Day 29: Tattoo

Matt's birthday tattoo. It says "Know Thyself" in Greek.

Photos from Willy P. mini-tour

Three days of rehearsals.

My sitar / toy piano corner. Willy asked me to play toy piano on one song, and it's the exact same toy piano I had as a little kid, which I still have at home.

Radio appearance on the local public station WUWM.
The next day, a live performance on the TV morning show "Morning Blend"

Our first time on TV.

The Hyatt in Milwaukee.

Soundcheck at The Pabst.

During the soundcheck at Martyr's in Chicago, I discovered this feather (about eight inches long) inside my pant leg along the seam near my calf. So strange! I can't figure out where it came from and how it got in my pants.

Onstage at Martyr's

The Apple Store in Chicago - awkward and corporate-y but kind of cool too.

NYC PHOTOS 3/3: People (for the most part)

Post-outdoor movie, trying to get a cab.

There was a third guy in the same outfit on the other side of the tree but you can't see him in this picture.

The same place with the pickle bowl which I can never remember the name of.


He drew me a map of how to get to the Williamsburg Bridge from where we were: Egg.
Baby Fuad.

Ruba and bread at Rockland Bakery.

Nigel

The best bathroom wall graffiti I've ever seen.

Day 28: Day off in Coeur D'Alene, ID

So needing a day off! Today I get to catch up with laundry, email, post office, fixing my blog entries, sykpeing to Kuwait, and even getting in a work out. All in a nice new Hampton Inn, in the setting of beautiful resort town Coeur D'Alene. It's gorgeous today although looks like a thunderstorn may be pending. And right across the street - a gold mine: Starbucks, a movie theater, and a Red Robin! There are actually good places to eat and real places to get coffee but it still feels like a boon to have these nearby, as opposed to a Waffle House and Subway.

Last night's show at North Idaho College was really good. We played in the gym and a bunch of people from the community showed up, not just students. Also a lot of people who saw us play in Spokane with Sara in the fall.

Day 27: Coeur D' Alene, ID

Early mornings and long hours of driving every day. It's hard to ever
feel rested although doing better now. Monday was brutal. I was so
tired and had to be on for so long, I think I lost my mind a little.

Today is Matt's birthday. I have tomorrow off - very, very happy about
that.

Day 26: Billings, MT

Rocky Mountain College. We played at a coffee shop, sponsored and paid for by the school. They took us out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant afterwards.

Day 25: Sioux Falls, SD

Left Madison at 1:30am and drove all the way to Sioux Falls, 7 hours. Now at the hotel with three hours downtime before heading to the college. The school has hired a professional video crew to film our performance and hopefully create a live DVD item we can sell. Not a good idea to not have good sleep before being filmed but oh well! We just have to make the best of it. We're beyond exhausted.

The show in Madison was my best of the three shows with Willy, because I finally got to a point of feeling really confident about what I was playing. Confident enough to take a sitar solo during Willy's song "Mystery." When he threw it to me, I shook my head no, and then I did it anyway and it was great. I was hesitant because the song is in a key that's a half step higher than how my sitar is tuned, and I just don't know where all the notes are that would work. I had a few though, and decided to just go for it. And afterwards there were tons of complements. That was a breakthrough for me because I struggle with feeling musically incompetent. It was really really good to finish the mini tour this way. I wish we had more shows together so I could continue to be pushed and continue growing. The band, all nine of us, achieved a perfect balance of knowing the music and knowing what to do but also being open to improvised moments, and a certain amount of looseness that made it all very live. It's like, more rehearsals would have killed the excitement.