Week Two
Hello from Hot Springs, Arkansas!
To pick up where I left off, in southern Missouri- I spent a nice three days at my parents place, resting from the insanity of the two weeks preceding. It is always a good spot to do such a thing. I also organized my life, leaving the things which were not absolutely essential to the tour, and my travels in general.
Paring down from not much already to even less is a really interesting thing to do, as it always lets me know what I really need. In 2007, when I hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, all that I really needed to walk that distance could fit in a backpack. In this case, all that i really need fits in the trunk of my car, and on one of the back seats. I have a feeling that I could probably pare this down a bit more if I really tried. Taking only what I need for months at a time also tends to have a residual effect on my life when not traveling. After I did nothing but walk for 6 months, I discovered that I had zero interest in most material items, and did get rid of a significant amount of things, none of which I regret, even three years later. I have in fact forgotten what most of those things were by now.
So I streamlined my operation, so to speak, and suddenly felt like I was going to head out on tour for real. I made more copies of cds, and bookmarks, and in general, organized all my merch into one small briefcase that I found in an alley in Chicago months ago.
On Wednesday, I headed south, to Fayetteville, Arkansas. I had never been there before, and so had the interest of someone visiting a town for the first time. Or at least, the sort of interest that I feel when visiting a place for the first time. I got there much earlier than the show, and so was able to explore quite a bit, which I always find appealing. There was a book store that was so huge, and maze like that I almost got lost in it. There were books everywhere, extending five feet above my head, in every direction. And the corridors were slim, which gave the added effect of being in a massive place. I was impressed. I really enjoy bookstores like this, and there seem to be so few of them that exist. But at least they do exist.
Aside from that one wandering into a shop, I pretty much just stuck to walking around the town and taking in the space in that way. Fayetteville is a nice town to do such a thing in.
The show was at a bar called the ‘Smoke and Barrel Tavern’. My friends Adam Faucett and William Blackart played this show as well. They both have quite a good following in parts of Arkansas, and so the place was fairly packed. Check out their music sometime if you get a chance. They are both quite talented, and I often refer to William as ‘the greatest living songwriter’- mostly because I believe that he actually is.
It was a difficult place to play acoustic music in, because it was just noisy. But I enjoyed myself nonetheless, and the bar was happy with the turnout, so paid us really well at the end of the night.
Adam, William, and I headed to Russellville after, which was about a two hour drive, meaning that we didn’t get settled until after four in the morning, which is not uncommon in the world of playing music every night. Russellville was the town that the three of us would play on Thursday night.
That show was at a place called the Starfox House, which is a house show series run by a girl named Kalli. She is really into putting on great shows in Russellville, which is a town just teeming with folks who are quite skilled at playing music, but from my understanding, have few places to play. So it’s nice that she puts such effort into this sort of thing, transforming her house into a venue of sorts every other week or so. Having myself been a curator of a house concert series in Chicago, I understand just how much work goes into creating a successful show, and always appreciate when I see others doing it.
After a great nights sleep, I awoke at about noon, and discovered that I was the first person awake. So I headed out to try to find some wifi to do some emailing and such. I did discover the Russellville library, which is the best place to go for internet if you are traveling. While I was there, I wondered to myself how far away the Arkansas High Point was. (High Point= Highest point of land in the state. Naturally, there is one in every state, and some people make a goal of doing them all. I’m not sure if that is my goal yet, but I am interested in them). I discovered that Magazine Mountain was only an hours drive from where I was currently, and seeing that I had several hours until the show, I decided to head over there.
William had told me that there was a road that went almost all the way to the top, so I was even more interested in going. Not because I don’t like climbing mountains, but more because I don’t like climbing mountains in extreme heat. Since every temperature gauge I passed was saying ninety eight degrees, I wasn’t really in a mountain climbing state of mind.
There was indeed a road that went most of the way to the top. The drive was nice, and there were some great overlooks.
