April 14th - After pulling an all-nighter trying to pack for my first tour-by-plane, I laid lifeless in bed waiting for 8am to come around so I could make an extra set of keys at the hardware store. I needed an extra set so the fam could break in and steal cookie dough or whatever else they needed to get from my shanty. I had four keys made and only one worked, so i went back and the guy made me another round. So now I had 8 keys and 1 worked. I gave up with only having one new set being made but it was enough to get going.

I grabbed some breakfast at the Village grill, my joint that I had missed for two weeks due to Algebra camp at my school, with Paol, the man with the poetic words and slick blazer. He eventually gave me a ride to the airport and we talked some more about world conquest before finally having to get on a plane. Before that was the guitar fiasco. I go to check in my bags when they say my flight doesn't exist, the number switched, I have too many bags, I have to check the guitar and it will cost me an extra $80. After a period of dumfounded-ness, the bag man said he would put it on and not charge me but advised I figure this out before next time or else...

Now that the fear was gone and the plan for world domination in place I rushed through the gate and caught my plane. I sat between a couple of very quiet people except for the outrageous cough and the lady next to me nodding off and almost falling into my seat. There was constant action at our seat as it was where the line for the bathroom began and so there was always someone else stopping by. The plane ride went well despite the ridiculous amount of turbulence and no peanuts on board. We landed I got my bags and got to the rent a car place and picked out my car. I actually picked which car. Pretty cool. I ended up with a Saturn Vue, which is one of those cars that wants to be an SUV but isn't. It is pretty sweet and the seats fold down for plenty of cargo room.

I drove out of the lot and in less than a mile, I found a hotel. I checked in and laid down to watch basketball and was out like a light. I slept sooooooo good. I was needing the good night sleep after the crazy week of running around and playing shows. When I awoke I realized that my bags had been searched at the airport, my lock had been broken and my tip jar was cause for a major security alert at SFO. I feel so much safer knowing that the musicians of the world are being handled with stern procedures, seeing as we are so dangerous that me might write songs of revolt. It looks like Best We Can is going to be a political song after all.

April 15th-16th I woke, showered and headed off to the mid-west's best breakfast chain, The Waffle House for a waffle and some hashbrowns covered in onions and cheese. Yum. With that taken care of I set out on my "15 hour" trek to NYC. I bummed along I-70 for the rest of the day. I drove by the usual interesting sites and then the not so usual such as the huge cross made out of aluminum siding and the 10 commandments posted on billboards in Springfield, OH. So I guess this was what they meant by the Bible Belt. Interesante. Muy Interesante. Aside from the religious craziness on the side of the road it was a typical drive until you can't drive no more type day. I eventually pulled into Pittsburgh, PA. and found a trusty Motel 6. I was fast asleep again but without the perfect sleep feeling when i woke up.

The wake up call never came and so I started 3 hours later than I was hoping. I should have guessed it when I called for the wake up call and she said sure and then giggled. Anyhoot, a shower and some coffee got me going and I headed up I-79 to I-80 which brought me to the longest drive of any drive ever. Pennsylvania goes on forever and much of it is under 60mph due to construction and other hazards along the way. I was able to catch up on my thinking and to reminisce about the towns I stayed in along the way of I-80 last year. Ahh the taco bell lady comes to mind so clearly. (Check out August 14th) PA. finally did end and I quickly crossed NJ and into NY. I crossed the GW bridge and got into some typically bad NY traffic along the Cross Bronx Expressway. I hit the Whitestone Bridge and finally home to my Aunt's house. In all that, I paid $10.50 in bridge tolls, changed lanes illegally 3 times and was still able to pick up a cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee. I settled in with the fam, we ate leftovers and I prepared myself for a good night sleep on the air mattress. I made it to NYC in one piece and so now the shows begin. Tomorrow I will be at CBGB's doing my thang and I am excited. Until next time, keep your eggs Sunny side up and your moon over your hammy.

watch out ladies...my ride tells you what kind of man I am...grrrrr

Hey, that's my broken lock you...you..you lock brakers!

