My day job (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) is to listen to music made by independent artists from all over the world. For a music geek, it’s pretty much the dream job. But you know, every silver lining has a dark cloud. Every gift horse has a mouth. And even dream jobs [...]

I’m not a fair-weather fan, per se. I always root for the same teams: Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Blazers. But my problem is that I don’t pay a bit of attention to sports unless my teams are doing well, exceptionally well. There are just too many games, too many seasons. You could spend your [...]

The late night glaze of Figueroa’s neon lifted our spirits, but only for the briefest of moments. There we were, freeze-framed under fake light. The 24-hour taco cart, the ice-cream sandwich wraps, the sugar high, the sodium flares, half-baked, the case of warm Stella Artois cradled in my arms.
And then the 3 am tired-dart towards [...]

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR, 11/21/07: “Warning: This blog is ENTIRELY sarcastic. I apologize if the Thacher community thought I was unappreciative and jesting at their expense. I meant to contrast (through a tongue-in-cheek approach) how AMAZINGLY AMAZING the Thacher experience was in the middle of a long, thankless tour. Please don’t read this entry [...]

Getting out of San Diego was like a classic escape film (with either Steve McQueen or Kurt Russell in the lead… you pick). Barely managing to avoid the La Jolla landslide and two separate floods caused by busted water mains, we crept out of town on angry kitten feet. Oh, and then there was [...]

“Good Performance + Good Press = Zero Audience”
I am utterly convinced that this theory will soon be passed into scientific law.
Another show covered positively by the local press. Another great performance. Another near-empty room.
It was funny at first in Eugene and Redding, but now I’m starting to get a little depressed. I mean, [...]

Rachel’s Tale of Santa Monica, CA - The Temple Bar (or “Someone Has to Have a Meltdown, Might As Well Be Me”)
There is always at least one spectacular meltdown in any given tour—at least, any tour I’ve ever been on. Usually at that crucial just-past-midway point when the sleep deprivation and cramped quarters and [...]

In my eyes, Phoenix has redeemed itself. What was once just a sprawling sprawl of shopping malls and chain restaurants is now a sprawling sprawl of shopping malls and chain restaurants with one really cool little artsy European Cafe-style music venue secretly nestled on the outskirts of downtown. The Paisley Violin.
I mean, I love [...]

“God, that was a seedy little place”, Rachel exclaimed upon our exit. There was a security guard making his rounds to keep all crime inside the rooms, and NOT in the parking lot. From the look on the receptionist’s face we may’ve been the only guests to ever stay there who weren’t engaged in [...]

A healthy crowd of bingo players greeted us (well, ignored us) as we entered Diablo’s Downtown Lounge Monday night. We’re now considering running a bingo game simultaneously with our set if we’re ever back because, sadly, the bingo players outnumbered our audience. That’s all for good, though, since we’re in agreement that Chris’s songs could [...]