ON THE ROAD WITH SPARROW BELLOWS ~ part 1

Flashback to March 2010!

Much like Christ had Satan, Buddha’s arch-nemesis is a nasty entity known as Mara. All the obstructions and frustrations on Buddha’s path were authored by Mara. But we all know where Buddha’s path ultimately led. Wicked Mara, Mastermind of Misfortune, took a swipe at me last night when he sent an anonymous and chicken-shit representative to smash out the passenger side window of my car while I was at Sparrow Bellows’ rehearsal space on Cherry Street in Northside. It’s a drag, no two ways about it. But for some mysterious reason I find myself strangely fine with it all. My band mates helped me clean up the mess and tape up the window. (Special thanks to Sam & Brian for helping me stay calm, clean up the mess, and tape up the window!) The would-be thief had found and stolen absolutely NOTHING from my vehicle, having done no more damage than one broken window, leaving shards of glass scattered in and around my car and a mess of CDs and trash by the side of the road. I picked up my vehicle registration and insurance card from the roadside and sighed with relief. A police officer working in the neighborhood pulled up and told me they had a perp in custody that they’re gonna try to connect to a number of break-ins the neighborhood. The cop took my info and drove off. The band went back inside and resumed a rather productive rehearsal session as if nothing had happened.

This morning I returned a call I received from District 5. An officer came and processed my car like the crime scene it is. He dusted for fingerprints and found a couple, but it sounded very unlikely to me that these prints were gonna be enough to incriminate anyone. I’m not sure if I’ll hear another word about this from the police. I tend to doubt it, because the police deal with tons of petty theft and vandalism cases like this that go unsolved. Although the officer I spoke to today was actually very cool and indicated that another investigator would be in touch with me within a few days.

I called Ryan’s All Glass at 11am and by 2:30 in the afternoon they had sent a repairman to my address and the window was replaced. $173.00 is no small amount of money, but it seems like a bargain for on-site window replacement within 3½ hours of my initial call to them. Perhaps, given the current state of the economy, the smart ones in the service industry figure they better kick ass so that I will turn around and tell you, “Hey – these guys kick ass”. I hereby and henceforth offer my unsolicited endorsement of Ryan’s All Glass in Cincinnati, Ohio.

When the shit first went down last night I was concerned of course. The band leaves on tour tomorrow morning at 10am and I was worried that I now had to replace a broken car window on my last day before leaving. A day that was already gonna be crazy with last-minute preparations. But alas it was all taken care of in short order and somehow I managed to never get upset or freaked out about the indignities visited upon my vehicle. I didn’t feel violated or angry. Left alone to my own devices, I will make an emotional Hell for myself out of every available moment that my mind isn’t engaged in some constructive endeavor. Ironically, this occurrence actually saved me from having a long drawn-out stressful day for the lack of anything to do today. I had PLENTY to do from the moment I woke up this morning. There’s still a little bit of packing left to do before we disembark. But I feel fine.

And so, not to tempt fate or anything, I just gotta say, “Nice try but no cigar, Mister Mara”. You can take a chunk of my bank account, but you can’t take even the tiniest sliver of my soul. Epic fail, Mara. Your petty shit rolls off of me like water off a duck. In fact I’m even gonna take a moment to say a prayer for your agent, the criminal who broke into my car only to find nothing of value.

Under my emergency brake there landed last night a really cool rock, presumably the one Mara’s agent used to gain entry to my vehicle. I’m gonna keep it as a souvenir and a reminder of my dominion over these earthly distractions. My path remains clear.

***

March 17, 2010

Brian picked me up at 10:25am and we loaded my stuff into the van. Then we drove downtown to pick up Sammy at his office. Jumped on I-71 and headed south, where we encountered standstill traffic before we even reached Louisville. After it cleared up we made good time on I-65, passing through Nashville and on to I-40 west to Memphis where we arrived at the club around 6:20pm.

The Buccaneer is a funky little club that looks like it’s been there forever. The interior looks like the hull of a ship, with a pirate theme in the décor. We played a great set between 7 and 8pm, stopping in time for the tip-off in the Memphis basketball game which was on the TV in the bar. I’d say we played to about 20 or 30 people and at halftime we played a real quick 15 minute mini set that also went over well. The bar liked us a lot and invited us back. The patrons were generous in their donations to the tip jar. We had a few more beers and talked to some really drunk locals (it was St. Patrick’s Day after all) and then we went looking for our hotel, a Courtyard Inn about 7-8 miles away from the club. There are train tracks right by the hotel, which seems appropriate with the connection to Memphis and Johnny Cash and train songs in general.

Right now it is 10:06am the next day and there is some debate amongst the band members as to whether or not we have time to take in Sun Studios and/or lunch at the Rendezvous before we hit the road. Since it takes 7 or 8 hours to get to Dallas from here and we have to load-in at the venue at 8:30, I have my doubts. Still, some genuine Memphis barbecue sounds really good right now!

***

March 18, 2010

I think we all woke up a little hungover the morning after the Memphis show. We had a great gig there and I forgot to mention that one of the musicians we met there said Sparrow Bellows’ sound was “like Wilco and King’s X had a baby”.

