TRN plays the Congress Theater in July, opening for Tortured Soul and Jamie Lidell

PART 3


And so we left Memphis, a little late but with a quick mix in hand (see our last entry, about recording a tune in Memphis), and heading towards the weekend and the final leg of our trip. We floated the few hours to Nashville pretty quick, finally arriving at the 5 Spot a little late for load in. Luckily for us, the band playing earlier in the night was still on, so we grabbed a drink and played some pool. Each member took a turn on the setlist duties this week, and Smillie did an especially good job on Friday. Jacob Jones opened for us, backed by a lap and pedal steel guitarist.



They gave a wonderful performance, getting Brendan good and primed for what was to come. He asked their pedal steel player to sit in on Whiskey High, our countryish singer-song writer standout, and we bumped it to the very top of the set so gear change wasn't an issue. Taking the stage under the name Breakfast Fire, everyone (sans saxophones) really had a moment of joy hearing the song in this new way. The soft, swelling sound of the pedal steel really made Whiskey feel complete. Getting to be a member of the audience, I can say it was very special and one of my favorite portions of being out this last week.

After we swapped some more gear and Brendan changed his pants, we all reassumed the stage and laid down a couple great sets. The sound was excellent at 5 Spot and we took full advantage of it. We set out on this tour with only two horns, so I've been hanging up my bari on several tunes to get out the alto, and this sound was really working that night. The audience was amazing, listening intently to Carry Me Home and getting up to dance during You Will Know. Everyone was with us through the whole night, willing to go wherever we led. Is this a Nashville thing? We made a fair amount of new friends, one of whom came out the next night as well, and swapped some stories before we loaded up the van. Stefanie demanded we have a little dance freakout session in the parking lot, much to the chagrin of the bar staff I'd bet, though, like many things that night, it was not caught on tape. Thank goodness.

We stayed with Samantha. a host from betterthanthevan.com (YES! All traveling musicians check this out!), who let us roll up at 4am and take over her living room without a second question. She was really great, very relaxed, and even showed us around town a little the next day. We were led to Baja Burrito by Samantha and her roommate Ashley, where we ate more than our fill and Chris had an avocado ice cream bar.  While my personal after lunch choice was a Negra Modelo, the avocado ice cream was eccentrically tasty. It was decided that no matter how many times you say "avocado", it won't get to that weird stage where it doesn't make sense anymore because avocado is already a weird word. Unlike "was". Or "shine". Give it a minute and try it out..............


   
Still with me? After lunch we checked out downtown Nashville, including a vintage guitar shop, a sweet western store where we nearly bought some clean boots, and a pool hall. We found out later that Stef did end up with a pair of cherry red leather, ankle high boots. They look good, and it's nice to see Stef getting a little Betty Davis about it. Everyone was impressed by how clean and friendly Nashville was. And damn, is there a stage in every little bar there. These people can't get enough music.

Finally, we got headed over to Murfreesboro to play with Sky Hi, where we crashed with Aaron Heffron, alto saxophonist in Sky Hi and brother of Nate, one of our extended TRN family members. While they are both saxophonists and both have that classic Heffron look, they are very different guys. We definitely got some of the low down, Nathan, so watch out for some old family jokes. Aaron was a fantastic host, not the least reason being that he had a carpeted floor!


 


After hanging out at his place for awhile and cleaning up, we headed to 527 Main for soundcheck. A couple drum and monitor snafus aside, everything went smooth and we hit an hour later. We always like playing at college dance bars. You know, the kind of places where everyone will dance no matter what you play, but they'll tear the place down if you pull out some Stevie. The crowd seemed to really enjoy our music and we made a lot of new friends. Since Brendan was playing the keyboard rig from Sky Hi, he got a chance to rock out on a real clav:



The evening's highlight, I would say, was D from Sky Hi singing with Stef on a couple tunes. We hadn't met him yet, but he was rocking out in the front row and we could hear him singing along over the monitors on stage! Stef called him up onstage for the tail end of "Nobody," and he left no doubt in anyone's mind that he can sing. Watch out for Sky Hi to get up to Chicago sometime! [Ed. note from Corsale: Sky Hi is a ridiculously good band. Enjoy them.]



