Aug. 23 - Homecomming

3:34am and I'm at the computer.

That's my own fault though. I thought I'd write a little before going to bed. Tonight we were probably the earliest we've been to any show on the whole tour and it was in the city we live in! We showed up at 7 sharp, buut Emo's decided the show was going to start at 10:45 instead of 9. Ugh. Lots and lots of waiting around, and after nearly 16 straight shows, I was pretty tired of the hurry-up -and-wait game.

I had some pizza across the street at Stony's(?), spent some time with Nicole and her boyfriend, and then went back to sitting around in Emos. It was nearly 10:30 and there weren't that many people there...

But you know, we were all so tired from touring, I'm not sure any of us really cared. We agreed that it feels weird to be home again. I sat down after my 2pm "breakfast" today and didn't really know what to do with myself. I think just need a couple days to adjust.

The line up included Bexar Bexar, Mom and us. I sat up on the floor near the stage to watch Brian & Taylor. Bexar Bexar sounds extra awesome in there. The bass is turned up so much that you can literally feel the rumbling move through you. It's crazy.

The Balmorhea set was well received. Set list: Elegy-San Soloman- New Banjo song - Limmat - New Piano song - Harm & Boone - New Acoustic song -Settler. I don't think it's the best we've ever done, and half way through I started second guessing myself...but I've realized that I'm pretty hard on myself all the time musically. And if people enjoyed it then that's the point, right?

It was nice to have friends in the audience again and to be on familiar ground. I was ready to get back home, sprawl out on my couch and eat an extremely late dinner. I walked briskly back to my car, starring at the sidewalk to avoid eye contact with drunken strangers. I was in a little bit of a tired funk, but was brought to laughter by a voice from a person delusional enough to think his cat-calls from a car window would make any kind of difference. Some people are so confident. It's amusing.

And now, I'm ready to draw this to a close. People did show up by the way, I dont think I ever mentioned that. And now the tour is done! The van actually made it back in one functional piece. That's...amazing! We are all healthy and good. And in seven months, through two tours, I've manged to make it to over 28 states, 24 of which I'd never been to before. I've been acquainted with so much of the country. This is such a cool way to see America. It's all a gift to me.

I've gone on for far too long. Maybe I'll post some sort of reflection later?

until then,
-Aisha

Aug. 22 - Abeline

Clearly touring has got me on a strange schedule. We got in at 5am and I slept 'till about 1:30 and ate my first meal. Now it's 2:51 and I'm eating my third meal of the day. so backwards!

Let me tell you about last night first. Now, I don't know what everyone else was thinking as we approached an Abilene coffee shop called "Monks," but I was skeptical. A) Coffee shops usually don't have great sound systems. and more importantly, B) It's Abilene (no offense...).

Who's actually going to show up?

Lots of high school kids. The place was packed! Apparently, one of the schools was having an orientation movie night, and after the film there were signs up promoting the show. Thanks Monks. That coffee shop did more work and treated us nicer than lots of the other venue's we played. Free coffee. Free dinner. Free snacks. Patient, friendly sound guy. Video taped the show AND promoted it. Anyway, these are details. The show was great. Everything felt really good. We ended with the new clapping song, which people seem to enjoy. I know Taylor did. Everyone I look over at him he's grinning while drumming the entire time. We autographed a few things for some very excited people and left feeling good. So good that we decided to drive straight to Austin--after a stop at Whataburger. We were so glad to be in Texas, how could we not? We had a lively dinner which must've energized is all. Somehow, everyone stayed awake and talking the entire drive home. We talked about our favorite shows, favorite places, and the weirdest people we'd met. The drive home tour recap is always fun for me. That's the moment you really realize how much you've done in such a short amount of time. We have covered a ridiculous amount of ground in just 18 days.

I was the first one to be dropped off so that's where my tale ends. Despite the fact that it was a really long day, we had a really great night.

-aisha

Aug. 23 - HOME!

We are HOME!!

We drove through the night after our Abilene show and got back around 5am. Michael is going to laugh at me for waking up and blogging (to my credit, it waas after I checked my email), but hey, people might like to know that we made it back safe and sound. I can almost guarantee we will all be vegging out until load in for tonight's show.

Feels so good to have slept in my own bed!

p.s. the Abilene show was great. High school kids get sooo excited! We autographed two posters and pair of purple high-top converse. But I'll tell you about that later.

-Aisha

Day 17 - Aug. 22 - Friday (more more)

So Thursday wasn't really exciting. In fact, I don't really remember what happened, other than we drove. a lot. We drove from Colorado Springs, Co to Amarillo, Tx. Finally back in Texas! We ate at a Mexican restaurant called Rosas and then found a Motel 6 and hung out. We finally played Catch Phrase and were entertained. Then after watching both the men and women's olympic relay teams drop the baton on the last leg of the race, we went to bed.

Today. we drove. go figure. Am I starting to sound jaded? I don't mean to...I'm just ready for a break. For some home. And for my gals. I finished reading Mere Christianity today. I've done a lot of thinking about myself but I thought it'd be better suited for my blog and not on the tour tales. But staring out the window gives you lots of time to think, that's for sure. I think about myself too much. And maybe if I thought of everyone else more, I'd be less tangled up in the things of me.

Whenever I get to leave for a while, I always feel relieved, like I'll come back different somehow. But this time I've felt like no matter how many miles you travel, no matter where you are, you'll always be exactly who you always were. You can't really run from yourself, which I guess, is a good thing. Because then what would you be left with? haha. Ok... It's the tired talking.

