that first night. I think I was up until past 5am, just tossing
and turning and trying to force my brain to shut down. I have that problem anyway: getting my brain
to shut off at the end of the night. It’s
bad enough after a show trying to calm my body down enough to get to sleep; but
there are also times when I can’t shut my brain down. It’s worse when I have a lot of stuff that
needs to be done the next day. But the
worst of all is that first night back on the road. So there it is: if you’re looking at our
schedule and see that we’re back on the road after being home for several days,
you can just assume that if it is late night I’ll be up and pissed off that I can’t
fall asleep.
So we made it up to Duluth and played the shows that
weekend. It was a fun club. Friday night was packed and just an insane
party. I love those kind of nights; like
I’ve said before, those are the easy nights.
A packed house is the easiest one for me to entertain.
But anyway, we played there Friday and Saturday
nights. As we were loading out on
Saturday night after the show two things happened that just made me want to
shake my head. Let me set up the first
one here: the club is downtown with only street parking. So as we loaded out, we just have our van
pulled up on the curb out in front of the club.
At some point as I walked out with some of our gear to load it in the
van, I noticed a guy standing in front of our van, urinating. Remember, this is downtown and he’s standing
in the street, just concealed by the front of our van. Really??? He couldn’t find a better place to
relieve himself? It had to be right
there in front of our van? I would have
loved for a police officer to drive by at that moment. And at least he didn’t pee ON the van. Then we would have been forced to do
something about it. It just makes you
wonder what people are thinking though.
The door to the club was still open, he could have taken the five extra
seconds to go back inside and find the men’s room. But no, he had to whip it out right in front
of our van instead. Thanks pal.
The second thing that happened at the end of the
night I thought was even more ridiculous though. As we got in the van after we loaded out to go
back to the hotel, we noticed a guy walking down the sidewalk by himself. I say walking, but what I mean is stumbling
and barely able to stand up. Yes, that
messed up. You know how it looks when a
guy is swaying back and forth and it looks like they’re going to fall but never
do? It was just like that. And then he would drop his cell phone. Picking it up was the biggest chore for him. It was actually kind of funny for a
minute. And then he stumbled out into
the street and just stood in the middle of the road for a while. We couldn’t in good faith just leave him standing
in the street, so we tried to convince him to get back on the sidewalk. None of us actually went over to help walk
him back over though; I don’t think any of us wanted to get too close to
him. He eventually did finally get back
onto the sidewalk and we were able to safely get on our way without running the
extremely drunk guy over. I guess my
question is this: who let him get that messed up? I would hope that he wasn’t continuing to be
served drinks in that condition throughout the night. I would like to think people are more
responsible than that. Maybe it was a
combination of booze and drugs, who knows.
But then again, where are his friends who should be looking after him
and not letting it get to that point? It
was just sad to see someone that messed up and all alone. I hope he made it home safely that night and
didn’t get run over. Or more
importantly, I hope he didn’t get behind the wheel and try to drive. He wouldn’t have made it one block.
Anyway, that was the end of our weekend in Duluth: a
guy urinating in front of our van, and another guy so messed up he could barely
stand.
From there we went to Fargo for a show Sunday night
at a club called the Windbreak. I really
enjoy this club, and we got some really good feedback from the management that night,
so we are hoping to make that one of our regular stops as we traverse back and
forth across the country in the future.
After that night we had a few days off before our next show. I was both nervous and excited about the next
show though, because it involved something I hardly ever get to do anymore:
play an acoustic set.
That show was in Proctor, MN. I used to do acoustic shows a lot more often
early in my career, and at the time felt very comfortable on stage by
myself. But after touring for the past
several years and being on stage only in the company of a full band, I find
myself intimidated when I am on stage alone with just a guitar. In some aspects it is really fun for me and I
have the opportunity to play a lot of music I normally do not get to play
otherwise. On the flip side of that, I
am so used to having my guys on stage with me that it is nerve racking to be up
there by myself. It can be very lonely
when all the lights and everyone’s eyes are on you and there is no one else on
stage to help take some of that focus.