April 17th - Today was a late rising after some much needed sleep. It seems I keep saying that but that is the story of my life, right, and the theme of my recovery as I have been sick on and off for the last three or four weeks (which seems to be the story of the last two years). Anyhoo, I got up had a bowl of cocoa krispies with my little cuz and watched way too much SpongeBob for my liking. I did a bit more computing and then we all went for a ride to Applebee's, America's fin dining. We had a good meal and then the fun began.

It seems that I always try to make things juicy for you readers by doing something really stupid. This is the first of many: Shortly before we left the house I was looking to change clothes as I was still in my travel attire, when I realized that all four pairs of pants that I had packed were mysteriously missing from my suitcase. I remember pulling them out to find something else back in Pittsburgh but I remember checking the room before I left to find nothing left behind. Somehow I lost all my pants. So after the feast at the bee hive of apples, we went around the strip mall to find a pair of pants to wear for the show. It seems they don't have big people in this part of NY so it was the third and final store that I was able to find a pair that fit. Principles aside, I purchased a pair of pants from the Gap. My uncle ended up picking them up for me because the fam is way too generous and won't take no for an answer. Once again, principles aside, I took the favor. We got home, I changed, I left, got lost and eventually made it to the CBGB Gallery.

When I showed up, a crowd had formed outside CBGB's for the bands next store. I went in side and meet the door man who was super nice. The first performer had already begun playing and she was the girl & guitar stereotype but she knew it and played it up very well. She was so aware of this that the title of her album and best song was titled, "Why am I not a lesbian," where she listed how she fit all the stereotypes. The other hit was, "my vegan boyfriend," where she detailed how she tried to make it work but in the end forced him to eat meat. That was good for a few laughs with the rest of the folks. I was up next and my biggest fans were the fam. It was especially cool that they came because my cousins got to see me play and the reason behind me coming to NY every year. I played my set and had a good time but the voice was going toward the end and my set ended just when I needed it to end. This sickness is killing me but no excuses, right. I watched the next band who were kind of DMB or those other funky white guys. They brought loads and loads of people, so much that I was taking up space and so I moved to the back and eventually out. I headed back home, got lost again, called for directions and eventually made it back. As a side note, getting lost on the outer rim of NYC can be fun because driving the FDR expressway is like every driving video game ever. It's got the curves, the crazy drivers, the hills, the tunnels and you're driving at a decent speed. I don't particularly like driving but that is always fun. Plus, you drive around the outside of Manhattan and you see everything. It's like the fastest tourist ride ever. Back to the main story. I got home and almost right to bed. Soooooo tired. Looks like I will be sleeping in again.

The future of Waypastfrown East Coast edition. Keys and drums are all I need and all they can play. ya, watch out!

Doing my best sleeping and playing impression ever! Ya!

April 18th- As expected, it was another late waking but this one brought no cartoons or breakfast. It was a bit late when we all got started. We went to a Barney and Nobles to get my small cousin some books to read while he was on vacation from school. While we waited for my aunt to take care of an errand we grabbed a bite to eat at the cafe-type place inside the book store. I got a cinnamon scone and a caramel coffee thingy and my cousin got a cheese sandwich. We sat on the window sill, because all these people were using the tables to read without paying for it, and we grubbed down. The scone and coffee were good and so was the sandwich that I had to help him finish but the chips were a bit weird. They were made out of all kinds of vegetables. Now that ain't right. If I am going to die of high cholesterol then at least let me go down with a real potato chip, not some veggie substitute. I mean come on!

After grubbing down I went to look at the audio books to keep me awake while driving and the fam checked out the kids section. They got Artemis Fowl and I picked up On the Road by Jack Eruct as read by Matt Dillon. Dillon can actually read, but more on that later. Audio books should be things that you want to read but you know you never would or have never got around to. These books are like the movies you would rent but not pay money to see in the theater. Usually the books are better than those movies but you catch my drift, you smell what I'm stepping in right?! So I know to be a cool kid you have to read On the Road but I have never been cool so I never did it. In my attempt to considered an artist, I figure I should take care of all the prerequisites and besides I was on the road and it was half price. We headed back to the house, I did the computer thing and the kids did the video game thing until it was time to go meet up with my old high school buddy Jeffy. Before leaving the house I said my goodbyes just in case I didn't return after the night's travels. I was sad to go and yet excited for all the events to come. I had been treated like a king for a few days and had enjoyed hanging out with the good side of the family, whom I see more than any other family due to my clockwork-like trips out east.