Dinner was great (homemade pasta with broccoli). Mom is playing downstairs. We are in Abeline. Austin tomorrow. Show at Emos!

I'm ready.

Day 17 - Aug. 22 - Friday

Ok, so I skipped a few days.

The tour has been great fun, but we are all tired. I think I can decisively say I am ready to come home.

I'm writing you from the greenroom/upstairs band hang-out of the coffee shop we're playing at. It's a small place, but they gave us free coffee/snacks, beer and dinner (supposedly..it's almost 9 and it's not here yet. I haven't eaten since noon, so I hope it comes soon...).

yeah. I'm tired. This tour is a week shorter than our winter one but it feels so much longer. Was I this exhausted of the routine so early on last time? Maybe it's the heat...

I am not ready for school, but I am ready to live outside of the van and to see my friends again ("besties" as some call them [I decided not to rat anyone in the van out for use of that term]).

Here's a quick update of what's gone on:

Wed: we played in Denver, CO at the Larimer Lounge. We thought this would have a nice turnout with Cal Cahoone and the violinist from Devotchka playing. Buuut we were wrong. It was a pretty small crowd. And by the time we got to the last song, most people had left.

we also got paid a whopping $12.50. Sometimes, it feels as though you're gettin taken advantage of. Doesn't matter how good you play, you are just a ploy to get people in a bar to buy drinks. They don't really care to help you out. Good thing we're not doing it for the money.

We drove and had a dilemma in finding food at midnight. After indecision, we ended up at mc donalds. akward silent car ride followed said dinner.

We got to the motel 6 and slept. so tired.

Oh, foods here now. Gonna eat! I'll write more later...

Day 14 - Aug. 19 - Tuesday Evening (and then some)

Hey friends, Nicole's writing today. enjoy.



UTAH: Land of the Mormons.

We (well, really just me) played a game on our drive into Utah called "Spot the Mormon Things." The game was surprisingly anti-climatic minus "Missionary Mall," a couple of LDS churches, and the temple downtown.

Observation: Salt Lake City has just about every chain store and/or restaurant your little heart could desire. I saw two Red Lobsters, Marie Callendar's, Bed Bath and Beyond, and, oh, you name it.

Last Night: SLC turned out to be different from most of my pre-conceived notions. SLC has bars, many people drink caffeine, yaddi yadda. We stopped at a swanky little coffee shop and were all pretty hyper, even though I think road trip malaise has hit just about everyone. Mike seems to always have an endless amount of energy, so he does a pretty good job of perking people up. After the caffeine-intake we set up at the venue. Friends from near and far came to the show, including two Swedish fellows that Mike has been helping book a US tour.

Here are some highlights from the show:
1) An old, heavily-tattooed drunk man danced with a young girl in the middle of the dancefloor during Bexar Bexar's set.
2) A goth he-she filmed us while playing
3) A semi-goth/screamo/jam band played after us
4) Said goth he-she filmed Meg, Ish, and me while watching said odd band

I have videos to backup most of these highlights.

the end.

Day 14 - Aug. 19 - Tuesday

Tomorrow we will have been on the road for two full weeks! Crazy. We keep talking about how Marfa feels like forever ago. Any normal sense of time has vanished for the most part. Which is weird...On one hand, it could be because we cover so much ground in one day. We wake up in one place, stop at a billion gas stations in different places, play at one place, eat some where, drive to our sleeping place, etc. But at the same time, sometimes it feels like we really don't do thaaat much. Touring land is strange.

Today has been rather laid back. It was only about a 3 hour drive from our hotel in some strange place in Idaho to Salt Lake City, Utah, where I am writing you from. I am actually laying on the floor downstairs at Coleman's house. We just finished watching a camp video from Laity Lodge, the summer camp that's responsible for so much of the Trapdoor-Balmorhea connections. I feel like at least half the people I meet from that circle met at Laity Lodge, so I was excited to see this place that created so many friendships. It looked like a lot of fun: enormous water slides, tubing on the river, zip lines...wish I went to summer camp.

I thin Mike's about to pop in a Niel Young movie so perhaps I'll watch that...or just lay around. We've got three hours before we have to load in. It feels so good to have time!

until later my friends,
-Aisha

More of Day 13

So the rest of our day wasn't too exciting. We stopped along the side of the road in Idaho to watch the sunset and take pictures. However, we were not aware that we would be attacked by a legion of flying ants! They were everywhere! On our backs, in our hair. Kind of gross. We brushed ourselves off and once in van, spent a couple of minutes swatting at the few stragglers that made it inside. Little jerks.

We ate dinner at an okay restaurant that had TV's so we caught up on a little Olympic watching. Food and a chance to run around outside (just a little) seemed to lift everyone's spirits, and we drove a few more miles to a Motel 6 where we slept. Pretty relaxing day off. I think my favorite thing about sleeping in hotels (besides waking up feeling refreshed) is watching TV at night with Nicole, Meg, and Rob and making fun of it all. My roommate always laughs at me because I'm always laughing at/making fun of things on TV that were never intended to be funny, so it was fun/hilarious to be in the company of like-minded TV viewers.

So yeah. Relaxing day. drive. eat. sleep. repeat. But it was nice none the less.

Day 13 - Aug. 18 - Monday

Today is our first day off in a good while. We woke up in Missoula on the floor and went for breakfast with the group of people that hosted us. This dining experience was much better than the last for me. I talked with Tessa, the girl who booked the show and drove from near Anacortes just to see us, and Bethany, the great cellist from last night. They're such interesting people. I hope I bump into them again somehow.