It also leaves me feeling very exposed; both as a singer and guitar
player. With mine being the only
instrument on stage, it is up to me to make it sound good. And let me be pretty honest here, I’m not a
very good guitar player. With other
musicians on stage, I can hide that fact and make up for it with being more of
a showman. But when it is just me and my
guitar, all those flaws and shortcomings come to the forefront. There’s no hiding poor guitar playing when I’m
the only one playing an instrument. That
makes me very self-conscious. But for
all the insecurities I have about being up there by myself, it is still fun to
just be on stage singing and playing. And
like I said, it is always fun to get to play songs I don’t normally get to
do. Being an Indiana boy, it is nice to
be able to throw in some old John Cougar every once in a while. I think I even played a Pearl Jam song that
night (who you know from reading past entries is my favorite band). I also was able to try out a new song I had
written on that crowd. It seemed to go
over pretty well, so maybe it will end up on the next album. Overall it was a fun experience, and I hope
to start to get to play some acoustic shows a little more often.
You know, if I’m being completely open and honest
here, which I always try to be when writing, the one disappointing thing for me
was that the rest of the band didn’t come out and watch the acoustic show and
support what I was doing. I get it, they
wanted to just relax at the hotel before the show and all that, but it would
have been nice to have them there too.
After my two hour acoustic show, we then had a three
hour show as a full band. So total for
the night was five hours of stage time for me; which turned out to not be so
bad. But then, at the end of our show,
the crowd there was still dancing and partying and not ready to leave, so the
manager asked if we’d keep playing for an extra hour. By this point I was exhausted (both
physically and vocally), but was feeling good enough and getting a great vibe
from the crowd, so I was open to the idea.
Except that we also had an 11 hour drive to the next night’s show. So because I had already been on stage for 5
hours, and we had such a long drive the next day and had to get up so early, we
decided not to play extra that night.
That is the first time I’ve ever refused to keep playing when
asked. We could have kept going, and
part of me wanted to. But it was just
too much with such a long drive the next day.
Sometimes sleep has to be factored in as well so we can put on our best
show the next night too. As much as I
like to live in the moment like that, I also have to think about the shows
ahead of us and the crowds in those towns too.
It wouldn’t have been fair to the two more shows we had coming up the
next couple days to burn ourselves out that night and not get enough sleep
before such a long day of traveling. I
hated that I said no to performing for another hour. I hope the manager understood why we wouldn’t
do it. But more importantly I hope the
audience understood why we couldn’t.
On Saturday night we found ourselves in a similar situation:
the crowd was still there and having a great time and the owner of the club
asked us to keep playing. The difference
this time was that we didn’t have another show to be at the next day. This time we had a 24 hour drive home the
next day. But, I just couldn’t refuse to
play more music two nights in the same week, so we agreed to play an extra 45
minutes at the show on Saturday night.
It hurt pretty badly the next morning when we woke up early to head
home, but it was worth it to make both the owner and the audience happy. I’m glad we all wanted to play extra that
night. That night was also our last show
with Steve as our drummer, so I guess now is the time to discuss that. I have received tons of emails and questions
about what happened, et cetera, so I’ll use this forum and do my best to
explain.
Let me start by saying this: I like Steve a
lot. He added some great things to our
band. He is an incredible singer, a
great drummer, and has more road and main stage experience than most
people. When he joined our band a year
and a half ago, he instantly made us a better band. We were tighter on stage, and our vocal
ability went through the roof with both he and Kevin backing me up. All that being said, we had some internal
issues that couldn’t be resolved any other way, so in the end we had to make
the difficult decision to let Steve go.
We didn’t want to; like I said, he was definitely a huge asset to this
band. Ultimately, there comes a time
when you have to do what you feel is right for the music, the fans, and this
band overall. Those are the reasons: we
had to make a choice for what we ultimately felt was the best solution for us
as a group; for our fan base who have been (and continue to be) so loyal and
supportive of what we’re trying to do; and for the music. So that is what we felt was the best for all
those things.
Steve is great.
He will thrive in whatever he does.
We already have plans to work with him in some other capacities as we
all move forward.
And while I choose not to discuss the specifics of
our reasons or decisions regarding Steve, I hope that as a fan base you are
confident that I will always do whatever I feel is right to put out the best
product that I can; to always do what’s best for our music and our
followers.