Jeffy was someone I spent every weekend running courts around the city with but that I have only seen two or three times in the last ten years. Sad, it is really. He moved to NY for college and stayed and I did the whole "I love me " thing for so many years and so we lost touch. After getting lost again we met up for some drinks and tapas at Sala, a joint across from CBGB, where I would again be hanging out for the night. We had a good time talking, eating and sharing plans of the future and why we live where we do and so on. We talked about my plans to crash his wedding in June and the promise to start all kinds of mischief while at the wedding. After all the laughs and me forcing some of my music on him, he went home to his sweetheart and I went into the sweaty pit of CBGB's.

The first band up was a rap/ soft metal band in the style of Limp Bi skit but with indie-cred and a mean piano player. I listened to a bit of it but the lyrics were unintelligible due to the eq by the house pa and so I was left listening to bad rock. I stepped out a bit and returned in time to see the band I came to see. Scott Maher is an Irishman that replied to my plea about finding venues to play in NYC and through a few emails, i was able to get a gig at the CBGB Gallery and we became chums as well as musicians can from different places. His band was a bunch of blokes put together for the month he was in the US and this was their final show before he returned to Ireland for a few months. I wanted to make it out to the show to meet him and to thank him for his help. I was able to talk to him briefly after his set before I had to run out. In the short time I had to talk to him and through all the various replies of emails I gather that he is a good guy, a good musician and someone worth knowing for the future. I am just glad I had the chance to meet him. Too often we try to get what we can from people without ever really thanking anyone or showing a genuine interest in the other person's story but if there is anything I have gained from my traveling show ordeals it is that there are good people everywhere and it is one of the greatest perks to have a chance to meet them and share a story or two. Like I said, I don't know Scott very well but I can see he is good people and I am sure he has great stories. So if you end up reading this Scott, thanks again and we owe each other a few more stories before time is due. Best of luck, my friend.

After heading out, I still had enough energy to drive a bit so instead of heading back to the fam-base I headed out. Not realizing how much energy I had left in me, I set out on the New Jersey Turnpike and kept driving. I wanted to take a different route and my ability to get lost brought that faster than I expected but I ended up driving on to the end of the end, through NJ, a touch through Delaware, into Maryland, around Baltimore and finally into West Virginia. By the time I was feeling I had about an hour left of driving time before I was ready for bed, I was almost out of gas and was able to pull off just in time to grab gas and then find a hotel. This was 5am when my brain started to hurt to tell me go to sleep and the lady at the desk wanted $80 for 5 hours of sleep. I said hey no, mang. So I went to the next place and the lady gave me a room for $30. I took it happily and settled down for the night. The next day would be a day for more music and mayhem but this is all for now.

April 19th- I slept for about 4.5 hours when I was awoken not by the alarm clock or by the wake up call but by a man in the next room having a violently heated argument on the phone in an asian language that I could not decipher. He was slamming his fist on the table or desk and yelling at the top of his lungs. I couldn't go back to sleep though I tried. Maybe I should get this guy to be my roommate, then i would never be later for work. I got up, had a great shower got dressed, checked out, grabbed a free bagel from the lobby and headed out of town. I realized that I only had a few hours until I reached Columbus so my next quest was not to find coffee and keep going but to find a breakfast joint to sit down and enjoy myself. I like finding the odd place in these towns and being one of the local folk for a minute but apparently I-70 was not going to give this pleasure in WV or PA. So I pulled off and went to a Bob Evan's to grab breakfast. It was in a small turn off that was a Caselas Outdoormans store capital. They had the store, the distribution center and Bob Evan's. My order was simple; I wanted pancakes and coffee. I got coffee with no cream, sponges instead of pancakes and instead of link sausage, sausage patties. I ate half before my mouth just couldn't eat the over-absorbant cakes. Now I was $10 poorer and not feeling satisfied in my food choice.

