Fall Tour Florida Style

First off I want to thank everyone who has been actively searching us out on Pandora.  We received confirmation on the night of our CD Release Party that we are IN!  woo!  thanks guys.  The music is up there as of today, but it takes awhile to get our music....but...when you do hear it please give it a thumbs up so that we get more plays, oh and also we are currently under the Lucas Band Cates...which is par for the course since lucas's name is spelled incorrectly all the time...this time its just out of order....don't worry we and the kind folks of Pandora radio are working on it!
Second, thanks to everyone who was at the CD Release Party.  It was a bonafide success and we owe it to you guys for making it great!

Ok on to the tour.....so far its been filled with uninvited guests in good ways for the most part.  The first night was Wednesday; we drove from Madison to Atlanta and stayed in an old district with Luker's cousin.  The street was a narrow old street and used to be a drive through crack house....more of a crack block since all the homes were old run down and filled with history.  Now within the last 10 years developers have plowed the crack houses to the ground and built beautiful homes in what is now a blossoming district.  I slept ok that night, but my dreams were filled with angst and feelings that ghosts were around me.  At about 4 or 5 in the morning I was rousted by the sounds of someone in the Kitchen downstairs making breakfast and causing a ruckus.....Kenny was in another room and heard the same thing....Lucas was on a couch adjacent to the kitchen and also heard the breakfast making......he thought it was me and Kenny, we thought it was Luker's cousin.....turns out...no one was up at the time.   Yup, weird.  It also turns out that Luke had the same dream that I did...also weird.
Last night we played our acoustic show at Creekside in St. Augustine....on a deck....on the inter coastal waters....it was a nice first show of the tour..very relaxing.  During the show a furry little raccoon kept creeping next to the stage toward the tables with the hopes of a snack, but was scared back a number of times before climbing the tree next to us to watch the show.  We sold a ton of discs and felt pretty good about the start of tour.
Today Kenny and I were boogie boarding outside of the condo when I looked over his shoulder and saw a set of fins poking up from the water.....now the first thing i did was soil my swimsuit....that's a given, right?  I started calling to Kenny; "Kenny!  swim this way...now!"  Kenny:"What?"  Me: "Swim here, toward shore....NOW!" Kenny: "What?" Me: "Fins!"  Kenny:  "Oh shit!"  Well we hauled to the shore were we were told by a worker that was setting up chairs that they were dolphin fins.....whew.....awesome.  So we swam back out and swam with the dolphins getting as close as 50 feet...it was amazing.  So I think I'll get back to that ocean and relax....we play a street dance tonight in St. Augustine and are really looking forward to it.  I'm excited to see who will show up tonight.

Shamless Self-Promotion

Hey kids.  As you may have already seen (the bar on the right) somewhere on the interwebs, we are trying to get into rotation on Pandora Radio.  The first step is to request that we be on there....but WE can't do that....cause everyone would want themselves to be on Pandora......so YOU have to do it for us. 
Simply:
1.  Go to www.pandora.com/#/stations/create
2.  Type "The Lucas Cates Band"
3.  Hit Enter or click Create
4.  Do it somewhat frequently.....not like 50 times in a row...just like once a week.....IF everyone did it once a week we will finally have representation on one of the fastest growing and coolest Internet radio stations....there is tons of new music from unsigned artists like us, and plenty of classics too!
Thanks for all of your help and continued support, guys.

The Pearl

8/15/10(probably 8/16 already)
Inside a wharhouse on the northeast side of Minneapolis, Minnisota is a gem of a studio: The Pearl.  Aptly named, this studio is the creation of our most recent engeineer Zach Hollander and his brother Noah.  The space has been used for 40 years as a recording/rehearsal space.  Soul Asylum rehearsed here in the 90's, Tweedy from Wilco has played here with the Jayhawks, and many other talented Mineapolis artists have expressed themselvs between these walls.
We are mixing....which means we take all of the stuff that was recorded and determine the volumes of everything....from guitar, bass and drums....down to the strings, shaker, and other tidbits of layering.  It's tedious, but the best part of the whole process!  Essentially we are finishing the project....finally.  Woo!  So hold the showering....we're sleeping here and gettin 'er done.