Jim and I sat in with Sky Hi and jammed out on one of their last tunes. Thanks to everyone, but especially Aaron and Mark, for making that sax summit happen. After the gig, everyone high-tailed it back to Aaron's for a good hang with some food from Handlebar. We were all pretty beat, but stayed up and got to know some of the guys better. I finally got to bed around 4, sleeping in the record room, surrounded by some deep soul cuts and crates of rarities. Oh! Make sure you check out G.E.D. Records. They're getting their stuff out all over, even up here at Dusty Groove, cause it's good. Really good. New soul with a retro touch to it. Seriously, click here now!

The trip home is always the worst part of a week out. Quickly: 8 hours back, Subway and snacks, lots of music, discussions of the former week, and lots of naps. Load out was slow, but got done. We're all looking forward to getting over to Indiana next weekend and seeing some good friends in Terre Haute at the blues festival. Also, make sure to check us out with The Dynamites on Wednesday 23rd at Schubas in Chicago. We're really looking forward to playing them, especially after everyone we talked to on their home turf raved about them. It's going to a slamming night. I hope I see you there!

A promo video we made for 9/23/09 at Schubas:

PART 2

Man it's hard to pick up the blog where Chris Corsale leaves off. That mo fo can write. Here goes...We left the Red River Gorge after a lovely afternoon in nature and headed to Soundbar in Lexington. Jill (our lovely booking agent) informed me that there was "some crazy construction" by the venue and she was spot on. The fine folks at Lex Street & San ripped up the street and basically cordoned off Soundbar from street and foot traffic. In the spirit of "shake a hand make a friend," we decided to suck it up and put on a great show for the few folks that braved the construction to see us. Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale certainly helped me out....man that stuff is good. Soundbar is more club than music venue so we turned on the disco ball and crazy ass lights.










Part of the joy (for us, at least) in touring is staying with old (and new) friends and camping out in people's living rooms. That wasn't in the cards in Lexington, unfortunately, so we packed 6 dudes in to a mildly-disgusting motel room. Waffle House was within a stone's throw of the sketch motel, however, so the location wasn't a total bust. Waffles, grits, and coffee in our bellies, we packed up the van and headed toward, quite possibly, the most depressing town in Tennessee: Clarksville.

I won't bore with the details of how crappy Clarksville was (heavy metal bar, endless strip malls, an exploding transformer that cut our set short after 3 tunes). We had two life-affirming experiences...a great run-in with the Linda, owner of Pic-A-Rib and an acoustic set after the power blew out. I'm a BBQ fanatic so I dragged everyone (vegetarians included) to Clarksvile's finest BBQ spot. We struck up a conversation with proprietor Linda and sold her a CD before she even heard the band. She indulged us by playing "Make It Right" during our meal. Schram and Jonny Hats did their best to refrain from vomiting on the table (they aren't the biggest fans of that disc). Hey, Tough Enough is some smooth shit, though...and Mekong went well with the candied apples and pork shoulder.


After our gig ended abruptly due to the power outage, Corsexy threw out the idea of entertaining the table of fans with an impromptu set - since a table's worth of folks had seen our TV performance and come to the show (thank you guys, by the way!). Armed with hollow body guitars, foot stomps and tambourines, and the saxes, we dug into four or five tunes. It's quite impressive to hear Stef sing our tunes in that setting. Then we got the f out of Clarksville. Ugh.

Smillie (aka Smickles von Ickles) took Buick driving duties for the first shift of a night ride to Memphis. Two hours or so into the drive, Corsale and I awoke to a freaked-out Smillie (not a common expression for the dude) and flashing sirens behind us. A few months ago I cracked the taillight on the Buick with a PA Speaker so the cop claimed he saw some white shining through the tail lights (and something about expired tags, which was total BS). After a few frightening moments, the cop returned with some friendly conversation and told us about a fellow officer's country band and his own penchant for poster graphic design. True to his promoter's heart, Corsale gave the cop a flyer. "What do y'all play? Country?" asked the officer. Welcome to Tennessee. Yeah! He let us off and we high tailed it to Memphis to make call time for the CBS Morning Show, Live at 9.


Folks down in TN love their state and seem to have a lot of pride in sports teams, country & soul music, and, strangely, the dangers of Memphis. We got a little taste of this when we rolled up to downtown Memphis at 4 a.m and tried to sleep in our cars outside the TV studio. Sketchy dude after sketchy dude came up to the van trying to engage us in some shady business. Ugh. Walking back to the Denny's to use the restroom, man-purse slung over my shoulder and sweet coiff on my head, a homeless genteleman pointed in the other direction and yelled "Yo! The Starbucks is that way!" Plus 10 points, sir.

