Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Last Friday - my log book is way behind

Blind Pilot played the after party.  The headliner of the show was Monsters of Folk.  It seems like a lot of bands get together just to play ACL.  Phish played the main stage at the Austin City Limits (ACL) festival while Monsters of Folk was playing Stubbs.  Monsters of Folk is a band of All stars – much the same way that Blind Pilot is a band of Portland Indie Rock All stars. 

http://monstersoffolk.com

The show was amazing and inspiring.  I’ve always wanted to see Conor Oberst perform.  I really like his art.  His lines just keep coming.  “While my mother waters plants, my father loads his gun, says death will give us back to god just like the setting sun is returned to the lonesome ocean.”

My wife’s cousin Matt traveled From Alaska for ACL.  It was really good to see him, I wish we had been able to hang out more.  

Blind Pilot played the after party on the inside of Stubbs.  The house was packed.

There were folks who waited in the inside of Stubbs through the Monsters of Folk show.  I wound up standing amongst a bunch of people from Portland. During “Get It Out”, a song that has not yet been released, someone asked the name.  The girl standing next to me said the name before I could, get it out.  It turns out she and her husband traveled from Portland for ACL.  We all wound up hanging out with the band after the show.  This was the best show so far. The sound was great the audience was energetic the house was packed.  By the time the set was over and the meet and greet finished closing time had occurred. 

Ian has a super power. Ian has the rare and valuable ability to get cases of beer from bartenders after closing time frequently without parting with any money.  I’ve seen it happen more than once on this tour – and have been a witness to testimony that it has happened before.  Unfortunately he did not choose to apply his powers on this evening and we had no beer on the bus.  He and I shared the analysis that Stubbs was not a venue that would let a case of beer slide out the back door after hours.  The band had a radio interview and performance earlier in the day and they got a ride back to Stubbs on the Gibson promotional bus.  They picked up a case of sweet tea and a bottle of Vodka and the cocktails included but were not limited to the watermelon that Mike had picked up the day before, some ice and this said fifth of vodka.  I may have cut the top off of a water bottle and used it as a glass ala Ricky from Trailer Park Boys … big time. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5SHF40rW3c

The next opportunity I had I outfitted the bus with a reasonable amount of beer.  It tends to help in maintaining order in an environment that can at times resemble a tinderbox – a party tinderbox.

Blind Pilot is managed by Red Light Management they are officially represented by Jason Colton and Stu Smith but it seems like Stu is the dude that handles the nuts and bolts of the Blind Pilot account.  Both of these dudes are in Austin and both either read this blog or get reports of its content from their mutual and/or respective underlings (Hello, sirs.) Stu is joining us from Austin to Tucson which I think is the longest stretch of driving on the tour.  Stu is always smiling, he’s the type of dude that turns a couple of people sitting around having a beer into a lets open up this 5th of vodka and see what happens night of debauchery, without ever really saying or doing anything. Stu claims to have dated his step sister sometime before the middle of high school.  To give this fair treatment it was before their respective sets of parents had split and reassigned themselves with one of the results being Stu's dad and Stu's ex-girlfriend's mom. - it was a small town. Stu is smart, lucky, confident and brave.

Conor Oberst is one of Israels Idols.  Stu knows Conor Oberst and introduced the two after the Monsters of Folk show.  I was very excited for Israel.

Red light bestows, what appears to me to be, personal and special attention on Blind Pilot. In all fairness I have not seen their treatment of any other of their artists – and their list of artists is impressive.  I choose to interpret this “special treatment” as a sign of their faith in the inevitable growth of the band.  Their sudden rise from obscurity with the release of “Three Rounds and a Sound”, as well as the quality of their future work seems to instill confidence and respect in management.  It seems like the management is trying to keep Blind Pilot as a client rather than just tolerating them as another account. I choose to see it as a good sign.

If it ain't Texas, It Ain't

 Greg Biffle is a professional automobile driver from Vancouver, Washington.  I am an amateur Bus driver from Vancouver, Washington.  Kati Clayborne is a professional Banjo, Mountain dulcimer and singer, she is also from Vancouver, Washington.  (This is a note to my sister: Tusk, Kati went to River, she knows (of) Heather and Jenny). Kati Clayborn is dating Luke Ydstie.  Which makes the bus less crowded because of the extra bunk.  Kati was the singer in the Portland old timey band, The Mighty Ghosts of Heaven, with her former husband. She left that job and took up this one in 2008 just before the release of the Blind Pilot Album 3 rounds and a Sound. Her harmonies reflect that they have been simmered in the melodies of old folk and gospel songs.  Luke and Kati will sit around and sing for hours and hours.  In the green room in Boise and the green room in Boulder I was treated to various pop songs which include but are not limited to: Neil Young's, Unknown Legend. If you can pick out her lines in the harmonies Kati Claborn will break your heart just like Linda Ronstadt. Sometimes she's sings the sweet and low down note.

The show in Santa Fe went fairly well.  The band rambled the city during the day but the load in time didn't give them much opportunity for a sound check and the rhythm of the show is always less choppy when Mike can really dig into the sound before the show starts. The places has a capacity of 300 but I counted, yes literally counted, 72 and the door was counted as 105, I think.

It looked everybody knew everybody and Israel came out of his shell a little and joked with the crowd.  Israel was giving his explanation of Oviedo, "I was living in Europe and a friend of mine wanted to know... know how things ... (Israel pauses for some screeching from the speakers) - Luke interupts "She wanted some feedback." An audience member recycled that joke again later. (This is a note to my wife: ... And it wasn't me.)

I took the drive out of Santa Fe. It was glorious.  I love seeing the sunrise.  It gives me a thrill.

The Northwest Texas highways are all four lanes, straight and flat, brown cotton fields and feed lots. I stopped in Lubbock at about 10:00 AM, because I could not go on and slept until Israel fired up Loretta at Noon. He drove the bus to Post.

We ate at a BBQ joint with free soft serve Ice cream, Mike bought a water melon from some farmers on the side of the road. Israel drove until about 7ish and we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in some little Texas town, whose name I cannot recall - Here's some pictures.

I drove again until 10:30 and Israel took over for the last 30 miles or so.

We got a motel room in Austin, primarily to shower in. I won't be sleeping there. It's the kind of place you might meet your lover, toward the end of the affair - not that I have any experience with that sort of thing (This is a note to my wife: 21, 23 always vacancy, free HBO on the Culla, culla, culla, culla, culla TV, what, what, what, what, what, value motel, value motel meet me in a half at the value motel). It smells like a swamp, has mildew in the corners and I'm pretty sure I actually saw a bed bug, okay 2. I'm happy to report they are both now dead.

Now I'm rested, showered, fed, hanging out at Stubb's and I've got two appraisal addenda to type.  Looks like an exciting day.

I think it would be really neat and tidy if there were someway I could think of to tie this back into Greg Biffle but there ain't.