This is a 2-part blog:

8/17/10(again, probably 8/18 already)

We just finished mixing "My Way" which was the last track we had to mix....woo!  The album sounds so good, kids, its unbelievable.  We are so happy with how everything turned out and The Pearl is truly going to make its name as a world-class studio....and likewise will Zack Hollander go on to do amazing things (starting with our project ;-).  So here are a few sneak preview items about the album:

1.  The track listing will be as follows: Epic, Heaven Can Wait, Not the Right Catch, Crucial Tactics, Undersexicized, Enemy Lines, Cougarville, Chump, My Way, To Life, and Turn the Light On.  We chose to leave Shoe String Fox off of the album....many of you may wonder what Shoe String Fox is since we don't play it live too often, but it's a song of ours and there is talk of releasing it for download only or as a B side to a future single...who knows, but its ready to go when the time is right.  I may even be willing to share it soon, we'll see.
2.  The CD RELEASE PARTY is SEPTEMBER 25th at THE BRINK LOUNGE!  Be there in case I never mentioned that :-)
3.  Album Cover:  (you will have to wait until the CD RELEASE PARTY on SEPTEMBER 25th at THE BRINK LOUNGE to see the rest)

It's a self-titled album for a few reasons....i guess most simply is cause we couldn't agree on a great title....but honestly it's nice because this is the Lucas Cates Band.  We have a new line up since the last album (the addition of yours truly), and this is the music that you are used to hearing.  Self titled really says it all....and so do the pictures.

4. We slept at The Pearl every night of mixing.....no showers....it got real........kenny didn't even change......its cool though, he's right next to me and he smells terrific.

5.  We are the first band to work at The Pearl.  Zack and his brother Noah along with the intern(soon to be on the payroll) Jordan built this space from the ashes....finished the hardwood floors....built the control room and made it awesome....we are honored to be the first of what i'm sure will be a long tradition of making music sound great.......kenny just said, by the way, "how much does it take to make me sound awesome?  About four grand...thats how much."  Awesome.

So, your music listening assignment:  In the spirit of a set of studio monitors that we are using(the same monitors Quincy Jones used to produce all of Michael Jackson's stuff)(also, we are using other monitors so all you engineers out there don't scoff) I want you to check out Michael Jackson, "Billy Jean" from Thriller (Produced by Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson)....and really listen to it....listen to everything in it....skip the voice....check out the shaker, or the claps, or the back up guitar, or for the more experienced listener.... listen to the room......................i'll be proud of you.

out of control dinner

So tonight I made meatloaf.....yup....I did.  I'm not shameful, nor will I take it back.  I made what I made and I loved every ounce of it......sure most people don't mix brown sugar, saltine crackers, onions, and tomato sauce(plus other items)....but that doesn't mean it doesn't taste like heaven.....i mean who are you to say meatloaf isn't delicious....cause it is.....it's damn delicious, in fact I don't blame Michael Lee Aday for taking the name: Meatloaf.  It's masculine, old school, and brave.  Do I have a picture of my dish....hell no!  I ate it.....and it was good!  Oh I might have leftovers, but why do you care?  I mean, do you want my meatloaf leftovers, cause you can't have any.  I'm not selfish, I'm protective.....like a father would be of his teenage girl.  Are you looking at my meatloaf?   You better not be.....punk.  My meatloaf is classy and deserves someone who will appreciate it; someone who will do anything for it; someone who won't ever eat, but eat rational amounts so as to conserve the leftovers.......like meatloaf sandwich, re-heated dinner, or cold meatloaf breakfast; how 'bout meatloaf smoothie, or meatloaf on a salad....no?.....then what about ground meatloaf in potatoes, or meatloaf balls?....wait...that just doesn't sound good at all....but the others...yes the delicious other options for meatloaf....well, i can't wait till tomorrow.

