A little background... I was offered the chance to hop out on tour and play keyboards with LA artist AM.  He has just released his album 'Future Sons & Daughters' through Filter Recordings and it is now available for mass audio consumption on iTunes. The tour was supporting soon-to-be Universal-Republic artists The Rescues. The Rescues in short are four singer-songwriters, each crazy competent in their own right, joining forces to become a four headed fire-breathing dragon of harmony and melody.  You may have heard them on Grey's Anatomy.  

We hopped on Virgin Atlantic non-stop to Boston and as the plane seats filled up, the middle seat next to me sat curiously vacant.  A father who looked as if he was plucked off a sports-grill bar stool approached with his 2 year old daughter.  I looked at him.  He looked at me and the empty seat and said, "I know man... I'm worried too.  First trip without the wife."  Needless to say I was keeping hopes that his daughter would find enough tranquility in the seas of Dora The Explorer on DVD that everyone could enjoy their in-flight screens unencumbered by tantrum. Russell, the father, had all the tricks of the trade packed up - snacks, books, sippy cups, DVD player & the Dora library, crayons and paper... and so on.  For the first hour and a half she was an angel and we were both relieved that things seemed to be going well.  Then, just like east coast thunderclouds will show out of nowhere and dump like mad, she opened up into a 2 hour tantrum of impressive proportion.  Screaming, crying, flailing, wanting to walk the aisle of the plane incessantly... you name it.  Anyone within 5 rows in any direction was treated to the unhinged fury of a 2 year old that wanted what she couldn't have... mom.  The boys in the band tried to headphone it away but for that middle section of flight the vibe was fairly brutal - it was early morning and most of the shades were closed and people were trying to get some meager plane sleep.  Things shaped up and by the end she was offering me some of her animal crackers - a sure sign of friendship from a 2 year old.

When we arrived in Boston all looked well as our gear ramped in from the plane.  That is, until AM got a closer look at his brand new SKB hardshell guitar case.  The loader knuckleheads managed  to put an 8 inch crack in the outside and dent near the hinge of the case, causing a pressure dent on the actual guitar.  Looks like Virgin Atlantic will be responsible for the soon to be new gold-sparkle-flake color of AM's Telecaster.  Just for shits and giggles, they also failed to get the keyboard I was sharing with Gabriel Mann (of The Rescues) on his plane so as we were headed to the venue in Boston, we were told they would deliver the keyboard to the venue upon its arrival.  When the road throws you obstacles... you go laugh about them and do the best you can to roll with it.  

While The Rescues did a songwriter workshop at The Berklee School of Music, we went to by drum heads for the kit we picked up that day from some guy on Craigslist while I looked for some keyboard stands and AM shopped for a tiny road amp.  After moving from Daddy's to Guitar Center... we managed to scrape up the gear we needed and headed over to Club Passim.  If I am correct, Club Passim is on the other side of the Charles past MIT.  We were just getting used to driving 'The Silver Bullet', our affectionately named Sprinter van, and Veronica, our Garmin satellite advisor. She's good in the city but sometimes gave up some bogus highway information in the south. Club Passim is an intimate downstairs room with tables and a vegan menu and the show was well attended.  We received our keyboard while we were 'building' (getting gear ready to put on stage).  The people were friendly and quietly attentive and it was my first opportunity to hear The Rescues live.  They all sing lead and harmony and the result is a sound that simple but rich and greater than the sum of its parts - the musical equivalent of licking melody marbled ice-cream with serve yourself harmony chunks on top.  Check out 'Let Loose The Horses'... not to be confused with the other set list I found on stage in Raleigh - a band who's kick off was a spicy number called 'Horse on a Bus'.  Speaking of ice cream... there is a place very near the venue that Kyler sweared has the best ice cream on the earth.  We decided at that hour to do margaritas rather than ice cream... but I believe her. 

We packed up, drove to our hotel outside of town and then hopped on the tram back into the city to kill a few hours. We ended up at a conventional sports bar but felt like we were at a watering hole with a few too many buff guys with backwards baseball hats waiting for someone to make a crack about their favorite sports team so they could blow off some steam.  We decided to go around the block to The Living Room, a more european flavored hang with many couch and table sections and a much more relaxed vibe.  Southern California has the Blue Line and other attempts at rail infastructure but it could certainly use something more pervasive and ubiquitous. Should have designed that into the city planning.

