A recap from a while ago.

It's been a busy one, as usual...and I've been remiss on making videos or even filming much. Here's some random bits from October and early November...more coming soon! Promise.

Yak Yak Yak

Katie took this shot of Dan and I both holding our elbows at 93 degree angles chatting in the car. No, we weren't talking to each other.

JP Project No. 3

Whew. Dan, Katie, and I are back in our respective places tonight in Austin after a fun and whirlwind trip back to the homeland. Albuquerque, while gorgeous year-round, is especially gorgeous in the fall. Leaves actually change color there, and I got to wear a hoodie a lot. Woot! Our annual house concert that my business partner Josh and I organize was a great time...we can't believe it's the 3rd year we've pulled this off. We're getting streamlined with it and Josh is pretty awesome about organizing a party for 60 people. I was so glad to see everyone and catch up with everyone's lives. It's also neat to catch everyone up on my life in Austin and to introduce them to some of my favorite Texans, too. Dan packs me in. Three people. Six guitars. We all fit! Breathe in and buckle down. Making good time. A little pre-show gathering. Dan and Katie discuss...coffee? Katie was the awesomest Merch Girl ever. Look at that display. So I'm full on mom's rhubarb pie and some green chile as well (not at the same time). Good stuff. If you were there, thanks for coming! If you're in Albuquerque and want to come next year, let me know. Who knows who will show up as the special guest. This is another busy week...Friday brings the Life's A Song Workshop weekend with Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines. SO. EXCITED. I happen to have a birthday over the weekend, as well, and I can't think of a better way to spend it than in Port Aransas with a bunch of songwriters. Bring it! After I sleep for 8 hours...

Starting At As Low As $44.99 a Night Records

In Nashville...no, I'm not out of tour videos yet. Mwahaha.

What we need is a MONTAGE.

Back in Austin after a fun weekend merching in Comfort, TX. It was an exciting time, but that's for the next blog post. In the meantime it's nice to sleep on my own pillows. Producer Dan and I had a check-in today and we're already talking EP 2...The Early Year is out now and it's time to think about the next step. I'm excited already! We'll start tracking in early 2009. Here's a music video I edited in the car...clips and things. Yay! So much tour video, so little time.

That Talented Suz

Susan Gibson is just brimming with talent. Of course you are all familiar with her killer songwriting and guitar skills...but maybe you weren't aware of her multi-instrumental gifts and her calligraphy experience.

J-Poville

Yep, we made it home. We had one other minor adventure on the way back involving the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk outside of Dallas, so we had 3 hours at a car wash at 10 PM with tomato paste and vinegar (thanks, Beth!)...but we made it back only a little smellier. Ok, much smellier. But it was an adventure as always! Here's a tune from Susan in Charleston, SC...the real version is "Gatesville" from her latest record, but perks of being a Merch Girl include improvised songs for you. Sweet! It's kinda my new fave...

The Last Merch Meal: Fish Tacos

Waffle House. WAFFLE HOUSE! Jackson, Mississippi.

Lessons of Merching

Now...just to be clear...working for and with Susan Gibson means 8 million belly laughs a minute, and she's such a good sport with her video camera obsessed merch girl on the road. Everything you see here is entirely fabricated, based on one small joke we've had for a couple of months back when she yelled backstage so I could hear it, "J-PO! I NEED A PEN!" We've had fun with that ever since. Evidenced below...

Homeward Bound

Last gig is done...Charleston, South Carolina was a fine town to end the whole shebang in. Now we're driving south to Augusta, Georgia to stay the night...it's about 2 AM and we thought we'd get a head start on the 20ish hour drive home to Texas. It's been so much fun and learning and good people and music. LOTS OF MUSIC. More on all of that later...we've got 20 hours of driving to do.

Hello, Charleston

Ladies and gentlemen, if you are not aware, there is a GAS CRISIS. From Georgia to North Carolina to Tennessee to wherever the heck we are right now, pumps are covered in plastic bags and cars are lined up out onto the street when a gas station is actually open. It's kinda of creepy. We actually filled up in South Carolina today where diesel was cheaper than gas, and Susan paid the lowest diesel price she's paid since March. Meanwhile cars were lined up for gas at $4.09 a gallon. Weird. Luckily, I have my two souvenir piggy banks on the dash for good luck. I am transferring Susan's Outlook files from her PC onto her Mac...more nerdiness in the van. Might as well be comfortable doing it, right? Gig tonight in Charleston!! Might be the last one...Baton Rouge is a bit up in the air at the moment. We might be back in Texas sooner than we thought. It's still a long haul from South Carolina to Austin, though.

