We've been home for almost a week and it seems only natural that we're leaving this weekend... in fact I'm looking forward to it... though I must say I'm glad to only pack for a few days this time. That's one of the hardest things for tme is trying to decide what to bring -- I like to be prepared for about anything and that makes for some heavy baggage!
So a few responses are due here...
- Ants. Last summer on our first long tour, I parked my car at our friend Kc's house, in his driveway by his back yard. Specifically, on this concrete slab next to his driveway which was mostly covered in grass and some vines and such... it's not used often. When I picked up my car after it sat there for a month, I noticed a few ants on the door or somewhere. Drove it home and the next day when I opened my door, I saw a multitude of ants in the inside of the door, at the floor level.
For those of you who don't already know this, I am not exactly happy about lots of bugs being around me.
Well, I swept those ants out and maybe later that day I opened the passenger door. Same story over there. Ick. More sweeping. Even more ants coming out the hood of the car and around the back hatch as well. I got some ant traps and some killer spray and spent the next number of days spraying and sweeping and almost weeping from frustration. They weren't coming out the vents, but they did start making a move toward the center of the car and I was feeling like I was living in some kind of horror movie. I don't remember all the details -- I try to block out yucky things like that from my memory -- but my friend Kim (S., not W.) said she would help me out and bomb it with some of that ant-and-pest-heavy-duty-bug-bomb-type-stuff when we left again (maybe a week or so later). About all I remember after that was that the bomb didn't work when I talked to Kim. However, a couple of days after the bombing, Kim's partner Mark said to her that he would talk to the ants and simply ask them to leave. Now, if anyone has the power to do that, it would probably be Mark (and maybe, Baby Gramps). And you had better believe that those ants took off. End of story, I'm telling the truth as it was told to me and I have no reason not to believe it.
A related story about me and bug phobias took place last year at Tick Fest. No, the pest wasn't a tick but was a wasp nest. There are always lots of wasps at the ranch and that's almost scarier to me than ticks. Well, throughout the weekend I went in and out of the ranch house and maybe once noticed a wasp flying around the door when I entered. I just tried to pretend I wasn't scared (they can smell it, you know) and then tried to forget about it. I never knew about the nest until Kim and Mark told me, and I think they might have told me after the ants were asked to leave my car. Cause, you see, Mark had talked to the wasps too, and had asked them to not bother me, and in return, they could keep their nest where they'd put it, right over the door of the ranch.
Thanks, Mark.
- Merlefest. After a hard month of touring and making no money, this was about the best reward we could have gotten. I may try to write a whole post about it but for now, I will say that the response we got was really probably the highest powered, most exuberant, and genuinely rewarding experience for me, anyway. I mean, we've gotten some great love from audiences, from our dear friends here at home to new audiences like Wintergrass earlier this year... but standing up after a few songs? Whoa mule! I still shake my head in amazement when I think about it.
In conclusion, thanks to everyone at Merlefest -- we talked to so many awesome folks and I also want to welcome our new groopers!
This brings us to another response:
- Taping. And photographing. Or videoing. We are absolutely okay with it. If that ever changes, we'll get the word out. But all we ask is that you share the goodies with us. We'll give you an address if you talk to us at a show. I don't know what the Greeley fest rules are, but I'd bet that it's okay there. I think very few festivals are like Winfield in that regard.
We actually really enjoy hearing our shows because it helps us to learn more about how we're doing. We are now posting live stuff on our Listen page and have used tracks done by others there, and that's fun for anyone who's visiting the site.
The only thing that would not be okay (and I don't think this is happening, but just in case) is for anyone to tape our show and then sell it. Cause that hurts us, ouch. We won't sell what you tape unless we talk to you about it first, but we wouldn't plan for that anyway. But we would like the option of posting mp3s on our site if that's okay with you.
OK? Great! And please come up and introduce yourself this weekend! Or any other time, for the rest of you.
- What about the name game??
I must say that brophil's contest sure brought out the creative side in all of you. There were some interesting suggestions! This is Phil's contest and hmmm, he never did say which one he or we liked best, did he? But did you notice that it was whichever name that was liked the best, and that name would not necessarily become the van's name? It's implied but not implicit.... I wonder how many of you are shocked right now! Anyway, take a deep breath. We kinda played around with some names on the road but nothing worked or felt right. We kinda decided that we'd just let a name happen rather than work on it too hard. Then on our last night at Merlefest, I was talking to Nate and it just came out... we were talking about McDonald's for some reason. Who cares, except that it's an inside band joke cause we do try to avoid eating there -- we call it the Brown Clown, or sometimes the Brown Frown (which is a derogatory expression for the aftereffects of eating there)... this is necessary for you to understand what happened next. I said, hey, that's the van! The Brown Clown! It made us both laugh and the next day on the way home we made it official. But we didn't christen it with a big mac or anything! I don't know, this story came out awkwardly but at the time it was funny and see, this van is not quite as closely beloved to us as even Gladys (our first van) was. We don't want to get too attached to it. The Clown is going to help us to get to the next transportation level, and then it's seeyalateralligator.
Any other answers or questions?
