The new EP, Start All Over Again is off to the manufacturer and should be arriving soon. In the interest of full disclosure, this EP is a rerelease of T minus One, but features new artwork (thanks to friends Greg Whitaker, Steve Janiak, and Mary Beth jackson) and two bonus tracks. If you already bought T minus One, but you've got a touch of the musical OCD, you're going to need this one too.

I'll be doing a release party some time in early April, but I'll be sure and let people know when it's available. Also, unlike T, this one will be available online thanks to our friends at Flat Earth Records.

Back in NOLA

Hey Dudes, I'm back in New Orleans for a Susan Cowsill gig tonight. Mardi Gras is just beginning and I spent all day in the French Quarter yesterday. I saw the Rebirth Brass Band, caught some beads, and ate a delicious oyster Po Boy. I even sang on Bourbon Street with the Bonoffs (see picture) who were kind enough to let a midwestern boy sit in for a number. That's my friend Janson on keys and Russ is behind the drums (though you can't see him).
Last night we watched the Pygmalion parade and caught some more beads.
The weather is outstanding, it's nice to get awy from the brutal cold for a few days. I should have packed some shorts. Eat your heart out, Indiana.
I'm looking forward to rocking tonight and then flying home tomorrow before this city becomes totally overrun with tourists.

Middletown, pt. 2

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Upper Room last night, and thanks to Aaron and Stasia for playing with me. We had a great time and a pretty good show. Sadly, we were short one member (I don't know if Gonzo will ever visit us, but I remain hopeful).
If anyone's got photos, please email them to me and I'll post them here. I forgot my camera, and I was kind of busy playing and singing anyway.

Middletown

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and it's not going to slow down any time soon. I've got 3 or 4 shows (with the band and solo) every week, I'm trying to get back down to New Orleans for more Susan Cowsill shows, the kid's back in school, the Colts are in the playoffs...but first, a Middletown "reunion" show.

Aaron's in town and we're playing Thursday at one of our old haunts, the Upper Room. We've decided to rehearse tomorrow so hopefully we won't be too rusty, but our rehearsals were always more about eating and talking than practicing- even when we were at our best.

Anyway, the show is Thursday night if you can make it, and I'll try to post a wrap-up and maybe a photo or 2.

Baton Rouge, 12/1

After 2 days of rehearsal, the Susan Cowsill band finally took its version of Led Zeppelin IV to Phil Brady's in Baton Rouge. We survived the experience, but our lives will be changed forever.
Not really.
All things considered, it was a pretty good show. It was a blast playing Susan's songs with the band again, and the Zeppelin stuff only got sketchy a couple of times, with only one real train wreck (provided by yours truly). The only real complications: Susan still has a bit of a cold, and I still have a bit of a bussel in my hedgerow(?).
Tonight we take the show to Carrollton Station in NOLA. Susan and Russ got some great press for the show, so tonight should be a great time.
In other news: I took a long, windy, aimless bike ride yesterday, and I've eaten nothing but chicken in days.

New Cats

Hello. I know I've been silent for a while, but I've placed a link to the blog on my website so now I'll have to update more frequently.
I guess the only news right now is that Jo and I have a couple of new cats, tentatively named Malcolm and Louie.
I'm heading to Louisiana in a couple of weeks to play 2 "Covered in Vinyl" shows with Susan and the band. Should be fun. See you there.

Indianapolis, IN (home again)

Have I been hesitant to write a tour wrap-up because I didn't want it to end, or because of a few unpleasant events at the very end? It doesn't really matter now, I feel like enough time has gone by that I can wrap it up without dwelling too much on the negatives.

New Orleans is still a beautiful city, and the show at Carrollton Station was a blast. Our friend Tim was there with a camera crew and allegedly got some great footage (I don't know where it will end up). After the show we were hasseled by NOPD (probably recent transplant cops) for about an hour, ticketed for our broken taillight, and generally treated without mercy or respect. The following day, while walking around the French Quarter, the van window was smashed and a few items were taken, including Aaron's bag of guitar tools and my bag that contained my laptop, camera, and several other less valuable items. The real shame is that all of my photos from the tour were stored on my computer, so all that remain are the few I emailed to Sarah and the ones posted here.
I was disappointed, but it's hard to indulge in self-pity when surrounded by people who have lost everything.

