SPRING TOUR 2004-st louis

Hi from St Louis!
AHHHHH I LOOOOOVE this city!
it's so awesome!

so, guess you're wondering what we've been up to since leaving gotham?
well,..
here goes:

DAY 1/2 and 3: St Louis is FAAAAAAAR away from NYC. So, as luck would have it, my Uncle
lives in Columbus Ohio. So we stopped off and visited the folks for a day, and my cousin, Emily, who's the cutest thing ever is really interested in music and has already decided she's going to be a star
I have an old hand me down guitar that was given to me by my aunt years and years ago,..it was my firstguitar, subsequently, my brother's first guitar and now I've passed on the tradition to young master Emily.
I'm hoping she enjoys it!
so after a refreshing trip visiting the family and a great hibatchi style dinner, off west we went.

We arrived inSt Louis in the nick of time (thank god for the hour time difference)Our first show
was at Off Broadway. We shared the bill along with the lovely and talented st louis favorites
Celia Shacklett and Molly Irene. What a great night! And a real attentive audience!
we had a great time and lots o jaeger later, we all hoped in our prospective vehicles and headed to
the local diner. interesting stuff going on there,..
there was a girl with many piercings who was obviously tanked, who proceeded to flash her ta-ta's
at everyone in the joint. and if that weren't enough, to those who were willing participants,..she
pulled em out and plopped them on a few bald heads,..and here I thought I'd seen everything,.
apparantly not,..
so that was the highlight of our meal,..then it was time for some rest and relaxation at Celia's and Mike's house,..
DAY2: turns out Molly had a 2 hour happy hour gig at a local establishment and asked if Celia and I
would be interested in playing,..OF course,..said we,..
so off we went,.
a very cool place whose name Ican't conjure up right now,..pale moon something,..
it was packed to the gills and we had a hell of a time,..everyone who was anyone was there,..
we had a blast!
Then we all caught up at Celia's place and sang and talked politics and religion until the wee hours
itwas a great time,..
We also tried to get to the scott jop[in house earlier that day, but eventhough the sign said they closed at 5, they were already closed when we arrived around 4p,..
tomorrow,..maybe we'll make it,..

and then there's today,..
Celia and I had an afternoon engagement at a great coffeehouse called Mokabee's.
We played out on the outdoor patio and even had some surprise guestscome down to sing a
few sing, most noteably, Celia's friend Gigi. She was fantastic!
a beautiful voice!
After the show, Rich and I got some dinner at a really awesome restaurant and then went down to the
mississppi river to watchthe moon rise,..wow,..and we hung out around the St Louis Arch.
For those of you whohave never seen the arch up close and personal, I recommend you come here and see it for yourself,.. pictures just don't give it justice,..it's HUGE and absolutely beautiful!

So, the plan for tomorrow? well we're goingback to the arch and we're taking a river boat tour
and then Celia and I willbe heading down to Cafe' venice!

I have met the most wonderful people here in St Louis and hanging with Celia is always a blast! I'm so thankful that we met during the sirens Tour last Fall. She and Mike have been real gracious hosts and have made this stay a total joy! Whcih reminds me,.. :shameless plug" Celia's got a new CD on the way and I
got the chance to hear the ruff mixes,..WOW is all I can say,..it's awesome! I'll make sure to
give you all the head's up when it's available,..My favorite song of hers is called "sweet Potato"
She's played it every gig so far,..I feel special,..BTW, there's a link to her site on the new "link" page,..you should check it out!
:)
I'm not sure i want to leave St Louis,..it'll make me sad,..I love it here,..but alas,.. i must,..
because Louisville, KY is calling,..
So till then,..We'll continue our party here in St Louis and I'll keep you up to date as best i can!!

SPRING TOUR 2004: leaving the nest
man,..
where did the last couple days go?
St Louis was just a long party,..but any time we're with Celia it's a party,..parties just follow her where ever she goes,..
What an amazing time in st louis! I didn't want to leave!
so here's the scoop since last time,..
we did actually get some sightseeing in,..
We went down to the "historic" part of the city,..which was disappointing,..I was hoping for a museum or something,..all over priced restaurants and overpriced merchandise,..
lame,..
so Rich and I went to the arch,..
He had his heart set on visiting the old courthouse and I had my heart set on going to the top of the arch, so we split up and did our own thing,..
while he was visiting the courthouse,.I checked out the big screen movie "the american west"" which was interesting, with pretty stunning nature shots. nothing new that I dídn't know from high school though, in terms of information.
then it was time to go to the top of the arch,..I wasn't quite sure how that was going to work,..but they have trams that hold 5 people a piece,. and up you go, sort of on an angle,..
then once you get to the top well, there are these little windows you an see the city through,..
it was very cool,..got some good "high above" shots, but i guess once you've lived in NYC and been to the top of tall buildings,..the sights from shorter structures aren't so impressive, it was an awesome experience nevertheless,..and the funny thing,..watching the movie first,..there are these stunning nature scenes in the movie, and it centers around the lewis and clark expedition, where the lanscape was untouched,..
then you look out from the observatory window, and it's all icky and industrialized,..
whaa
but i got kinda thoughtful,..imagine being one of those pioneers back in those days,..it must have been a real hard life, but imagine experiencing the first sights of the plains and then the rocky mountains and herds of buffalo,..all gone now,..but it must have been amazing,..and driving from city to city really makes you think about what bravery it took to come out here in nothing but a covered wagon,..we're so spoiled now,..

that's my solliloquy for the day,..

back to the news,..
so our last night in st louis, celia made us her famous sweet potato burritos,..what a treat! (i'm stealing her recipe) then we went to cafe' Venice which is the most amazing spot,..they have mosaic artwork and all sorts of great things to look at and it's a very cool spot,..I would have to say my favorite there,..
we played the open mic night and I'm amazed at the amount of talent and the originality of the songwriting in st louis,..no pretense no regrets, just everyone doing their thing unapologetically,..
I love it!
we had a great time and the co-owner ranger dave (who's also a bad ass guitarist) sat in with both celia and I which was a barrel of fun,..
then back to celia's place we went and hung out finishing off the night listening to carol king and cat stevens,..
a nice way to end the night,..

the next morning rich and I packed up and got ready to high tail it to louisville, KY. Before we left we visited celia and her brother's boyfriend mark at the restaurant where they do some part time work and had lunch with them,..
then we were on the road,..
I was really sad to leave St Louis. I really love that city and i feel like I have a wealth of great friends there,..I'm sad to leave them too!
so a BIG shout-out to celia and mike and mark who opening their home to us and made us feel like part of the family!
To Molly for the great music and inviting us to play at the happy hour on sat night,..to tom for the awesome violin work and Jill for the wonderful conversation and to everyone we met for good times and memories! you all rock and I can't wait to see you all again soon!