Missoula is nice, but its no place I'd like to live. The mountains are gorgeous, and I bet any time but now the weather would be cold. But there's nothing to do. Everything feels like the late 1800s to me. The downtown is a little square (not in coolness, but in geography). It's not completely desolate at all, but, I don't know...I just got the feeling that it was its own little bubble, with the same people traipsing the same ground all the time.

We've been driving for most of the day, trying to get as close to Salt Lake City as we can. We stopped somewhere in Montana (or Idaho...) along the river to swim. After carefully dancing across the rocks in a delicate balancing act we made it to what we thought would be deeper water. Turns out it only came up to our knees. BUT, it was great to sit in.

I'm crossing off lots of firsts. First time through the Northwest. First time traveling the country with other girls! First time finding a snake (in Balmorhea, TX), First time eating Vietnamese food. First Pad Thai. and First time playing in river water. It's a cool feeling, water pushing past you and trees surrounding your left and right. fun. fun.

3/8 of the band is asleep. Meg's doing crossword puzzles, Mike is air drumming, I can't see Brian, and Rob's wearing the driving hat. Our dream catcher hanging from the rear view mirror still has its reindeer friend that Brian adorned it with. And the sun is starting to retreat behind the horizon.

This is good.

Day 12 - Aug. 17 - Sunday

Missoula, Montana.

The drive up was soo hot! again! On drives like these I tend to sleep the whole time, even if I'm not tired. It's just easier to sleep than to deal with the heat. After going through some cool looking mountains, we arrived.

We played in an old small theatre in what I think was downtown Missoula. Yet again, I don't feel like writing a lot. So I think I'll just list some things:

-the opening group featured a classically trained cellist and violinist, both of which attended music school. They made Nicole and I nervous...but they were so great!

-their mandolin player was Forest O'connor...as in the son of violinist Mark O'Connor! That guy is ridiculous! I saw him play at UT, I have three of his albums that he's recorded with Edgar Meyer (awesome bassist) and Yo Yo Ma! Ridiculous. can't believe i played in front of him

- we went to this place called the Oxford. Super creepy. Been open since 1883 and seems like it hasn't changed much. i felt very aware that i was probably the only black person in Montana. People like to look a lot. Some creepy old weird guy kept hitting on me and was a little too close to my face...it was disgusting. i felt weird. and he yelled at the guys when they tried to stand up for me and get him to leave. i was uncomfortable there. strange place. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to tell you about all their weird menu names and menu items like cow brains...yeah.

ok, gotta go now. getting ready to leave! b-fast time

-aisha

Day 11 - Aug. 16 - The Show

So I'm playing catch up again so we'll see how much I can remember. We played at a place called Imperial? Imperium? It was a coffee shop with two stages, the larger one in a basement. Three local bands were on the bill along with us, and we traded off sets between stages. People stuck around and saw all of us play, which was cool. We didn't know what kind of crowd to expect in Spokane, Washington.

Speaking of not knowing what to expect, we did not foresee walking around for half an hour downtown struggling to find some where to eat at 5:30! NOTHING was open, expect for Spaghetti Factory (which had an hour wait), some snooty expensive greek place. Ridiculous. Apparently no one goes out to eat in that area of town on a Saturday night. We ended up eating at a place that had "Authentic Thai Food" on its sign, and any place that has to advertise that it's authentic cusine makes me nervous...they also had liquor bottles for vases and were playing bad pop songs as their house music. Call me sterotypical but that's just not the music I'd imagined at an AUTHENTIC Thai resturaunt...

Anyway, show was good. pre-show actitivites were good. They consisted of multiple rounds of arcade style Street Fighter!! It was great. I love that game. And apparently so did Jesy and Taylor.

I'm feeling like this is kind of boring, I appologize. I didn't take any pictures because this was the day on tour that I was slightly grumpy/dehydrated/ ready to disappear. Sometimes I just want to hide and not do anything and that was today. BUT it turned out well! Afterwards we hung out at the spot to be at, called Neato Burrito lol Imagine a crowded Chipoltle with darkened lights, indie rock house music and a bar. Funny. After that, we stayed with Krissy, owner of the venue. We sat around outside singing songs and playing guitar before goin to bed. Next stop, Missoula, Montana

Day 11 - Aug. 16 - Saturday

Woo! I've finally caught up to today! I've been writing for a good while. We are on our way to Spokane and I've only heard weird things about this place. It is the home of Gonzaga university, but besides that it's just a college town void of college kids since its summer.

This morning Taylor, Nicole, Brian and I had Vietnamese food for breakfast. Everything close was closed! And apparently people who need coffee in the morning don't need food, because all these coffee shops had wimpy little pastries. My hunger surpassed crepes and scones. And since apparently no one eats before 11am on Capitol Hill except those who like Vietnamese food, that is where we wound up. Now I am stuffed sitting next to Nicole in the van full of hot air and the smell of seven different kinds of chips that can't be any kind of healthy. Hope people come to the show tonight.

Day 10 - Aug. 15 - Friday

Oh man, I feel like I'm never going to catch up. I'm sure I've been writing for over an hour now. People are asleep in the van; we're listening to a mix tape Jesy made and I'm trying to write about things before I forget.