That was it in terms of downsides to Memphis, though. We had a killer time at the morning show (stage IN the fountain in the Peabody Center Atrium - video of the performance is here.) and chatted with Alex, one of the show hosts.


He casually tells us he's friends with David Porter, co-writer with Isaac Hayes for a TON of Stax hits, and hands me a card with David's email address. I can't wait to get back to Chicago and start an email convo (and maybe work with) a living legend. Sleep deprived and cranky as all hell, we headed to my friend Cameron's house in East Memphis and crashed. Cameron--you have no idea how much we appreciated it. That was some seriously needed sleep. After I got out of a much needed shower, i walked into the living room to find Smillie, Schram, Hats, and Greg watching The Last Waltz. Man, I love this band. These guys eat, breathe, and live music, no matter how tired they are.

Now, this is where things got a little magical. As I slept in Cameron's comfy guest bed, I felt my ever-present Crackberry vibrate. A text from Stef: "We should record 7 to 10." 7 to 10 is a new tune I wrote a few months back; we've been playing it out for the past few weeks and the band is really digging in to the Motown/Stax/Muscle Shoals grooves and high-energy sections. Stef's idea came at just the right time. I'd contacted Scott Bomar of Electraphonic Studios in Memphis before we left for tour and was planning on visiting his studio that day. Scott's list of playing and production credits are pretty staggering: engineering Al Green records, composing the score for Hustle & Flow, soundtrack work on Black Snake Moan, working closely with Jim Dickinson, Isaac Hayes, and tons of Memphis legends. Hats and I checked out his intimate studio and got a really good feeling. it's quite different from Transient Sound (where we are making our current record): small analog console, 8 track tape machine, one tiny live room with 70s wood paneling. But man o man, did it feel good. You could smell the soul in this place and Scott gives off a great vibe. We made plans to record on Friday morning. It set off a spark of energy in the band. Recording in Memphis with a great soul producer? Hell yes! The show at the p&h cafe that night felt like a lot of shows on this tour: smaller crowd but we shook a bunch of hands and started building things up in Memphis.

Our day in the studio had an auspicious start. We crashed with Alex (the ex-booker for the P&H) and woke up to nasty thunder and rain. Greg and I made a run for the cars and ended up soaked to the core.



Corsale's shoes got so soaked that, as we drive back to Chicago today, they still aren't dry (and they smell like broccoli farts and stale hot dog water). We recovered by getting coffee and muffins, aka the life blood of the shake a hand, make a friend tour. The band rolled up to Electraphonic, met Scott, and got to work.





Scott's studio may lack a huge live room and tons of isolation options, but it makes up for it in character and room sound. The kick drum made my balls tingle; the wurli was buttery and soulful; Corsale's tele through a Super Reverb was equal parts bite and bark (whatever that means :); and Greg's bass tone through the flip top ampeg sat just right. The killer at the session, however, was Stef. Five gigs in six days is a lot for a singer that belts it out like Stef. She was tired, hoarse, probably hungover, and it couldn't have been better. She attacked 7 to 10. She felt the lyrics (a fictional tale about cheating with a man that is too good to pass up), channeled all the soul in the room, and knocked out a performance that blew us all away. Sure, not every note was perfect and some of the her runs landed in funny spots. But perfection wasn't the goal that day. We were recording to tape (no computers!), which meant overdubs, punching in, and other studio tricks were very limited or nonxistent. I love the recording because it documents the band, as a unit, making decisions and performing on the spot. That's couldn't be more different from the way we are doing the record at Transient. Both processes work for us, but, god damn, it felt good to get in, cut a record, and be done. We're still deciding what will happen with the tune, but stay tuned for a video blog and, possibly, a single release.



Alright...the battery power is running low on Corsnatch's computron, so I'm out for now. Part 3 (Nashville and Murfreesboro) is coming up next.

On the way back to Chicago after touring Tennessee and Kentucky:

The mood in this car is pretty much the same as that in any car returning home from a trip except we're mostly working as we travel. We're listening critically to tracks we recorded in Memphis, knocking out some blog action (hi everybody, by the way), and having little 5-minute mini band meetings as we get the miles behind us. We're physically exhausted but there's an excitement and an energy in the car too. We're blasting through Tennessee on our way back home to Chicago; the Buick's cupholders full of Starbucks, recovering from a long wonderful night and a long wonderful week. Exhausting and energizing at the same time - yeah, that's about how I'd describe this week.

