Missoula and then Helena (rhymes with melon-a)... and a few rambles

Hello Reader,

I left off as we entered Missoula city limits. We got there and it was a cool place. For KC people, we noticed that the Hairy Apes BMX were playing at the same place this weekend, a two-nighter. This place had the feel of a smaller slightly less dirty version of the Grand Emporium (RIP). It was an old place that used to be a narrow room and is now a larger place from breaking down the adjacent wall. One of the best things about it was the artwork on the walls. I believe the artist was J.Remmel... he made these incredible and detailed, high contrasty woodcut prints and they were just magical. The guy who runs the bar told us he thought the guy gave them to the owner to help pay his bar tab. Must have been some tab, because there were at least a half dozen, 5 of which were ~2'x3' and the grandaddy one was at least 6'x4'? There was a moon goddess one, a Leadbelly portrait, one of Woody Guthrie, a couple others... the big one was a tribute to country music. The bartender told us this piece contained all the words to "All Along the Watchtower"... we looked and looked but the only words we saw were things like "Grand Ole Opry" or Carter Family, etc. The piece had large portraits of Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan, and besides the Carter Family there were also Flatt & Scruggs with Josh Graves, a motorcyclist, some unidentified women (besides Sara and Maybelle and June), and a fiddler I can't say for sure but want to think was Roy Acuff. (Yes, Roy Acuff. The man played the heck out of Black Mountain Rag.) Later the manager told us the words to the song are _represented_ in the piece by the images. I guess I have to go back and listen to the song, because I had no idea it was about country music.

This was another long full night bar show. Not a lot of people, as we found out the Weiser (pron. "weezer") contest is this weekend. That is the site of the Nat'l fiddle contest and just a big shindig from what I've heard. It takes place in Weiser Idaho and that's not too far from Missoula. So a lot of the bluegrassers were absent, but there were a number of folks there eventually. Not a huge crowd, but a lot of them danced and I personally enjoyed the vibe they sent out. A nice fellow named Steve came up to us and said he'd been wanting to see us again since Winfield '99... he moved out west after that and hasn't been back since. He was psyched that we were playing in his town and brought some friends. Thanks Steve.

We played this one for a percentage of the bar take. And we tried to encourage everyone to drink, but it was not a good payout. Ouch. It's the kind of gig we won't want to do again without a guarantee, but how can you know until you try? Plus Weiser killed it and I'm not sure how much advertising was done locally for this show. Now, Big Sky was a guarantee and while it had some hard moments, overall was a better deal for us. However, I hope we can go back to Missoula again, because it's a cool town. (But they're gonna have to pay for us to play...)

So we just finished playing the Helena festival, Last Chance. Last night was a near rainout but the small dedicated group of attendees didn't let it get them down. We had folks dancing in the mud in front of the (covered) stage and Ike said at one point it was like a mini-Woodstock. Good folks there. We played well too and at the end, we had to stop because the cops were coming down on the festival folks for playing past the noise ordinance cutoff time. So Nate suggested we go down on the grass for our encore, which we did. Just like the days of yore when we'd get noticed at a festival for playing out in the campgrounds, right there with all the folks. It was a fitting end to the evening and a good call to make, Nate. We played there this afternoon and it was cloudy but with some sun and a few more folks. At one point there were a number of dancers on a slow song, couple dancing you know, and it was folks of all ages. Some of those folks probably don't do much dancing anymore and it was sweet to see them two-stepping on the grass.

I keep telling the locals how much I love Montana. I really do. I've been singing and fiddling this song "I Ride an Old Paint" for years, and it mentions Montana... I've sung it a couple of times in this state and it really hits home for me.

Tomorrow we head to Chico Hot Springs for our final western date. I would like to get some healing hot springs waters but I'm kinda scared of Legionnaire's (sp?)... the hot tub virus which can also live in hot springs. Maybe I'll take the chance. I could use a good soak.

When I get home I'm going to try to sleep for a couple of days. I can't imagine doing anything else.

I meant to just update the tour stuff but apparently have shifted into a ramble. Perhaps I'll ramble on in another post since for once we are not playing a late night set on a weekend. Or maybe not... might just rest these old eyes and tired hands and arms.