recommended listening:  Meatloaf, Dead Ringer For Love from The Very Best of Meatloaf (even though we all know I just made the very best of meatloaf)

Shasta, more than soda

What a month. July was our busiest so far in 2010 and I felt, last night during our last set, that a vacation will be just what I need. Eight hours after that though crossed my mind....it turns out I was 100 percent correct. Like, I dont feel weekends anymore...and Mondays are some of my favorite days, so knowing I get a week to kick it in Colorado makes feel like a school girl....well...wait, what?.......,what did you hear?....maybe not, I feel good.
The tour closed pretty strongly in Ashland, Oregon. Fans always show up in serious numbers and bring every ounce of energy. Dancing all night, singing the songs, wearing shirts.....now that I take a step back from it all, it's pretty crazy.......crazy, sexy, cool(thanks tlc)!
Wait, you have to see Mt. Shasta; we are driving past it right now!



Don't mind the bug in the middle of the shot.

Anacortes, WA was pretty cool too. Jesse to this pic of me taking a picture.

Last night we got real wester and stayed in an open air, no screen log cabin on a 105 acre ranch in the high desert of northern California. Kirsten's mom's house.













Notice Chet and tickle me Elmo....i don't know who had more fun in that bottom bunk...Chet or Elmo....I honestly couldn't tell who was laughing more.

Oh yea....ur listening assignment; how about a track from one of the records I scored while I was out here. Queen, Radio Ga Ga off of "The Works". It's one of those songs you forget about, then hear it and think first of the 80s, but listen to the words and how brilliantly the song is put together.

All in all it's been a great first half of 2010. Thanks everyone for making our expirence in Madison and otherwise memorable.



Or lackthereof.


-mark

Location:I-80

Chasing the moon

I took the graveyard shift again last night, and in no way am I bitchin. There's nothing like an empty interstate at night....the last time I drove graveyard was on our recent trip back to Wisconsin, so I took it again last night on the way back to Washington. This time instead of a sky full of diamonds I had a nearly full moon riding with me throughout the night.
Driving at night is amazing enough, but when the moon lights your way it is eerily comforting. Mountains, valleys, rock formations, animals, trees pop out of the landscape like opaque glass statues. I truly felt like I was on the dark side of the moon....it probably helped when "time" came on my rotation in the iPod, nonetheless it felt like I was on another planet.....and I wasn't on no wacky neither!




I don't know how far away Gilette, Wyoming and Butte, Montana are from each other, but that was my graveyard......my constant: the moon.



(the moon at dawn...heading down)
So my auggested music listening pick this time has to be anything from "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd....cliche, I know, but listen to an entire song and think about driving 8 hours in the dark high desert.......and pick a good song like "Breath", or "Great Gig In the Sky", or "Brain Damage".....especially the last one since I haven't had solid sleep since Saturday night......and look at a map....driving from Madison, wi to Mt. Vernon, wa is comparable to driving accross Europe, or equatorial Africa......or South America.......laterally, of course........bye!



(the sun sneaking up on me from behind)


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Brava Article

This is a bit of old news, but in case you havn't seen the May issue of Brava Magazine here is a helpful link:

http://bravamagazine.com/article.jsp?department=8734&id=9674

Thanks Mollie and all involved! 

Summer Tour 2010: Hotter than ever!