We called this the "Shake a hand, make a friend" tour (thanks Mavis), working off the idea that you really can't get ahead in this business by just playing your gigs and hoping to get invited back. You have to build relationships and make connections, especially on a trip like this, where every city was a first-time visit for us. There were a few nights where we played to very, very few people, but the main point is to meet and hang out with those very few people, and see if you can find a fan or two in the bunch. As we cruised through Louisville, Cincinnasty, Lexington, Clarksville, Memphis, Nashville, and Murfreesboro, we met a lot of good folks that we hope we get to see on our next trip down south ---- which really can't happen fast enough for my taste. I think we all fell in love with a couple of these cities. When Stef announced onstage that we were thinking of relocating to Nashville because we liked it so much, the crowd replied "Do it!" and that makes us feel pretty good.

We started out on MJ's birthday, listening to Chicago's V103 go nuts with some Michael deep cuts, and once we got out of town, we cued up the Joe Cocker, Wilco, and a podcast of Sound Opinions. I privately checked out some Ray Charles  on my iPod, thinking It'd be cool to find a Ray song that Stefanie could sing the shit out of. Haven't found exactly the right one - if you have suggestions, I'll take 'em at chris@therightnow.com. (In fact, any cover suggestions you have, send 'em my way. The reality is we may not play them, but we're always looking for inspired selections.)

Apparently Louisville has some organized smartasses, because we found out about two events as soon as we rolled into town: the annual Bambi Walk, which is a fundraiser for...hell, I don't remember the cause...and then there's the Zombie Walk, traditionally held on the same day. the Zombie Walk isn't a fundraiser, I think it's just an offshoot of the Bambi Walk, and people dress up like Zombies and stalk the streets.



Being greeted by zombies  as we rolled into town was a trip. It wasn't until we loaded in and met the guys from Bloom Street (a real good band that we played with that night) that we found out it's pretty much a parody of the Bambi Walk. Louisville has a sense of humor. Anyway, the gig was a great start to the tour, and our two horn players, Hats & Schram (Eric was absent from this tour), sat in with Bloom Street for a song or two. Excellent times all around. The next day, we headed to ear x-tacy, a fantastic old school music store (CDs and vinyl...t-shirts and posters) on the main drag of Bardstown Rd. Many thanks to Keith (bassist for Bloom St) for putting us up - and for leading us to Lynn's Paradise the next morning for some breakfast action. Greg identified with some of the decor in the parking lot at Lynn's:



Cincinnati might've been the roughest night of the tour - we played to almost nobody, and the folks there seemed determined to ignore us. So we're still looking for our fans in Cincy...but Sunday night at Stanley's wasn't the time or place to find them. On the plus side, we got to see Sara Hong, an old extended-family member from Chicago who's now living in Cincinnati. Sara and her housemates, for some reason, agreed to put up our whole band in their house, even though they're all med students with an 8am exam the next morning. If you're reading this, guys, we're sending you love and concentration vibes. :)

Monday night was a real highlight - the whole band went camping at Red River Gorge in Kentucky. We haven't camped together before, and surprise surprise, it was a real bonding experience.





We ate well. Smicky's "hobo dinner" idea -- chopped veggies w/ seasoning/flavoring wrapped in tin foil, placed directly in the campfire were delicious, as was the BBQ sauce that Hats created on the spot. We totally did the hot-dogs-and-marshmallows-on-a-stick thing, and once the sun went down we broke out the newly-purchased Kentucky bourbon and traded stories.

I'm sitting in the B-room at Transient Studios, trying to make myself invisible on the couch while the Jim, Eric, and Johnny Hats record their horn tracks on "Ain't Going Back." It's funny, I think that's been the first song every time we add a new instrument to the album...When we first went in as a band, Ain't Going Back was our warm-up track. When we recorded guitars, same thing. Vocals, ditto. And now horns. Wonder if it'll end up as the first song on the album.










