Archives
Friday, May 21, 2004
5.21.04.8:35 a.m. pst
just got up after my first full night of sleep since Denver. we’re performing tonight at the Reno Hilton Casino and part of the deal was free rooms. I stayed in last night, passed up the craps and black jack tables for a movie and a a little guitar playin’ in my room before turning it in. I spent my gambling money on a new guitar back in Idaho. yup. I bought an electric and I’ve plugged in. decided to change things up, step away from the young-male-singer/songwriter-with-acoustic-guitar thing for awhile. trying to raise the intensity a bit, reconstruct the dynamics of my performances. so far I’ve only played one show with it but I think I know where I’m going to be able to take things in the coming shows. as for now, all I want to do is play that guitar. so I watched Ron Howard’s Ed TV on TBS and worked on my chops during the commercials. after a long day off of hitting buckets of balls at the hotel’s driving range, chillin’ pool side over a handful of Tecates with Firstman, Miley and Gremlin and after a few afternoon hands of black jack I was ready to shut it down early and take advantage of some alone time.
yeah. the tour has felt a bit more like a vacation, I’ll be honest. having all your coming days mapped out for you after spending months, struggling day after day with how best to utilize your time, dealing with all the business of booking shows, getting contracts signed, taking phone calls all day, and still somehow finding the time to be creative, well... it’s enough to make you want to be on tour for the rest of your life. it’s been wonderful getting out to the west again. driving through the mountains and the high dessert riding shotgun on that bus...damn! so beautiful. and just knowing that LA is a week away makes my blood feel like I’ve had a few too many Red Bulls. I can’t lie. I’m stoked to be gettin’ back to my friends and family in town, renting a car and driving it up the coast, ya know, the things you can’t do in New York City.
we’re working on June dates back over in the northeast so please stay tuned. I wish I had a bit more on my mind but unfortunately my stomach’s getting rather vocal about it’s need for some breakfast. hope to see alot of you in San Fran and LA next week.
as always, thanks for tuning in.
just got up after my first full night of sleep since Denver. we’re performing tonight at the Reno Hilton Casino and part of the deal was free rooms. I stayed in last night, passed up the craps and black jack tables for a movie and a a little guitar playin’ in my room before turning it in. I spent my gambling money on a new guitar back in Idaho. yup. I bought an electric and I’ve plugged in. decided to change things up, step away from the young-male-singer/songwriter-with-acoustic-guitar thing for awhile. trying to raise the intensity a bit, reconstruct the dynamics of my performances. so far I’ve only played one show with it but I think I know where I’m going to be able to take things in the coming shows. as for now, all I want to do is play that guitar. so I watched Ron Howard’s Ed TV on TBS and worked on my chops during the commercials. after a long day off of hitting buckets of balls at the hotel’s driving range, chillin’ pool side over a handful of Tecates with Firstman, Miley and Gremlin and after a few afternoon hands of black jack I was ready to shut it down early and take advantage of some alone time.
yeah. the tour has felt a bit more like a vacation, I’ll be honest. having all your coming days mapped out for you after spending months, struggling day after day with how best to utilize your time, dealing with all the business of booking shows, getting contracts signed, taking phone calls all day, and still somehow finding the time to be creative, well... it’s enough to make you want to be on tour for the rest of your life. it’s been wonderful getting out to the west again. driving through the mountains and the high dessert riding shotgun on that bus...damn! so beautiful. and just knowing that LA is a week away makes my blood feel like I’ve had a few too many Red Bulls. I can’t lie. I’m stoked to be gettin’ back to my friends and family in town, renting a car and driving it up the coast, ya know, the things you can’t do in New York City.
we’re working on June dates back over in the northeast so please stay tuned. I wish I had a bit more on my mind but unfortunately my stomach’s getting rather vocal about it’s need for some breakfast. hope to see alot of you in San Fran and LA next week.
as always, thanks for tuning in.
Friday, May 14, 2004
5.06.04.2:05 p.m.
just boarded Air Tran flight 199 with service to Akron, Ohio. got a window seat in the second to last row with what is, and will most likely be for the remainder of the flight, a nice lovely view of the plane’s right engine, which is connected to the main body of the aircraft, tucked right up next to, well, my window. first class travel, I tell ya. I’m on my way to the midwest to meet up with Mr. Firstman and company. I’ll be jumping on the bus with them from there and quite honestly, if I don’t ever fly anywhere ever again, it’ll be too soon.
again, I wanted to extend a most sincere apology to those of you who were adversely effected by the whole B.B. King’s debacle. I could make a half-assed attempt to explain what happened but I’ve never been one to point fingers and exacerbate other’s frustraion, mine included. suffice it to say that “commuinication breakdown” is putting it lightly. for those of you who made it out to Pianos, thank you for being such good sports and making the most of a ridiculous evening. it was a rather odd homecoming and your presence helped me get through it.
5.13.04.5:08 p.m. cst
ok. so I set out to keep up regularly with the journal writing but then I was all too quickly reminded of the realities of life on the road and how damn lazy and ultimately unaccountable I get.