Yesterday we woke up slowly, took showers and explored Seattle. Trying to keep nine people together and entertained downtown is difficult. So eventually we split up. Nicole, Travis and I walked down Pike Street to 1st street by the farmer's market and pier. It's the place you've

probably heard of in Seattle where they guys at a fresh fish place toss big fish around. Everyone gathers to take pictures and every now and again they like to freak people out and throw a big fake fish at them. Very touristy, but entertaining. We found the water and gazed into it. It stretches for miles and miles and hits the mountains that look to be sinking in the distance. pretty.




When we got back to the house, we packed up and headed for the show. The venue turned out to be Q Cafe, right next to Quest church...Some people were skeptical of a place that seemed to be so closely associated with the church. Buut the staff said though the cafe was founded by the church it is not affiliated with it...even though our green room was labeled "Children's Room" and had Bibles in it. lol I don't really care either way. I don't mind playing in churches. It was a big deal that by 8pm only two people were there. haha. We debated about whether or not we should play. The venue was far from the downtown scene and according to Jesy sort of out of the way. We waited around, played pictionary for a while and then decided to do short sets: Bexar Bexar: Balmorhea : Tiny Vipers. In the middle of the Balm set people wound up coming so we played a few extra. It was fine. no pressure. Kind of like practice really. lol is that mean to say? meh, whatever.

Jesy played for a while and then we packed up our stuff and headed out.
OH wait, totally forgot to mention that Rob played guitar with Brian and then randomly started drumming on two songs! We (Meg, Travis, Nicole and I) weren't expecting that and turned to look at each other to confirm our surprise. I think Nicole got pictures. Probably isn't really a big deal. What doesn't Rob play is the question. But it was a fun moment at the time.

Anyway. I need to go faster. Taylor told a ghost story under a blanket with a flashlight in the van. Mike and Brian wrestled WHILE Mike was driving! Brian denies it but nicole has it on video. Those two wrestle, tease and play like children. It's funny.

Got home. Went to a bar. Sat around with some friends mike made at a previous show in Seattle. Brian and Taylor raced barefoot down the block. A&M Trackster Taylor won. Two guys broke some glasses outside and were dumb enough to leave and return. Some guy sitting at a table 1ft behind where Nicole and I were standing was dumb enough to make a comment about our backsides loud enough for me to hear. I hate that. And after I've had two beers I really hate that and wasn't afraid to wittily let him know. I don't know what it is about some men that makes them think they can talk about women like we're mindless figures to be gawked at. If they decide to exercise that right of free speech, then I choose to exercise the right to make them aware of their stupidity. Fair trade, right?

Anyway, after some talk about music, we headed back up a steep hill. and slept. I think its kind of weird to get excited about a "bed" that's in a different place every night.

Day 9 - Aug. 14 - Thursday

I am writing you from the backyard of the violinist of Stars of the Lid. We met her when we opened for them at the Granada Theatre in Dallas and she let us stay at her place while we were in Portland. She left a note telling us to eat whatever, wash clothes, take showers and use her bikes if we wanted. So nice. I sifted through the sheet music on her stand just because I like to know what awesome violinists spend their time working on. We had a lot of the same scale and etude books and she had one concerto I've played before (though her version is undoubtably way better). Is that snooping? Crossing the line? eeeh..journalism school would tell me no. So I'm going to go with that. She has this really cute dog that likes to cuddle with everyone too--

So I never finished writing this. I am writing you from a highway in washington, yes, I am writing you from the future. Technology. Amazing.

Actually, I'm just lazy and haven't been writing as much lately. lo siento.

Anyway, I don't remember what happened leaving Seattle that put us behind schedule. The Doug Fir Lounge gave us a $60 voucher for breakfast, so we went back and ate our fill. Then we drove. and drove. and drove some more and hit a horrendous line of stand-still traffic...in the heat. I was sitting in our little makeshift seat in the back row of pillows, bags & sleeping pads (since we have 9 people, as Jesy (Tiny Vipers) is with us). It feels to me to be the hottest seat, especially when we're not moving and our "air conditioning" of open windows has no breath. It was gross. There was an accident that we never saw (but heard of on the radio). What was supposed to be a 4 hour drive took over 6. lovely.

Anacortes is a small island town that the locals say is a large retirement community. A girl I talked with said there aren't many young people beyond their high-school years. But The Department of Safety is the exception. It is an old government building turned artist co-op. They live together, run a gallery featuring their work, and host shows out of a theatre-like room (which instantly reminded me of Super Happy Fun Land, complete with art on the walls and couches & theatre chairs as seats. If you've had any kind of experience there, you know that yes, I had flash backs and yes I was frightened by the similarity). It's a pretty large building to be home to only nine people. While walking through it, it kind of fulfilled a childhood fantasy of running around and playing in a school after dark, a school that cooks you really good vegan lasagna. We practically teleported to the upstairs kitchen at the mention of a hot meal.

Twas good. I talked with a guy that hosted us in Springfield, Missouri on our last tour. The house he lived in threw a festival out of their basement and called it Fontee Fest. It was weird but cool to see him there. You never expect to see the people you meet while touring in other places. After some standing around and enjoying the cool air, Brian started his set. Nicole and I had some good chat time outside the garage door and took some fun photos that hopefully you'll get to see. The sunset was beautiful and vivid and I'm glad I got to take it in. It's rare that we get to do our sitting around in gorgeous places.

Our set was alright. The sound situation wasn't as clear as it needed to be, but then again, it's tour. When aren't we playing out of strange PA's? No offense to the sound guy. He was nice. But it's hard to mix us well. Afterward Jesy played and sounded great. She's small but she's got such a strong voice. And when she sings low its a little haunting but in a soothing way.

