We have entered the dog days of both summer and this tour and we have a whole ‘nother 10 days after tonight to slog around the steamy midwest before we get to New York. If there’s any bright spot, it’s that we’re playing at one of my favorite clubs in America, The Blue Note in Columbia, MO.
I believe I was playing with Dumptruck when I first stepped into this beautiful old southern gothic theatre and instantly fell in love with it. I’m sure I wouldn’t recognize the place today but back then it looked like it had closed down right after The Band had played there in 1970 and reopened in 1985, without getting so much as a dusting. It was like a museum and I spent my time before the set examining every corner of the place. To top it off, the owner (was it Jim?) was a sweetheart, a mid-western version of Steve Fallon, who loved music and made us feel very welcome. It was fun to imagine all the great music that must have happened there over the years.
While waiting for soundcheck, I took a walk up the street to a record store that and the cute girl behind the counter recognized me from the last time we were in town. I invited her to the show and put her name on the list, a classic rock band move. Don’t worry, don’t worry! nothing happened.
One of the main reasons that people gave for not liking Slam was “all the horns” that we put on the record. I went back at some point and timed how long the horns were actually present on the LP and it came out to a total of less than 3 minutes. And that record was like an hour and a half long! Somehow, playing at a classic club like the Blue Note makes me wish we had a horn section behind us to blast this song to the doubters. Tomorrow: A Sunday off.
Calculating Route... 