I've been back home for a few days, it's been great to spend time with Sarah and the kid, who I lavished with gifts upon my return. I've been back to work at my day job (buying and selling books) and have played a couple of shows with Otis Gibbs.
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing the Mysteries of Life at a club near my home. The nucleus of the band is a married couple, Jake and Freda, who are moving to London at the end of the month. This was their last show in Indy, so I was glad to catch it. The only disappointment was the brevity of their set, owing to the fact that it was a multi-band extravaganza. In my opinion The Mysteries have been the best Indiana band around for the last decade or so. I'm sad to see them go, and the new CD I bought last night will be a poor substitute for their rare live performances, but it will have to do.

Tonight it's back to work with the Benders. I sort of miss those guys.

I guess I'll keep this journal thing going, but probably post less frequently. Thanks for reading, I welcome any input y'all might have.

Alpharetta, GA

One more show to go...
Aaron and I stayed with my dad, and Russ and Susan stayed with friends last night. Our party had a delicious Thai dinner, then came home and crashed.
We're all having breakfast at Dad's this morning, then making the long drive to New Orleans. I'm looking forward to the show at Carrollton Station, visiting New Orleans, and meeting the Broussards.
But not as much as I'm looking forward to going home.

Charlotte, NC

Good morning. As is often the case, I'm the first one up.
Great show last night at the Evening Muse in Charlotte. We may not have played our best (or maybe we did) but the sound was great, the audience was appreciative (and already knew most of Susan's material), and the staff was friendly and helpful. Kelly was hilarious blowing trumpet in the street after the show.
We're staying with friends Steven and Christopher again- the same place we stayed my first night out. It feels like a strange kind of homecoming. It's only been a month ago, but it seems like several.
Last night was the final road gig of the tour for Russ and Susan, tomorrow we play in New Orleans to wrap it up. Today we're heading to the Atlanta area to visit my dad and some friends.

Roanoke, VA

A brief stop on our way to Charlotte. It was hard to leave the farm, so we didn't leave until 7:30 last night. Aaron was a trooper and drove us this far. I was knocked out most of the way, I had taken a benadryl for my bee sting/swollen foot.
I spent my time at the farm relaxing, swimming and eating. We lit some fireworks, threw some late night illuminated frisbee, and spent Tuesday afternoon tubing down the Delaware river. Aaron and I also visited Guitar Villa in Quakertown. It's a cool store, but we didn't buy anything.
The farm was incredible, and I want to thank Johnny, Linda, and their kids, neighbors and friends for making us feel so welcome.

Scranton, PA

I'll most likely be away for a few days, as we're staying on a farm in the middle of nowhere until Wednesday, and we have no wireless connection. That's okay, we have a pool, a volleyball net, 2 pigs, a horse, a rooster, peacocks, dogs and cats. Who needs wireless?
Played a good show in Philly last night, the night before was a wierd little place in a wierd little place called Piermont, NY.
Stopped off in Scranton on the way to our Moscow gig just long enough to shower and steal all the toiletries from the hotel. I think I'm late for the bus...

NYC, Long Island

Drove back into Manhattan today. The four of us visited the Museum of Natural History and walked around Central Park. As we were heading back to the van, we found out that Fiona Apple was playing at the Summer Stage in the park (along with Damien Rice). I'm a fan of her records and so is Aaron, so we were excited to find out the show was just starting. The show was sold out, but we managed to find our way in using our charm and good looks. We eventually weaseled our way up front where I nearly bumped into Heather Graham (the actress, not the romance novelist). By this point I was pretty excited about the show and I had talked Fiona up to Russ and Susan, so I was disappointed when she was awful. We left after about 5 songs and were followed out by other angry concert-goers. I love her latest album, but she's clearly unable to keep her neuroses (psychoses?) at bay well enough to perform live.
From there we headed to the lower east side to Arturo's for a delicious Italian dinner with friends Lizzy and George. We had heard the Cyclone at Coney Island stayed open late, so we followed George to Brooklyn only to be disappointed again when it was closed. Russ and I got ice cream at Nathan's and we called it a night.
It's our last night at Ed and Lynne's; they've been incredibly kind to us. We'll miss them, but I'm ready to rock again...

