Mr. Mike Vitale & I just returned home from our short spring tour. I’d like to take the next 3 minutes of your life and give you something to waste it on, as you read this blog and look at the pretty pictures.
It’s very important when you’re on the road, that you get along with whomever you are out there with. There is MUCH more time spent hanging out & driving, then on stage. As you can tell by the pic above… Mike & I are really close friends and get along great.
My first stop on the tour was without Mike (due to some last minute schedule changes) down in Temecula where I played a set at The Public House. My friends in the band Sister Speak brought me down to open up for them. They were great. Some fantastic rootsy music. Check em out in my myspace top friends list. After the show I was stoked to hang out with some of my best friends growing up, that now live out in Riverside County. (lil Deniall shout out) We ended up at a huge warehouse cowboy bar down the street and watched some cowgirls and cowboys ride the mechanical bull. yee ha, yall. I was mainly really happy to introduce my better half Melissa, to my buddies from back in the day.
Then after a sad goodbye to Long Beach, Missy, & Penny Lane, I hit the road. I picked up Mike Vitale on the way, we loaded up and head to Visalia, CA for our show that night. The show was a house concert that our good friend Ryan Corum set up for us. As we were flying up the 5 freeway I got a call from Ryan saying that the owner of the house we were meant to play that night had to go on an emergency call to fight a fire that just started. Apparently firemen have more important things to tend to then hosting scruffy musician’s concerts. Who knew?
That of course was not a great way to start out our tour, but we understood and took it like a mans.
yes…mans. plural.
So we headed to Mike’s mom’s house in Visalia to hang and watch movies with the her and his brother. Mike’s mom was the sweetest and most giving momma one could expect.
The next night was our show in Visalia with our friend Amanda Rose at 210 Cafe. That show was really fun, and I met a ton of great Visalia folk. Thank you all so much for being as quiet and attentive as humanly possible. That was alarmingly awesome. Amanda sang beautifully, I got up and did my set, then Mike brought the thunder and closed out the show with his bouncy soulful jams. Even got the crowd singing along. “I’m a latchkey kid!…”
People love that tune. Tasty.
Unfortunately for me, after this show I started to feel a scratch in my throat, which only evolved into a full blown cold, then into a sinus infection. I’ve been coughing up crap all week since, and the rest of my shows on the trip suffered. My voice was toast at times in my sets, but hey… whatcha gonna do?
Suck it up, and rock.
Firkin And Hound
After that night, we had some down time in Visalia until we headed to our show in the Bay Area, so we decided to try and find a local bar in town to randomly set up and play one night. After a few “no thank you’s”… we walked into a nice local bar called The Firkin & Hound and the manager was really cool with the idea. After asking a few questions, he said we could come in and play the next night. So, we came back and set up and played all night for the locals. Pretty fun, especially because at midnight it was technically Mike’s birthday, so I was able to embarrass him by singing the B-day song to him and telling him he was old. (It sounds much less harsh of course when it is sung.) Mike’s brother Matt was super helpful and brought out a bunch of friends as well. By the way, Matt has a sweet reggae/rock band called Indosurf that we got to see rehearse one night.
So the next night for Mike’s birthday we had a little family dinner and cake. But not just any cake. THIS cake:
Matt made this bad boy! Ice cream cake with jamocha, snickers, and vanilla ice cream. Slingin creams, Matt!
Then we went out for some serious kareoke. Here is Mike rocking some Police tune:
Some say better than the Police
Of course… I had to rep the LBC by rocking some Snoop Dogg karaoke. Bow wow wow, yippie-o, yippie-a.
One more Visalia highlight I must mention is our new favorite rapper that we met on the street, named Psychopath. (aka Shootaface) After freestyling on the street for Mike and Matt, he sold Mike a CD, which we bumped in my truck for the rest of the trip. I’ll give you just a taste to wet your beak:
“… I dun bounced back! I’m here ta clear my name up, & while I’m doin that, I’m fit to F#%k the game up!”
The giant iPhone
We then packed it up again, hugged mom, and left for the Bay Area. We had to stop by Apple headquarters, where my good friend Jeff works. Jeff is a fantastic drummer as well as one of the smartest dudes I know, and he NEVER gives me any Apple product secrets! Damn you, Jeff! Not even after a long island ice tea. You deserve a raise, bro.
We got to Apple just in time to sign in, get sweet little name badges, and enjoy the “beer fest” that was going on for the employees that day. Apparently once in a while Apple provides free beer outside in the huge courtyard area by the cafeteria. Incredible. Morale boosting beer. Genius.
Mike @ Red Rock
Me @ Red Rock. Check out Jeff to my right sitting in on percussion!
That night we played at Red Rock in Mountain View. Great room, with some really cool locals hanging around to check out the music. There was a strange new phenomenon in the crowd as well. A handful of different people were sitting listening, while on working on their laptops. Clicking away, and listening. click, click, click, listen… and repeat. Multi-tasking at it’s finest.
I got a chance to see some fantastical friends from the Santa Cruz tree house for a short second, hugs and high fives were given, and Mike, Jeff, Benetron I had a drink at the only quiet/non-clubbin bar on the street. We packed it up and headed north again in route to Bend Oregon. Nothin like a 2:00am truck stop to re-fuel and ponder the possibility of taking a truck stop shower while you’re there. Some day I may just have to try it.