There was a short path to the actual high point of Arkansas, which was surrounded by trees, and did not have a view of any sort. on the way up, I came across an abandoned amphitheater that was built by the WPA in 1939. It seems that in the 70’s, the rocks were loosed by ice and weeds, and the place fell into disrepair. It was a fascinating thing to find.
I managed to make it back in plenty of time for the show, which started around 8 PM. There were six or seven people playing, which is a lot of people for a show. But everyone was really good, and several of the acts only did 20-30 minute sets. Of the three shows I played this week, The Starfox House was definitely my favorite, and where I was best received. One girl came to see the show because her last name was Darby, so when she heard I was playing, she knew that it would be good. Adam and William played really good sets. I am consistently impressed with almost everything they do. Seriously, give them a listen. In a time and culture so lacking of originality, they are really a breath of fresh air.
William and I headed to Hot Springs the following day, along with Kalli. Her parents live nearby that town, and happen to be on vacation this week. So, she is watching the place for them, and William and I have been invited to stay until Wednesday. It is really good of her, and her folks, to have us stay here.
The show in Hot Springs was at an amazing venue called Maxine’s. From my understanding, the place changed hands a little over a year ago, and the new owners sunk a ton of money into renovating the stage and soundsystem. This place is really a gem of Arkansas, and music venues in general. The entire staff was quite friendly, the sound was stellar, and the owners of the club were actually present at the show, which doesn’t happen as frequently as one might imagine. They prided themselves on having been to every show they booked there, which was over 200 in the last year, and even mentioned that they had been listening to my cd in their car for a week prior to my performance. Astounding. Plus I got an invite back, which is always a good thing.
Despite everything being right for the show, I think the only thing missing was being paired with a band that made sense for me to open for. Even though the entire room was quiet, and seemed appreciative, once the headliner started playing, I realized why I didn’t sell any cds. They were a bluegrass band called ‘Mountain Sprout’- extremely good at what they did, and very much a bar band, in every sense of the word. Almost every song was about drinking, and getting drunk, and having a beer. They even had a closing song which went something like ‘get out of this bar, cause its closing time, and lets take the party to my place.’ They were a fun band to watch, and they had a slap bass player who was out of control amazing. Actually, they were all quite good.
So that was Friday night. Saturday, William and I were supposed to play a place in Little Rock, but that got canceled last minute, for reasons which I am still not completely clear on. But that is ok. We went to see the movie ‘Inception’ instead, which was interesting, although unfortunately, I felt like it was somewhat hollow. Can’t complain too much- it was a compelling enough movie to be inside of for almost three hours and hardly even notice. If you have seen it, we can discuss it in greater depth. If not, it is the sort of movie that I really wouldn’t want to give anything away.
And now we are staying at that house in the country, just outside of Hot Springs, which is a nice place to be. The next show is Wednesday night in Memphis, followed by many shows, almost a show a day, up through Nashville, then Louisville, Indiana, and Michigan, before coming to my next break, which is at the end of the first week of August. Should be a great time!
As always, check out the tour schedule on myspace to see if you are in the vicinity of any of the places I am playing, or know anyone who is. Also, as always, if you would like to help in any way- be it help with finding a show, or a place to stay, or just a recommendation of something in a particular area to check out- all these things are definitely appreciated!
All the best to you!
Chris Darby
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www.myspace.com/chrisdarby
www.chrisdarbymusic.com
www.facebook.com/chrisdarbymusic
Shows This Week!
July 28th
P and H Cafe
Memphis, TN
July 29th
Richards Cafe
Whites Creek, TN
July 30th
Drifters
Nashville, TN
July 31st
Old Louisville Coffeehouse
Louisville, KY
(early show- 7 PM)
Mag Bar
Louisville, KY
(late show- 9:30 PM)
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Week One
Greetings from southern Missouri! I have spent the last week and some days getting accustomed to a life in a car, and playing music every night. The following is a summary of these adventures.
While the tour technically started last Weekend, with the Songwriter Festival, I have to say something about Stumpjack Coffee Company, where my band played on July 3rd. Stumpjack Coffee is located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and is one of the best places I have ever played music at. It is always a good place for us to play, with no lack of friendly people.