Long Island, NY

I am not opposed to the idea of a place in the world that Starbucks hasn't infiltrated, but from what I've seen it's impossible to find a good cup of coffee on Long Island. I do appreciate Collen bringing me coffee yesterday- even more now since I spent this morning lost in the van on a fruitless Starbucks search.
Aaron and I took the train into the city yesterday. I had some pretty good pizza, but so far nothing beats Sally's in New Haven. We walked up Central Park West to see the Dakota where John Lennon lived, but it's just a building and we couldn't get in. They've named the bordering section of the park "Strawberry Fields"(where you'll find the 'Imagine' memorial). I wonder how many people think the song is about the park...
I didn't take a single photo in NYC, and I'm having trouble posting photos anyway, due to a slow and intermittent wireless connection. I'll add some when I get a chance.
We're supposed to head back to the city at some point with Russ and Susan, but they went out to the Bay House yesterday and haven't returned yet.

Later...
So I went out on the boat, to the bay house and a tiny little beach. Unfortunately the weather changed suddenly and the trip was somewhat of a wash. Meanwhile, someone we know was accidentally driving into the van, damaging one of the taillights. At least we had steak for dinner...

Long Island, NY

Ahh, Long Island. Everyone here sprinkles their conversations liberally with crude expletives. I feel right at home. We're staying at Lynne and Ed's house on a canal with a nice view and a swan that eats right out of our hands. His aim is not so good, and his bite can hurt a bit.
We played a house concert here yesterday, and it was nice not having to pack everything up and move on afterwards. Thanks to Kevin for supplying us with PA gear for the show. Everyone has been very nice to us, and they keep inviting us to their bay house for the day, but I think Aaron and I are going to take the train into the city. Surely we can get into some kind of trouble there.

Hoboken, NJ

Playing catch-up again. We're in Long Island and I've had a hard time finding a wireless connection. Hoboken Saturday night, played a fine show and met Russ and Susan's friend Scott, who we threatened to kidnap. We gave him a ride home but stopped in Manhattan for a slice of pizza. It was good, but didn't compare to Sally's in New Haven. Sorry, New York.
After dropping Scott off we headed to our temporary digs on Long Island, where we'll be for a few days.

Fall River, MA; somewhere in RI

Thanks to Patrick and Owen for a great night at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River. Good crowd, fun room, and Owen is a great stage manager.
We spent most of the day in Newport and Middletown, playing on the beach again and enjoying another orgy of seafood.
I opted not to be buried in the sand, but Russ and I had a nice run on the beach, then played in the waves.
We stayed with cousins Fred and Kelly again. Fred cooked a delicious gourmet breakfast, and we're doing some laundry before heading to Hoboken.
What will I eat there? Stay tuned to find out...

Newport, RI

Boston, MA

Played a pretty good show at Johnny D's in Somerville last night and met more nice people. We did a comical rendition of "End of the Line". Unfortunately the comedy was unintentional.
Yesterday's big story was getting lost driving around Boston. I guess it's pretty common, but I'm usually pretty good at finding my way around, and this infuriates me.
We stayed at the same hotel from Monday night, and they found my cellphone charger, which you probably didn't even know I was missing.
Somehow I forgot to take pictures when we were lost, stuck in traffic, so here's another Fenway photo from Monday.

Wellfleet, Cape Cod, MA

And then, Russ and Aaron buried me in the sand and gave me breasts like a woman...

A fun day today. We played a lunchtime radio show at WOMR in Provincetown (at the tip of Cape Cod) where we made some new friends, then had lots of time to eat delicious seafood and play on the beach. Then we had a delicious dinner at the Beachcomber in Wellfleet, set up, and rocked. I ate a crabcake sandwich, fries, lobster, raw oysters, steamers, some of Rusty's steak, an ice cream cone, and a choco taco.

The food is delicious and the Cape is beautiful. We've decided to forego the tour and just stay here. Our new friends Tony and Kate said we could live in their treehouse.

New Haven, CT

New Haven was last night, but I'm playing catch-up. We had a fine show at Cafe Nine, but the highlight for me was Sally's Apizza in Little Italy. We ate what was possibly the best pizza I've ever had. Of course, they know they have incredible pizza and a line out the door, so maybe they don't HAVE to be overly friendly.

The journal is quickly becoming world-renowned, and people are asking about it when we show up to clubs. That's a lot of pressure to live up to. I hope I won't disappoint.

We stopped at cousin Fred and Kelly's somewhere in Rhode Island to sleep (thanks F & K) and I did some laundry. Donuts and waffles for breakfast, and off goes the rock band.