We found a nice cheap Motel for the night to sleep, and crashed. Actually got two beds!
Mike was sad.
We made it up to beautiful Bend. Piece of cake. Nice drive, deep conversations, and plenty of podcasts to listen to for entertainment. (thank you Ricky Gervais, Adam Corolla, & Chris Hardwick for your hilarity)
Along with the podcasts to entertain us, Mike also suggested a new road game that he heard about. The game is basically this: You flip through random radio stations as your driving, and the first person to name the artist or band of the song that comes on wins a point. First to 10 points wins the game. I am currently undefeated in this game. Yep, you heard me. Final score: 10-0. We call that a shut out, people. Don’t bring no games into my truck unless you want to be shut down, baby. Shut down!
Ok sorry… I hate to rub it in.
(No, I don’t)
We pulled up to Justin Lavik’s house and were greeted with hot tea, because at this point in the trip not only was I sick, but I passed on my virus to Mike as well. (you share everything on the road. I’m so sorry, Mike…)
After the tea was gone, we graduated to two growlers of local Bend brewery beer. Wow. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, and you love beer… go to Bend and learn. They have some of the best beer in the world. Maybe because of the amazing water there. You drink that water straight from the tap, it’s so clean. Which also makes their coffee magically delicious.
The next morning, Mike and I played guitar at the Antioch Church service, and rocked one for Jesus. Super fun.
That night was the show at The Kilns. I’m always amazed at the sound system at this venue. They do Not mess around. And again, we had a captive audience there to see the show. Thank you guys! And thanks for laughing at our dumb jokes on stage.
After the show we had some beer and tots with friends around the fire at a McMenemins. Two beers, and me and Mike were seriously feeling rocked. Andrea suggested it was the altitude of Bend that does that. Wow. Fantastic beer, and you only need one or two. Magical.
Oregon is a different place. When you walk by a stranger… they look you in the eyes and say hello or smile. Sound strange?? Well then you don’t live in Southern California.
We also made a new friend named Walker. Walker is a killer guitar player who plays at the church as well.
He’s also involved in an organization that helps the kids on the street in Bend. I was somewhat blind to this epidemic, but he enlightened us a bit. There a TON of homeless, poor, and abused kids living on the streets of Bend. It’s such a nice place, that it’s easy to miss this sadness. They all hang out in groups around the same areas. Some play guitar or pan-handle on the streets for money to buy food or a place to stay for the night. Some have drug addicted parents that beat them and kick them out of the house, and some have nothing and ride trains to travel to different areas. I had a few guitar picks in my back pocket, and after hearing a few kids talking about playing guitar, and having no pick, I threw out a few and those dudes lit up like christmas trees. That of course is nothing compared to what they need, and what Walker and his group do for those kids. It is an incredibly sad reality there, and I’m looking forward to talking to Walker more and getting involved in the future.
A Pour-Over
Walker then walked us down (pun intended) to a local coffee shop where we were schooled in a new way to drink coffee. It’s called the pour-over. I call it the pour-overrated. I keed. It was pretty good. They just pour 200 degree water slowly over finely ground coffee and it pours into a cup below. It was delicious, but a little more watery then their other coffee there. MMM… coffee….
We got to hang with our friends in Bend the night after the show, and everyone there is so warm and down to earth. Justin always takes care of us, and his family are so hospitable. Thanks Trish! Although, I was a little sad to see that their five year old girl Maddy doesn’t have a crush on me anymore. I think she has out-grown her musician phase. (check out the video from 2 years ago “Attacked By a Fan” on my YouTube page)
Cory’s YouTube
Justin is arguably one of the finest humans on the planet. It’s true. Mike and I laughed constantly while there.
Justin also has started a local record label-esq project called Muffin Top Records. Check out what he’s up to at:
MuffinTop Records
(those are my hands playing the guitar in the header picture on the website)
We hit the road again the next morning in hopes of making it back to SoCal around midnight. We actually succeeded after a 13 hour straight drive… but not before Oregon’s finest pulled me over. Luckily, nerdy Michael Knight let me off with a warning, but I was worried. See, Oregon cops don’t like to see California license plates. So while I’m driving in the flow of traffic at 60 in a 55 zone, I am sure to get pulled over. Mr. Knight was cool though. We didn’t mention that we were musicians, and we both answered exactly the same way, thank god.
I call him Michael Knight, because his car was not a typical police car. It was a really nice looking neo-camero with flashing lights inside the front grill! Just like Knight Rider. I asked him if his car talked like Kit, and he said, “no… it reminds me more of transformers.”
Wow.
Then after a short lunch stop in Shasta…
slurp
zzz...
and a rest-stop nap, we were greeted back to LA by smoggy skies and traffic.
Ahhhh…
Word of quick advice for anyone who wants to hit the road with another artist…
Make sure you are friends first and get along well, and can entertain each other for long stretches of road. If you’re as lucky as I am, you may find someone like that, who also happens to be a great great artist.
Don’t forget to check out the random short videos from the road. Just scroll down-
