Packingpackingpacking

Mr. Daniel Barrett and Miss Katie Lessley and I are heading to New Mexico tomorrow so we can do a house concert on Friday night and I am so excited but in the meantime I have 8 things to finish and I have not started packing and when I pack I pack a lot of cables and wires and I need to make sure I can charge anything that needs charging when I am in ABQ and so I decided to blog this sentence instead.

Merchtober Video

Thus explains the banana comment from the previous "out of context video" (Phil asked!). I especially like the "whoosh" sound the banana makes flying out the window....

The Last Merch Meal: Fish Tacos

Waffle House. WAFFLE HOUSE! Jackson, Mississippi.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Labor Day Weekend

Spent the weekend on the road again (now it's stuck in your head! Haha!) with Susan selling t-shirts and CDs to the fine folks in Wimberley, Marble Falls, and Fredericksburg. I realized that on the San Angelo trip I took a lot of random photos of odd stuff, so this photo essay will focus on...the music. Plus Suz was kind enough to let me play some tunes this weekend. Her only requirement is that I play "Paper Rock Scissors." I can handle that kind of employer demand. Susan's tie dye fit well in the artsy town of Wimberley at the Cypress Creek Club. This is me trying to be cool. Marble Falls was next - a show at the gorgeous Uptown Theater. Susan played great...and then the UFOs started to hover. Doo doo doo. Wrapped up the weekend in Fredericksburg at the Auslander. Here's a shot of the crowd behind Susan and Michael. Susan let me borrow her band. I get the coolest band members lately! Then she took over photographer duty so I could blog about it. Classy.

Merch Girl Strikes Again

Y'all, I'm taking off today in the Gibson van to sell merch this weekend up in Denton and Ft. Worth...or should I say, the "Number 34 and climbing on the Texas Music Chart" Gibson van. You go, kiddo! I'll probably Twitter a lot, so check out that box to the left of the blog. (Points to whoever can figure out that clock I drew, because I don't have any clue what time we're getting back. Maybe the ghetto clock knows).

Day 2: Long Roads and Haunted Rooms

Well, as you can tell by now...no internet access for the past couple of days. Luckily I kept taking photos over the weekend and I'll just post in some time warp continuum. So...welcome to Friday, July 4th. Happy Independence Day! The view when cruising. After a great time in Davis, (and a lovely sleep in the swanky hotel followed by breakfast with some great new friends from OKC), we trucked out of town to Freyburg Hall, located outside of Schulenburg (somewhere between Austin and Houston...see kickbutt map below for exact routage, haha). The Ginn Sisters opened for Susan, and it was my first time seeing them live. Very cool, amazing harmonies, great people. The SG band was rockin' and I did my thang with the merch table all evening... See the evolution? See it? Also, there was the biggest bowl of cole slaw I have ever seen present at this hall. I apologize for not taking a photo of it. Think of a big bowl of cole slaw, and then think of something BIGGER. That night due to some miracle of generosity on the part of Susan and perks of her being a rock star, I got my own hotel room in Schulenburg. Susan was going to camp with her family, so she just dropped us band peeps off at the Von Minden Hotel. Discussion prior: Someone at Freyburg Hall: "It's haunted, you know. The hotel." All of us staying there: "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Susan: "Have fun! See you in the morning! Hahahahaha! Boo!" Thanks, Suz. But it was pretty dang cool. The Von Minden Hotel was built in 1927, and is supposedly haunted by a woman who roams around asking guests for directions. She wears a polkadot dress. The lobby...you can check in and dear Lord please let us check out... Down the hall to our rooms. No ghosts yet. Awesome staircase. My room...number 7. I ain't afraid of no ghosts! Repeat. Sleep well. I'll admit I was too tired and passed out so completely that if a ghost poked me in my sleep to ask where the bathroom was, I never knew it. But we took some cool photos when we got there, and the next morning I got some more shots before we got picked up. Very neat place. Less creepy in the morning. Still creepy. So this crazy musical life has lead me down many interesting paths, but a haunted hotel was not even on my radar of possibilities. So much fun! And it was onward to Winnsboro...

Hello Seattle!

Chipper, which is not me at 6:45 am going to the airport. Hello. I have no new photos of anything exciting, but Photobooth always comes through. Well, depends on what your definition of "come through" is, but it provides imagery anyway. I am about to have a lot of new photos, though, because I am (procrastinating on) packing to go to Seattle for a few days. My niece Jenny is graduating from high school and I get to see it all go down. The graduation, I mean. So excited and so proud! It seems like yesterday I was playing with my Legos while Jenny sat in her little baby carseat because she was a...baby. There are perks to being only a few years older than your nieces and nephews, and one of them is that you can share toys when you're little. Bonus. Except I probably didn't want to share my Legos. Sorry, Jenny. I'll also be hitting up the honey and fruit and flower stands at Pike Place Market. And the coffee...Seattle really does know its stuff. I have been told to bring a hoodie, which is a foreign word in this 95 degree Texas heat. Other random thoughts for the week: - pancakes for dinner is almost as good as pancakes for breakfast. - not all laundromats are created equal. - don't let a hornet fly in your door because it's hard to figure out how to get it back out. Now please excuse me. I have a date with my caffeine destiny.

Hello New Mexico!

Dallas airport: Bored of the guy next to me talking about rearranging his office while on his cell phone. I'm in New Mexico for the weekend catching up on some people and some things, as well as enjoying the sub-60 degree weather and the rainclouds swooping in over the valley. The difference between desert rain and Central Texas rain is that when it rains in Albuquerque, it actually breaks the heat...and it gets chilly. In Austin I am still astounded that after a good long rain that it's just as hot as it was before the storm. That's weird. I'll take pictures, I promise.