After the show we took a century to decide what we were doing (some wanted to stay in Anacortes). After a stop at a doughnut house, we decided to drive back to Jesy's place in Seattle where we slept for the night. I took way too long to explain that. If you actually got this far, you're a trooper.

-Aisha

Day 8 - Aug. 13 - Wednesday

Portland, Portland, it took FOREVER to get to you. We woke up late and therefore left late. And then, as if the drive wasn't long enough or hot enough we hit a ridiculous line of traffic in Oregon. Like people getting out of their cars and walking around traffic. Luckily, we were near an exit as we pulled up to the end of a very, very, very long line and decided to follow a tour bus and an 18 wheeler. We figured the tour bus was probably going to Portland and the 18 wheeler was getting alternate routes from his CB (CV?..C-something) radio. Whether our guesses were right or not, we'll never know but the point is that after heading down some country side roads we made it back onto the highway, past the fires and the traffic. success!

Well, until we got to an intersection with a railroad crossing hosting a train moving in-cred-i-bly slooowly.

But then it passed! yay. We loaded into the Doug Fir Lounge, sound checked and waited around. The few blocks I saw of portland were pretty cool. Lots of cyclists. Lots of independent shops. Lots of things in walking distance. The Doug Fir has got to be one of the nicest/coolest venue's I've ever been in. I think someone described it as a retro-chic log cabin. There were orange tinged lights on the floor of the bar and a pretty cool light set up for the backdrop of the stage. I'm not doing a great job of describing it, so you'll just have to look at my pictures and see for yourself.

The show went pretty well. I can't remember the exact set list but I know these songs were in it: Harm & Boon, Settler, Limmat, the new acoustic song, the new piano song, the new banjo song (we've got a lot of naming to do) and maaybe San Solomon.

I think all in all the shows have been good. It's just been hard for us in the string section to hear ourselves well. Things tend to get muddled or lost in our monitor mix. I think the day when we have our own in-ear head phones as monitors (a.k.a no time soon) will be the day when no one is iffy about anything. Anyway, afteward, we stayed at the house of the violinist from Stars of the Lid. She was sleeping when we got there, so we crept in and quickly proceeded to take a good 20 minutes to decide who was sleeping where. There were two beds, one couch and a lot of floor space. There were seven of us. hrm. I lined up some couch pillows, found a sheet and called it my bed while four others paced around the house. After some kind of magic, people decided where they were sleeping.

Then we decided we weren't tired.

Travis, Rob, Jesy and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. After we got lost, we found an elementary school and swung, ran and climbed in the playground. It's always good to feel like a kid every now and again, if only for a little while. Our quick walk "down the street" took at least 30 minutes, so we went back and tried to be quiet. However, the dog broke into a barking fit as we came up the stairs and once inside someone hit the cymbal on the drums, probably waking up everyone (oops). Except for Michael that is, who slept in his sleeping bag in the backyard. We crawled into our sleeping places, said goodnight and called it one.

Day 7 - Aug. 12 - Tuesday

After waking up in San Francisco and making a breakfast stop at a bagel shop, we headed for the van. Oh, I thought this was noteworthy: While walking to the bagel shop, this homeless man walked up to us and said, "hey, can you spare $150,000?" and then burst out laughing (in a non-creepy way). We laughed with him and kept walking.

I don't remember much about the drive. All I can recall about this day is the extreme weirdness that is Eureka, California, the place we played. It seemed normal at first. We went to a restaurant with pretty good food. Then I noticed the giant, fake, fuzzy spider (with teeth) they had rigged to move up and down with the opening and closing of the door. Then I saw the other creepy Halloween leftovers scattered about the room and wondered what was going on. The place wasn't themed beyond that. Maybe they just really like Halloween. Or maybe they were trying to warn us that Eureka is pretty freakin weird.

Then we got to the venue, which also seemed normal at first. RIGHT after we walked in, some creepy guy pretending to be a gangster though he was white, made some kind of atrocious pick-up line and sauntered over to Nicole. Then, he comes outside to help us unload our things, and kisses the hand of Jesy (of Tiny Vipers) and does this all very casually, as if it is normal to be this forward and weird to complete strangers. I think its interesting when such people are so self confident.

We got there pretty early so we played pool and watched the Olympics to kill time. I got carded TWICE in the course of the evening, and BOTH times I wasn't even trying to buy a drink! I was just sitting around. I know I look like I'm 15, but gosh, it's still annoying to be questioned all the time...

I can't recall everything that made this night weird, just that it was "full" (full = 6 people) of people who seemed incapable of a normal interaction. Every conversation I had / overheard was just completely strange. Including the sign in the womens' bathroom that said "cameras for graffiti and surveillance only."

The show..was interesting. Their PA wasn't great and there was only one monitor and it was back by the drums...Yeah. Afterward, somehow, we broke into singing Miss Ohio...to ourselves. lol so weird. Actually, there is more I could say, but honestly, I'm writing this about 4 days later.

I do remember that we drove through the night, through the mountains to try to get closer to Portland...It was a long, windy drive. Wish I'd slept through more of it actually. It was kiiiind of crazy.

BUT we made it, stayed at a hotel, woke up late and headed to Portland.

