June 10th, 2009 Joshua Tree, CA

   

  First off, a huge thank you to all of the people that helped me and the band get by on that last tour of the States.   There are so many people that make a tour possible.  Without you there would be hard times a plenty....   Here is an almost complete list of the many folks that helped us along the way:

Andrew Colvin and all at Ground Control Touring, Katie Shaw, Michael Crow, Grand Champeen, Clare Surgeson, Tommy Robinson and all at New West Records, Breck and Bakers,  New Reservoir, Richard and Vicky Rhodes, Robin Eaton, Brad Jones, Bruno Pirecki and Shanon Chaiken at Gibson Guitars, Jenna Draper, Lara Yazvvack, Matt and One Lucky Guitar, Daytrotter Toney Saccardi, Dustin and Danielle, Stacey Egan, Joel and Amelia,  Kevin Downs, Tess, Molly Allen, JP and Ruth Anne Olsen, Amy and Fringe, Joe Ciriello at Dirty Bird To Go, Shawn and Shanon at The Oasis in New London, Bartow, Aaron Lee Tasjian for his most excellent guitar work and friendship for those four shows, Richard and Kim at The Garage in Winston, Marianne in Raleigh, Sandy and Shelly at Park Ave. CDs, Matt Butcher, Julie at the Hilton in JAX, Jason Isbell's super fans, Bob and Pete at the FIVE SPOT STUDIO in Orlando, Shilah Morrow, George Fontaine Sr. and Junior, Julie and Fritz, Troy and Teri Mumm, Kevin Buckley, Beatle Bob, the entire city of Boise and Mike Rundle who kicked ass on the drums for the Alive After Five show.

There are many more and I'm sorry if I didn't get your name on this list...

thanks Sam Brown and Alex Livingstone for playing so well and making the road an easy place.

Thanks Chantale Doyle for helping me put on a show in my home town which takes place Friday, June 12th at 7pm under the stars in beautiful, downtown Joshua Tree at the STARLITE COURTARD.

  Although the initial record release tour for Porcupine is now over, I still have not hit the west coast with this record(early September I'll be there)and there are dates booked in Canada for NXNE in a week,  Alaska(August), Seattle, Portland, San Fran in early September, midwest again in mid-September, and most likely I will be at the AMA fest in Nashville this September as well- along with a EUROPEAN TOUR in OCTOBER/NOVEMBER- the first dates are already on the tour page

 http://timeaston.com/tour.html

also, a video for 7TH WHEEL is up at 

http://www.blurt-online.com/video/view/206/

along with a whole bunch of blog and print press reviews on Porcupine, which seems to have a decent radio push going right about now as well- which will place me on World Cafe in Philly in July.

Not to mention TOUR JAPAN which happens in December and is something I am very excited about since I used to live there in grade school.   Australia is also on the horizon, but most likely for early 2010.

All this and I am back home working hard on new paintings for art shows that will take place next year in Whitesburg, KY and Houston, TX plus I have to finish the Porcupine 500 series (you didn't think I could have finished all 500 covers by now!) and also get to work on this next record of mine which will be a double album if all goes as planned.

  Now...I'm going to back up a few weeks and drop you off at the spot that I decided to start writing down my tour thoughts....here's a particularly rough start in....

  Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.   May 20 something.....

   Digo las cosas como tale son.  

   I'm at a Motel 6 on the outskirts of Muskogee, alone and covered in flea bites from my time in Austin.  It's well after midnight and I've been driving all afternoon and evening from central Texas, through another summer storm.  Luckily, I have some Dr. Bronner's soap around to remind me of home, so I grabbed a hot shower and then struggled for a minute or two trying not to turn on the TV-  but it's too late, and the HBO is buzzing across the room.  The road is so romantic...

  Last Sunday wrapped up another phase in this early summer PORCUPINE tour.  I had a decent show at Hole In The Wall and since it was the evening of Memorial Day it went better than expected.  Sam Brown, who had been playing drums up until Tampa, was already back home in Ohio, and so Alex Livingstone and I performed as a duo, which we had been doing since making our way west from Jacksonville.   My friend Beth from Alaska joined us on fiddle for a few songs and it made the set much better.  Tomorrow I'll be in St. Louis for the first in a series of solo shows where I will do my best to recreate the energy of this current album, while working my way back home to Joshua Tree for my homecoming album release show at The Starlite courtyard on June 12th.  