Had you told me that when we headlined Everett, Washington's 4th of July festival, i would have smacked you.....prebably not, that's just not me....i would have smirked, then turned away so you couldn't see how I really felt, and continued to drink the sweet, sweet local brews that Washington has to offer.  Let's just say it was cold; and an equally if not greater than cold wind was blowing off the puget sound onto the stage.  Acouple beers and a spring coat later, The Lucas Cates Band was off and running(it was still really cold).  Accually the Summer 2010 tour began six days and six shows earlier in Madison, WI.  We drove about 10 hours each day to our show; unloaded, set up, played, broke down, slept(most of the time), and drove.  Our week in Washington began as a cloudy windy holiday, but ended a cloudless beautiful northwestern adventure as we had 7 days of total sunshine beginning July 5th. 
The tours have been great as the crowds are multiplying and merchandise is flying off the shelves.  The Pacific Northwest as been offically labeled (by me, so really not that official) a "hot spot"(but official enough for quotations) for the band.  There is a lot of excitement for the music and amazing response from concert goers which is why we will return to Washington and Oregon in 10 days to wrap up the summer tour. 
One cool band thing of note happened about a month ago.  We will soon(which means hopefully soon) be in "E-Cast" jukeboxes around the country as an unsigned band.  Both All the Pieces and Live at Sullivan Hall will be in the data base for all ecast boxes....pretty cool.  We are working with Touch Tunes currently to secure the same type of deal.  So say you are on vacation and you want a drink.....no brainer....go to the bar, BUT let's say you are on vacation....at that very same bar and you say "I'd like to make everyone in this bar listen to what I want to listen to," so you go over to the sweet juke box, AND you've already decided that like an unhealthy addiction you NEED to listen to The Lucas Cates Band.......NOW........well damnit you are in luck, cause we'll be there for you.  Now if it just so happens that you are staring a Touch Tunes Jukebox in the face, make sure you write them or your local congressman(or woman) and tell them we should be in Touch Tunes as well......simple, delicious, fish.

Suggested Music Listening:  Caravan (Single) - This is some serious new stuff from Rush.  You won't believe what you are hearing.

Sure gets hot 'round these parts

An obvious statement, yes, but if you are a "Yankee" like myself the heat of the south is warm, wet, and thick......gross. So if you were around any of the member of the Lucas Cates Band within the past two weeks you might recall us making jokes about the Helen Keller festival in tuscumbia, al. We'd say "well, we can't screw up cause they won't see or hear us anyway.". Well we cursed ourselves cause the terential downpour which began during our soundcheck put a two-hour delay on the festival. This delay subsequently bumped us from the show which sucked but we still hot the hotel room and out gaurenteed and all that so it could have been worse. What I was most impressed with, however was the dilligence of this crowd. Most of them stayed on the grounds through downpouring rain and close lightning, huddled in shelters.....AND, some just sat in their chairs like nothing was happening! Check this out!






Where are we? Now you can't see the rain a much from this picture, but it was absolutly pouring! But damn it, this was Saturday and the Helen Keller Festival, and there is nothing else going on in town, and it takes more than a little rain,deathly close lightning, and a flash flood warning to waver these laid back country folk. Maybe that's why it took four years for the North to with the civil war.....maybe they were excited to see the Lucas cates band, or maybe folks down here just take what comes along with humble patience.....yea....maybe.
Well, we are heading west. Tuesday in Madison, Wednesday In LaCrosse, Thursday in Paxton, Friday in Pocatello, Saturday in Medford, and Sunday(4th of July) we headline Everett washington's festival. Keep up if you can.... We love a good caravan.

Oh and your suggested music download is a song called "Brownville(mockingbird medly)". I think is an album only thing but worth the 30 second preview. We heard this on the radio driving through the backwoods of the Alabama- Mississippi boarder......mood music.


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Location:Alabama

Seaside rendezvous

Words won't describe the week we just had.... Really, they won't......i guess we just have the best friends anyone could have, and we are lucky. Thank you friends.... You know who you are. It means the world to us.



