-Houston, TX

I am currently sitting at my cousin's apartment in Houston, eating eggs and sausage and veggies for breakfast. one might think: "man, that cousin sure knows how to treat his guests." Oh contrare; I know how to treat myself. Although I should say that he made some curry rice, homemade last night for my arrival and it literally tasted just like it does at my grandmas house, so that was amazing, I had two bowls.

But this breakfast is part of my new road nutrition and food prep movement. since a year or so ago, I have been traveling with a cooler, and basically using it for drinks, perishables, and leftovers. but this year, has turned a new leaf. In order to save money, and eat better, I have been shopping at grocery stores all over the country. about once a week or maybe longer, I buy some vegetables, meats, and other miscellaneous jive, and either cook them, or prep them so that when the stomach growls, it will be quick and easy to feed my belly.

So this latest installment, I was in GA visiting my buddy garrett for a couple of days. We went to the local supermarket (which was about 30 minutes away from his house) and I found some nice marinated chicken breasts, as well as a 1.5 pound filet of mahi mahi (for $5.55!!!) so I ended up spending like $70, but this is going to last me for the rest of the trip most likely.

Anyway, I am happy to be eating food that I bought and prepared myself, and as long as there is a microwave around, I tend to eat pretty well...

So as for the 4 weeks between blog entries, I can't explain it. maybe just too busy driving and playing shows, but I was back home for a week or so, and I should have posted something about the remainder of the September trip. In a nutshell, we played a few more shows, and they all went really well. We had this horrible drive back from our final show (near Boston) heading home. I got tired, and pulled over to sleep, but them Mike heroically proceeded to take the wheel, and drive 10 straight hours, from 1am to 11am to get us home safe and sound.

This trip I am rolling solo. I never was paying Mike enough to make it worth his time, but in the 3 stints on the road that we had together this year, we got to see a lot of the country, play some awesome music, and catch up with a lot of old friends that we don't normally get to see. Mike went back to play on cruise ships with Carnival, so if you are ever on a ship and make it to the big band shows that they put on, with the dancers and all of that jive, then he will be the guitar player.

This trip had a few more openings in terms of days off, so this allowed me to do some visiting of my own. I started with a triumphant return to Villanova University near Philly. I had played there for the first time about a year ago, and thankfully Selena, whom I met that time, was nice enough to bring me back to play this Fall. After the show, I treated myself to some frozen yogurt and one of the toppings was marshmallows; one of my many kryptonites. Also while in town, I got a chance to crash and catch up with one of my brother's friends, Adam. They had a really cool place, and a great dog as well that warmed up to me after like 3 hours.

I then headed to D.C. are to hang out with an old high school friend. This was an amazing visit. I rolled in on Friday night, and we just chilled to the tune of a bottle of wine, and watched a little t.v. My kinda night. On Saturday, this was my show day, but I didn't play at Goucher College (baltimore area) until 10pm. So Kristin decided to take me to D.C. to see some of the sites. Something I had never done all these years of driving up and down the east coast. Here are some photos.

[The Capitol - from a distance]


[this is Constitution blvd, or ave, or drive. can't remember. ]


[cool looking statue. didn't take any time to figure out its significance]


[that monument... ]


[the money shot.... as I like to call it: the white horse. (and look at that nice turf)]

So that, again, was a great time, and I was so psyched to catch up with my friend. We also went to the local watering hole in D.C. to watch the U-M vs MSU football game, and MSU was victorious! I have no allegiance to MSU but everyone else who was there did, so I went with the crowd. Go Broncos!

SO the show that night was awesome at Goucher College. I played at this little campus coffeeshop type place and there were a lot of students and their families hanging out, cos apparently it was family weekend. I got set up quickly, and brought Kristin with me to experience a brief glimpse of what I typically go through, driving to a show, setting up, loading in, putting up the merchandise (pretty sparse anyway) PLUS she had never seen me perform before. So that was the kicker.

