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