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Location:S Serenata Dr,Ponte Vedra Beach,United States

On the rocks

I can't party like I used to...or maybe I am just around better parties these days.....regardless, Salem, Illinois rocked my socks. We always have strange and unique expirences in Salem....I've met cage fighters, rock stars, local heros and county legends.....watched the drama like reality tv. This las time We had the unfortunate expirence of playing candlelight for the widow of a friend. Jeff, was a super fan...the guy who without any bs whatsoever would come to me and ask, "so Nox, you're pretty much the best bass player out there, right," o which I would laugh at his kindness and the genuine nature of that question. Anyway he passed away in November leaving two young ones. His wife, mother-in-law, and a group of friends sat crosslegged on the floor f the bar crying when we played candlelight, a song which was featured at his funeral..... A reality check for what is truley important and how much music means to everyone.
My hangover the next day was as heavy as the subject matter of this blog.....rough :-)
We played in Florence Alabama last night for a packed house at On the Rocks.....it was a chaotic evening with everyone getting as drunk as possible.....I had water! The people in Florence are super kind and very appretiative of live music....the night ended with a rousing chorus of Old Suzanna as performed by a bar stompping, fiddle playing, Kenny. I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee....hey!





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Location:N Court St,Florence,United States

tWas the Week of the Tour

tWas the week of the tour and all through the house,
The laundry was stirring Tide, Bounce, and Shout.
Kenny was sick but I'm sure he'll be better,
Out of Illinois and into good weather.
The Dodge DMC stands prepared in the driveway,
In hopes the new tranny can handle the highway.
With backpacks and blankets and pillows and packs,
We'll most likely crash at your house....you cool with that?
The olympics are over and there's nothing on tv,
Except for that Nascar which seems strange to me,
So gather your friends and go out for a night,
For a spot of live music and cool flashing lights,
We'll dance and we'll sing, we'll drink and be merry,
Cause TLCB is music worth sharing.



See you on the road everyone!



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Back in high school

See, I'm getting better. Some of you remember Ryan Casey...he was tlcb's keyboardist with the dirty mouth and rapist wit.....ring a bell? Sorry, Casey hope ur students don't read this! Anyway he is the choir teacher at stoughton high school and isdoing amazing things over there.....like thenpops concert which is tonight. Beginning at 5:30 a few hundred will show up in the schools cafeteria to see a few dozen student acts perform over dinner....yea, their lunch room has a stage. Then at 7pm, yours truley, Kenny, and Jesse will be serving as the house band for the main show in the auditorium....it's pretty cool. The kids are singing everything from rheannia, to pat bennitar, Ingred michaelson, to Tracy chapman....and they are nailing it. You may even catch a Lucas cates band song in the mix!
So this is my hats off to Ryan Casey and all the amazing things he is doing for that music department. The picture below is us doing I want you back and abc by the Jackson 5 with the whole choir...it the closing number....it's been a blast!





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Location:Stoughton

The Pachyderm Sound

OK, I will get better at blogging on a regular basis! The pictures on my facebook do a fair job of explaining I hope, but the writtian word, especially my rambling streams of thought generally do a better job of bringing you inside my head, for better or worse! The band has nearly finished the recording for the forth album, tentativly titled "four", at Pachyderm Studios in canon falls, Minnesota. We still need to get vocals and guitar leads, but the majority of things are done....it sounds great...this board we got to record with is legendary.



It is the mid 70s Neve 8068 counsal which recorded the likes of John Lennon, ACDC, Live, Mudvayne, chris klewe's band, Nirvana, and the legendary Hall & Oates.....some artists like nirvana, live, soul assylum, and chris klewe we done at the pachyderm facility, the others, and many many more were done at the neve's previous homes at sound floor( I think) in NYC and electric ladyland studios, so it is dipped in the dust of legends.



Our engieneer is Zack hollindar......no effort went into the spelling of his name, but don't think he isn't one hell of a guy who was the fifth member of the band......and he really got the most out of our instruments. With out any studio magic the tracks sound boss.


Chet and I took a day and a half to lay down our tracks for the 11 songs, there may be 12 or 13 on the album, but we only needed to do 11 at the derm.



Lucas was next and finished on the third day, and Kenny did his rhythms on the forth.....including one solo on epic which was screaming through a mid 70s Marshall head......turned up to 10 bitches!


