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I am now back in Terlingua, back from the month long RailRoad Folk tour with my friend and songwriter, Elam Blackman. While I have been a songwriter for awhile, I would consider this my first national tour. The economics and logistics of touring independently never seemed appealing to me before the idea of doing it by train. Well, it worked! We performed in Central Texas, Far West Texas, Yucca Valley, Santa Monica, SF and the Bay area, Portland Oregon, Bellingham Washington, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Chicago, and New Orleans. I could write pages and pages about it, but instead, here are way too many photos.

Green Thumbing Across Texas

As a performing songwriter, I am expected to be a troubadour as well, traveling from town to town, serenading strangers in different settings. But driving from town to town is not so green. Nor is it cheap. I sat down and did the math for a performance I had scheduled last weekend in Far West Texas, one of the most remote regions in the country. The truth in the math suggested to me that I should cancel the gig. Why ? The round trip in my red Volvo, “Ruby”, would cost me about the same in gasoline as I was getting paid for the gig. And driving solo all the way across Texas is the sort of guilt which keeps me awake at night. Not wanting to let down the venue or lose work ethic points, I was determined to find a solution.

I had participated in many rideshares before, but only between major cities, and never for a gig where I needed to haul my guitar and other related paraphernalia. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to pull this off. I closed my eyes and thought about all the vehicles whizzing around everywhere with all their empty seats. Surely I could do this. The adventurer within was awakened.

The first part was easy. I got on craigslist and searched the rideshare ads. Luck struck ! There was a driver heading out West from Austin Texas to Marfa, TX for a Film Festival. I contacted her. Even though her email alias was tagged as “Creepy”, I took a chance. I attributed the name choice to the Greenland/Iceland reverse psychology theory. She turned out to be rather normal, not overly normal, and a very good driver. The other passenger and I had some friends in common. After our rideshare team was assembled, we headed out west. The trip to Alpine cost us each $13 in gas in her Toyota Corolla, and placed me within 80 miles of my final destination. My Volvo would have charged me close to $60 if I had driven these 400 miles solo, each way ! Ruby demands premium gasoline. I have tried to trick her a few times, but she knew the difference and did not react kindly.

In Alpine, I stood on Hwy 118 and stuck out my thumb. Hitchhiking is technically illegal in Texas, but when the sheriff drove by, he smiled and waved. A new red pick up truck pulled over. Kaleb told me that he had seen me perform in Terlingua before and offered me a ride. After he dropped me off about 15 miles from Terlingua, I accosted the mailman. He told me he was heading into town, and so I rode with him to Terlingua. In Terlingua, I got lucky again and encountered the bartender of the “Thirsty Goat” in Lajitas, the bar I was playing in that night. Against the will of the drivers, I pitched in for gas for these shorter journeys to help the drivers a bit with their guzzlers. All in all, I got from Austin, Texas to Lajitas for $22. There is no bus that comes out this way and no mass transit of any kind in this tiny town. In addition to the savings and free adventure, my final reward came from a very appreciative gentleman in the audience who started throwing $100 bills in my tip jar. No Joke !

It pays to travel green.

Maker Faire

Thanks to the folks at the Maker Faire for having me play. The Maker Faire is a festival for creative inventors. It is usually held in San Francisco, but was held in Austin, TX for the first time. Some of the highlights was a demonstation from the 17 year old kid who hacked the iphone before anyone else did, a huge mentos and diet coke explosion display by the team who first You Tubed the idea, and a ferris wheel that rolls around freely on the ground. My favorite invention was a tiny remote control keychain with one button that can turn off any TV in the world ( in airports, malls, etc. ). I felt a little undeserving to be there since I didn't invent anything, but I suppose that I invented the songs I performed. I look forward to going again next year.

Marfa Picking Club

I was fortunate to stumble upon and sit in with "picking club" at the Marfa Coffeehouse in Marfa, TX. The mandolins, accordians, guitars, and voices all echoed through the room. These folks meet and play every Thursday from 7 to 9 pm, however, last night we played until after 10 pm since the coffeehouse stayed open to accomodate the early crowds of the Chinati Weekend Festival. The were lots of names, but the ones I remember are Banjo Billy, Wendy, Gary, Paul, Jim, Drew ( Marfa Public Radio 93.5 FM ), and Tim ( the Marfa Bookstore ). Thanks to Chase ( Marfa Coffeehouse owner ) for hosting this event.

thanks terlingua !

Thanks to the famous Starlight Theater in Terlingua for having me play last night to a packed house. Thanks to whoever put a $50 bill in the tip jar. Thanks for whoever cooked the Portabello mushroom "steak". And thanks to Peter for the free breakfast at the Ghost Town Cafe this morning.

Phoenix

Mama Java's had a sparce, but quality crowd. However, they don't stop their expresso machine during songs, like the Bazaar Cafe does. They did send us off with loads of Bagels and pastries though. After Phoenix, we drove to Tucson to pick up Trevor Smith's ( of Green Mountain Grass ) bicycle. Trevor's mom had potato salad and muffins waiting for us, which we gobbled down. We figured out that we would have to drive through the night in order to make it to the house concert in San Antonio on time. We drove as far as possible before resting inside a roadside teepee for several hours. We were woken by a cop, who was just making sure that we weren't "illegals". He apologized and told us to watch out for rattle snakes and "illegals". We trekked on. Along the way, in the van, I won the Joanna Newsom sound-alike contest. "Oh, my Love...Oh it was a funny little thing."