I headed out again and didn't stop except for gas and water. I pulled into Columbus, found the venue and sat down to do some work. Vic's is open all day and they have free internet access, so I bought an iced tea with one of my remaining four dollars and sat down to work for two hours. Eric Nassau showed up a bit later and we talked and then Dan Vaillancourt showed up and we sat around and talked of road stories, mainly theirs as I still am an infant in this world. We sat around until the show began, grubbed and met some good peoples. Eric started the show, I played second and Dan third before an open mic started. There was a good response but most people were there to hang out and see their friends play covers. There were a few super cool people that are new friends such as Meg, who hung out and guarded the merch and was general good company. There was also Nizzie and Theresa who very respectfully listened in front and were so sweet to all of us. I think they wanted to buy cds but they wanted to be fair to all of us so they tipped us each and didn't buy anything. If you two read this and want some music, I'll send you a copy of the ep. I felt terrible for not offering something then as Dan was so gracious enough to do. We sat around for a bit more and listened to the covers before heading over to Eric's house.

At Eric's we started a bon fire in the backyard, ordered some pizza and sat around with old friend Anne Marie and new friends Amy and Phil. We talked and laughed and Eric's old exploits and Phil's almost-too-far humor until about 2 am. Sleep called and so I curled up on the floor and was out.

Tidbits: 1. Tolls are killing me. In NYC tolls are both ways on bridges and tunnels. The turnpikes can kill as well. I left NYC with $60 and I stopped driving that night with $14. Crazee mang.
2. When I was in the dressing room the other day at the Gap, this little girl was bothering her brother while he was changing. She kept yelling for him to hurry. to let him in, and telling him that she could see him through the cracks. If that wasn't funny enough, they broke off into mama jokes in all seriousness. They have the same mother, get it. I know you're slow but come on! Kids are great!

April 20th -I am tempted to write nothing today as anything I was made speechless by the guys who played the show tonight. This is some of the best music I have heard in a long long time and I deserved to be no where near the stage. So instead of reading my journal please check this out. Amazing! The Outlaws of Folk ride again.

Hal Hixson
Jason Quicksall
Wil Cope
Robert Loss
Dan Vaillancourt
Eric Nassau

Ok, I need to write something because otherwise I might forget everything that happened outside of the music, which I will never forget.

We sat around all day and did nothing up until almost show time. We did walk up the street to a coffee roastery where they served cups of their special roast by french press. This stuff was like syrup and so good. I tried to go get money from the bank but found that none of my checks had cleared so I was left penniless and still needing to eat. Dan spotted me some scrill as we went out to eat at Teejay's Country grill, a local diner chain. We wanted to eat out at a local joint but to no avail, they were all closed. It was 3pm after all. We ate for $10 for both of us. Gotta love those midwest prices. We headed back to the house before we did some more sitting around and then we finally decided to head out to the Carabar for the show. We stopped at the food co-op to get some snacks.

Dan and Eric bought some bagels, a banana and some mini-belgian waffles that were so good. The best part of that little trip was a little girl, maybe 5 years old, came up to the door while I was waiting for those foolios and she was trying to get in. She waved at me to say hello and then continued trying to open the door. I helped her in and she went straight for the organic candy. She found what she wanted and asked Eric if it cost a dollar. Eric read it , said yes and she ran it up to the counter. She asked the lady at the counter again and then pulled out this tiny purse where she had her one dollar to pay for the candy. She paid, grabbed it, waved goodbye to everyone and ran out. About ten minutes later another little girl, maybe 3 years old, runs into store runs right up to the exact same candy grabs it and runs right back out of the store. We were just standing in amazement at the hilarity of the series of events. The dad comes in and offers to buy the candy for the two girls and they explain what had happened. As the cashier was telling the man that one girl had already finished paying, the older daughter ran back in with the two bags of candy and puts one back on the shelf because she knew her sister had taken it. The dad paid for the one and the older sister retrieved the bought candy for the younger one and they left. That was easily the best part of the day.

