Tour and Stuff.
People have been asking if we’re still on tour, or if we’re home for a while. We in the band have a kind of common philosophy that if the run is shorter than like 2 weeks, and you’re only within the boundaries of your state or close to it, it’s not a tour. So we’ve been home for a few weeks now, and plan on going on another month long tour the last week of April. Until then we’re working regionally and will do so after we get back in June. Then we have a two-month tour from October-December.
That being said, the tour never ends. I’m not sure how many shows we’ve played this year, and I’m not sure how many we have left. I used to count those things because it was all so new to me (before this band I didn’t travel often and mostly did session/sideman work in Portland) and the novelty hadn’t worn off.
Now the novelty has fallen into the ocean haha. It’s a kind of tough living to be gone this often and live the way we do while doing it. We don’t dine out often, the money isn’t good, sometimes we don’t know where we’re going to sleep, and we’re always schlepping gear and working on some aspect of the business at any given moment. Sweet books the shows, I work on marketing, and N’ oversees housing. Together we have a team that seems to be gelling alright. But the road is hard, and we do not travel in any way that some would see as comfortable.
It's the way we like it though. I think for the Dave’s and I it’s the only way we could live well. Often I’ll interview folks on what their careers are, and when I do my mind tries out the position for a few seconds before realizing that performance is the only method for me to live any sort of life. By the Way:
Sweet = Dave Smith
N’ = Dave Kelsay
Juicy = Paul Paresa
But like, just call us Sweet, N’, and Juicy. It’s so much easier. What was I saying?
Anyway, it’s a living. The road suits me personally. Staying in motion works for my personality more than staying in the same place for more than a week. I don’t like staying still. Can’t do it without going a little bonkers.
We’re getting ready for our first Theater show in Corvallis. I wonder how that will be to play. Dancing crowds are the best crowds, and all-ages joints are weird because you never know if they’re into it. Booze helps smooth out the kinks in people’s apprehensions, and kids are lousy drinkers. But if they’re not around their parents they’re typically easy-going and adventurous when it comes to dancing.
I used to play in this band where we played recycle-based rock music for kids. When you have 500 barely supervised kids at a rock concert it starts to look like a Dead & Co. show, I’m not kidding. Kids get wild hahaha.
I gotta get back to work. See you on the road.
-Juicy