>
It's July now, and we've been at this since January 2nd. Well, on and off - at first we spent 9 straight days just laying down tracks, and since then it's been a matter of coordinating a lot of schedules and accommodating a lot of people, so it's been kind of slow going with a lot of empty space...until recently. In the past month, we've been chipping away at the album pretty steadily and now it feels like I've turned around and we're over the hump on a lot of these tunes. Pretty soon, we'll have just percussion and handclaps to add to a bunch of the songs and they'll be fully recorded...but not mixed.

You wouldn't believe the number of tracks laid down for each of these songs. Layers and layers and layers of vocals, extra keyboards & guitars...the idea being that we just record everything and carve the songs down when we mix them. Steve Gillis & Vijay Tellis-Nayak, our producers, amaze me on a pretty regular basis, with instant judgment calls and - even more impressive - endless supplies of patience and diplomacy. In a big band with a lot of strong opinions (and there are a lot), it ain't easy to manage it all. Steve and Vijay (or "Vijillis," as we call them collectively), along with Brendan, have been pretty awesome about making choices, and their choices seem to be leading to a really cool album. The rough tracks we're hearing are really exciting. And they freak me out sometimes too, with batlike hearing and attention to detail. We'll be listening to like 18 layers of vocals, and Steve will say "hold it - something's out of tune." And this will be something small enough that 5 other seasoned musicians didn't notice it after hearing it 5 times. Steve will pick one track, ask Stefanie to re-record it, and there's an audible improvement. I mean, that's fucked up, right?

Here's Vijay:




And then there's the backup vocals. My god. That's probably the biggest difference between the album and how we play the songs live. We knew we really wanted to dig into some cool backup parts when we recorded, but I never anticipated this.

Brandice Manuel (one of the backup singers, along with Taroniah Rice - you might've seen them at one of our Chicago shows) has been writing and singing some really fierce parts with Stefanie, and they're really bringing new life to these songs. Songs like AGB, I'll Get Down, and Before I Know are all a shitload more fun. Brandice has an amazing feel for the songs. It's gotta be in her blood - her grandfather, Charles Stepney, worked extensively with Earth Wind & Fire, and he co-wrote "Reasons."  We call Brandice "Sprinkles" because she's always sprinkling just the right flavor on our songs.

Here are Taroniah, Stef, and Brancice (left to right), backstage at our Schubas show from March...



And here are some random other shots from the recording process...







So there'll undoubtedly be another update before the album comes out, because we have a long-ass way to go. But bit by bit, this album is shaping up to be something else. We actually put together a video that shows a little more what it's been like so far...

Chris:  I woke up early today and did some admin work for the band. It's been a nice, peaceful morning, and everybody's waking up bit by bit now. We're in Philadelphia, camped out in the home of Bert, one of Johnny Hats's friends from way, way back. Bert and his gracious roommates have put us up the last two nights, and as usual we're unable to express how grateful we are for such hospitality.

So this is it! The big east-coast tour we've been looking forward to. We started with our third visit to Terre Haute, a favorite stop of ours. Stef, Brendan and I did a performance on Live at 5 (NBC news) on Friday, where we got to perform in the kitchen set while the studio redesigned much of their set. I was pushing for Brendan to be demonstrating a nice Bolognese sauce while Stef and I played, but they didn't have the ingredients on hand. And studio lights make for nice photos:





So we've got something of a routine in Terre Haute, and we love it: do an appearance on WTWO (Hi, Patrick & Elysse!), eat a giant pizza at the Verve, play a show with Cuba, party with Johnny Hats's friends and family at the show, crash at Jeff Edwards' house (Jeff, your hosting is excellent), wake up to some square donuts, and then hit George's Cafe for lunch before leaving town. So yeah, we can pretty much copy & paste that whole process from past tour blogs, but we found a groove and we love it.

That's right, square donuts. We can't help but call 'em Squonuts.





Then, onward! East!  We had a long day of driving - about 11 hours to get to Philadelphia, where we've been camped out for 2 days. We walked around Philly yesterday for a bit, and did a lot of sitting around:





Last night we played at Puck, a hot little venue in the middle of Doylestown, PA. Doylestown ain't a huge place, and Puck isn't geographically very big, but it's a top-notch venue. Mike, our sound engineer for the night, was A+, and halfway through the soundcheck he asked us something no sound guy has ever asked us:  "What do you want it to sound like? Old school? New school? etc etc"  I mean - YES!! and mike had the gear and the know-how to really shape the sound for us. Before I could even get off the stage, he handed us a super-sweet recording of the show..which may turn up somewhere sooner or later.