We jumped in the car again and headed to the show which was about 10 minutes up the freeway but still in Columbus. We arrived to find the bar empty as usual except for a couple artists. Everyone seemed cool as we chatted it up a bit. Shortly there after, the crowd came in and the show began with Hal Hixson. He did the live loop recording thing and had it down. The songs were great and he played so clean. In addition, he played a bow on his guitar and recorded it to get a really cool atmospheric sound. He was great. Easily one of my favorites of the night. I played second and shook my tail feather a bit before Dan got up and wowed everyone with his funktified guitar playing. After Dan, was Jason Quiksall who was almost perfect in his songs and performance. He played a kind of ragtime-esque folk stuff with great funny lyrics thrown in to really well crafted songs. He was my other favorite of the night. After Jason, Wil Cope from Dayton, Oh. played. He had a more mellow melodic style that was very different from everything else played that night. He stood out in that way. Next up was the legendary Bob Loss of the Wells do a couple numbers. I have never seen the Wells play but I have heard glory stories of their live shows. The drummer Bill also went up to sing some backups and beat a beer bottle in time. Finally Eric Nassau played a flawless set of folk songs of the countries little treasures. The comic hit of the night was a song called "7-year beard," in which he told a silly story about his two foot long beard. The night finally came to an end at 2:30am and we all headed back to Eric's house. The show was incredible. I have never seen such awesome musicians and was dumbstruck at the idea of being on the same stage and these seasoned guys. We also made a good chunk of change and I was able to pay Dan back for breakfast and swap cds with the other performers. Good night!

At Eric's we ordered pizza and bunch of people came over to hang out. Some interesting folk showed up and hung out a bit and ate all of our pizza. The three of us were starved but we let it be. I got a call form the good folks at Mamá because it was Thursday night and we normally go out to eat after the Thursday shows. As usual they were asking me, where we they should eat and in tradition wanted to include me in that process even though I was in another state. Ahh friends, you gotta love them! After I got off the phone, I went back to the party for a bit more until the party came to a close around 4:30 am. I upgraded my sleeping accommodations from Eric's floor to a bed at Anne Marie's house and Dan did the same at Brandy's house. We left Eric's because his roommate was back from a trip, we now shared the house with a dog and Eric's girlfriend was spending the night. On all accounts it was a good idea to sleep elsewhere. Anne Marie's place was great and her roommates just as nice as she but the sleep was not enough as I got up at 9am the next morning for breakfast. ouch! More on that

b

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The Outlaws of Folk!

Hal Hixson

wpf yo!

Dan Vaillancourt

Wil Cope

Bob Loss

Eric Nassau

Jason Quicksall was so swift and voice so sweet, cameras could not capture him.

April 21st - I made it up for breakfast in time and found my way back to Eric's where I woke him up and got him out of bed in time for us to pick up Dan at Brandy's. We headed out to find breakfast and stopped at Nancy's for some grub only to be turned away just at the look of us. They said they were no longer serving breakfast and had moved on to lunch. It was only 10:30am. Who stops serving breakfast at 10:30am, especially when they are only open until 2pm. I mean come on, seriously! We headed on up back towards the house and ate at another joint in which we were served by a beautifully sassy waitress. We grubbed down on everything quick style and headed out of there in time for Eric to only be a little late for work at the deli where he plays the lunchtime minstrel. After paying San Francisco prices for a Columbus meal we decided to save a bit of money and just go back and sit around and talk until we absolutely had to go. We took showers, headed back to the coffee roastery for a last bit of Columbus' finest coffee and on the road to Detroit.
We headed straight up for about 4 hours until we reached the town of Taylor, which on a map is part of Detroit but if you talk to the people they are not from Detroit. One of those weird little things but I can understand somebody from DC or South City saying they weren't part of San Francisco even though the rest of the world might connect those things together in some way. Anyhoo, we pulled up on the house that we were going to play and we met Mizy and her family. They were all super nice and fun to talk to and very soon Dan and I were pulled into the drama of Mizy's world, as she called it. It was fun hanging around just talking to everyone and hearing their stories before the show started. Mizy was still on the phone rallying everyone as were treated like kings in their house. Mizy, mom, sis and bro were all very hospitable and added to the fun of the night with their witty banter and funny stories. The real star of the night was the crazy cat that attacked anyone that startled it. All night the cat was on the prowl and fighting with everyone, dancing to Dan's music and eventually flirting with him later. It seems Dan gets all the girls, even the felines. ;)

The show started and Dan played a bunch of songs that everyone sang along to. They knew every word, better than Dan could remember. He played a great set and then I did my thang and the kids seemed to dig it. At least there was no projectile vomiting during the set, so I know it wasn't that bad. After the first set, we traded songs back and forth and Dan played on a bunch of my stuff, impromptu style and I tried to sing a bunch on his. It was a good time. After the show we just sat around and talked, ate pizza and talked some more. All the kids were cool and they were so welcoming. It is super cool that someone was willing to put on a house concert, have us play and then feed everyone. I felt very fortunate to meet everyone and to laugh as hard as I did at all the crazy stories.

