Jared is reading Our Band Could Be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad, and our tour has started as the complete opposite of the dirty, yet romantic, touring punk bands from the ’80s (as mentioned in OBCBYL). Now, we’re in no way making a ton of money (if any), but we’ve been treated with utmost kindness from our friends and fans. Our second show of the tour was in La Grande, Oregon, which is approximately 45 minutes east of Pendleton. So, it’s pretty, and pretty far out there. Fortunately, La Grande contains Duke’s Bar and Grill, and our friend’s from the band Test Audiences.

First off, Duke’s Bar and Grill has a dude who introduced himself as the concierge (door guy), and they allowed the bands to run up a bar tab (including food) up to $200, and then they paid us–totally rad, huh?. After the show, our friends in Test Audiences put us up at their sweet country home, we watched live Nirvana footage, and when we woke up, there were pots and pots of coffee, poppy seed waffles, homemade rhubarb jam, cheddar hash browns, chocolate milk, and OJ. This is not punk rock, and that’s okay, because I like to eat waffles and sleep well.

Also, La Grande was the first time I witnessed our viola player, Jordan Dykstra, perform a set as the band Dash!. It was totally captivating, and at the same time, calisthenics for your mind and ears. Behold!

Links
Jared Mees and the Grown ChildrenSpace
Test AudiencesSpace