Alright, let me break down what's happening with the band right now. After a few underground shows this weekend (they're so hush-hush that a few members of my band don't even know about them), we finally go in to record a song or two on Sunday 3/29. So to all you crazies that keep sending me inappropriate, strongly-worded letters (often times with strange, unrelated photos) demanding fresh original tunes (or as we call them, O'ridge's), chill. The TS3 does not get off by being withholding. You'll get your songs.

That said, I honestly do not know how this recording session will go. Either way, it will be fun to get into the studio with the new band. We have a lot of new material we are working on right now that we're really, really excited about, so it will be nice to put down some of the 'older' new material.

Once that's done, it will be April. During April, we're doing a tour from Chicago to Nebraska. We'll make stops in Davenport, Ames and Lincoln on the way, and hope to add Iowa City and maybe one more city to that list before it's all over. We'll keep you posted on all the shows, and if you ever need details, just look to your right to find the stunning 'Upcoming Shows' column. It's got it all, even links to the venues' webpages. You want more? You're selfish. And you're being glib.

Hopefully we will see you all on the trail. Until then, we wish you the best, and Liberty and Justice for all!

We gotta pretty cool gig at Lucky's. My friends and I pretty much have the bar to ourselves. Yeah, there's a table or two of outsiders, but once they see what our group is doing, they pretty much always join in. It's like sitting around at a buddy's house playing tunes, only the place doesn't smell weird and they never run out of beer. We get to play whatever we want, as many of our own songs as we want, and everybody's always happy. This is gonna be a really good time when summer rolls around.

One thing I've noticed playing here is that the requests come in waves. There's the First Wave, which happens early in the night. This is where I'm most likely to get stumped. During the first wave, people haven't had too much to drink, so they can reach deeper into the archives for songs. The atmosphere is little more mellow, so they don't care whether the song is upbeat or not. And they don't care if it's a singalong. Here's the kind of music that's requested in the first wave:

First Wave:

Coldplay
Wilco
Radiohead
Less-popular Dave Matthews songs
John Mayer
Originals (our music)
Any ridiculous indie song or lesser known Springsteen song

Best thing about the First Wave: It's the most musical portion of the night.
Worst thing about the First Wave: The crowd's enthusiasm is more subdued, and I'm guaranteed to not know a few of the requests.

In the second wave, things have started to pick up. People are getting more into it. Spirits are high. At this point in the night, people are ready to get the party started. They get out of their seats, they start moving around. The bar gets a little smaller. The cliques are broken down, people forget about who they came with and just want to have fun. Being able to sing the chorus is becoming more and more important in requesting songs. More important yet is the beat. The perfect Second Wave song has an awesome beat, a few people know the verses and everyone knows the chorus. Example: 'Hot in Herre' - Nelly.

Second Wave:

Maroon 5
Nelly
Justin Timberlake
Sublime
Any ridiculous 90's radio hit you can think of. (Last night's perfect example: MMMBop)

Best Thing: People are way into it (dancing, singing), and it still sounds like good music (besides MMMBop)
Worst Thing: No real downside...this is like the honeymoon period. You have your buzz, no sign of a hangover.

Third Wave rolls around, and it's a free for all. If people don't know every word of the song, you probably shouldn't play it. You should be able to end the night on every song. For instance, after most songs during this wave last night, I said "Goodnight everybody!!", even though we still had a bunch more songs to play. For the third stage, it's less about bands and more about songs. You won't hear bands requested. In the First Wave, you will. At that point, they'd be happy with any song from that artist. In the Third Wave? Nah. You have to know that song. Nothing else will do. Luckily, I don't necessarily need to know the words, cuz everyone else does.

Third Wave

Piano Man
Wonderwall
Under The Bridge
Twist and Shout
Any ridiculous 80's hit you can think of.

Now these are just rules, and are definitely meant to be broken. And the waves don't always come in perfect order but....they usually do. We might hit the Third Wave at 12:00 and then will have to scrape by for the last 20 minutes. Still, this is a pretty good rule of thumb.

Come out sometime and see if you can feel the waves.

We've played 5 shows since I last blogged, so there's no way I'll be able to paint this one with the same kind of color I usually do. My plan is to go through each show and give you the goods, and leave out everything else. If you were at any of these shows, love freedom, and feel I omitted an important detail or completely misremembered one, please correct the situation in the comment box.