After the show, we packed up and headed back to Dan's girlfriend's parents' house in Stonebridge, Mi. On the way there we passed through Chelsea, a very small cute town that is home to Jiffy corn bread. I grew up on that stuff and here I was driving by the factory. So cool and yet so silly. We arrived a the house which was on a piece of farm land with a driveway a mile long. It was pitch black but we found our way and stumbled in the kitchen. Dan's girlfriend was waiting up for us and doing a good job by sleeping on the couch, the same way my mom used to wait up for me. I met her and we chatted a bit while Dan hand crafted nachos from all the ingredients in the fridge. It was the best meal ever, we were so hungry. We stayed up late to chat a bit until we could no longer keep our lids open.

Dan playing at the house party. Click on it to watch a short movie.

michigan, dirty sexy!

April 22nd- I woke up about 1pm and took a shower before heading down to meet Erin already up and busy around the house. Dan came down and the two of them made breakfast while I looked on like a spoiled guest. Dan and I downed to pots of coffee while they cooked and then we all had eggs, toast, bacon and potatoes. After grub we headed out for a walk down the road to see the next farm, which had goats. We almost walked to the main road when we saw rain clouds and so we decided to turn back. On our way back the lighting and thunder hit in the distance and so we picked up the pace. Then the coolest thing ever happened. Rain started falling in the distance and it slowly started coming towards us. We began to run to see if we could get back to the driveway before it got us. We did it, oh ya. When we turned around we could see a sheath of rain coming for us. I out ran rain. Who says fat guys are slow? We went back in and did nothing for a long time before finally getting ready for the show. Dan and I jumped into his car and we headed out to Holland, about 2 hours away.

We pulled into Holland and went to check out the place. Dan had played here before but it was all new to me. The place was super colorful and clean and was already bustling with kids. We met Dan the soundman who later would be brainstorming ideas for a cross country trip with me. It was a very On the Road moment. We were early so we went around for a walk to see Holland. Holland is a bit on the higher side of things economically and so it was all clean and nice cars everywhere. There is also one of the most expensive colleges in Michigan right across from the venue, Lemonjello's. As we walked around we noticed all these kids dressed up in gowns and realized it was prom night. Some of those same kids would eventually come back to the show after prom was over. We set up and talked with the owner Matt, who was a super nice guy. We met the third performer John Mallinen as he was just coming back from an Earth day show at the college.

John was a super nice guy and an excellent musician. It was his first show away from his hometown in PA. He had a soft voice and cleverly played songs. I played second, it was a riot as I stumbled through some oldies and newbies, but not all goodies. Dan played last and he really did have quite a few kids there to see him. He played his best set yet and got the crowd involved. Afterwards he was swarmed by everyone and I chatted up a brother and sister duo in Jenny and James, who bought a cd and were really nice. I also talked more to Dan the soundman about our summer exploits and to Mike a quiet rocker guy who was hanging out. We packed up our stuff and headed out after the crowd subsided. We had made some decent money and had many more new friends. We drove back the two hours to Erin's family's house for another round of nachos. I worked on some stuff for school while Dan concocted the most perfect nachos ever. While I worked, he cooked until he dropped the entire sheet of nachos. Having dropped all the food we had left we did what any other musician or starving student would have done. We paused for a moment of silence for the fallen chips and then we picked it up, cooked it and ate it anyway. It was sooo good. You know there was a little extra flavor in there. Dan went to sleep and I continued my work until about 5am, when I finally finished my work. I decided to finally go to bed when I heard Erin's dad David wake up to get ready for the day. I snuck to bed and right to sleep.

John Mallinen

Dan again.

Me, Jenny and John & James, Dan and Jenny

These just in, courtesy of the coolest girl in all of Holland, Michigan, Jenny. These two are the top two reasons to play Lemonjello's again and I am August 18th.