  I am actually very satisfied to be traveling solo again- at least for the time being.  There must be 20 half written songs floating around my head right now and when I am alone on the road I am able to actually get some writing done, like this journal entry for example.   I also have a very good portable recording rig with me, and I can work on some new songs plus add some parts to the 8 songs me and the band cut in Orlando last week before heading our separate ways.

  We recorded a few old tunes, in order to warm up- including a fairly spirited version of Jesus Protect Me From Your Followers,(NOT ALL OF THEM, JUST THE ONES WHO TURN FEAR INTO LOVE AND HATRED) which I guess was inspired by some of the things we've heard on the radio while driving around the country again.  We also recorded some newer ones called THE WEIGHT OF CHANGING EVERYTHING and BEAT THE BAND.   

  A film I have seen before and loved despite the disturbing reality of it all called The Savages is on.  It is one powerful tragicomedy.  The estranged brother and sister leads (Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney)in an Arizona hotel watching Laurel and Hardy on the late night television and  the subject of the entire film is hitting me pretty hard so another chance at writing bites the dust.

Friday, May 29th, 2009    North Platte. Nebraska

  I drove ten hours from St. Louis yesterday and listened to all the CDs that folks gave me on the road.   I have collected nearly 12 different ones in the last few months, along with 8 tee-shirts from record stores and bars.   I started really listening to what people recorded after traveling with Mark Eitzel, who I noticed would listen to the music that people gave him.

Not sure if it was out of courtesy or curiosity, or both, but every now and then a gem would be unearthed and yesterday it was a CD by Grace Basement called Gunmetal Grey.  There were the obvious Beatles and Beach Boys layered harmony influences that are on many of the records being put out by the best and brightest these days, along with some arrangements that took me by supirse.

  

  The last thing I listened too, after all the CDs and classic rock and NPR and Fresh Air and Talk of The Nation and a few preachers and some classical and some complete silence so I could write...the last thing was the collection of demos called OVER SEAS that Easton, Stagger, Phillips made when we were in Europe last fall.   I was stunned at how fresh and strong it all sounded- despite some mixing issues where I put in too much bass, it was really like listening to a new album, and there are some qualities to these "tweaner" bits of songs and the actual songs themselves that we will have to keep for our next project, whenever we get around to making it.   Just listening to it got me very excited to make another record with them.   Together, I feel we are a song writing team that is going to make something worth a damn or two.

  Then North Platte happened...

   First of all, the only game in town was at the Touchdown Club where the sign said it was BLACKOUT THURSDAY.    That's the way they like to "porty" around this part of the nation.   I took a peak inside the door of the club and it was pretty disturbing-  unless you dig bad disco, one dollar well drinks, cheap cigarettes, and large groups of large people.

  Then, the Motel 6 was all booked up so I got a room at the Howard Johnson's down the way.   A family of four checked in right after me and as we were both heading to our rooms a completely loud, rowdy, and rude bunch of folks showed up to take their room next to ours and proceed to throw down with a serious hotel room and balcony party.    These folks simply had no volume control on their voices and they liked to say "fuck" A LOT.   Not kidding, maybe 200 times outside my door I heard that word or variations of it.    I was so wiped out I really didn't care, but I felt bad for the family who had the room right next door to them.    Eventually, the TV drowned them out and I fell asleep.

  That's two nights in a row where I have put on the TV.   I might be trying to escape a bit, but who wouldn't?

  Today, I drive another ten hours to check into the Marriott in Salt Lake City, where I have a two days to chill out before heading towards Boise.

SATURDAY, 6.30.09    SALT LAKE CITY, UT

    Neko Case is here with the Calexico boys tomorrow, and I might have to stick around and check that out as it is always important to be inspired by great art.

  When I first started this blog or journal entry, I meant to back way up to SXSW of this year and talk about how after all these years it was the best one, musically speaking, that I have ever been too.   I wanted to write a love letter to Austin for hosting that great party, and I wanted to thank the excellent musicians that helped me make it happen:  Alex Livingstone on bass, Mark Stepro on drums, and Aaron Tasjian on guitar(who also happens to be a member of the New York Dolls).   They gave my songs room to breathe, something I have not felt in a long time.   