New York City: United Nations

Ah, the United Nations. 192 nations, to be exact. That's a lot of ground to cover. Luckily, I had a plan. A floor plan. These tapestries, of all the former and the current Secretaries General of the U.N., were gifted to the United Nations by Iran. Thanks, Iran! I'm not really one for carpet on the walls, but the detail in these was stunning. First stop: the Security Council Chamber. Look at that lighting rig. If they ever make a bad decision, it won't be because of low lighting. People in blue chairs can speak, people in red chairs just watch. Ah, the General Assembly. Where they generally assemble. Weird lighting, hence weird photo. They've had to expand the desks and seating as more countries joined the U.N. It's also seated alphabetically, except they have a lottery to determine which country begins the seating order (so Afghanistan is not always in the front and Zimbabwe is not always in the back). Currently, Mexico is in the very front row. Even Ambassadors need sustenance. There's no tax at the U.N. Coffee Shop. I like that.

At the U.N. -- Guitars not Guns

So...while in New York City, my main sight-seeing-touristy goal was to go to the United Nations. As a history and political science nerd in college, I took many a class that covered the U.N. "Politics of Human Rights" was the main one, and I learned a lot about what the U.N. does for current situations in the world. What nerd wouldn't want to see it? So...we tried to go on Saturday but it was closed. Yes, the U.N. was closed...for us tourists, anyway. :) We went back Monday and all was well. Our tour guide was a lovely woman from Japan, and we spent a good four hours walking around the complex. More photos of that to come, but here is my favorite piece of artwork from the tour...someone somewhere (I don't remember signs well, apparently) converts militia guns into stringed instruments. Sounds ok to me.

Airport. Music.

Sitting in the Austin airport again...same weird carpet color as always. I’m here 3 hours early, partly because I’ve been hearing airport horror stories (I guess it is a holiday, hm?) and partly because I got out of work early and am close to the airport. In all actuality the line was short and I have getting through security down to a science. By the time I am up to the front of the line my belt is off, my shoes are off, my jewelry is tucked away, my laptop is out of its bag, and my boarding pass is in hand. I suppose I look like a weirdo basically re-dressing myself in the middle of the airport once I am through, but after having the contents of my bags spewed out by a security “associate” a few times, I prefer to think ahead. Why do I love Austin? As I am putting my belt back on amidst the locals and the visitors, I hear music on the other side of the gift shop. Who do I see but a couple of Austin’s fine singer-songwriters on one of the airport’s stages. Ginger Leigh and Carolyn Wonderland were keeping us traveling savages calm with their tunes. Only in Austin, fer reals. On to holidays in New Mexico!

Let's do this thang.

Yes, she does. Which is why I am quite pleased to be meeting Ms. Gibson in New Mexico this week to play some shows. I am currently a fluster of packing and re-packing and tossing around and freaking out. The plane leaves tomorrow. There's not much you can take on a plane, compared to a whole car load. Thankfully I am hitching a ride back with the headlining act, so I can spread out more. Heaven. I just got the coolest birthday present ever, and my birthday is still 2 weeks away. I won't reveal it because...I need to take pictures, and it's not "set up" yet. :) Thanks, dB! All right. There will be much blogging and video to come, kids. Stayed tuned in, and if you are in New Mexico...come say hi!

GoGirls MusicFest 2007 - Houston, baby!

In a few short days I depart for Houston for GoGirls MusicFest 2007...part deaux. And to see my good buddy Heather. I get to sleep on her couch and drag her around the city, and in return she gets...someone sleeping on her couch and dragging her around the city. (Sorry, Heather). Here's the schedule: Saturday, November 3rd Last Concert Cafe 1403 Nance Street Houston, TX 77002 713-226-8563 www.lastconcert.com cover: $5 age: All ages This event will benefit the Friends for Life Animal Shelter. Check them out at http://www.nokill1.org There will also be an auction and raffle! The first 100 people in the door will receive a FREE copy of the GoGirlsMusicFest ’07 CD... 6:00-6:25pm Jana Pochop 6:30-6:55pm Glenna Bell 7:00-7:25pm Robin Leigh 7:30-7:55pm Celeste Terrell 8:10-8:35pm Shiela Harrison 8:45-9:10pm Hidden Agenda 9:20-9:45pm Sheila Swift 10:00-10:30pm The Snake Charmers 10:45-11:15pm Osirus 11:30-12:15am 3 Kisses

Overdue Oil Change

Shrek-ear car. Maybe I was a couple thousand over, or maybe 3k. Oops. I put on 1,000 miles in a week at the start of the month and it just gets away from you. Anyway, I have a great mechanic who cares, and he tells me, "I'm sorry. I hate to have to tell you this, but you passed your state inspection." My jaw dropped while it processed, and then it was amusing. After my heart slowed down. Funny dude. Anyway Car Dude says, "You put on a LOT of miles this year." I told him to hold up for 2008. Luckily he says we're running in top form still. :)

Hello Dallas.

Greetings from Opening Bell Coffee in Dallas, Texas! I'm about to get my gig on for the GoGirls MusicFest 2007. Very excited. Very nice people here. Lots of good music, food, and things to raffle and auction to beneft Operation Kindness, the area's no kill animal shelter! Woot. And thanks to my local co-pilots, I did not get lost driving here. Good grief Dallas has a lot of exits.