I have so much catching up to do here in blogworld. My little one week tour with Mark Growden was really interesting. It was my first solo tour ever and it was terrifying and wonderful. Terrifying because i am really scared of performing solo. Wonderful because I met so many great people, and performed through my fear.
Day #1: Justin and I drove to Chico to meet Mark, on the way we stopped to take photos of ourselves among the depressed sunflowers. We then stopped for peaches and pie at a fruit stand and I got some mango salsa which I insisted was really a good gazpacho and ate with a spoon while Justin laughed at me. We decided that my tour nickname would be "a half a slice of cheese" and Justin's would be "Chaucer." The first show was put on by the lovely folks at Tion in Chico and was attended by some Octo-Shirt wearing fans! Go me! I was really nervous but I made it through. Thank you Christopher for making me feel slightly famous, and to all those cute boys at Tion who danced the night away with me after I was done singing.
Days #2 and #3: Drove to Eugene and sang a song at Sam Bond's to entice people to come to our show the next day. Micheal and Leah were putting us up in their gorgeous fairyland cottage in the backyard. Mark made breakfast and Justin made a giant bee for the stage. At some point in the afternoon before my show the bottom dropped out of my confidence and I almost started crying while I sang. The show was magical anyway, and I was joined by a great saw player named Erin. We were fed wonderful food and entertained by Michael's super talented band "Mood Area 52" and basically seduced by two of the most beautiful people I have ever met. Seriously: Michael, Leah, THANK YOU!
Day #4: Portland bound! We played a secret house show at Genia and Tia's where I met Jordan and Katie who had hung posters for my street team. Thank you! Thank you!! I was only a little nervous. Then we had macaroni and cheese at Montage.
Day #5: Drove to Seattle, ate yummy Ethiopian food at Seattle center and ran around in the fountain, then did gymnastics on the lawn. Handstands are getting pretty good. Then we went to Max and Theresa's house where Olivia had set up a wonderful show for us. I was almost not nervous at all, the show was really fun. The house was great, the people were even greater. I love playing house shows and I love Max, Theresa and Olivia for making it happen. Thank you!
Day #6: Back to PDX for our show in Portland. I was a little worried about time since I had promised my street team I would make pie to thank them for helping me promote the show. My friend Molly let me use her oven while she made art - Molly is one of my favorite people and artists in the world. She rocks. I got my pie made in time while Justin made me a narwhal for the stage. We had a pie party in front of the venue - along with some fans too young to go to the 21+ show (I hate age restrictions!) Sal, Mark, Katie, Jordan, David, Molly: THANK YOU!
The show was great, the venue sounded fantastic, I was only a little nervous, but mostly very charming - or so I heard. Then we had more macaroni and cheese at Montage and I got a giraffe shaped takeout package.
Day #7: Drove to Medford which sucked. Played late to a very nice but very small crowd. Then we drove until 5 am to Chico. That really sucked.
Day #8: Justin and I left Mark in Chico and drove on to Nevada City where I did a short set in a record store. Thank you Mat at After the Gold Rush Records, and Tyler, and Jinny, And Jen, and Ben!
Day #9: Nevada City was filled with smoke from fires so we hightailed it out of there with me in a fit of coughing.
Thank you to Mark Growden for touring with me. Thank you to Sean for sending me uplifting text messages and general goodness. Thank you to Justin for EVERYTHING, you are my favorite touring buddy.
Now I'm home, getting ready to record my album, buying tickets to fly all over the place for shows, feeling good but nervous about the future and getting on with my life.
Song today: Canto 1 by Le Loup