We played that show, to a very receptive audience, and then headed back to Chicago to prepare for the festival, and the tour as a whole. There was much to do. The festival alone required significant preparation. Twenty of my favorite bands and solo musicians in Chicago played over the course of three nights. It was a nice send off for me, and the Saturday night show managed to raise a good amount of money for gas expenses while traveling around. Everyone played wonderfully, and the event helped pinpoint everything I love about the music scene that I have become involved with in Chicago. There really are some amazing things happening in that city.
On Sunday, July 11th, the band headed to DeKalb, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, to play at another of our favorite venues in the Midwest- The House Cafe. The vibe of this place is unmatched anywhere, and again, the work that the venue puts into putting on a show is just impressive. Our friends Facing Winter played this show with us- they were amazing as always.
This also happened to be the last show I would play with Philip for a good long time. Philip and I have been playing music together for most of the last decade, and have developed a great musical relationship because of it. It should have been a sad occasion, but I know that we will play music together again in the future at some point, so it was more just a really fun time with Philip, Julius, and myself, who have been the core of the band since early 2009.
Julius and I continued along after the show to the Quad cities area, with Georgi, who was traveling with us for a couple of days. Julius happened to be doing some field work in the area, and so had a hotel room there already. It was a nice coincidence, and so it meant that he was able to play the noon show with me in Davenport, Iowa the following day.
That show was at a place called Mojo’s, which is an amazing room. They have a music series at noon every day, and we were the features for Monday, July 12th. Despite the music series, there was almost no one there, with the exception of about five folks who had come just for lunch. This is to be expected at noon shows, which I do play sometimes. Often they are good for some tips, and a live practice session. Sometimes they actually turn out better than the evening shows do. My philosophy is that any show is better than none, and enough good has come out of booking really random places at odd times, that I am encouraged to keep booking these sorts of shows from time to time. However, this particular show did not prove to be anything more than a good practice for Julius and myself.
That show would be my last with Julius for a while. Georgi and I dropped him off at his hotel room in Moline, and headed back to Chicago, which was about a four hour drive. In Chicago, I competed in the Uncommon Ground semi-annual Open Mic Finals, which is sort of a big deal in the city for a singer/songwriter. The grand prize is a big pot of money, which could have come in handy for tour. That was the reason I drove back to Chicago from Davenport, instead of just staying there, and continuing on to Peoria, which was the Tuesday night show.
I knew it was a long shot, and did not end up winning the competition. But the experience was a good one, and I was able to say goodbye to a couple of folks who I had not had a chance to say goodbye to before. It was a nice night.
Tuesday was a very busy and stressful day, filled with packing and finishing up all the loose ends for the tour, one of which included acquiring a cell phone. I have never owned one of these before, so the acquisition of it was sort of a monumental occasion for me. It still seems like a really weird thing to own, even though I know that it will come in handy during the next few months of travel. After much hustle and bustle, I was able to leave the city around 2 PM, which normally would have given ample time to get to Peoria in time for a 6 PM show. But I should have taken into account that in Chicago, one should add at least one more hour to any projected travel estimate, just to allow time to get out of the city. This particular time, there was an accident on the freeway, and so I was stuck in stop and go traffic for over an hour. This also meant that I was late to my first solo show on the tour, which was unfortunate.
The place was Copper River Coffee, and despite my being late to the show, everyone was really friendly, and some folks even came out to see me play, which surprised me, being a Tuesday night in a town I had no connections with, and had never even been to. After the show, two people wanted me to accept Jesus so that I could fight for him, and I told them that I wasn’t really into any sort of fighting. It is interesting how people make assumptions without even asking questions first.