April 23rd- Despite my late sleeping I rose earlier than I expected and showered before heading down to meet Erin's parents David and Jill. David was getting ready to go take apart his motorcycle and Jill was working on some papers for the grad class she teaches. I sat around with Erin and Jill and chatted a bit until we guilted Dan into getting up. We chatted more and then Erin, Dan and I skipped breakfast for the time being and headed over to the Gee Farm. The Gee Farm has been around for over a century and they used to be a dairy farm but have since turned their almost 10 acres into plants of all sorts and a general store. They make homemade donuts and that was what we were after. Before getting the donuts we looked around and saw they had some really cool plants and some of the funniest chia pets ever. There was chia frog, chia elephant (Dan thought it was chia dinosaur) and there were some others there as well. They weren't the kind in the box, these things were huge. We went back for some donuts and this kid that was maybe 10 helped us. Then another kid, tried to offer us popcorn. Personally, I think he had a thing for Erin but I think her choice is easy; dan the rockstar or the 10 year old with popcorn. I know most of you were thinking 10 year old and you should be ashamed of yourselves, dan's a great guy. ;) We grabbed the goods and went to counter and they freaked because the kid didn't pack the donuts right. He'll probably lose his job and end up pulling the plow on some other farm. Poor kid, family farms are tough.

WE went back, ate the donuts, had another hearty breakfast and then Dan and I sat around to talk business while Erin slept. We finally packed and headed out to Lansing to the next show. We arrived early as it was only a half hour away and I had got a call f rom work and they needed a file emailed so we hit the internet cafe across the street from the venue, Magdalena's Tea House. After saving the world of work, we headed over to Mags and we met a couple of musicians that had just finished playing Ladyfest. I have to ask Dan the names of the ladies we had met because their cd was playing and it was super good. Stay tuned for that. Anyhoot, we started to set up and I met Bill Bock and his roomie Ben, who would open the show. Bill played with Dan in high school in a band called Mississippi Mudd. Dan gave me a cd and it is pretty good for being high school kids. Its better than most bands now.

Anyhoo, the show started and Bill poured through a variety of originals and covers in his soft kind of country-esque voice. He really was a great player and I enjoyed it immensely. HE had a free cd with only two songs on it but it is pretty good. HE said he'll have some stuff soon but it maybe a while. In the meantime you can check out his old punk band here and his roommate Ben's band here. During their set I picked on a girl in front of me which turned out to be a big mistake later. I noticed the girls right in front were all texting back and forth on their phones. I tried to make a little joke because she was trying to hide it from everyone and I had seen her being mischievous. The joke didn't seem to go over well and I was later heckled on stage and then after the show. I was labeled, "the mean boy" and was then teamed up against by her whole crew. The joke was on me because Dan had mentioned that we would be going out to dinner with his friends afterwards and these were all the friends, including the famous Jenilyn; Michigan's #1 show goer. Dan had mentioned her to me and how cool she was and here I was picking a fight with her. Good job Tom, that's smart, piss off the queen in her castle. Back to the show: after Bill's set was my set. It was good. I felt like i was shedding the layers of sickness off my throat and singing well. I played well and I finally felt like I was playing with no one else in the room. That's the feeling of complete comfort, like when I play at Mamá. It felt like home on the road. All these shows with Dan had finally sunk in and it was the last of the tour. So sad. I invited Dan to come up and he played the mouth trumpet on From Frame to Pictures, in lieu of the orchestra on the recording. It was a fun little improv piece. I played the best version of Best We Can to end the show but as usual I was the plague after my set and no one said hello until much later. dan jumped up next and wowed everyone with an even tighter set. He played some new stuff that night that just started to break my consciousness. He has a song called Angel that is going to take over popular radio when his next album drops. It is really intelligent and great lyrics and the hook is ridiculous. Hats off to you Dan. He did some crazy guitar stuff that had first-time-danv-viewers jumping out of their seat. He also did the best version of the beatbox turntables I have seen him do. It was almost a flawless set. For his last song, he went unplugged and invited his friend Daniel the Minstrel to sing backups and anyone else to play percussion. The dish boy came up and banged away to the song Could I. It was a lot of fun and the crowd participation was good. Dan was slaying people with the San Francisco Treat part. I am the right butt to all his jokes, but i love it. It was a good show and we made some decent scrill, Not bad for the last night of the Dan/WPF tour.