We played well, even though there weren't many people there. It was another one of those nights where we won over most of the folks there, I think, but we sure hope there's a bigger audience next time we come back. We shared the stage with Jackson Hightower, a funk/soul band from around these parts. The band was good, and their singer Danielle puts out some serious grit in a very, very good way. Afterward, we headed to the bassist, Michael's house for a late-night jam (not too late; both bands were done playing by 10:30!). Michael and his pup were great hosts.





Yeah, and it was Mothers' Day. Stef actually made little mention of the fact that this was her first Mothers' Day as an actual mom, but we dedicated "Before I Know Your Name" to all the mamas in the house.

At the moment, we're waking up, making coffee and breakfast, and getting ready to head to Williamsport for tonight's show. So.....more later!

Okay, so, two weeks later I’m finally getting around to finishing up this tour blog. You get what you pay for, my friend.

I believe Eric took us as far as The Planet in Springfield, IL. Fortunately for all of you, he skipped the part about our motel turning off the hot water at 9 am without telling us. Well, we couldn’t let that ruin our day, so we picked up and headed out, once again. But really, how could anything ruin our day when we get the opportunity to play at The Gramophone? If you live in or plan to visit the St. Louis area, I urge you to check out The Gramophone. First and foremost, they have fantastic people there. Ruth, Scott, Roo, and of course Joe keep the place running like a well oiled machine. Second, would be the, well, I guess, mise-en-scene. The room is put together great, sounds great, and is filled up by great people. Lastly, they have a fantastic beer and wine selection that beats out most any place not trying to hang in the good-lord-look-at-all-the-beers-and-wines crowd.  Just a classy place, all around. 

The show went very well, as we were being cheered on by several family members and loved ones that had driven down to join us as well as a room full of St. Louis’ best. I would say the highlight of that night was being joined by Brian and Corey Fritz, playing tenor sax and trombone, respectively. The Cosmic Unity has known these guys for a while, who happen to be St. Louis natives, and knew what they were going to bring with them. They killed it, as usual, and it was a blast to play with them, also as usual. After the show was finished and we finally had sedated and restrained Stefanie, who had been indulging in the fantastic beer and wine menu, most of us went to a beautiful apartment owned by Alicia, a friend of Brendan’s. She was a very generous host, rearranging her living room so we could fit comfortably and allowing us to take over her kitchen for the day. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about food, especially my food, but I’m proud of the dinner we made that night. Greg worked some sous-chef magic, like crushing some whole cloves and cumin seeds with nothing but a kitchen knife, and we made a wonderful tomato based curry with plums and eggplant thrown in. Okay, that’s enough food talk. Anyway, Alicia’s wonderful cat, Luther, was a great source of pleasure for some and stuffy noses for others, but it was generally agreed upon that he is a cut above other cats. We’re looking forward to hanging out with both Luther and Alicia again soon!

The next morning we all met up at the Delmar Loop and enjoyed the gorgeous weather while we walked around the neighborhood. We finished our time in St. Louis at Vintage Vinyl, where we purchased a wide variety of records (Jackie Wilson, Roy Ayers, James Taylor, and Keith Jarrett). That evening, following a short drive, saw us back in Decatur at Lock, Stock, and Barrel, where we are always treated great. Oddly enough, we played there exactly a year before on the Saturday preceding St. Patrick’s Day, and so saw the same pair of guys dressed in various Irish clothing, playing various Irish tunes on various Irish instruments. I caught a few Scottish tunes in there as well, but was all that much happier for it. Everything went off without a hitch that night, though Stef sat out slightly more often, on account of the havoc that nine consecutive days of singing had wrought on her voice.  We were all pretty tired, but we pulled it together and had a good time with one last audience before the week came to a close. Load out was quick, being fueled by our common passion to see home again.

We threw the convoy idea out the window and all separately raced back to Chicago that night. We were sad to miss hanging out at Miss Raine’s, especially after we’d heard of the things she’d prepared for us (the brownies in particular!), but with the prospect of seeing our friends and loved ones sooner rather than later, we couldn’t contain ourselves. Everything was loaded out by six Sunday morning, and we all said goodbye to one another, concluding our nine day tour. All and all it was a great time. I want to thank everyone who helped us throughout the week, especially those of you who came out! It was great to see you. I'm sure we'll be back around soon.