After the show, I drove around Peoria a bit, and then headed to a rest stop to sleep for the night. I was really tired, as the preparations from the week preceding that day had caused me to only get 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I slept, but not enough, as the hot sun arrived around 7 am. Wednesday night I played in Charleston, which is just a couple hours from Peoria. This meant that I had an entire day to relax, in a matter of speaking. It was nice to have a day of relative leisure. I read a bit from the book I am currently reading- ‘Slapstick’, by Kurt Vonnegut. I love Vonnegut so much, and he has not let me down yet. Everything he wrote seems to be amazing. The rest of the day included a stop in Champaign to use their amazing Library for wifi access. The challenge for the tour will be continuing to book shows from the road. This week, that seemed to be a more significant challenge than I had previously anticipated. I will figure something out, I’m sure.
The Charleston show was at a place called Jackson Avenue. That also happens to be the name of the street it is located on. This turned out to be the best show of the entire week. The owner was super nice, and many people came to the show- people who appreciated folk music, and appreciated what I was doing. I had played that place before with the band, many years prior, and because of those experiences, was not expecting this to be a great show. But the place has a new owner now, and the atmosphere has really turned around. Usually they only have music on Saturday nights, but they made an exception for my show, and despite the off night, there was a good, receptive audience. Jackson Ave has been upgraded into one of my new favorite venues to play!
I slept in a rest stop on Wednesday night as well, but this time, I covered the dashboard and a couple of windows, so the sun was not quite so bright in the morning. I slept better, but still woke up early.
On Thursday, I had two shows. One was in Springfield, Illinois, and the other was in Champaign. Neither show was really much more than a live practice session, with a bit of money made from tips. In Springfield, I wandered around the downtown a bit, and happened upon the Lincoln Home, which is a few blocks of houses that have been restored to look the same way that they would have looked in the time of Abraham Lincoln. I didn’t go in any of the houses- it was great just to walk around the dirt streets and imagine how life would have been at that time. One of the houses was the house that Lincoln lived in, which was really quite a huge house.
My friend Ryan put me up in Champaign. It was nice to have a bed and shower, along with good conversation. These things always are amazing things when traveling, and when not traveling. Just amazing things in general.
On Friday night, I played in St. Louis, Missouri, at a place called Pops Blue Moon. The crowd was light, but the fellow I played with, Casey Reeves, was really great. I recommend checking him out. Before the show, I was playing some guitar in a nearby park, when a man approached me to say hello. (side note: if you ever want strangers to just come up and talk to you, play a guitar in a park. i don’t think i have ever done this and not had someone come up and say hi).
The man was just getting off work, and we talked for awhile. At one point, he asked where I lived, and i responded by saying that at present, I live in my car. He got really solemn, and said he was sorry. I responded by saying that it was completely ok, that it was by choice, because of the tour, etc. He didn’t really understand, and I think he sort of thought I was a bit strange for wanting such a thing.
After the St. Louis show, I headed south, down I-44, to my parents house, near Lebanon Missouri. It is always good to visit them, and often times feels like a retreat of sorts- staying on a farm, away from everything. It’s nice.
On Saturday night, I headed to Springfield to play a show at a place called ‘The Magic Bean’. I wasn’t expecting much, but there was a good crowd, and this happened to be the strangest show of the week, and possibly the strangest show I have ever played. If you took away the very few adults in the room, the average age of the audience was probably somewhere between 12 and 14. The reason for this was that performers I got paired with were also very young, and the size of the crowd was due to one of them having just signed a deal with a major label, and was about to head out on a tour of the United States. I think she had also done some work for the Disney Channel. Even though everyone was quiet, I don’t think they quite knew what to make of me. A few folks liked it though, and some cds were sold, etc.
So that is the scoop from the last week and some days. It was sort of an odd week, because of the Festival, which was a thing in and of its own. Also, I have several items that I am storing in Missouri, which were taking up space in my car until now. So in some ways, I sort of feel like everything up until now has been preparations for the tour. Now that I have streamlined everything, the tour can begin, in my mind :)
Next week will be several shows in Arkansas. I am in Missouri until Wednesday, when I will head south. As always, I continue to look for shows for October and beyond. If you can help out on the east coast, or know anyone who lives there who might be able to help, please don’t hesitate to let me know! All offers will be seriously considered!
Until next time,
Chris Darby
www.facebook.com/chrisdarbymusic
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