I can see why that was acceptable back in the day cause it sounded absolutly amazing!


Pachyderm studio is both the studio and the house, located about 200 yards from the studio. They sit on 40 acres of land in some good old fashioned minnesota old growth forest.


In the summer you can fish the trout stream or wander the hills the Kurt Cobain wandered, or sleep in the hammoks which are spread around the property......you can hang in the house which was designed by a student of frank Lloyd wright, or, when there is water, swim in th pool or sit in the sauna, or if the pool is empty and there is an two inches of water in a small hole and you are Kenny standing in the empty pool texting on his phone, you might just deposit you phone in the two inches of water.....which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.



Cd release? Looks like June 18th, but this is a TENTATiVE date. Be sure that once it hits www.lucascates.com it will be official and will be the beginning of many hope to see you there's!
Peas and Carrots.

The Van Story

This story will be told in the style of William Thomas Mansfield IV....because he is the greatest story tell who ever lived.....and continues to live...i can prove it, I just saw him last night, so I guess barring any unforeseen "indecent" he's still kicking.

So there I was behind the wheel of the greatest vehicle ever made prior to 1997.....the '97 Dodge DMC, the Dream Machine(pronounced with a hard ch...as in chicken), the Cheese Wheel, the buttratfarttub(its a pallendrome...like........noxon).

We stopped for a snack, actually we stopped because kenny's bladder decided to turn 65 years old on this tour and he has to pee every 100 miles or so....regardless, as we merged onto I-90 we heard a grinding sound come from somewhere under the car.....kenny and chet got out and listened and determined our back right was completely fucked and upon further investigation decided to change the tire. Turns out that son-of-a-bitch(willie style, remember) was worn down to the metal grid beneath the rubber itself making the tire damn near explosion. we unloaded the van, jacked her up, and changed the tire. Although we continued to hear the grinding sound, we decided to continue at a reduced speed to Spokane, our original destination and venue.

Everything was going smoothly. We ascended Lookout Pass which took us from Idaho to Washington, and began our decent passing the mountain town of Mullen and into the darkness of the Washington Rockies. About three miles down the road from Mullen I rounded a corner, following the river as it bent to the right. Midway around the corner the back of our van slammed into the pavement; the right rear tire and fallen off.....son of a bitch. At 65 miles an hour we began to swerve and fishtail toward the concrete divider in the center of the interstate, then back toward the edge of the road and the river, then the concrete, the river.....my breaks are slammed and the van is making a god awful sound....imagine nails on a chalk board....but the bottom of a 2,000 pound van against concrete-Kenny's is fist pumping shouting "you got this, you got this, you got this, you got this", and I'm trying to maneuver to the side of the road.

All completely instinct, all a flash of chaos....but it wasn't done yet. Like a pricey valet I parked the son of a bitch between the white line of the shoulder and the guard rail on a corner of I-90.........the dust settled.....i was amazed at the cleanliness of my pants.

"We're on fire!" is probably the last thing you want to hear, probably ever, but that's the first thing lucas said when he got out of the car. The rear right wheel well was completely on fire...mostly likely caused by metal scraping the pavement and a busted axle, break components and grease.

I never felt an ounce of fear during the ordeal of loosing a wheel until i knew we were on fire....i mean...we were on fucking fire!!! Chet in the panic threw a bottle of water on the well, which only made the fire bigger cause it was a grease fire.....I'm unlocking the back door with hopes of unloading my bass (and everyone else's shit too, but in moments of panic you get selfish)....Lucas, in his moment of brilliance and heroism sacrificed his pillow and smothered the fire, while we threw sand on the burning grease.

Fire out.....all that remained was the red glowing end of an axle which had melted and snapped. Ironically the wheel had rolled with us and landed next to the van.

