WYOMING!!! Just minutes out of Nebraska, the temperature is up (40 degrees), the sun is shining, we found the cheapest diesel price so far ($2.14/gallon), and we also snagged some veggie oil for the bus. Halelujah! I also just had the best Subway sandwich of my life (12 inch veggie sub on toasted “Italian herbs and cheese” bread, with banana peppers, green peppers, olives, spinach, lettuce, tomato, and honey mustard sauce). I’ve had this combination of ingredients before, but this time the lady wrapping the sandwich was so nice. She really hooked-it-up. 

 

Check out this video of the Wyoming grease run: 

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfiXq0ruHEw

 

Thank you Wyoming!

 

Band morale is high as we cruise the last 90 miles to Fort Collins. 

 

***

 

 

We arrived at the club with plenty of time to get some KILLER GREASE (the cleanest we’ve ever seen) from Taipan Restaurant (thank you). After filling the tank with vegetable oil and eating way too much food at Rasta Pasta, we got on stage and rocked a 60 minute set. There weren’t many people in the club, but by the last song (“White Lies”) people were starting to fill the dance floor, and seemed to be having a great time. 

Now for my favorite part of the night: ROCKING OUT to Bustle In Your Hedgerow, an absolutely all-star lineup of ridiculous musicians playing instrumental versions of Led Zeppelin tunes. In case you haven’t heard of these guys, you should know that the band is comprised of Marco Benevento and Joe Russo (from The Benevento/Russo Duo), Dave Driewitz (from Ween) and Scott Metzger (from Rana, and formely of Particle). I know I’ve written quite a bit in CAPS so far, but I’ll take it all back to emphasize that Joe Russo is an ABSOLUTE MONSTER ON THE DRUMS!!! I’ve seldom heard anybody rock with the true spirit of John Bonham…it was beautiful to watch. To top it all of, these guys were really great people—totally down-to-earth—the nicest rock stars I’ve ever met. We had a blast hanging with them. 

 

During the show, we met a crazy character named Jacob—a total B.A. (bad ass), who invited us to crash at his place (Thank you Jacob, you are the man!). We stayed-up pretty late listening to Herbie Hancock’s “Feets Don’t Fail Me Now,” and some Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and when we woke up the next morning it was 55 degrees outside and sunny. What a relief from the Michigan cold! After a quick stop at the local food co-op, as well as a great coffee shop called The Bean Cycle, we hopped on the veggie bus and started cruising to Boulder. 

 

This tour is turning out to be a pretty amazing experience. 

 

More to come…

 

–The [rewind] button

 

DAY 2:

 

9am—I wake up to Tyler screaming. Nothing’s wrong…that’s just how he likes to wake up. 

 

 

Last night, at around 12:30AM, we were driving 30 mph through a complete white-out, so we decided to find a motel and sleep. 

 

This morning, I-80 is speckled with cars and trucks that skidded off the road, so I’m glad we stopped and got a hotel when we did. 

Bus update: Things are running pretty smoothly. We’ve only had three mini scares with the “Service Engine Soon” light, a terrible burning smell, and one of those “uh…I can’t accelerate right now, the pedal’s not responding” moments. SO, everything is COOL!

 

Thanks to our faithful bus manager (and bass player) Christian Carpenter, who got a hitch installed on the back of the bus before we left Ann Arbor, we’re pulling a U-Haul trailer filled with our equipment. Now that the bus is so spacious, Mike (the drummer) decided to rig a fancy little personal theater system for the passengers. How creative!

 

 

Here’s a little vid showcasing the fabulous continental breakfast we had at one of the fanciest Super 8 Motel’s we’ve ever seen (seriously)…httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7OUwkc3jW0

 

More antics and adventures to come–

 

–The [rewind] button

 

 

It’s 10AM— I have thirty minutes before we leave for Colorado, and I still have to put together merchandise orders (10 minutes), go to the post office and mail them (25 minutes), get Tyler’s car back to his house (thanks Duncan, how would I get around town last-minute without that Honda of yours?…5 minutes), and worst of all, I haven’t even started packing (hmm…). 

 

I’m sure this sounds hilarious, but this is pretty much my typical day-of-departure predicament: lots to do…NO TIME! I feel like I’m on some kind of ridiculous game show, except instead of having to assemble a brass monkey out of giant styrofoam pieces in three minutes or less so I can unlock the Legends of the Hidden Temple, I have to suppress my voracious appetite for good deals, and quickly scan the aisles of Plum Market for on-sale items that I actually need on the road. My mind wanders for a second as I look over the hundreds of bottles of olive oil (1Liter of Colavita Cold Pressed Extra Virgin for $8.99? Damn, that’s good…but the clock is ticking). I snap my self out of the price tag trance and checkout with three high-protein granola protein bars ($.99 each), and a box of throat coat tea ($4.19—a little steep, but an essential item for the touring vocalist). 

 

Walking out of the market, I run into my good friend Brendan McCall. There are few people in this world who can truly snap me out of a complete mental stress maze, and this guy is one of them. We talk for a minute, and I am instantly brought to a relaxed head space. I realize there’s no way I’m going to make it to my house by 10:30, and I accept my fate: I’m going to make the whole band wait for me. “I just changed-out last week’s menu,” he tells me, “do you want to take some meals on the road?”

 

[mental pause---something like in the movie "Snatch" when Brad Pitt gets knocked airborne from an uppercut to the jaw, and just hangs in the air, suspended in time]

 

Do I want to take some meals on the road? My response is some garbled mixture of the following: “Brother, for real? OH, BRENDAN!!!! I mean…Man, are you serious? Dude…”

 

In addition to being a great guy, Brendan is also an INCREDIBLE chef. He and fellow chef Jay Haamen (also INCREDIBLE—and he can fix cars) own and operate a killer food business called A Knife’s Work. Their focus is on prepared food-to-go, using fresh, local produce and meats (organic whenever possible). They change their take-home menu every week, and all the food is packaged in compostable containers. In my opinion, these guys make THE BEST FOOD IN ANN ARBOR, hands down. Their food is for sale at Everyday Wines in the Kerrytown Market and Shops, where the staff will help you select the perfect wine to pair with any of the six meals they offer weekly. Check ‘em out!!!

 

As I said before, I was late for our departure. You can imagine, however, the forgiving spirit that joyously took hold of the entire band when I arrived with my bounty of food from A Knife’s Work. Our typical on-the-road menu of peanuts and granola transformed into White Bean, Thyme, and Roasted Vegetable Soup, Caramelized Squash and Candied Pecan Spinach Salad, Yellow Lentils with Sherried Fresh Bacon, and Moorish Spiced Lamb Chops over a Red Onion Kumquat Salad. Not a bad score for a bunch of starving artists, eh?

Thank you Brendan and Jay—-Best tour departure ever! 

 

-The [rewind] button