rat-a-tat-tat

I know I know I got back from NC a week ago... sue me... the final show at warren wilson was very interesting... I rolled up to this campus kind of in the middle of nowhere, though only a matter of miles from a major highway. I was psyched cos it was the last show of the year for me... not because I didn't want to play anymore shows, but because I was just happy that there were shows this year and that I got to play them and that I was in NC.



I'm just excited for what '09 has to bring. i don't tend to look ahead often, but its only about a month ahead at this point so screw it.anyway this place, warren wilson college... very unique place. part of campus seems almost like a campground. 1 its freezing last friday, and as I'm driving, trying to find the building in the dark, i see a bunch of kids out there with fire pits, and like fold up chairs drinking and just hanging out in various little spots on campus. 2, there was a lot of laughing from these kids on campus. maybe somethings in the water. very positive vibe, I mean like way more laughing than you would expect. I was sitting in this room at the "st. clair guest house" (another unique place" and looking out my window and just seeing tons of kids walkin around all day and laughing it up.



the guest house... geez, it was this really old-fashioned b&b type place, and I'll tell you what, I've never been to a bed & breakfast, but i'm guessing if I had been to one, this is what it would be like. really old fashioned. no tvs in the room or anywhere else in sight. there was a common room with some couches, and then a couple bathrooms on either end of the 2nd floor, where I was. I had a nice little bed, and a desk and a dresser. it was perfect for my purpose, which was to hopefully find internet and a cell phone signal and get some booking work done. I did arrive pretty early.



so the sage cafe is a seemingly student-run coffeehouse/cafe, and the kids there, just as a first impression, were a little rough around the edges. like i said, this place is hard to explain, eccentric isn't the word... but this place is unique. the people are unique, and it was really just a one of a kind show. they set me up, i rocked it the best I could, and i finished off my tea which had turned into just juice by the end and it was a really good time. this show was also the debut of my tattoo...



i'm sure my dad and mom will find out pretty soon, but hopefully not til spring...





By the way, it's on my arm, not calf... and it's still healing which explains all the irritation, which is pale in comparison to the irritation of having the tattoo applied. it's completely normal. must keep applying lotion...

..I got it from Danny Reed at Empire Tattoo in downtown Asheville. I'm quite happy with it. the place is a little pricier than most, but they did a stellar job...





hope everyone had a great givingthanks and are snapping out your food coma like I already have... back in the cold detroit. keeping very busy... guitar center has a big sale today... so I'm off...

throw out the flip flops I guess

Asheville, NC

you know how people sometimes say, "seemed like a good idea at the time?"

Well my idea to drive down to Boone, NC the other day and leave MI around 10-11pm for a 10 hour drive never really seemed like a good idea at any point. my old habits of nodding off at the wheel had been contained in the recent touring this season. but i knew i had such a small window for sleep and knew I had to get pretty far before actually taking a small nap (2 hours max) in order to make it to Appalachian State Univ for a noon time show yesterday.

Well I got to where I wanted. i got to Kentucky, it was about 3am. I was in rough shape at this point and knew I had max 2 hours to sleep and with no real alarm. somehow I awoke right before 5am, shined up the teeth, got some food and was off again. it took forever for the sun to come up. and I was still pretty tired, but once that sun came up my body adjusted and I was cruisin toward boone. I thought I was closer however, than I really was. I got on a road which stated I was only 30 miles from boone, but what I didn't realize was that this was a slow and winding road which takes forever to get through. I arrived 15 minutes prior to showtime, and set up quickly and was off.

everything went on without a hitch and the show was great as I played to a bunch of lunch-eaters in their student center. afterward I gave away a bunch of discs and played an additional song unplugged for a couple of nice girls who only hear my last song or two and wanted a little more.

so I was unshowered, and on 2 hours sleep. I decided to get a room in boone for the day/night and the bonus was... that BJ Novak (ryan from "the office") was doing stand up on campus this same evening, so I got a ticket. but not before a nice nap and shower at the High Country Inn in boone.

BJ Novak was pretty funny. he was a little late but they had an a capella group sing for about an hour until he got there and ready to make everyone laugh. had some great material and even took questions about the office afterward which was pretty cool. I raised my hand but he didn't see me. I wanted to ask him: What kind of research did you to to protray your character when he was addicted to blow and a criminal?

alas, the question went un-asked. you like that word, un-asked?

anyway... when I left MI i packed my flip flops and some shorts, thinking, this is carolina, it's got to be nice warm weather... upon arrival. just as cold or even colder than MI. WTF?

but thanks to Randy at APP State for bringing me in and he also took a long time out of his busy day after I performed to talk with me about the industry and some of the things he's been through in the 30+ years of him buying entertainment nationally. he told me about how he booked john mayer for $1,500 before he was JOHN MAYER. and just gave me tons of insight.

today was another afternoon show at UNC-Asheville. I especially was looking forward to this one... why? because this show (while being 2nd to last of the year for me) was the 1st show booked/confirmed for the entire tour. I was still tossing around notions and anxiety back in Feb-March of this year: "what if no one books me?" "what if I can't get any other shows in NC?" etc...

but andrew got me early and worked it out and it was at that point several months ago that gave me confidence that other shows would come, and they did, and they mostly went well. very consistent around this country. all the shows had low turnouts but high response. so it's very positive for me going into '09 with booking...

I played at this place called the Glasshouse, which if you're wondering IS an actual glasshouse. apparently today on campus a water main got busted and left the entire campus without water... bummer for them but I'm sure it's sorted out by now. so when andrew asked me if I needed any water, I promptly said, "bottled, please..." with a smile...

it was a fun time, and I brought up a guy named BEN, to play the (what has become) traditional djiembe on "pile of gold" which so many strangers have played these past couple months... and he was awesome... ranking up there with the guy from Rhode Island. he said, "i'm not much of a djiembe-ist" but he was pretty awesome. and I told him next time I come to play at UNC-A he is hired to join me and I'll send him some more music to learn! we'll see if that pans out...

so i'm in asheville now for the night. have spent the last 3 hours or so, working on booking, catching up on e-mails, haven't had any access in the past couple days since I left, but no one really contacts me too much. i just needed time to research the latest pornographic spam e-mails that I've received in order to rank them in order of quality 1st and value 2nd. and I'm almost done... but am getting the wierdest looks from people in the coffeeshop here...

i also might visit empire tattoo here for a consultation... on a recommendation from the male coffee guy here...

off we go... last show of the college schedule tomorrow night!