Highway safety worker Scott(the silent three hundred pound type, no jacked....he never wears a jacket), Officer Louie Ochoa...the best cop name ever, and Darrell, the bands first ever driver, were on the scene. Police reports, road flares, sirens, flashing lights, a celebratory cigar(for not dying) were all out in force. Darrell the tow truck driver(which was more like a big flatbed with lights and our van drove us to the front door of Mootsy's in Spokane and helped us unload our gear. We played, rocked, and thanked the powers that be.....i guess it's just another story from the road....the crazy crazy road.

Thanks to my family Kirk, Renee, Jared, and Rickki and their friends for helping us out big time....giving us a place to stay and staying up way past your bed times to make sure we got where we needed to be. You are all so awesome. Officer Ochoa, Scott, and Darrell for keeping us safe on the interstate, and the guys at Bell Automotive for making our Dream Machine bigger, better, and stronger for future travels. Woo Hoo, the cheese wheel rides again.......................................................bye!

We just drove through dell, montana: population 35. Aparently there was a wreck on the highway and we've been diverted ontoo a two lane county road that
Parallels the railroad andk cuts through a beautiful ranching valley. Chet is consantly gaming, luker is playing saduko, ken is singing "funbelievable", comenting on ducks, and generally entertaining himself.
We played at a coffee shop/record store last night; pretty much heaven for me....I picked up Joni mitchell's mingus, amazing!! Turn out was good considering we book a little more than a week ago. Go to vinyl perk the next time you are in pocatello! Our friend, and local Pocatello harp player, BRAD(i got it right now buddy!) sat in on Cougarville. Hopefully he posts facebook video soon(hint hint) of our jam togeether in may. Thanks again brad n page for making us feel at home.
Tuesday in Paxton licked off the tour right, and as always kept us up past our bed times. Time and time again you guys proove that you really know how to rage; 600 strong! Thanks for keeping your kids out on a school night, commiting to a work hangover, and supporting us while we are on the road.
The next five nights are in Washington, I'll let you know what goes down, in the mean time if anyone asks you what kind of music the Lucas cates band plays, say "volcanic rock"....it's most fitting.

Car Story is Next....

no sleep till muscle shoals

I have been caught up in a fantasy world until our accomodations last night threw me back to tour reality. Needless to say it wasn't ideal, so let's go back to fantasy world for a moment.
Huntville, AL is home to one of the finest golf courses in AL and perhaps the US. The ledges is a private course and community where the lots(just the land) runs and average of $400,000+. You have to be a member to play there but in our Rock and Roll fantasy world we got to expirence all 18 of these beautiful holes, not to mention play in the clubhouse for a Jack Daniels/Kodak Film sponsered party. Check the facebook mobile uploads for the pics, cause it was amazing. We played for and hung out with our friends from Vision Source and Optimatrix, who treat us so well and are truly awesome friends. From late night sessions with the Gentleman Jack, to golfing, to grilling out, we had a fantastic weekend in Northern Alabama. Monday night we hit up the Bluebird Cafe, a legendary open mic located in nashville. The boys didn't get in before the open mic was finished, but it was pretty cool to see all the local artists do their thing.
Last night we played the Old Town Tavern in Sheffield, AL. The crowd was super attentive which allowed us to explore a bit more than usual. Not packed, but really fun.
I am so tired right now...I can't wait for a bed like the Embassy in Huntzville....but wait that was in the Fantasy World. I promise I'll be more entertaining next time.

"the town that greets ya"