Alright folks-
ReplyDeleteWith the taping policy clarified, anyone here that could use a copy of the Wilders set from Rockygrass last summer (the Wilders show that set me down this road), let me know, and I'll mail you a free copy (Wilders themselves included in this offer, though I imagine they have this already). It's a freaking fantastic set, with an "ethereal version" of Honky Tonk Man on it, and a version of Farther On that'll make the hairs on your toes stand up, if you have any, which I personally don't. Rockygrass does a good job of letting bands play for more than an hour, so it's a full 80 min. CD, though the lineup this year isn't what is was last (where are the Wilders?!).
email johnkane72@yahoo.com with your address and you've got a copy coming on that Fireball Mail.
ps- The Brown Frown and the Brown Clown were synonyms for cheap weed back when I was in college- not that the Wilders would know anything about that-- pure coincidence, I imagine.
Just got back from Greeley, Colorado. We did real good there. Saw some old friends (bands: Open Road, from Ft. Collins and Hit and Run from Boulder and Wilders extended family: Don Meyer from Tucson, and the wonderful duo, Pete and Ann Sibley, from Jackson Hole, WY) and made some new ones too. I know I haven't posted a decent blog in months, but I'm hoping to soon ok? As far as miles this year? Who knows? I do know that I gave the brown clown a fresh oil change when we bought it, and as soon as we got back from the southeast tour (less than 30 days), it was already time for another one. The simple fact is that we drive a whole lot. And yes, the brown clown is reliable but not comfortable. After about 11 hours in that dang thing, we are about ready to shed our skin and slither off into the netherlands...
ReplyDeleteAnyway, glad everybody is still obsessing on our transportation dilemmas. We are fine. really.
p
Good morning y'all-
ReplyDeleteWell, I've failed in my duties as a correspondent charged with reporting back on the Greeley Bluegrass Roundup. Of the three sets the Wilders played, I was only able to catch Saturday afternoon- such is the life of a new dad. But what I did see was fantastic.
First, the festival: Though in its inaugural year, the Greeley Bluegrass Roundup attracted what looked like 400 or 500 folks; not a huge crowd, but a real attentive and appreciative one. It was held on a grass lawn in Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley. Greeley is about an hour and a half northeast of Denver, CO (where I live), located out in the plains but with great views of the Rockies from outside of town. The lineup was mostly local Colorado and Front Range Bluegrass bands, with the exception of the Wilders. The weather on Saturday was beautiful. All in all, I think the festival was real nice, and hope they do it again next year, and bring back the Wilders.
Now to the Wilders- the set I was able to see was great. Got to hear some songs I'd never heard them play before, like Night Train to Memphis and a song called Easy to Love, which they hadn't played in a while, if ever, I think. They played an original fiddle tune named Goat Creek, which Betse wrote and which was real nice. They played another original, It'll Never Be Through With Us (Til It's Through With You), which I was happy to hear Ike say will be on their next album. The crowd really liked that one. They played Fireball Mail, and before they played it Ike said they're thinking of shelving it for awhile. Maybe the loud reaction they got from the crowd will convince them not to shelve it. The Wilders were talking on stage amongst themselves about what to end the set with, and I couldn't help but shout out for Fourth Man in the Fire, which to my delight they played to a rousing finish. The crowd went wild, but there were no encores to be had. The festival organizers kept the bands to 40 or 45 minute sets on Saturday, so it was bit abbreviated, but still a phenomenal set that got the best reaction from the crowd of any of the bands that played.
Anyhow, it sure was good seeing the Wilders, especially since that was as close as they'll get to Denver, CO for awhile. They made a lot of new fans, as I'm sure they do anytime they play.
In other news, the offer for a freebie of the Rockygrass set from last summer is still open (see my earlier post for detail), and to those who already responded, copies are going out today.
Hey all... sorry for the lenghty delay. I'm not trying to snub ya' or nothin'... but I did manage to break my left leg and got to have surgery and everything. My hope is there will be something local and Wilders-y in late June when I get this cast off... or maybe in mid-July when I'm more comfortable walking. I'm going to go back to bed now, but I promise to get caught up on my reading next time I'm sitting up!
ReplyDeleteThe shameful details of the leg break can be found on my blog... thus not taking up space here.
ReplyDeleteI'm still trying to get caught up, but things sound pretty okay around these parts...
I left my Wilders CDs at school, and I'm going to have to get them soon, just to brighten my spirits some. I'm a huge fan for sitting around the house all day doing nothing except for when that's all I get to do...
Sorry folks,
ReplyDeleteThe Chief is "on the bench" as Ike likes to say. It needs a new gas tank but we are unwilling at this point to spend the dough since we already spent so much dough on the brown clown and soon, a new 4x6 trailer to haul all our crap. The debate continues internally about whether to spend some more dough and get a gas tank or leave the old Chief on the bench for the rest of the year. It's a sore subject to be sure. I'd say that the likelihood of us using it again this year is slim. But I could be wrong. I'm wrong a lot. On the bright side, the brown clown runs like a top and has delivered us to all our engagements without so much as a hiccup. We have all adjusted to the motel life with varying degrees of happiness. One thing that helps is that the brown clown gets about 16 miles to the gallon (which is more than twice the top fuel efficiency of The Chief). We miss our old RV though, so don't count him out indefinately.
Sorry for the lack of cliffhangers. I've got a house to paint and (just today) a clogged drain in my house to deal with. Y'all are just going to have to entertain yourselves until I get over the writer's block ok? Maybe our pal, Betse, will post something in the next couple of days to tide you over. Thank goodness two Wilders are posting at least once in awhile.
p