Hello, Charlotte

We're driving through Charlotte, NC.  We have seen about 42 Waffle House signs today. This is my pen from the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Still waiting on that hit song... I get to see my cousin at the gig tonight!  She moved to North Carolina this summer, and I thought it would be a while before I got to visit...surprise!

The Early Year and Eddie's Attic

We’re on our way to Winston-Salem, NC after a great time back in Atlanta. Susan played at Eddie’s Attic and my good friends Keith and Suzanne came to the show and then put us up in their home with fluffy beds and cute dogs and cats. Then Keith made CHEESE GRITS for breakfast and I think I might officially be a grits fan. So good! Keith and Suzanne also acted as couriers for me because I had 50 copies of The Early Year delivered to their house so I could see the thing as soon as possible. We popped open the box in the Eddie’s Attic parking lot...very cool. It turned out great. Video forthcoming, of course, haha. The other surprise of the night was a box of roses delivered to Eddie’s for ME...which confounded me as I was opening them. Shockingly, I am not known for having secret admirers, even with my charming camera presence. They were from my Merch Girl Groupies back in Texas, Teri and Sandy. They are great Susan supporters and always take good care of the Merch Girl...and when I told them we were going to Eddie’s Attic, they were very excited because Decatur is their old stomping ground and where they had their first date. (Front row table on the right of the stage!) So um...getting roses at Eddie’s Attic right after opening a box of my EP was pretty stellar. And the show was great and Martha Scanlan played too and she was great...and then the fluffy bed, and now we’re back in the car to North Carolina. Phew.

Seeing the Sights

The morning started off at Pancake Pantry, one of those famous places where everyone who is everyone goes, apparently. I had the Carribean Pancakes. Tasty! We did some wandering, but found a lot of closed doors in Nashville. No, we weren't looking for record deals...but we found out that things close at 5 PM and that's pretty much lame. The Country Music Hall of Fame was closing when we got there. And the Ryman was closed when we got there. We did get in to some gift shops, though. Susan and I both picked out pens at the Country Music Hall of Fame, which will inevitably allow us to write our first multi-million selling hit songs. Oh, wait. It will allow ME to write my first. Hehheh. We stopped by Bug Music on Music Row so Susan could drop off some records - they administrate her publishing. Interesting how Music Row is a non-descript little street with brick houses and such, and all the deals that affect a lot of music in this country are made here. We stopped at the legendary Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, where all the Opry stars used to hang out... And Cotten Music and Gruhn Guitars, where I will one day drop a pretty penny when I get a pretty penny to drop... Tonight we lucked out and saw an AWESOME show at 3rd and Lindsley - Catie Curtis was in town. She's a Boston folkie and I have never gotten to see her play before. Great show! Tomorrow it's off to Decatur and Susan's Eddie's Attic show! Another legendary venue...the good life indeed.

Nashville Writer's Night

Last night we went out to a writer's night at The Camel a little outside of Nashville. Susan played a great set and then I got to get up there with Suz and Marian and we showed them how girls rock out back in Texas. Susan did a great job filming AND sang killer harmonies. She's a Jill of all trades.

Recording in Nashville

So we booked some time and recorded today. Well, we booked our hotel room...and made it a studio. Susan has some new tunes that she wants demo'd, so we spent a good chunk of today messing with mics and cables and figuring out the best acoustics. Of course, in the bathroom. Tonight Susan and I are both going to play at a writer's night, thanks to Susan's very cool and fun publicist, Brandy. WRITER'S NIGHT. NASHVILLE. Heck yeah. Can't make this stuff up.

Susan on the Billy Block Show

Nashville, TN 9/23/08

12:30 AM: Outside the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville

The Mother Church of Country Music...

Paper Rock Scissors Fiddle!

Here's a tune from Lawrenceville, GA. The house concert had to be moved to the porch because so many people wanted to come because Susan is THAT COOL. One of the fun parts of this trip is that Suz is not afraid to grab the camera and let the merch girl play some...it gets me extra saltines in the van, too. Marian Brackney, Susan's fiddle and violin virtuoso, is nice enough to play along with my songs and make me sound 40 times cooler.