Day 6 - Aug. 11 - Monday night

Day 6 - Aug. 11 - The show

San Franscisco! I'm writing this a few days later than the actual day 6, so I'd like to make this brief. Then again, I say that nearly every time and they always end up being rather long...But anyway, the van made it up all the hills without a big struggle! Annnd we found a parking spot on the street just around the corner from our venue. That is great luck considering how busy SF is and how huge our van is.

We played at Cafe Du Nord with Lazurus and Tiny Vipers, who has joined us on the road for a few dates. Jesy is her name. She is about my height and about my size with a few non discreet tattoos. She makes beautiful music. And she is well liked by us all.

The show went pretty well. We had a good sound check and people came! That's always nice. Somehow, almost everywhere we wind up, people we know come waltzing through the door. Travis' girlfriend flew in and surprised him and Mike's brother showed up. Kinda funny. I don't really remember what we did after this...I think we stayed with Mike's friend who in college was in an 80s cover band called Drying off Grandpa. lol I don't really know what else to say about that. haha. He had a very nice apartment and left it to us for the night. People are so nice.

Eureka, California is weird.

I've been carded TWICE already, while within this bar.

Strange people are lurking around outside.

Half of the people that passed me smelled of pot.

RIGHT after we walked in, strange people were hitting on all the girls with us.

I don't really know what to think of this town...

I'll tell you all about San Francisco another day.

Wish us luck.

Day 6 - Aug. 11 - Monday

Nicole and I woke up at 9:45 and slowly got ready. We slept in the bedroom of a little girl named Frances. She had a pretty cool doll house set up full of cute little people. Frances also apparently loves to draw. She had crayon colored drawings hanging everywhere. Alex (Hooch), while waiting for sleep we wondered which of her pictures would be your favorite. I think we decided on a shaky looking boat she drew with giant alphabet letters riding inside. My favorite was her awesome looking map of north america, labeled and everything. We also wondered why Frances had a lot of pictures of herself in her room. Anyway, no one cares about this but me. We ate breakfast at this bakery filled with fair-skinned soap opera looking women who appeared to very comfortable, like they don't need to work..ever again comfortable. I'm sure seeing us walk in must've been like some kind of traveling show to them.

Brian and I shared a bag of $2 Day old pastries while everyone ate up and waited for their coffees to wake them.

California is beautiful. It's so different up here already. The hills are a little less green but the land is golden brown. And for a while, all we could see to our left was a stretch of infinite blue pacific ocean. It was gorgeous. The air is pretty cool, but the second you come down the mountains the heat reminds you that it is summer. I love it.

Alright, it's been a long stretch of writing for me. We've been listening to a band called Through Me The Statue and we just finished the "All is Well" album by Sam Amidon. We are stopped at a gas station about 44 miles from our next stop, an In and Out Burger. But before I go, I should mention that in Pismo Beach, Cali., we walked into a Chevron gas station playing Sigur Ros. That is ridiculously rare, so Rob talked to them and gave them a Balmorhea CD. Turns out the guy had a few Balmorhea tracks on his ipod that a friend had given him, and when we walked back in he was playing "Attessa."

Also, Sean, I took a picture of an ad inside for an energy drink called "Get Crunk!" and I thought you should know. haha.



Until next time,
-Aisha

Day 5 - Aug. 10 - Sunday

I have digressed, quite heavily. In the morning, we continued through california, stopped for food and then headed to the beach in Santa Monica. This was my favorite part of the day. I love love the ocean, maybe more than any other aspect of the outdoors. There's something about its vastness and its strength that gets me.







I walked out to the water just to get my feet wet at first and then was easily persuaded to just jump in. So I did, fully clothed. I let the waves carry me and the salt scratch my throat. The water wasn't as cold as I'd remembered from the year before. I stood soaked in the sand grinning waiting to dry.
I wish the ocean wasn't so far from my home.


We drove down a crowded highway and arrived at a venue with locked doors. No one answered the phone, and even after we'd eaten dinner and come back it was still empty at 8pm. So what's a band to do? Go buy beer.

We walked to a store, came back, and finally things were going. We met the other band we were playing with, who were really nice. Ann, Rob's sister came with some friends, as did Ben who Trapdorea stayed with when we played at the Calvary Church in New York City during our last tour. Mike, Travis, Taylor and Rob had friends come to see us so we hung around in the darkened parking lot laughing and talking until brian went on.

Around midnight, twas finally time for Balmorhea to play. We spent forever setting everything up, only to find out the piano, both acoustic guitars and my violin weren't coming through the PA. awesome. Frustrated, we surrendered and played an acoustic set. The crowd gathered round and we did well for the circumstances. They seemed to like it a lot and could actually hear everything, which was cool. set: New Acoustic song, En route, New Banjo song, and Cabbage Town. We ended with the second half of "Settler" (or what you may know as the clapping song). Gets 'em every time. It's always a winner.



Post show things got really silly. Megan and Nicole spontaneously jumped into funny dances to music we made by singing. By the way, Meg's role is the self-declared motivator. She comes around to each of us after the show and tells us how great we did.

"How do we respond? Do we all say the same thing?" I asked her.

Meg: "Well, Nicole always giggles. Aisha always proudly accepts. Mike always accuses me of being drunk. and Rob just says no." haha. In the car, Rob finished out his day of driving as we listened to a lot of Modest Mouse and sang along in between sleeping. I remember laughing a lot and talking about Snick and old nickelodeon shows. My favorite moment was looking to my left and seeing Mike sneakily emerging from the back, wide-eyed, grinning and leaning well over the second row of seats, his back nearly touching the van's ceiling. After a slew of funny comments he said he was just trying to keep awake. Thats surely a different way of accomplishing that goal.