Thursday, March 5 @ Lucky's - Chicago, IL

So far, bad...off to a bad start. I'm not sure I remember any details from this night. That's not a comment on my state of mind, or what I did that night, it's just that we play so many Lucky's shows and this was almost two weeks ago. However, if it was like any other Lucky's shows, the following things most likely happened:

1) I got talked into playing some 90's song that wasn't cool when it was popular, and has steeply declined in coolness since.
2) We played "Love it or Leave it"...that song is making a strong comeback.
3) Justin (drums) told a joke that made everyone feel pretty uncomfortable for a few minutes.
4) Mark Holden (harmonica) made an appearance on stage. Alright, it's not really a stage, so we should probably correct this. It's just a floor. He appeared on floor.
5) Chase Wagner (doesn't play an instrument, just a friend) requested "Ogeidnas Nemrac", which is "Carmen Sandiego" backwards for those of you who missed the post earlier this month. This fact will come into play later in the blog.
6) The crowd was great, sang along with us, and made it an awesome time.

Everyone agree? Cool, let's move on...

Friday, March 6 - Chicago St. Pub in Joliet, IL

This was Justin's big homecoming. According to Justin, this was a pretty big deal. Paparazzi were expected, countless women would be clamoring for him, guys will want to be him. Think Beatlemania, but with Justin. When we got there, he seemed to know a bunch of people. But it wasn't the shirt-ripping, girl-swooning spectacle I was hoping for. Oh well. The show was still a lot of fun.

Justin also mentioned that two of the world's best restaurants, "Merichka's" and "City of Champions", reside in Joliet. I thought, that's cool. I'll mention them to the crowd tonight to get some hometown love. So I mentioned them. And got no love whatsoever. Crickets. Either these restaurants aren't that good or they're such a well kept secret that the small town they do business in doesn't even know about them. Justin just lost his food-critic credibility.

After the show we went to some late-night J-town hot spots. First, the casino, where Justin lost all his money at the roulette wheel. Second, "Hot Skillets", a diner where we officially christened Seville with a new nickname: JP Skyfluffer. Count it!

In conclusion, I will be happy to play in Joliet again. The crowd was really great during an all-original set (besides the J Timberlake we threw in towards the end) and they were attentive and gracious the whole night. I guess I will have be more realistic about Justin's celebrity and taste in food next time. That's all.

Saturday March 7 @ Jersey Grille in Davenport, IA

We arrived at the Jersey Grille in the pouring rain and I'd say 2/3 of Davenport's population was already there. That place was busy. One of the best parts of the night was when we played our song "Angie Rae" and Angie (for whom the song was named) acted out the lyrics as I sang them. The chorus goes 'Angie Rae, go away', at which point she would leave into the kitchen (I'm sure employees loved that), only to reappear during the line 'come on back some other day'. It was truly brilliant choreography.

Thursday, March 12 @ Lucky's in Chicago, IL

Another great Thursday night. Almost all of the 6 points mentioned above apply here. Chase again asked for "Ogeidnas Nemrac". I turned the tables, told him if he wants it so bad he'll have to come sing it. Shockingly, he did. It was pretty awesome. He absolutely channeled Rockapella, who he claims to have seen live. He tells me that the Tim Stop Trio concert and Rockpella's are two of his top three concerts of all time. Take that as you will.

Friday, March 13 @ Starting Line in Davenport, IA

We got some pizza at Wise Guy's in Davenport right before the show and Justin didn't like it at all, further ruining his credibility as a food critic. We started playing shortly thereafter for a few hours, trying any requests that were thrown our way (especially the Nelly requests from our Peoria friends), but nothing of true note occurred until the end of the night.

Justin and I (just a duo show) finished our set and packed up our gear, and were talking to some of the people who had hung around after. All of the sudden, there was a bunch of yelling going on in the other room. I didn't see much, but it looked like Mike and some other guy were being separated.

Let me tell you about Mike. Mike has been at the Starting Line every time I've had a show there. I didn't know exactly what his job was. He was always incredibly nice and always went above and beyond to accommodate us, as it appeared he did for everyone that came in. So I figured his title was 'Resident Nice-Guy'. If that's not a real position, it should be. He really enhances all my Starting Line experiences.

As I said, I don't know exactly what happened, but after the other guy had been chased down the street, Mike came back with a huge gash above his eye, and blood streaming down his face. There was definitely a fight. I guess our acoustic pop/rock really set some people off. A couple firefighters who happened to have been down the street came up to attend to him. After they were done, I asked Mike how he was doing and he said, "I'm fine, you should see the other guy." Turns out Mike's the bouncer. Nicest bouncer I've ever met by the way. Oh, and the other guy? He's in jail. And probably pretty sore.

All in a weekend's work.