Waking dehydrated, I stumbled downstairs to the kitchen in my underwear to find all the guys sleeping in similar attire, with the most tortured facial expressions. The muggy summer heat. I took a shower and was sweating by the time I exited the bathroom. Loading my gear out to the car was a blast. The hilly ground was soft and wet, hard to keep footing on while carrying 50 pounds of stuff, or to position in the car when it was on a 30 or 40 degree incline and stuff kept spilling, falling, sliding around. Not to mention the stairs down from the house were the last nail in the coffin of the previously existing condition known as full body exhaustion. I finished loading out and took another shower. Sweat on the way to the car as I gave my goodbyes.

Stopped downtown for a little bit, cute and quaint with brick sidewalk and even road. Old. A step back. Gassed up and drove towards Pittsburgh, skirting West Virginia along the way. When I think of the term “middle of nowhere” in the sense of it being amidst thriving nature, but relatively little human inhabitation in spite of how close it is to most of the country’s major urban areas, I think of West Virginia. It really does feel untouched, moreso than most anywhere else, it seems. It’s just deep country. How many X-Files episodes take place here? Enough, that’s for sure. I’d really like to spend some solid time here and see it for real.

The highway crosses a river again and brings me back into Ohio, the state’s slogan is “So much to discover.” I’ve spent around 10 or 11 days here on this tour now, and am ready to leave. It’s been a good time and I honestly don’t know of any other band who has played this state so many times in one trip. Even bands from here told me they saw my calendar and had no idea how I got so many shows in the state. Neither do I, really. It was worth it though, there’s really no sense in skipping a place if you have a chance to try it.


2 hours later, and Pennsylvania Welcomes You.

At the Pennsylvania Welcome Center, there were Christian ladies with a booth set up with free cookies and soda. They were very sugary.

Approaching Pittsburgh from the Southwest on I-376 is very unique, because you see signs saying that the city is mere miles away, but there is virtually no civilization in sight. There are lovely hills dressed in the thickest green trees, ebbing and flowing all across the horizon, and no hint of a mid-sized city anywhere. Then you approach the Fort Pitt Tunnel and it all goes dark for two minutes. When the tunnel opens up, all of a sudden the sun’s radiance explodes and blinds your dilating pupils, the downtown skyline thrusts itself square in front of you, a grand river runs below the bridge, and a volley of highway signs directing traffic to a dozen different exits and offramps shoot up overhead. Trying to pick out which one is yours in the matter of seconds that fly by is overwhelming, and amazing. And then you’re blasting through downtown city streets among the bikers, pedestrians and skyscrapers a moment later. I’d consider this my favorite entrance to a city in the entire country, with Savannah, Georgia at sunset being my second favorite (and in a very different way). There are videos of this on youtube, but they can’t quite capture the feeling of driving in for the first time, not really sure of where you’re going and being overstimulated by it all.

Today’s show was at Garfield Artworks. Richard, who set up the show made it into a late afternoon barbecue sort of thing with like 8 performances, almost all of which had different video artists projecting work for the sets. It was an awesome time. And it was great that there was so much food available and everyone was super friendly. I was having a pretty great time and felt really good about the show. Even managed to read a little bit.

Manny, who owns the space and has been booking shows in Pittsburgh for like twenty years is known to be a bit grouchy or blunt when he’s not happy with something, I’ve heard. That he calls them like he sees them and has no hesitation to unleash what can be vicious words. But I found him really relatable. I like to think I understand why people who have been around forever, or aren’t necessarily the most popular people in town are perceived in certain ways. That it doesn’t really mean anything bad in the long run, it’s just people’s opinions and if you’re making things happen, that’s it. He even confided a few things in me about people we knew, sort of, just kind of talked about things he’s had to go through and put up with. It made sense to me. And after I played, I wandered back to the table for a soda and he straight up told me something that I definitely won’t forget, but can’t remember the exact wording. Something like “That was good. What are you doing, doing this? Playing house shows on these crazy DIY tours to noone, not making any money, releasing your own stuff. You should be signed to like Kranky or something. What are you doing here? Think about it.”

It was pretty powerful, however he phrased it. I remember being kind of frozen by it, thinking about all my friends who have been breaking their backs doing this for forever, fighting for the attention of drunken twenty-somethings caught in a passing phase between teen years and cubicles, that might not mean that much to them, but is all we have, at least for a few of us. Lately I’ve been thinking about how I’ve been getting older, about weeding through the muck, trying to find friends in the only place I’ve ever really known, and how it keeps changing around me. How I’m not here to party and frolic like I’m in a theme park on the verge of going out of business. How my cold, robotic seriousness makes it a little tougher to cope with the reality of living in this sort of subculture than if I just let loose and tried to enjoy the ride until something different dominates my life. If it ever does. Not that I don’t have a good time doing this, but it’s weird to think about the fact that there are alternatives. I’ve seen the party animal reckless musician types and that’ll never be me. And I’ve seen the guys who play clubs that someone who has never been in a band booked them at from across the country. The guys who sit at home and record everyday and never really integrate too much with their peers. All the different stereotypes that exist of underground/independent musicians, or just in general. It’s just something to think about that doesn’t have any clear questions or answers.

After the show, I went to Mike of the Honest Bag blog’s house to go sleep. I was kind of wary at first before I met him since I don’t align at all with the main theme that prevails throughout his blog, but I knew he’d be a positive and friendly person and wanted to hang out. You really can’t judge a book by it’s cover. He was among the most sweet people I have ever met, just brimming with soulful energy, so nice and sincere. His mother had been expecting us and laid out a giant feast that we could barely make a dent in.

His mother’s house felt like walking into a Victorian home from centuries ago, like it was on the historic register or something. The furniture and decor might as well have come out of a museum, it was a pinnacle of beauty and splendor. I just felt like I was in a castle or something. Mike and I stayed up and talked about our mutual friends, and our experiences/interactions with music and life, and growing up and everything until past 4 AM and then I slept in the spare bedroom. It was a great day that pushed the boundaries of 24 hours at that point and had to finally end. Can’t wait to go back to Pittsburgh.