After the show we drove to Santa Barbara, the land of rich people, huge homes and Oprah's house hidden behind thick tall trees. We divided up the rooms and slept. Tomorrow, San Francisco.

Lets talk about Day 4 - Aug. 9 - Saturday

hey, don't be afraid to leave a comment if you've got words to share. Just sign your name at the bottom so I know who you are. Or, be anonymous! Do what you feel!

Lets start off by saying that last night (Sat) was pretty weird. But every tour has at least one weird one. Hopefully, we got ours outta the way. I don't even know the name of the coffee shop, but I do know that the walls were sponge-painted deep red and filled with enough furniture to form at least three living room set ups. If Robs family hadn't showed up, we'd be playing for ourselves and the kitchen staff...and the band that played before us and yelled obscenities peppered with phrases that sounded like they came from a "Rock Star Vernacular For Dummies" Book. "Isn't it great to play shows when you're completed waaaaaasted??!"...

They weren't blind, so I know they saw the table of older adults and grandparents sitting right in front of them.

awkward. glad I was outside.

Anyway, we left feeling strange and decided to drive as far as we could through the night. Nicole and I kept things lively in the van with assorted oldies and Motown selections paired with our vocal accompaniment. Twas fun. After much heat and a few hours, we made it to the California border. We found a motel 6 and settled in for the night.

However, we couldn't go to bed without first watching lots of bad 3am television. Rob requested Cops. That show has become a soapbox in my head. Who decided to make a spectacle of the lives of poor inner city Americans? There is a lot of crap on the tube that late. Lots of informercials, like Nuwave the crock-pot like cooker that magically prepares food at what seems to be a cancerous pace. It makes an ENTIRE turkey in TWO hours...that is NOT normal, nor can it be anywhere near the realm of healthy. It's basically a way to cook without actually doing anything at all. The next channel had a weight loss miracle potion with the slogan of "Eat more, exercise less." And as if that weren't absurd enough, it claims to help you loose a large amount of weight in only 6 weeks. Late night infomercials are very telling of the state of America.

We want it all without lifting a finger. We are too lazy now to make our own meals. We are too lazy to even leave a turkey in the oven for a few hours (because that takes sooo much effort). We didn't want to bother running in the outside world, so we made treadmills. We couldn't eat right, so we created diet foods. And somewhere along the way, we lost hope in the idea of accomplishing anything by trying. We put so much worth on the look of our bodies, yet we don't care enough to work for a build that is created BY working. When did we decide that we were so powerless that work is futile?

Day 4 - Aug. 9

We are in the van again en route to Arizona. We are in good spirits. We are revealing songs ordinarily carefully concealed in the depths of our ipod libraries. "I would walk 500 miles" "Breakfast at Tiffany's"...haha. It's a good day.

We awoke to coffee cake and a basket of pigs-in-a-blanket, juice, coffee, tea, the works. We are being treated so well.

----------------------------------------------
nighttime update!

We just played a really weird acoustic show to no one but Rob's family and the coffee shop staff lol. We sounded fine but...we could've done that in their living room. oh well.

We are in Arizona. But not for long. Looks like we're going to drive through the night. weee are off to LA!

Day 3 - Night of the Show! - Winning Coffee

DAY 3 - AUG 8 - THE SHOW!

I don't know if you noticed, but yesterday was 8-8-08. That's only gonna happen once people. I hope you made the most of it and celebrated the day appropriately. Megan suggested saying 8-8-08 eight times fast. I think that counts,

So the show was as at a coffee shop called Winning. We cleared the tables and chairs and a good number of people filled the space. Lots of high school kids showed up for whatever reason and loved the show. The sat on the ground pretty near to us, some literally at my feet (sometimes actually kicking me...a little too comfortable I'd say). Anyway, I thought that was cool. I like when the divisions between musicians and audience are broken down. There are so many ideas that are communicated simply in manner that concerts are set up. The lights tell you where to look, who to pay attention to and when. Putting musicians on a platform literally above everyone else creates this feeling that they hold some power over listeners...And I'm not sure if that's true. It's definitely a symbiotic relationship. Distant crowds make performers feel awkward just as much as uncomfortable musicians can spread their unease. Two way street.

Anyway, I'm rambling again. The room was packed and the crowd was into it, however the PA system wasn't great to say the least...It wasn't capturing the low end of things very well at all and the strings were sort of muffled beneath guitars, drums and a scrambled piano sound. But despite that, we stayed together well and definitely did the best with what we had. Annnd people liked it. The grey Balmorhea shirt was beginning to look like a uniform of some sort, I kept seeing it around so much.

After we played, I walked down the road to eat dinner with Alex Dupree, Austin Dupree, and Sara Dyer! I was so glad to see them! I was feeling a little weird right before we played and seeing those guys turned that around. It's fun seeing friends from home when you're far from it.

More of Day 3 - Aug 8

I am writing you from a coffee shop in Albuquerque near the university. It is hott. yes, two t's were necessary. There are also flies everywhere. We stopped at a gas station and left our windows cracked (as we have no air conditioning). After grabbing some snacks and filling up our two gas tanks, we returned to a fly infested van. It was gross.

Taylor has this trick about killing flies. You wait until they sit down somewhere, then you slowly move your hands above it and clap. He says that they always take flight upwards first and your clap will catch them. I thought it was crazy but it worked.

We are about to grab some dinner. Five bands playing tonight and we don't start for a good while.