Keeping the Merch Girl Alive

Viva Nashvegas!

We left the gig last night and got a little ways down the road to Morristown, TN. It was kind of late. We started late because somehow we had it in our heads that Johnson City was on Central time again, so we thought we had time to kill at the venue. In fact, it was Eastern time, so we started a little late. Oops. But it was all good. We DO know that Nashville is on Central time. We're on the road to Nashville now. We stopped for lunch in Knoxville and wandered around their Market Square district. Very cool old buildings. We grabbed a brochure at the hotel last night. Conversation in the car: Jana: Hey Suz look at this! Dolly Parton! RIVER BATTLE! Susan: No. Jana: But, it's Dolly. Susan: No. Jana: And then there's...a river battle. It's new. Susan: No. Jana: I'll work up a version of "9 to 5" for the next gig? Susan: ...No. Oh well. River Battle with Dolly Parton another day.

WAFFLE HOUSE!!!

Hello Johnson City, TN

At the Acoustic Coffeehouse in Johnson City about a minute ago...

From South to North

Greetings from outside of Asheville, North Carolina.  We left Lawrenceville about 2 PM and Suz plays in Johnson City, TN tonight.  The kudzu vines are amazing and I feel like I might get covered myself if I stand outside for more than a few minutes.  There are lots of mountains in South Carolina and North...it's chilly today and we're all wearing our hoodies and driving with windows down.  The dogs are sleeping on the couch after a rest break in Greenville.

Oh Atlanta...

Great house concert in Lawrenceville, GA tonight right outside of Atlanta. We left Birmingham at a leisurely pace, discovering that : a) It's hard to find a mailbox to mail stuff in. The blue official kind. b) Bugs were all over the front of the van. c) Boiled peanuts are sold in cans around here. As we went through Alabama it was kind of freaky to see evidence of a fuel shortage.  Entire gas stations were closed or there would be one pump open with a huge line of cars.  There didn't seem to be as much of a problem with diesel, which is good for Susan.  Cuz...we have gigs to be at. Thank goodness we have a plastic Jesus, a cute turtle, a gig potato, and a can of boiled peanuts on the dash for good luck. More tomorrow...it is so ridiculously late you don't wanna know...

The Saga of Waiting

At an unidentified chain store somewhere in Fort Worth last Wednesday...

To Lawrenceville, Georgia today...

The road split between Birmingham and Montgomery...and there was a bug splatter on the windshield.  I wanted a photo of the sign but I was a little slow. Traveling in style.

Songswap in Birmingham!

Susan is songswapping with Beth Wood tonight in Birmingham...here's a shot of Suz being an attentive listener.  Beth is awesome. Birmingham is beautiful!  So much history here.  But we gotta get up and drive to Lawrenceville, GA tomorrow...

Stars Fall on Alabama

Almost to Tuscaloosa, AL and close to Birmingham! Small Stages tonight...ready to rock the merch. A few more hours in the car. There are lots of trees and mist. That is all. Also, Oasis called this morning and The Early Year is done and being shipped out TODAY. I will intercept a box next weekend in Atlanta, thanks to some friends of mine there willing to receive mail. Yay!

Hello Mississippi

We just crossed over the Mighty Mississippi River...we're in Vicksburg and again, THANKS TO THE POWER OF THE SHOTGUN SEAT INTERNET, we reserved a room in Jackson for the night. The Boss took this photo of the Merch Girl hard at work on two laptops. Yes, we had a situation that required a PC and Mac. They got along well.

We are...

On the road! Somewhere on I-20 going into Louisiana...

Onward...to Birmingham

I made it on the train to Fort Worth yesterday, only an hour late...because sometimes trains have to stop and wait for other trains. I saw lots of coal fly past me in railroad cars, for sure. We were originally going to Baton Rouge tonight, but that one got canceled because of hurricane Ike clean up still in progress, so we will be there on the way back instead. Our first stop then is Birmingham, AL...very excited. We're repacking our stuff (yes, I have been here a day and need to sort again) and will take off this afternoon and drive as far as we care to. Suz got a wireless network USB thing so theoretically, I can be online in the van. This is a miracle. So um...check out Susan's tour page and come to a show. Yo!