Philly was next and because of some tepid pre-show sales, we were excited to play but not sure how many people would be there to witness.  Traffic in Philly that afternoon blew. Almost an hour to go a few blocks.  The World Cafe is near Drexler and UPenn, Gabriel's alma mater.  It was a nice venue but probably the only show in the whole rack of 'em that was sparse.  The thing that made the night was this very nice african-american man who came up to AM and said, "thanks man, you made my summer.  I've been looking for a summer album and I came and saw Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs and was disappointed. I can hear the 60's and the 70's sounds in your music.  I really dig your sound, so thanks." Funny how the kind words of some sincere fans can fill the karma tank for days.  We had a Philly cheese steak from Abner's, which was quite good... yeah, I know everyone else has a place they say is better but we had to go with what was close and worked with our soundcheck.  After the show we walked around and ended up at the N. 3rd Bar on Brown & 3rd for a cocktail before we headed over to the most retro-chic joint around that side of Philly, North Bowl.  The boys went bowling and Rob Giles ended up edging out AM for the late night title.  We capped off the night at Lorenzo & Sons for a slice of pizza - seriously good cheese pizza.  I kid you not... the diameter of the pie was an easy 3 feet... the tosser used both forearms to throw it into shape and when I went to take a photo... the security guard in the back informed me not to do that.  I didn't want to get tackled by a fat guard in a pizza place so I put my iPhone back in my pocket.  Other mental note... hotels near places you play make for convenience and less cab fare.

Our AM set list included... Hear Me Sing, It's Been So Long, New Road, Leavenworth, Self Preservation, Grand Opinion, The Other Side, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, City Syndrome, Old Song.  The lineup included AM, me on keys, Matt DelVecchio on bass (Tristan Prettyman, Jay Nash, etc.) and the one an only Chris Lovejoy on Congas, Floor Tom and Percussion.  It was a nice chance to re-interpret some record grooves with the percussion setup and find ways to color in the AM palette.  We were fortunate to have Adrienne and Kyler come up to sing the female duet parts on While My Guitar Gently Weeps - the part was originally sung by Tina Dico (of early Zero 7 fame). City Syndrome was usually the closer and I had a number of people ask about that song, responding to the catchy chorus melody.

New Jersey seems to be the place where people who wanna be near New York without paying New York prices seem to land.  I digress... on the way out of Philly the next morning... we came upon a guy in a cow costume on the side of the highway out in front of a Chick-Filet dancing and promoting fowl.  Quite a funny sight.  How he or she didn't die of heat-stroke in that costume in that humidity is beyond me.  The drive from Philly to NYC was fairly brutal but there is always something energizing about driving into the city.  New York City hums at its own pace and one must be prepared to swim with the current.  The Canal Room is a nice venue in the Brooklyn/Soho/Tribeca area of town.  After soundcheck we hopped across the street into the Tribeca Tavern for libation. The room filled up nicely by the time of the show and the sound was encompassing.  Nice to have full arrays and a soundman on the ball.  Someone is always coming out in NY to have a listen and we came away from the show feeling good about the set and the sound.  After packing up our gear under a slight rainfall, AM, his sister and I headed over to a friend of Adrienne's loft where we were graciously treated to homemade chili after no dinner and a long evening.  It was a beautiful flat with high ceilings and a grand piano and it was nice to sit around the kitchen and talk shop with The Rescues.  Next time we will get to explore some dives.  

I'll post some photos when I have a chance.  I'm going to have to bite this off in chunks.  So there's the first third of the tour in brief - getting our legs, hanging with our new mates in The Rescues and swinging between Adrienne's 80's mix and AM's italian soundtrack pastiche.  It is hot back there.  Apparently the tradeoff for trees, brick buildings and barbeque is relinquishing yourself to the oppressive and inescapable humidity.  Sticky, folks.  West coast whiners, whatever... say what you will - Long Beach is 75 and dry suckas! Till next time.