I'll update some more laaaater.

-Aisha

The Story So Far

I guess I should establish a few things first.

The Cast:

Balmorhea is:
Mike
Rob
Travis
Taylor
Nicole
meee

+ Megan

Bexar Bexar = Brian

Alright, where do I begin in explaining what's gone on in the past 2 days.


WEDNESDAY morning we met up at Robs, loaded up the Van and then had breakfast (you probably know where). The only proper way to say goodbye to Austin is by the fine patio dining of El Chilto. haha. After picking up Brian, we were off: Destination, Balmorhea, Texas. After 6 hours in our van, we arrived. Tiny little town. We stopped at the Balmorhea State Park to swim in San Solomon Springs. It's not as cold as Barton Springs, but its probably twice the size and twice as deep (40ft. to be exact).

One by one, we--well they--dove off the diving board. I was a wall flower. My swimming skills are pretty horrible. It's weird to know that dogs and small children can fare better in the water than I... After swimming, we drove a little longer till we reached Marfa, Texas, another tiny little town with an arts community. We ate at a place where the cheapest entree was a $10 burger...it was one of two restaurants that was still open at 8pm. Our free stay in the hotel was really nice. Modern looking rooms, cool little lounge, cable TV with DVD players. fancy. I capped the first night sitting outside talking with nicole, taylor and travis in the coolest texas summer nights i've ever felt.

THURSDAY

So I woke up nicely, still giddy from the night before. Took a shower and then made a mistake that has left me with a fear of razors. I reached my hand into my duffle bag trying to find clothes. Instead, the tip of my middle finger was aggressively introduced to my Gillette razor blade.

yeah. UGH.

I'm pretty thankful that its on my right hand. I've got bandaids around it. Hope it heals soon...Anyway. then, our shower water decided not to turn off haha. so for about 20 minutes our bathroom became a water-wasting sauna. weeird. Brian, Mike and Rob went down the road to the local public radio station for a 45 min. interview. The show was heavily promoted, a few recorded tracks were played, and i listened to my friends on the radio while eating Dairy Queen with Nicole.

Despues, we had a very thorough soundcheck and some practice time before our private tour of the Chinati. I finally got to see Donald Judd's installation of aluminum boxes, probably 4 by 3 feet each. There are over 100 of them spread out across two large rooms, each one a little different. We saw a Flavin light installation that he never lived to see. We took some cool pictures that I'll post hopefully. Anyway, I'm tired of talking about everything in extreme detail. The show was really fun. We played a bunch of new songs and ended with Settler, a.k.a the clapping one. A guy also named Rob did an awesome light show for both sets. Its crazy to have professional lighting that changes throughout the set. The sound was great. The crowd was receptive. FUN night.

We went back to the hotel and sat around for hours playing songs on guitar and singin with the people who put on the show. I swear we sang "Look at Miss Ohio" ten times. That's the song everyone wants to hear when they're sober and the song they really wanna hear after they've collectively finished a stupid amount of free beer. lol. I was coerced into singing it solo. Apparently it was pretty good, haha. That was flattering. It kinda shut people up, even the most vocal of individuals. And with that, I was ready for bed...at 3:40am... :)

-Aisha

Day 3 - Marfa in Short

DAY 3 - Aug. 8

Ok. so i restarted my day count. I decided the day we left became day 1 and this, Friday, is day three. we are leaving Marfa, Tx, which has been great to us. I'm in the car, waiting to find an internet connection. so here are some highlights:


the show was awesome.
taylor played with bexar bexar.
We had a private tour of the art gallery called Chinati Foundation,
established by artist Donald Judd.
they put us up in a preeetty sweet hotel called the Thunderbird.
they made us dinner.
we had a greenroom with movie star lights.
rob and mike were on the local radio.
After the show, the gave us a ridiculous amount of beer.
And then a group of 15 + people came over to the hotel to help us finish it.
If you were thinking that that sounds pretty rock n' roll, so was I.
In short, we've been spoiled.
and i'm typing with only 9 fingers.
no, i didn't loose one. Reached into my bag yesterday annnnnd had an unfortunate encounter with my razor.

luckily, it was my right hand but man, its still a huge annoyance. I'm having to bow mostly with three fingers. Tis interesting.

we are listening to fleet foxes, marveling at the endless green fields. Nothing but open land. So much beauty in the bareness.

Next show, Albuquerque!

-Ish

The Send off - Aug. 5

Hey and hello!

Yes, it is 2:49am and yes, I will be waking up early in the morning to leave for tour. So yes, I should definitely be asleep by now. But this is what happens to me every time I've got something exciting/big to pack for--I wait until the very last minute, every time. You guys should start placing bets on it.

I also decide that there are a billion little things I should do, like wash dishes, update my ipod, get rid of embarrassing music so it doesn't come up shuffle, take a late night shower, pack snacks, switch books...it goes on and on...for hours. I am a meticulous packer. I am always trying to stow away the optimal combination of outfits, shoes, entertainment, food, etc., so as to not be dissapointed with what I chose down the road. It's ridiculous, really.

Anyway! Tonight we played at the Hideout Theatre with Bexar Bexar and This Will Destroy You. Twas a good show all around. Lots of friends came. Lots of strangers too. The room was pretty packed. Day one of this summer tour is in the bag! I'm gonna try to sleep now so I don't hate myself in the morning. I'm getting that feeling like I forgot to pack something though...I'm not brining my running shoes...I could wind up regretting that...

until tomorrow,
Aisha