At least that's what one passer by sain of me and kenny as we sat adjacent to a small city park in salem illinois while drinking our coffee. As I look at the main intersection of salem I feel like I'm back in the 1950's. Salem hasn't changed much; not the downtown, at least. We are playing here tonight in what has been fondly labeled "the cougerville of illinois". Our usual establishment, becky's, has been closed since we were last here, but TDubs(our local illinois promoter) has kept us in the salem loop at the Village Garden for tonight's show. We are accually playing outside the bar, so more people could see the show, and I'm told the town of salem changed a city ordinence so we can leagelly play outside. It helps that a few of our fans here include a county judge and various members of the city counsel :-).
Last night we played mabry's, in greenville, illinois....yea I don't know where that is either, but we did get to take a rollercoaster of county roads to get. I told chet that I had his back, just in case.
I met some interesting folks there inluding two traveling business men who are helping us in the indianapolis market, one dude who spent four months in a coma after a falling 284 feet in a snowboarding accident(he also had to jump from a burning plane last year....hasn't really been his decade), and a woman with a hole in her head...I felt it...it was weird....accually she made me feel it....it was weird. she was accually a very nice woman, and she came to the show with her boyfriend simply cause the heard about us, which leads me to believe that somehow rural america gets a news feed that the rest of the country doesn't subscribe to. I mean, we're in greenville. I think we should do a tour of towns with 5000 people or less and call it something like "getting some boon 2009 tour". Just a thought.

washington is accually pretty rainy, but awesome

Who the hell is fred meyer? Apparently I'm walking around in his store in Bellingham, Washington as I type. Ken is trying to purchase "a lot of socks," and can't find anything. Like shoes, size 13 socks are hard to find. Of course he is trying to get the best deal possible, which prolongs the process. No nikes; tiger wears them and now they are expensive-what a pussy. Looks like he settled with flipping a coin and got the goldtoe premium full cushion cotton quarters....nice choice.
Playing in washington has been a good choice for the lucas cates band as well. We have met many amazing people. Karen and Kevin put us up in Mt. Vernon after a 24 hour drive from paxton, ne(see an earlier blog about paxton, nebraska. The place is amazing). Trinka was gracious enough to let us crash at her lake house in glen haven, wa. I have pics on facebook, but the place was so beautiful...it had the fire pit, hot tub, lake, rehearsal space(her husband is a pro trumpeter, you heard him on like every aerosmith album amongst other things). We spent two days on the lake, surrounded by the clouds and trees. I felt like gorillas in the mist, except with bigfoot.
The 4th of july show went off well. We played on a cliff overlooking the ocean, or the "sound" as its called, for a park full of people. The show moved a bunch of cds and got us two more gigs for this week! The first was last night in everett at PC's and was a tuesday surprise ragger! Amazing crowd of people listening, responding, and gettin down. A local painter painted a "tour poster for us, and did a live painting on the reverse side while we played. It is safely wrapped in lucas's sleeping bag(also posted on facebook). It reminded me of san fran or ashland, oregon, which is a very good thing.
Tonight we play at the wild buffalo in bellingham. Word is there's going to be a good crowd. The press we picked up has generated a solid buzz in the pacific northwest. Beautiful country and beautiful souls have made this little run well worth the drive. The only disappointment is the fact that I have yet to see bigfoot....kind of like narr.

goodbye mountains

The mountains humble me. They are so massive and I am not: brilliant, right? For me they were the constant in our tour. They were almost always by our side, and always different. Even the same chunk of rock appears different every time you look at it. They are stunning and beautiful, and as we drive east this morning and the mountains grow smaller and smaller behind me I still keep looking back hoping they will follow.
Last night we played at the Vault in Ft. Collins, colorado. The venue is located in old town, and used to be a bank...hence the name. It was the last real rockin show of the tour, and we left it all out there. Boone and Ginny, you guys are the best! Thanks for putting us up and making the fort a second home. Tonight is meadowlark coffee in lincoln, which will give a more chill atmosphere to wind down the trip. We'll get to kick it with josh hill(of the josh hill band). Definitely check him out on myspace...he's in our top friends I think...mine for sure. Dude is super talented and funny as hell.
Wow, is the tour really over? I guess...but the circus will keep rollin as always. Our first show back in madison is the clean lakes festival at 11:30 on saturday the 6th. That night, of course is kenny's 4th annual birthday mustache bash, and you have my guarantee for madness.
Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making this tour great; y'all put your foot in this...both of them.

Home, home is where I always want to be. - josh rouse

Cheers.