5.14.04.1:20 p.m. cst
case in point. it’s already the day after last. I’m riding shotgun on Firstman’s bus. he and the boys flew back to Minneapolis this morning while me and Blair (the bus driver) started heading for Denver. I guess we’ll pick the boys up at the airport tomorrow. for now it’s nothin’ but freeway, Stone Temple Pilots and the lovely landscape of Kansas. a beautiful day for driving.
this shit’s crazy. I realized that last night after my show in Kansas City. I was watching Joe give ‘em hell, again, and thought damn, it really does work like this: we write songs, we make records, we tour, play in a different city every night, people come, listen, buy the records, go about their lives with our songs woven nicely into the fabric of their experiences and memories. we raise our glasses to the whole thing, say ‘thank you’, party till the bus pulls out, go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again. hopefully we make enough money at it to keep from having to find a “real” job. I can say that seven shows in as many days though, feels pretty real. and the people that keep the rock-n-roll show rollin’ are some of the hardest working people out there. they say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. they also say that if you aint workin’ hard, you aint workin’. I’ve never met ‘they’ and so I’ve never really perscribed to what it is they say. I just know this shit’s crazy.
just boarded Air Tran flight 199 with service to Akron, Ohio. got a window seat in the second to last row with what is, and will most likely be for the remainder of the flight, a nice lovely view of the plane’s right engine, which is connected to the main body of the aircraft, tucked right up next to, well, my window. first class travel, I tell ya. I’m on my way to the midwest to meet up with Mr. Firstman and company. I’ll be jumping on the bus with them from there and quite honestly, if I don’t ever fly anywhere ever again, it’ll be too soon.
again, I wanted to extend a most sincere apology to those of you who were adversely effected by the whole B.B. King’s debacle. I could make a half-assed attempt to explain what happened but I’ve never been one to point fingers and exacerbate other’s frustraion, mine included. suffice it to say that “commuinication breakdown” is putting it lightly. for those of you who made it out to Pianos, thank you for being such good sports and making the most of a ridiculous evening. it was a rather odd homecoming and your presence helped me get through it.
5.13.04.5:08 p.m. cst
ok. so I set out to keep up regularly with the journal writing but then I was all too quickly reminded of the realities of life on the road and how damn lazy and ultimately unaccountable I get.
5.14.04.1:20 p.m. cst
case in point. it’s already the day after last. I’m riding shotgun on Firstman’s bus. he and the boys flew back to Minneapolis this morning while me and Blair (the bus driver) started heading for Denver. I guess we’ll pick the boys up at the airport tomorrow. for now it’s nothin’ but freeway, Stone Temple Pilots and the lovely landscape of Kansas. a beautiful day for driving.
this shit’s crazy. I realized that last night after my show in Kansas City. I was watching Joe give ‘em hell, again, and thought damn, it really does work like this: we write songs, we make records, we tour, play in a different city every night, people come, listen, buy the records, go about their lives with our songs woven nicely into the fabric of their experiences and memories. we raise our glasses to the whole thing, say ‘thank you’, party till the bus pulls out, go to sleep, wake up and do it all over again. hopefully we make enough money at it to keep from having to find a “real” job. I can say that seven shows in as many days though, feels pretty real. and the people that keep the rock-n-roll show rollin’ are some of the hardest working people out there. they say if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. they also say that if you aint workin’ hard, you aint workin’. I’ve never met ‘they’ and so I’ve never really perscribed to what it is they say. I just know this shit’s crazy.
Monday, May 03, 2004
5.3.04.12:48 p.m.
back in Brooklyn. home sweet home. didn't realize just how tired I was until I got home. went to my favorite sushi spot, walked Smith St., still can't get over what my neighborhood feels like in warm weather. everyone's relaxed, carrying on, literally dancing in the street. so sweet. that winter was no joke and we're all pretty damn excited to be done with it.
it's weird how 3 weeks can feel like 3 months when you look back at all the moments and memories that take shape along the way. Dallas, Austin, Dallas, Firstman, Oklahoma City, LA, Wayne Brady, JC, House of Blues, sunrise in Miami, Vero's birthday, drive to Orlando, morning news appearence in Buffalo, drive to Rochester, drive back to Brooklyn, all the conversations and strangers in betweeen. damn. just enough time here to gear up for another month out with Firstman and the boys. lots of sleep, lots of water and lots of time with my lady.
kind of feeling like a leaf in a tide pool on the bank of a rapid river, catching my breath without a whole lot to say. still, I wanted to post and say thank you to all of you who came out to the shows. thanks for continuing to support me and my music habit. much love to all of you who have purchased the record and to those of you helping spread the word by encouraging others to do the same. hope to see you all again soon and look forward to seing the rest of you in the coming weeks.
much love,
Tony
back in Brooklyn. home sweet home. didn't realize just how tired I was until I got home. went to my favorite sushi spot, walked Smith St., still can't get over what my neighborhood feels like in warm weather. everyone's relaxed, carrying on, literally dancing in the street. so sweet. that winter was no joke and we're all pretty damn excited to be done with it.
it's weird how 3 weeks can feel like 3 months when you look back at all the moments and memories that take shape along the way. Dallas, Austin, Dallas, Firstman, Oklahoma City, LA, Wayne Brady, JC, House of Blues, sunrise in Miami, Vero's birthday, drive to Orlando, morning news appearence in Buffalo, drive to Rochester, drive back to Brooklyn, all the conversations and strangers in betweeen. damn. just enough time here to gear up for another month out with Firstman and the boys. lots of sleep, lots of water and lots of time with my lady.
kind of feeling like a leaf in a tide pool on the bank of a rapid river, catching my breath without a whole lot to say. still, I wanted to post and say thank you to all of you who came out to the shows. thanks for continuing to support me and my music habit. much love to all of you who have purchased the record and to those of you helping spread the word by encouraging others to do the same. hope to see you all again soon and look forward to seing the rest of you in the coming weeks.
much love,
Tony