Love,
Jonny Hats

I've got to admit that I had no idea where Burlington, IA was until last night.  Turns out that it's a nice little town on the west bank of the Mississippi.  We played a Wednesday night gig at The Washington, which is right downtown and a few blocks from the river. 


Having done a week of bar gigs, it was really cool to find ourselves in a classy jazz club.  I had some trepidation about whether we would be able to tone down our wildfunkysoulparty for the room, but it turned out that we didn't have to.  Tim, our sound tech, did a great job setting us up so that we could get our filthy groove on without overpowering the club, and the folks who came out were digging our tunes.  I hope Dave can get us back there on a weekend night so that we can draw some more people.

Thursday was another radio show.  Being the trombone player, I usually don't get invited to these radio things, so it was fun to sit in a studio and contribute some hand claps.  Alice FM is a cool radio station that I never would have expected to find in Springfield.  Lars had interviewed Eli Jones when we were down there last year, and he hooked us up with another DJ on the station.  Susan is one of those people who makes people feel like they're chatting over a cup of coffee rather than broadcasting across Springfield, Central IL, and that internet thing.  

From there, it was out to The Planet to play the show that night.  Eric, the owner, did right by us.  We're pretty easy to please, and free beer and free pool are the keys to our hearts.  The cool thing about The Planet (besides the beer and pool) is that it seems to attract a musical clientele.  I got to talk to Justin, a producer who does a lot of work up in the Chi, and Joel, a funk guitarist who was digging our sound.


I learned that when Stef says "guys, my voice is a little tired tonight," what she means is "I'm going to rock your world with my pipes."  We did three long sets, and got down with all the party people of Springfield.  I'm at a loss for how to describe the way Stef stepped it up without resorting to superlatives and hyperbole.  She has done 16 sets and a half dozen radio spots this week, and she gave Springfield a show like nothing else.  We did semi-acoustic versions of "Ain't Goin' Back" and "I'll Get Down," and Stef sold it.  I can't wait until her arrest warrants in Michigan expire so that we can take this act to Detroit/Ann Arbor/Lansing/etc.

Lastly, a shout out to Brian and Neely for putting some of us up in Springfield.  I mean, what could be better than people who come out to a show, hype you to their friends, invite you to crash at their place, and then stay up partying until 5am on a Thursday night?  These are good people.

Hi, y'all,
Greg Nergaard here, bassist for THE RIGHT NOW.  I've been asked to catch everyone up on TRNs tour for the past few days because....well... some of the others in the band have been busy with...who knows.

So Monday night found TRN and yours truly In Des Moines, IA.  I'm lucky as I was able to sleep in back in Cedar Rapids while Corsnatch,  B.O'C.(D), and Stef woke up early to do a television spot on the ABC Midday news in Des Moines.


Our show that night was at the 4th Street Theater- a relatively new venue with theater style seating and a capacity of around 200, I'd guess.  Nice place, and though we didn't have the best turnout for this gig, (it was a rainy and cold Monday night, after all) we did see some folks who told us they drove over a hundred miles to see us after hearing the television spot (!)  I guess they liked what they heard.

John Statz opened up with a delicious solo acoustic set.  We all really  admired his songs about travel, murder and his on-the-spot transposition due to leaving his capo in Chicago.  Hope to see him around soon.  He was on is way to the West Coast.

Tuesday found the band traveling to KANSAS CITY for the first time and we were all really excited to play at Davey's Uptown Rambler's Club.  First and foremost, this is a Rock Club Classic of KCMO and Pete, an excellent sound man, got us sounding huge.  We had a pretty decent turnout of folks and heard nothing but praise from the people who heard us for the first time.  This is one town and one club that we know TRN will be returning to.  Thanks to Alan, Cliff and John for the love and to Davey's for having us.


Our accommodations that evening were very generously provided by Cole Harvey, amazing drummer from Brother Bagman - local KC faves.  It was a great house, complete with a great big ol' dog ("Steve") and some tasty Ramen Noodles for a midnight snack. One thing that bears mentioning here is the culinary talents of Jonny Hats, bari sax and chef de Cuisine for TRN. 

Mmmmmm, tofu, broccoli, carrots and ramen never tasted so good, or slid out of Brendan's ass with such volcanic force.  I knew Brendan was just a young buck when we started this tour but I had no idea that he needed to be swaddled in diapers after every meal.  I mean seriously!