I woke up in Boston at the hotel. Laid in the bed staring at the ceiling for about 20 or so minutes. Well rested I think. I got a call from the front desk that my bag and guitar arrived. That was a relief. Thoughts ran through my mind the night before that I was going to just sing without guitar like a gospel dude or Lou he act without the band. Maybe I would’ve just done some karaoke, sang the hits. I’ve only got two. Inxs and Journey. Oh and the pussycat song. I don’t think that song would go so well these days because I think it’s about vaginas or something. Took a shower, ate some breakfast and caught a lyft. My Lyft driver was cool. They usually all are. He was from Africa. I think Rwanda. We both talked about growing up poor and Fela Kuti. I got dropped off at a bus stop where I waited for about an hour for a bus that was going to take me to the bridge connecting the cape to the mainland. Cape Cod is technically an island. There’s a canal that separates the two. Got on the bus and got dropped off at a Dunkies (Dunkin Donuts). Had some coffee and toast and my friends arrived to pick me up. Got settled in near Harwich Beach in a friend’s family home. Slept in the attic. It was kinda spooky but also cool. Time warp to the early 80s. The next day was the show at Snowy Owl Coffee Roasters. The coffee place on cape. There’s others but not like this one. Did a sound check, sat outside and thought about life shit and did my best to deal with the nerves. The nerves are always a thing. I went first out of three. Was kind of weird to see a poster with my big face on it holding a guitar. Thawed out of ice. Should be the name of my album. Walked in, sat down, introduced myself and said I was from Texas. Played songs, talked about life in between and asked people questions about living on the cape. Food, wardrobe and ufos. I talked about my dad a bit then played a song I wrote for him at the hospital while he was on his death bed. Another good album or song title. Death Bed. The crowd laughed, my friends laughed and I laughed. It was a good time. I drank a cold brew coffee after and talked to new fans and danced to some Peruvian music while packing up. CJ was after me. His songs are pretty good. Reminds me of some Modest Mouse meets Lou Reed stuff. I’ve always loved CJ’s music. It was good to share the stage with him. We connect. Shannon Davis was the headliner. This woman needs to be at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. She’s good, like really good. She did two covers towards the end, Phil Collins and U2. Tough ones to pull off as covers but she did and made them even more awesome. I could right more about that night but it’s time to eat this donut while staring off out into the ocean. I’m in a good place. Thank you Cape Cod for open arms and making me feel welcome every time.
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I landed at Logan and made a break for baggage claim after departing the plane. Logan, not a bad airport. There’s a Pete’s Coffee that has the worst breakfast but the cold brew coffee works just fine. If you have weak teeth and you‘re hungry don’t eat a breakfast sandwich from Pete’s. You’ll break your mouth. Okay so I got down to baggage claim and waited at the carousel for my bag and guitar. The belt stopped and guess what? No bag nor guitar. Went to the baggage claim people and found out that my stuff was in Newark and not Boston. My clothes and hygiene stuff was in another state. Awesome. The lady helping me was nice and said it would be delivered later this evening. One thing for sure about United Airlines, they are good on their word. I got a Lyft to my hotel, tried to take a nap (I’d been up since 3am El Paso) and it was 6pm Boston. At some point during the flight over my friend on Cape offered up her tickets due to a last minute emergency. I was super grateful. I got the ticket and hauled ass over to the Wang Theater in the Theater district of Downtown Boston. An area I was familiar with very well. I stayed at a hotel around the corner once and ate Japanese food across the street. Saw a play in the park and ate some cookies in an alley the last time I was there. The Wang Theater has to be one of the most beautiful venues I’ve ever set foot in. Wow. I felt like I walked onto the set of the movie Amadeus. The high arched ceilings and the woodwork and detail was fucking incredible. The seats were the old style wood and cu of the old days. The 80s and before. They were comfortable though. I sat alone in a spot with a direct line to the stage that was about 30 feet away. This was the first time seeing Sigur Ros for me. I’ve been inspired musically by them for the past 20 plus years. First song I cried under my mask and it was okay. The music brought up a lot of emotion. I think it was because after every death and or breakup they were my go to for years so seeing them perform live was heart hitting. I sat there and watched the entire show and drank my seltzer water. I only cried for one song. The rest were songs from their entire catalog blown out with a phenomenal light show and fog and images projected behind them while performing. Towards the end of the last song I got up to go pee and just ended up leaving after that. A shit show with the Uber went on for about an hour. Two Uber drivers couldn’t locate me so I was stuck there at ground zero thinking about an ex. Ugh. That music really brought it out. Tired as fuck and hungry I finally made it back to my hotel. The Marriot downtown. Super nice. my clothes and guitar still haven’t arrived and I had a show to play in two days out on Cape Cod. I had some anxiety but all of it went away after I watched some YouTube videos of old 90s QVC shows. Ridiculous. Time for bed. Same underwear for two days. Goodnight and thank you Ashley and Sigur Ros.
I’m on a train headed to El Paso for the night. Flying east to play some solo shows. The train was so late. Four hours late. In the meantime I found a good spot for enchiladas. El Jardin in Alpine, Texas. For those of you that don’t know the climate of the far west Texas Chihuahuan desert well it’s hot. Excruciatingly hot. Imagine yourself as a tater tot inside a toaster oven just baking your ass away. No humidity. I walked around Alpine for about 30 minutes. first I was going to check out this food truck but then a quarter of the way there I had a feeling it was closed. I didn’t want to chance it so I stopped by the local coffee shop and grabbed a cold brew and walked over the other side of the tracks. Was going to check out this art/snack place but the distinct waft of frijoles caught my attention quick. I followed the scent to the back of the art place and booyah, I found a spot called El Jardin. I saw three people savage eating the hell out of some Tex-Mex to go plates. Taco grease and cheese all over their mouths. This tells me it’s good when you see humans eating like humans from 200,000 years ago. I needed to have what they were having. I walked up to the window of the mobile home converted into a food spot and ordered the first two things that caught my eye, rojo chicken enchiladas and watermelon fresca. As the lady spoke to me in Spanish she gave me a fist bump and with the other hand an extra sauce. It felt like a drug deal. It was a drug deal but with food and probably a little diarrhea. Made it back to the station and thanked the lady for watching my stuff. Scarfed the food, boarded the train. Was supposed to sit next to an old black man nicknamed “Catfish” whoe pants were on inside out and backwards. I‘ll pass. I’m sitting here in the observation car with my leftover cold brew and listening to a few Mascis songs I might cover this weekend out east. Oh yeah I’m on a mini tour. Solo act. Me and my guitar and a toothbrush. Headed to El Paso first. Looking forward to dinner with some friends to talk about an upcoming overseas trip for the travel show I host. A lot has happened since last I wrote. A lot. See you soon but late El Paso. I’m riding the Con Air train but this one has a snack bar with soggy microwavable cheeseburgers and Fanta. JS
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