The show went very well and I ran into a kid who came up to me just before I started, I can't remember, but I think his name was Gil or something like that. He has a band, and they are called "By June." So he just says, "You're called HighMay and I'm By June, I just thought that was funny." He was right. I chuckled. and after my set was done, I took a seat with my vanilla milkshake and listened to one of his songs.

I had a wicked craving for some 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. The only other time in my life that I had been there was a couple of years ago, in D.C. with Kristin. Alas, after my show ended, they were closed. So maybe next time.

After I left VA, I headed to Johnson City, TN for a little gig at the Acoustic Coffeehouse, and I had played there before. Had some music, a beer, and a great sandwich and then began my 8-9 hour drive to Ole Miss. I love Ole Miss. Every time I play there (and have been for many years) it's sunny, beautiful, and everything runs smoothly. I checked into the Inn on campus the day before, and just chilled, practicing my banjo in the hotel room. I have kind of a song on banjo, but I definitely need to play it more, along with more mandolin, and more cowbell while we're at it.

After the wonderful afternoon show at Ole Miss, a girl approached me who is the music director at the campus radio station. So we walked across campus and I did a very quick and impromptu in-studio interview type thing, and they played "Belong" off the EP. Taylor was really nice, and a definite neo-hippie I think was her words. As we walked around campus, she saw a pick-up truck with nothing in the bed of it, and said, "What are you hauling?! What do you need that big truck for?!" I don't think the driver heard her though.

From Ole Miss, I drove to see my good friend, Garrett, in Moticello, GA. This is the town where "My Cousin Vinny" was filmed. We ate at this BBQ/soul food place called "Dave's" I believe, and many scenes with Joe Pesci were filmed in this very restaurant. Even when the door opened, this bell rang, and it was totally the exact same one as in the movie, so they must have been going pretty authentic when they filmed this movie. the food was amazing. I had some greens, ribs, steak & gravy, and corn bread. OH, and I can't forget that amazing banana pudding. OHHH and sweet tea was amazing as well... what a meal... ended up being two meals actually.

That same day we were trying to figure out what to do, so we decided to go golfing.

[the beginning]

I had not been golfing for at least two years, though I wish I did. But I wanted to have a nice relaxing day, and the weather since I left MI has been amazing. Of course amplified as I get further and further south. This day was no exception. Before we teed off, I wrote my goal on the scorecard. The par for the course was 72. I said, "If I shoot a 120, I'll be happy."


[this was a legit score, with penalty strokes, and all the putts. no cheating. ]

I wrote that 120 goal on the top as you can see, and beat out my goal by two full strokes (thanks to a legit par on 17, with an amazing one-putt).

Okay, so I'm almost caught up now. After GA, I played a new venue (to me) called 8th & Rail in Alabama. What an awesome venue. great sound, great system, nice people, and of course being my first time ever playing there, not much of a turnout. But there were a few peeps there, and I got some good feedback from them. I'd love to head back there to play sometime. What an awesome place. Art all over the walls, and some great ambiance.

After a brief visit to New Orleans (since it was right on the way) I played at an old coffeehouse I used to play regularly in past years, called Neutral Ground. Same as I ever remember it. I had a nice crew of young peeps that hung out and chilled while I was playing, and made a little tip money to boot.

Now, that brings me to today. Houston, TX. My cousin moved here about a year or two ago and got a great job with Chevron as an environmental engineer. This is the first time I have seen his place here, or been to Houston at all in many years. I got in last night, and parked my car on the street, and when he came down to meet me, I said, "This looks like a nice neighborhood." He said, "yeah... looks can be deceiving." I locked my car instantly.

We had some wine, ate dinner like champions, and watched some football and playoff baseball. Today I have the whole day off, and I play to maybe walk downtown to his building and meet him for lunch. and tonight there is an open mic at a great songwriter venue here in Houston that I have been looking forward to checking out for a long time.

Then tomorrow on to Austin, and from there I hope to keep you updated as this portion of the tour winds down, as well as my touring for the rest of 2010. This is my final trip of the year, and I hope to set up a couple of shows in Detroit this Winter, and work on the album some more.

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