T-Minus One Day

I'm sort of packing, a little. I historically wait until the night before to pack whether I am going to be gone for a month or a day, and then I sleep very little because I am frantically packing, and then I am usually so jazzed to be traveling that the lack of sleep doesn't matter the next day. I predict this will happen tomorrow. I am also trying to make sure I have every cord possible that I will need to document this tour, from AC adapters to USB cables to Firewire cables to battery chargers for the video cameras, hard drive, still camera, iPod, computer, and whatever else needs charging or plugging in. Technology makes things easier, right? Maybe not. Maybe it just makes things cooler. We'll be in Nashville in about a week, and appropriately my Onion horoscope is: "You'll soon have a hit country music song on your hands, no matter how many times you try to scrub it off." SWEET.

Studies and Preparation

I've been a little quiet lately because: a) I got a cold. No one wants to hear the extent of that whining. b) I am getting ready for THIS: I'll be catching a train to Fort Worth next week to meet up with the Susan Gibson tour van so I can merch girl my little heart out across the Southeastern U.S. So excited! I've never been to that part of the country before, aside from a weekend in Atlanta in college, so I will be soaking in every bit of Southern culture I can. Plus my buddy from Georgia tells me I have to try the phenomenon that is boiled peanuts from a roadside stand. I like peanuts. I like boiled things. What's not to try? In the meantime I'm having fun at Red Leaf and with Folk Music Grad School. Dan gave me homework...my first reaction paper since college. He said he hoped I didn't mind and I said, "Dude, my degree was built on reaction papers to chapters in random books...it's cool." I enjoyed using proper citation of sources in my writing again (Dan didn't require that, of course, I just threw it in for good measure). We are reading "An Actor Prepares" by Constantin Stanislavski...I'm only on chapter 2 but so far it's discussing the ways in which an actor presents material to the audience, how he approaches his role, and how he turns what he does into real art instead of just mechanical motions. All of it applies to the performing songwriter, too...we have to re-live the little one-act plays of all our songs over and over again and truly live them every time. Otherwise, the audience gets gypped. And perhaps throws tomatoes. Which ties in nicely to my work with my stage performance teacher, Jess, who had me on a yoga mat inhaling and exhaling while singing with my knees pointing one way and my head the other. My assignment this week is to study two of my songs and play them for her with every emotion and intention examined and displayed. Very excited. ...And then comes the suSANG tour, which is kind of like the Folk Music Grad School Field Experience course. Or something. Many cans of Starbucks will be consumed. I have no time for a cold! Time for some Nyquil.

Sheep in San Angelo and Other Road Oddities

Another fun merch adventure...this time at the Steel Penny Pub in San Angelo. Lots of interesting things to look at! Eden, Texas - home of the most barbed-wired prison I think I have ever seen. It was someone's job to wind miles of razor wire around chain link fencing. Wow. We tailed this towed RV for a long time...they left the back window blinds open and a giant mirror was hanging on the wall. Total safety fail. There was a very patriotic sheep in front of some offices in San Angelo...The Sheep of Justice, as I called it. Note the weird cherubs on the sheep itself. The merch table at the Steel Penny. I graffiti'd on the dart board score keeper. Awake after waking up for laundry at 8 AM, playing the Artist Market in the afternoon, driving to San Angelo, and merching it up. Long day! Wouldn't change a thing.

Merch Girl Shoe Saga

Back from Denton and Ft. Worth...great trip again, even with a wardrobe malfunction on the part of my flip flops. Ahem. When we pulled up to the gig in Denton, the plastic part that enables the "flip" in the flip flop broke. I started loading in the merch barefoot because...well, what else could I do? Sad shoe times. Load in attire. It was then that a good friend of Suz's and now a friend of mine I am ever indebted to randomly found a pair of foam flip flops in her car from a pedicure she had recently gotten. They were even a nice green accent to my old pair! I rocked one of each for the night. Stylin'. Thanks, Nichole! Except the pedicure flop was not meant for rocking the merch counter all night, so by the end I had destroyed that one, too. Bare foot again, I was. Note the flip flops at the top that are NOT on my feet, at the bottom. The next day Susan was kind enough to swing by a Wal-Mart and I picked up an appropriately green pair with an "egg crate" sole that felt fancy on my feet. She's a nice boss. Ah, sweet comfort. At the White Elephant Saloon in Ft. Worth, there were some awesome shoe shine dudes working in the back of the bar. Susan had her boots shined, and asked what they did for flip flops. They gave me a foot rub and polished my flip and my flop! Amazing. Perks of the job, I tell ya