We all headed to Theios, It was dan, cheressa, dustin, dana, julie, murphy, loren, daniel, jenilyn and myself. I think there might have been another person or two but I am bad with names. We all had some dirty food, while we talked the night away and then moved the party outside until Dan finally said goodbye and we all parted ways. It was a sad parting but necessary as Dan had to drive two hours north and I was still heading out to Chicago at that point. We said our manly goodbye and then our silliness kicked in and all the San Francisco jokes went flying. I said goodbye to the rest of folk there after and made my way down to I- 94 before finding a hotel in the middle of nowhere that, funny enough, had free wireless. It was 3am when I finally hit the sack and it was a great night and a good night's sleep.

This part of the journal ends a significant portion of my trip. The previous 5 days I spent running around with Dan Vaillancourt and it was once again some of the most fun I have had all year. It was great to see Eric and Anne Marie and Brandy in Columbus. It was great to meet Hal and here him play and to see Jason Quicksall tear it up as did Bob Loss. It was great to meet the folks of Lemmonjello's, Matt and Dan the soundman, and Jenny and James . It great to meet all the folk at Mags, and to develop friendships with these people in a short time but seem like they will last longer. Daniel the Minstrel is promising famousness and I can't forget the wonderfully infamous Jenilyn and all her jabs. It looks like I will add Michigan to my favorite places alongside Ohio and Wisconsin. I may just have to tour three states from now on. We'll see. I just want to thank all these people for making this trip so worth it and for willing me back in August. I'll see you then and it won't be that long until we can hang out again. Now I have to sleep.

Bill Bock

Ben and Bill rocking some Carmelita

dan and his guitar tricks, always a crowd pleaser

April 24th-After waking a few hours later than I had planned, I sped quickly into Chicago to hang out with Cynthia Lin She had just visited San Francisco and now I was a guest in her city, so she was going to show me around he hood South Loop and the neighboring sites. We walked around for awhile and hit up the amphitheater and The Bean. All the architecture was very cool. We got hungry fast and we went and downed some deep dish pizza at a local chain. It was good. We then walked around and found an Italian bakery with a French name run by polish people. They had soft amarettos which are so hard to find. I got some of those and some coffee and we walked some more down by the water. It was crazy to be walking next to a body of water that looked like an ocean but was really a lake. So crazy. We saw the carnival section on one of the piers We walked around for a couple more hours and talked music as we headed back to her house for some more free wifi and relaxing before heading out to a local open mic. She called a head of time and signed us up at the Subterranean where Ciso Lobo hosts the open mic. He's got a great voice and really good songs that everyone seemed to know and want to sing along to. He set a really fun vibe and he had a sit in drummer come and play on all the sets. I was first but didn't have my shite together so Cynthia jumped up and rocked the house. Everybody was loving it and people were dancing and shouting. It was a very cool setting where everyone was just happy to be there and hanging out. I eventually got up and played three of my hits with the backup drummer and everyone was having a good time while I rocked it SF style. It was funny to hear the songs with a drummer again and really odd to try to play half time guitar while he kept it going full time. All in all it was a ton of fun. I rolled out of Chi-town and found a hotel. I drove a considerable amount and got lost a few times before running out of gas and being turned down by hotels and their $150 rooms for 4 hours of sleep. I eventually found another cool spot with free internet and pulled over for the night.

April 25th and beyond-I woke up the next morning and bolted back into Chicago for breakfast with Cynthia. We found this joint that was a specialty juice type place. They made juice combinations and orange coffee. It was a pretty good breakfast and a solid meal to send me on my drive to St. Louis. We grubbed down like starving students and said our goodbyes as I hit I-55 down to the STL. In St. Louis I would be spending a few days for work and my nights at the Atomic Cowboy, a local bar run by the brother of my good friend Dan back in SF. I spent every night there eating their good eats and hanging with the super nice people that worked there . even playing a bit while I did my journal updating.

Overall it was good trip and I am excited to get back on the road this summer. I need to finish the record I have been planning for so long and I think I might be able to pull enough money to do it. keep your eyes peeled and your ears open and thanks for reading this silly thing I have been writing. Ciao. Grazie. Buona notte.