  I also wanted to write about and thank Randy at Yard Dog who gave me my first real out of town art show.   It was a great success and helped change the way SXSW worked for me.   It's basically a large plumber's convention for musicians and music business people.   Instead of plumbing, they listen to each other talk about how their going to survive in the age of the computer.  It's no secret that the music business is going under some difficult times, but as some guerilla marketing folks have pointed out, those that do something new and different will survive, and those that cling on to the old ways will not.   Having this art show and painting my own collection of vinyl album covers was my way of doing something new, and it worked very well.   I have since had an art show in NYC, and next will be Anchorage, Fairbanks, Tokyo, and hopefully Melbourne.   Anybody else that wants one all you have to do is contact the Red Arrow Gallery in Joshua Tree mailto:katie@theredarrowgallery.com and we'll set something up.

  Anyways, I wanted to write about these things- about how beautiful Austin is- and then work and traveling and setting up the Porcupine album happened- not to mention a quick trip to Juneau, Alaska where I performed at the Alaska Folk Festival and stayed up every night all night with the greatest musicians from that state, playing and learning tunes until the sun came up.   Seriously, my hat is off to that great, free, and truly "for the folk" festival.  That is how it is done.   

  I had a gig each night of the festival thanks to the great Alaskan drummer Kliff Hopson, and we tore it up each night over a list of songs that covered many years.

  The days in Juneau were spent bopping back and forth from the musical hangs to the Capitol building where the Alaska congress was in session and the governor was in hot water for not being around.    I sat in the gallery and watched them at work and ended up serenading the politicians and their staff on the capitol steps.   It was a good week for learning, plus, I was able to directly participate in the Alaska political system when I introduced State Senator Joe Paskvan(who was at a few of my shows) to his constituent and my fairbanks friend Doctor Tim Foote, who was able to help him explain some things about his electronic health care bill to the other side of the house.

  So I wanted to write about these things(!)and then suddenly I was flying back to Austin to pick up Alex Livingstone(bass) and the Grand Champeen van and drive to Columbus, Ohio to pick up Sam Brown(drums) and warm up with some small town shows and then play the midwest, east coast, south, deep south, Florida, and back across to Austin to wrap it up.  It was then I remembered about the love letter to Austin.

Put it this way:  Austin, TX has  great people, great food, great music, great times in every direction.  It's one of those towns that makes you think over and over about moving there since every time you turn a corner there is something cool to do.  This will sound bland to those that live there, or they will be reminded that not every town is as great as theirs.

  Today, I'm waking up in Salt Lake and actually taking my time getting moving, which is nice for a change.   It's been go go go and rain rain rain- seriously, the rainiest tour ever including a state of emergency in Florida.

The sun is shining outside so I'm going to do something different for myself and that is go for a long walk in whatever direction I please and basically get some excersize after a month on the road cooped up in a vehicle.   

  later that night-

I ended up walking around what felt like a pretty sterile downtown until I came upon an old house that was, sure enough, Bringham Young's place.  Before I knew it I was in the middle of a Polygamy discussion with the two young women who were showing me around the place!   Mr. Young had 50 plus children, you know, so I had to ask some questions.

6.31.09   Salt Lake City, UT

  I played a benefit for Utahfm.org last night and all was good.  Since departing from the rhythm section I have moved back into troubadour mode and am talking more to the audiences and having fun with changing up the set list a little.  Certain songs, like "Porcupine," for example, just don't work without the drums and bass, so I skip that one and play something older or newer.   I mean, I can play it, but it's just not as fun.   I suppose it wouldn't be a song if I couldn't play it by myself on guitar, standing on stage or sitting by the camp fire.

   There are hundreds of two or three chord songs out there that are standard camp fire tunes that everyone can play and have become so popular that people will sing them forever in those moments of late night group singalongs or hootenanies, as they used to be called.   There's the school of late nighters that will stick to the classic folk, bluegrass, and old timey stuff- which was mostly what was happening in Juneau, or what you will find at most any bluegrass festival parking lot-and then there's the classic rockers who will bust out the Stones or some Kinks and bring it forward with some Dylan,  Neil Young or Tom Petty.  Then there's the jam scene which mixes a little Dead or country blues into their jamgrass and maybe Townes Van Zandt's "White Freightliner" or "Rock Me" by Old Crow Show Medicine Show, a song which has completely and understandably jumped the line to be a standard at all sing song events across the land.