Having said all that, it is time to formally
introduce the newest member of the band, Mike Carson from Indianapolis,
IN. I’ve already dubbed him ‘Other Mike’
so we don’t get confused with two Mikes in the band; but I don’t think he likes
that name very much. I’ll work on it,
but right now it is just fun for me to call him that. Mike actually reminds me somewhat of Josh (at
least in the respect of when he first joined the band): he has a lot of
experience playing locally and regionally around Indiana, but has never been in
a full on touring band situation like this before. He has a lot of excitement about what we’re
doing and is full of anticipation to get acclimated into the band and life on
the road. He also has an overwhelming passion
for music, and the desire to be successful.
All of these remind me so much of Josh’s first few weeks in the
band. Also, for such short notice, Mike
came into the band very prepared. He
worked hard to make sure he was comfortable with the songs we were playing, and
has even learned some of our original material as well (which you know makes me
very happy). Btw, so far he says he
likes ‘Rowdy’ and ‘Show a Little Skin’ the best out of our collection. For live shows, I agree with him. Anyway, after we get all the bugs worked out
and get comfortable playing together, I think Mike will be a great addition to
our group. He already brings this palpable
energy to the stage by the way he plays drums that I know our fans will notice
at the shows.
So for all of you out there, when we come to your
town again soon, I hope that you will come up and introduce yourself to him and
welcome into the MDB family. I also hope
that you’ll agree that we made the right choice in hiring him.
(MIKE CARSON)
By the way, it is tough and nerve racking to come
into a band like this on such short notice; but then to have your first show on
Halloween too, where we are expected to dress up on stage had to be even
worse. Mike handled it like a champ
though and played along. I don’t like
dressing up for Halloween; it is just not my thing. We all did this year though, and I really
appreciated that he was a good sport about it since it was his first every show
with us.
(HALLOWEEN COSTUMES)
Quick side note that I want to share: last night
there were some people at our show who have been coming to see us play for the
past 5 years whenever we’re around. We
aren’t in the area often, but whenever we are they show up without fail. Here’s the cool thing and what I want to
share: I didn’t email them or send any kind of message to let them know we were
playing here this weekend; they told me they knew because they follow our
schedule. After all this time, they
still continue to look at our schedule to see when we’ll be close enough for
them to make a show. For me that is
really special. They have so much fun at
our shows that they seek us out and stay on top of our schedule to know when we’re
going to be close enough. That really
makes me feel like we’re at least on the right path with what we’re trying to
do with this band and the music. As long
as we can continue to gain fans like that that get excited for us to be back in
town, then I know we’ll eventually get to where we are trying to go with this
thing.
A few more things and then I’ll wrap this up.
First: we have new T-shirts available at our shows
now. We have added a different color to
our ‘logo’ unisex shirts, and have also added a female cut ‘logo’ shirt to
replace the ‘Rowdy’ shirts that we recently discontinued. Make sure you pick up a new T-shirt at the
next show!
Second: at the end of the last ‘journal entry’ I discussed
an old song that a fan had asked me about called “Somewhere North Of Tennessee”. I went back and actually found the recording
of it, as well as some other songs I had recorded several years ago before we
started touring. I think I’ll put a few
of them on I-TUNES soon so that you all have access to some of my older music
as well. I was listening to them this
morning, and was surprised by how much I still enjoyed listening to some of
those early songs of mine. So stay
tuned, and in a few weeks I’ll put one up on I-TUNES and see what you all think
about it. If we get enough downloads
from the first one, maybe the next month I’ll add a second and third song as
well. Since it is my earlier writing, it
will be interesting for you to see how my song writing has evolved from then
until now. I can already say this: back
then I was writing much more personal material; I did not think so much about
the commercial aspect of my music back then.
So anyway, look for that coming up in a few weeks.
I guess that’s about it for me for this entry. Like always, here is my self-promotion:
Again, if you already ‘Like’ our Facebook fan page
and already ‘Follow’ us on Twitter, take a few minutes to share us with your
friends. It only takes a few minutes,
and helps us more than you know. You really
do make a difference that way.
Also, if you haven’t already, go to the top of this
page right now and sign up to receive automatic email updates when I post a new
entry.
That’s all for now.
I hope to see you at a show soon.
Be safe out there.
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