Thursday was a long drive day from Memphis to Dallas. The countryside in Arkansas and east Texas ain’t much to look at, but at least it was a sunny day.

We got to Dallas around 7:30pm and found the City Tavern with ease. The whole iPhone with GPS combo makes finding every destination incredibly easy. We set up our gear and made contact with some people at the club. The stage is on the 2nd floor of a club that looked out over Main Street. Other posh clubs on the street had valet parking and velvet ropes and long lines of young skinny beautiful people waiting to get inside.

Right before we played, my old friend Leigh showed up. She pulled up in front of the club, I jumped in the passenger seat and we drove around the block to park her car in a lot across the street. Leigh and I had only a few minutes to talk before the band went on at 9pm. We played a good set, for a crowd that consisted of one barmaid, Leigh, the other musicians waiting for their turn to play and four really drunk and obnoxious chicks who sat at a table right in front of the bandstand who managed to talk and laugh and make a ruckus that nearly drowned out the band. Kind of a little glimpse of Hell, that was.

Afterwards, Leigh and I sat at a table out front and talked for a while. The band ate for free so I had a veggie sandwich and shared my fries with Leigh before walking her to her car and saying goodnight.

We pulled the van around and loaded the gear amidst a huge crowd of people on the sidewalk, still just milling about outside the posh clubs of Main Street.

We drove south on 35E until we found a Knights Inn in Waxahachie. We crashed out for the night and as of this writing it is 10am Friday March 19th. We’re leaving for Austin in just a few minutes, where we have a 2pm gig this afternoon at Botticelli’s.

***

March 19, 2010

Friday’s drive from Waxahachie to Austin was easy breezy. For me it was anyway, cuz I laid down in the back of the van with my iPod and a book and even slept part of the way. Barely a 3-hour drive, it was much rougher on Sammy. He was at the wheel when we encountered a traffic jam on the outskirts of Austin.

We drove right up to Botticelli’s on South Congress and loaded our gear in the front door. All around us Austin was abuzz with live music EVERYWHERE. Thousands of people walking the sidewalks already at 1pm and there were live bands in every parking lot on the strip.

We played a 2pm set in a really beautiful little courtyard out back of Botticelli’s. It was a smallish lunchtime crowd, but the people who were there really liked our set. It has been said that the people of Austin appreciate musicianship more than they do in other cities. The proof was in their overwhelmingly positive reaction to our set. As a guitar player, I can tell you that there is nothing like hearing even the smallest crowd roar with approval and applause mid-song. Each of my guitar solos was greeted with hoots and hollers and applause and it was a most pleasant surprise. That alone is enough to make a guitar player consider moving to Austin. These road trips are always fraught with interpersonal conflicts and drama, lack of sleep, traffic jams and other headaches. The crowd reaction at Botticelli’s was one of those moments that makes it all worthwhile. That and the band that played after us who did a bunch of Delta Blues and Muddy Waters tunes. They were awesome.

After the gig we went to our friend Marcy’s apartment, where she is graciously putting us up for the weekend. Around 7pm we started walking back towards downtown Austin, to catch a free show by Cheap Trick. The crowd there was easily 50,000 strong. The weather was beautiful, with the river and city skyline in the background behind the stage. In a crowd that size there was no way to get anywhere near the stage, but we enjoyed the show immensely from a spot we staked out near the way back of the grassy area full of people singing and dancing. Cheap Trick’s performance was great as always and last night’s set list included a LOT more obscure tunes from early in their career than I expected. They played half of their debut record from 1977! It was something close to a dream set by them and they also played “Heaven Tonight”, and a FIVE SONG ENCORE that included “He’s A Whore” and “Gonna Raise Hell”. Really amazing.

A classic concert memory that I will never forget took place during “Surrender”. A group of four young boys around the age of 9 or 10 were jumping around and singing along very loudly to “MOMMY’S ALRIGHT, DADDY’S ALRIGHT, THEY JUST SEEM A LITTLE WEIRD”. And there were Mom and Dad standing right next to them looking very awkward. Hilarious.

After the concert, we walked across town to a bar called Mean Eyed Cat to catch our friend PJ Herrington playing guitar with singer-songwriter Graham Wilkinson. Mean Eyed Cat is a Johnny Cash-themed bar with an open air performance space. There are pictures and paintings and posters of Johnny Cash everywhere around the bar. There are Johnny Cash song lyrics stenciled on the walls and even the local vandals comply by limiting themselves to Johnny Cash lyrics in their graffiti on the men’s room walls. The men’s room door says “Johnny” and the ladies’ room: “June”.

PJ works at Stubb’s and we’re gonna stop by there to see him again later today. Stubb’s is an Austin institution and a legendary concert venue. SXSW is a crazy busy time at Stubb’s where they host sold out shows night after night, but as head of security PJ has promised to walk us in. An extremely gracious offer, though I am a great deal more curious to see the venue itself than I am to check out tonight’s headliner the Scissor Sisters...