Both last two  songs and many others have basically become standards at many a late night guitar pull-crossing over the lines between strict bluegrass folks and their jammier cousins-  and it's to this list that I am working towards adding a song to.   

Then there's the other late night sessions when it's all about the original songs- those that are trying to add to the great collection of established songs.   Gillian Welch is another songwriter who has added to the great list of sing along songs with Orphan Girl and many other amazing tunes.

From these thoughts and many, many sessions through the years, I have decided to create my next album in two parts.  Twenty songs, two discs, one disc called CAMP FIRE TRADITION or FIRE SIDE TRADITION or maybe LATE NIGHT TRADITION or maybe CAMPFIRE PROPAGANDA, which is the name of my column at The Joshua Tree Republic 

http://www.joshuatreerepublic.com and it will be a collection of traditional sounding songs  that are actually originals and recorded with a stripped down acoustic band and no overdubs.     The other disc will be newer and more introspective songs with a few more twists and turns and a louder band behind it.  This will be called Tim Easton, Since 1966.

  So there it is, my ideas in blog form for anyone to see.   I know I should just do it instead of writing about it so after I get this here blog done I will get to work immediately.   

  

Monday, June 1st, 2009      Salt Lake City, UT

  Four days in a row where I've woken up and written!  A miracle on the road.   Of course, I've been in the same town for three of the days, so it's not that big of a deal, but I was so wiped out from all the traveling and it's been good to work on new material.    

  I finished a song last night called "The Daily Life."   The lyrics are

Oh yeah, I feel it too

It's been so long since I've been steady

In the midwest, there's not much to do

smoke cigarettes until your ready

to quit again

I'll bet you need something else then

The cymbals are ringing inside

the space that used to be my brain

Now I'm waiting for you to comply

and fill it up once again

with pictures and words

straight lines and curves

They're building and building and building and building some more

I love to walk and count the cranes

This town will be something when they finally get through

trading the blue sky for the stains

_____________________________________________

It's a bit of a shout out to the entertainment world, and myself, to give us something more than fluff.   It's no secret that TV, radio, and the cinemas are full of garbage, so in a way I could say Oh film maker, give us something to take home tonight, pictures are cool, but I need something bigger to hold me tight...or whatever.   It's a call to arms for creativity.

  Last night, I went to see some of the best and brightest in this land.

John and Joey from Calexico were opening for Neko Case at a beautiful outdoor ampitheatre here in town and we had picnic style seats way up close.   It was truly inspirational, and they gave me something to take home.

Wednesday, June 3rd,  2009    Boise, ID

  A blue bird sky day this morning with storms on the horizon.  I'm here to kick of the Alive After Five series which everyone says is a 2000 person city wide party that takes place every Wednesday throughout the summer.   A very good way to introduce myself to the city of Boise, a place that for some reason or another I have never been to until now.

  Right of the bat you can tell it's a hidden gem of a town.  People around here all know it but it's pretty obvious that they have it going on here.   Tons of music venues and coffee shops and a great record store plus a huge co-op.

I asked a local what I should do if I had one nature objective and they were at a lost to describe one thing.   Finally, they suggested a hot springs and I replied "sounds good, where is it?" and they replied "there are so many."   A town with an abundance of hot springs is always tops.

  I ended up searching for Skinnydipper Springs up by Banks, Idaho and the journey was amazing.   I'd like to say the springs were amazing too but I got lost on the mountain trail and nearly injured myself pretty bad slipping down the side of a mountain.   I'll have to try again another time.

Tuesday, June 9th,   Joshua Tree

  It's been a long weekend of rock and roll here with The Eagles Of Death Metal and then Peaches both playing Pappy and Harriet's Pioneertown Palace.

I started off my return to Joshua Tree by doing a full moon bike ride through the National Park just up the mountain from my home, and then an extended weekend of rock and roll interjected with periodic naps to help me get my head on straight.   

  I do feel human again, although the six weeks on the road had me worn down to not being able to really complete sentences!   I am not complaining.  I love my job and appreciate the gift and am now energized to get started on making more art and music.  Here's to following the spirit of wanderlust and creativity.   Here's to being satisfied.