1st leg of tour
And...I'm off!
I raced like hell Wed. morning to get packed. Eventually you just have to throw all your shit in and figure it out on the road. What began organized, ended with dumping merch and supplies into boxes and bags. I had a show to play that night in Kalamazoo.
Film maker, Chris Rutushin met up with me for the first round of dates on the tour. He's adding percussion on his djembe and helping me film. I picked him up in Toledo and headed North.
Dino's is an amazing cafe near campus in Kalamazoo. They've got a chill vibe with exposed brick walls, comfy couches, a fire place and tasty food. The staff feels like they are your old friends.
Kaitlin Rose and I shared the stage for an excellent coffee house night of acoustic music. I think Katie is my favorite female singer songwriter. She's got an amazing voice, lyrics and her guitar playing is quite accomplished. An old friend of mine met me up at the show too. Mike just had his first child, a 2 month baby boy, but still hung out with us all night. We ended up crashing back at his place and took a tour of his "farm" via the bus.
I had my first casualty of the trip. Rounding the construction past Chicago, I was forced to drive along the rumble strips. It vibrated so badly that a hubcap popped off. I watched it bounce merrily until it hit the median. Perhaps that was a sign of times to come.
WI is an amazing state. We motored past Madison and into Spring Green for the first house concert. We were welcomed in style and class. Check out the cheese hats! Just about everyone took a turn checking out the bus, lounging with a drink, chill-laxing. Shirley's two sons even joined in for a late night jam session. An excellent host, Shirley had stocked up on some beer from the local micro brew and bottles from the winery on down the road.
The next day, it got interesting. Barb started losing power a mile out of Spring Green. Then 20 miles down she wouldn't run... I put in a call to Waterville Imports near my hometown. They gave me some trouble shooting tips. I wrenched for 5 hours trying my best. A good samaritan stopped by in a 64 Studabaker. He had a gas filter and some new tubing to try and solve the fuel issue that I thought might be the cause. It didn't do the trick. He offered a place to work on it and to crash for the night. I got the neighbor to tow it. That was on Friday night. I haven't blogged because it is now day 5 and I still can't get it running. I've wrenched everyday all day and spent the other time tracking down parts. You never know what you're getting into until you jump right in...
...Bozeman, MT and Friday is coming quick...I'll keep you posted...
I raced like hell Wed. morning to get packed. Eventually you just have to throw all your shit in and figure it out on the road. What began organized, ended with dumping merch and supplies into boxes and bags. I had a show to play that night in Kalamazoo.
Film maker, Chris Rutushin met up with me for the first round of dates on the tour. He's adding percussion on his djembe and helping me film. I picked him up in Toledo and headed North.
Dino's is an amazing cafe near campus in Kalamazoo. They've got a chill vibe with exposed brick walls, comfy couches, a fire place and tasty food. The staff feels like they are your old friends.
Kaitlin Rose and I shared the stage for an excellent coffee house night of acoustic music. I think Katie is my favorite female singer songwriter. She's got an amazing voice, lyrics and her guitar playing is quite accomplished. An old friend of mine met me up at the show too. Mike just had his first child, a 2 month baby boy, but still hung out with us all night. We ended up crashing back at his place and took a tour of his "farm" via the bus.
I had my first casualty of the trip. Rounding the construction past Chicago, I was forced to drive along the rumble strips. It vibrated so badly that a hubcap popped off. I watched it bounce merrily until it hit the median. Perhaps that was a sign of times to come.
WI is an amazing state. We motored past Madison and into Spring Green for the first house concert. We were welcomed in style and class. Check out the cheese hats! Just about everyone took a turn checking out the bus, lounging with a drink, chill-laxing. Shirley's two sons even joined in for a late night jam session. An excellent host, Shirley had stocked up on some beer from the local micro brew and bottles from the winery on down the road.
The next day, it got interesting. Barb started losing power a mile out of Spring Green. Then 20 miles down she wouldn't run... I put in a call to Waterville Imports near my hometown. They gave me some trouble shooting tips. I wrenched for 5 hours trying my best. A good samaritan stopped by in a 64 Studabaker. He had a gas filter and some new tubing to try and solve the fuel issue that I thought might be the cause. It didn't do the trick. He offered a place to work on it and to crash for the night. I got the neighbor to tow it. That was on Friday night. I haven't blogged because it is now day 5 and I still can't get it running. I've wrenched everyday all day and spent the other time tracking down parts. You never know what you're getting into until you jump right in...
...Bozeman, MT and Friday is coming quick...I'll keep you posted...
posted by Matt Palka @ 8:16 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home