End of Tour

Whew!  After 11 weeks on the road, Chris and I have hung up our 1/4 inch cables and parted ways.  Chris, if you're reading this it was such a pleasure to spend three months living, playing and traveling with you.  It was one of the best things I ever did.  Let's do it again!

Here are a few highlights from our last shows.  More to come...

They danced late into the night at Fergie's Bar in Hot Springs MT
(and we had a nice soak beforehand)

Riding through the mountains of western montana at the Morrows' Ranch

On the KYRS Persian Radio Hour in Spokane with my new friend Sharokh

(I'll post the whole hour-long show when I get it!)

Our last show, at the Hamilton Photography Studio in Spokane - 

we got our first standing ovation!  Because we're awesome.

"Roll Out Cowboy" Trailer

The "Roll Out Cowboy" documentary trailer (a movie about Chris) has been released!  The first showing will be in Marfa, TX this thursday.


Roll Out Cowboy from Roll Out, Cowboy on Vimeo.

Dunn Center, North Dakota

I got to Chris' house thursday night, a sweet little one bedroom slice of the good life.  Chris is driving truck until tomorrow so I've had the place to myself.  My favorite parts of his house include

the living room where i've been writing,
recording and catching up on work

the kitchen that he and Hana (his girlfriend) have stocked with sturdy,
beautiful old kitchen gear(and there's a trap door on the floor by the
table, I'm really curious what's under it..I may have to find out today)

his claw-foot tub

their cozy bedroom (no more sleeping in the truck)

Last night his dad, Rob Sand, had me over for dinner and a walk to meet the grand Sandparents.  I mean the Sand grandparents.  We've now recorded songs that he wrote about each of his grandparents (and there's been plenty of time for family stories over the last months) and I really enjoyed getting to see them all.  His mother, Mary Sand, is on a trip back to her native Montana and I hope to meet her when she gets back.

If you haven't already you might want to read Chris' last journal entry, it has a bunch of good insights into our last few months.

Lastly I'm reading a book (something I haven't done in at least a year) that I've been hearing about for a while - The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, and enjoying it.

North Dakota is a beautiful place, with rolling grassy hills, grazing cows and bison, warm people and a rich local culture.  It's a treat to be here for a week.

Panorama

I stitched these photos of west Texas together (somewhere between Ruidosa and Presidio):

This is the Chihuahuan desert, which stretches from northern Mexico to south west Texas.

West Texas

I've been a reluctant blogger; actually the truth is I wrote three posts that I didn't publish because I didn't like them.  Which I realize is dumb because I know you all would have preferred my bad posts to no posts at all.  On top of that, another thing that slows me down is that I'm kind of a perfectionist and Blogger is really clunky when it comes to layout...for example every time I try to upload photos they end up all crooked with the text spacing funny.  Well I'm trying a new method, using a program that does all the photo uploading for me so hopefully this will encourage me to post more (and make it so posting doesn't take 2 hours).

I've just left the west Texas desert, where I was for three days or so.  Well, three days in the open desert and another 5 days in the town of Marfa, where Chris and I played our last show.  Chris flew back to North Dakota (on sunday) to minister his friend Dale's farewell celebration (see Chris's blog for more details on all of this) and I'm currently in El Paso (in the bed of my truck, lying on a mattress, stealing wifi off of the hyatt I'm parked outside of) on my way to visit friends in Santa Fe tonight.  I've been sleeping in my truck for about 5 days, starting tomorrow I move indoors as I make stops in New Mexico, Colorado, South Dakota and finally Dunn Ctr. North Dakota where I'll see Chris's home for the first time.

Below are some pictures of the west TX plain, the last one is an abandoned prairie house I investigated.  Last week I mentioned to Chris that I was interested in the hobby of 'urban exploration' and he reminded me of the pleasures of 'rural exploration'.

Big Easy

We've been in New Orleans for 4 days; played 2 good shows that were very well attended.  I just dropped Chris of at the airport, he's flying back to North Dakota to do a three day trucking run.  Tonight I'm gonna hole up and write songs...

Nashville

2 shows in Nashville; waiting to hear back from Birmingham.  Then on to play a show hosted by my friend Ken in New Orleans.  I'm enjoying the south.  Last night we had the first Nashville show at the home of Chris's friend and former bandmate Camo Davi.  I opted to sit that show out so Chris and Camo could rock it old school style - Camo's a veteran beat boxer who I have much to learn from.

Here's the second video Hanon shot and cut for Chris back in NYC; it's a real gem.  This is a new song called "Damascus", not on any album yet and one of my personal favorites.  Hanon's work is, as usual, nothing short of gorgeous.

cell phone post #3

Just rolling into Ashville Noth Carolina...been driving all day...we're listening to Chris Rock comedy shows on my iPod...

Lazarus

Sabzi - "the beast from the east" (my big green truck) is now back on the road and oh man I am happy to have him back.  In honor of his resurrection I've christened him with a western name in addition to his persian one to galvanize him as a member of my family of misfits and half-casts (die-casts?): Lazarus.

Chris and I have a few more things to handle in Boston, then we'll be heading south again on monday...

The Resurrection of Lazarus by Vincent van Gogh

House Concerts and NYC

We've been back in Boston for three days.  I can't explain exactly how it happened (it would take an hour to write down) - but it looks like my truck will be up and running by friday, thanks to my uncle Bill who's a mechanic in Holbrook MA.  I didn't think it was possible - Sabzi the big green Tundra rides again!  We were on the brink of buying a 99 Subaru when we discovered the good news.

The brooklyn show this past Saturday drew a small but devoted crowd including my Cousin Billy, his partner Adam and my friend Hanon.  We had a blast hanging out with them and eating German food (you ever had spatzle?  Don't miss it.)  Earlier that day Hanon shot a three videos of Chris at Billboard.com studios where he works: 2 music videos and 1 short piece of theater that tells people about our house concerts.  Speaking of those, I'm really looking forward to a show I just booked with my buddy Ken Leavitt in New Orleans.  He lives on Avery Island where they make Tabasco sauce and sent us a really warm invitation to come play.

So here's the one about house concerts - another video will be ready soon (Hanon, you kick ass).  I'm editing the other one...don't hold your breath...