Kicked off the tour with a great show at The Clubhouse in San Luis Obispo. It's a bar and restaurant in what used to be called This Old House, an old dairy farm. I was so thrilled to see some friends turn out and also to meet some new friends that night. Big thanks to Lady Tie Di and Rachel for making the trip and showin up with a party, always nice to see familiar faces singing along in the audience!
We headed north after the show and arrived at Allan Molho's Landfall house concert in Watsonville, just southeast of Santa Cruz. Allan is actually related to me as my grandmother's last name is also Molho and we figured out that both families migrated from Salonica, Greece. We're planning on following up and seeing where the branches of our family trees actually come together. The house is set on a private lake and is decorated with all kinds of cool nautical stuff. I met Allan at the FAR West conference, an annual gathering of Folk Alliance member from the western region. I was hosting a room sponsored by Luna Guitars and Allan had come to see Michael Gaither, a singer/songwriter also from Watsonville who met us at the bus before the show to record a segment for his podcast. We had a small but mighty group of just about 15 people which turned out to be a good size as we stayed inside and out of the wind for the night.
We headed to KPIG in the morning to play "Please Stand By", "Sleepy John Sandige's well known and well loved live music show airing every Sunday morning. This was the second time I played the show and it was wonderful to see John again as I think it had been about seven years or so since the last time. What a character! Everyone at the station is just wonderful, all volunteering their time to keep the rootsy public radio on the air as it's been an institution for decades now.
On to Santa Cruz after the radio spot, we headed to the boardwalk and rode a couple of rollercoasters, one which made me a little green. All the times I'd been to Santa Cruz before and after Dead shows, I'd never really checked out the boardwalk so it's another thing that got checked off the list I forgot to write. We drove up to Felton to visit friends of mine im and Anney along with their little boy Finn who's already 17 months and such a happy little camper! They live nestled in the redwoods not far from Santa Cruz but definitely uphill! We had lunch and caught up a bit before heading back into downtown Santa Cruz to play the Asana Tea House on Lincoln. My friend Gray greeted us and we set up in the corner of the small tea house before a small crowd, some paying attention, some working on their laptops, many looking for jobs. Michael Gaither did a few of his songs after the break and we had a nice time and sold a a handful of CD's that made the night. We hit the road again after the show, thinking that highway 17 over the Santa Vruz mountains would be easier in the cool night, without the commuter traffic. I was right and although I sometimes climbed with Patience at just 22 miles an hour, we got over it and parked at a Wal-Mart in Fremont for the night.
Today we moseyed up to Berkeley and spent some time checking out Telegraph by the University where I remember all the action is. Stopped in to Annapurna's and bought a dead sticker, ate falafel on Haste and shopped at the Starving Musician for guitar strings. We're heading to a park to hang out, organize some things on the bus and do some cleaning before our Bread & Roses show at a homeless shelter here in Berkeley.
Hoping to stop and visit some friends in the Salem area before we get to Portland and I think we might stay a night at a state park tomorrow night where Nick can see some real redwood trees. So far, things are well and I am excited to be on the road again, it's also nice to have company that can accompany too! Nick has been great and is getting so much reinforcement from our audiences that I know he feels he's on the right track.
So, I'll be back on the highway after the show tonight, heading north out of the city and pointing towards Mendocino & Humboldt Counties.
We headed north after the show and arrived at Allan Molho's Landfall house concert in Watsonville, just southeast of Santa Cruz. Allan is actually related to me as my grandmother's last name is also Molho and we figured out that both families migrated from Salonica, Greece. We're planning on following up and seeing where the branches of our family trees actually come together. The house is set on a private lake and is decorated with all kinds of cool nautical stuff. I met Allan at the FAR West conference, an annual gathering of Folk Alliance member from the western region. I was hosting a room sponsored by Luna Guitars and Allan had come to see Michael Gaither, a singer/songwriter also from Watsonville who met us at the bus before the show to record a segment for his podcast. We had a small but mighty group of just about 15 people which turned out to be a good size as we stayed inside and out of the wind for the night.
We headed to KPIG in the morning to play "Please Stand By", "Sleepy John Sandige's well known and well loved live music show airing every Sunday morning. This was the second time I played the show and it was wonderful to see John again as I think it had been about seven years or so since the last time. What a character! Everyone at the station is just wonderful, all volunteering their time to keep the rootsy public radio on the air as it's been an institution for decades now.
On to Santa Cruz after the radio spot, we headed to the boardwalk and rode a couple of rollercoasters, one which made me a little green. All the times I'd been to Santa Cruz before and after Dead shows, I'd never really checked out the boardwalk so it's another thing that got checked off the list I forgot to write. We drove up to Felton to visit friends of mine im and Anney along with their little boy Finn who's already 17 months and such a happy little camper! They live nestled in the redwoods not far from Santa Cruz but definitely uphill! We had lunch and caught up a bit before heading back into downtown Santa Cruz to play the Asana Tea House on Lincoln. My friend Gray greeted us and we set up in the corner of the small tea house before a small crowd, some paying attention, some working on their laptops, many looking for jobs. Michael Gaither did a few of his songs after the break and we had a nice time and sold a a handful of CD's that made the night. We hit the road again after the show, thinking that highway 17 over the Santa Vruz mountains would be easier in the cool night, without the commuter traffic. I was right and although I sometimes climbed with Patience at just 22 miles an hour, we got over it and parked at a Wal-Mart in Fremont for the night.
Today we moseyed up to Berkeley and spent some time checking out Telegraph by the University where I remember all the action is. Stopped in to Annapurna's and bought a dead sticker, ate falafel on Haste and shopped at the Starving Musician for guitar strings. We're heading to a park to hang out, organize some things on the bus and do some cleaning before our Bread & Roses show at a homeless shelter here in Berkeley.
Hoping to stop and visit some friends in the Salem area before we get to Portland and I think we might stay a night at a state park tomorrow night where Nick can see some real redwood trees. So far, things are well and I am excited to be on the road again, it's also nice to have company that can accompany too! Nick has been great and is getting so much reinforcement from our audiences that I know he feels he's on the right track.
So, I'll be back on the highway after the show tonight, heading north out of the city and pointing towards Mendocino & Humboldt Counties.