Dear Diary

It has been a long time now since I have written you. A lot has transpired since the last installment. We’re in Connecticut now, fresh from an exhilarating show at the Maine Maritime Academy. What a beautiful state. Lakes and ponds were frozen over, and the air was still and crisp.

We had a hotel on the water, overlooking a river. I guess this isn’t as exceptional in Maine as it is elsewhere in the country, but it was still gorgeous none-the-less.

Our gracious hosts at MMA made sure we had a spectacular time. And they were right…the cafeteria nachos were awesome for the first hour.

Midnight tolled the start of Dave’s birthday, and the beginnings of a long celebration. Without going into details, Sanction freaking OWNS at beer pong.

Back in CT the next afternoon, we again took dave out proper, since it was his ACTUAL birthday. But somehow the meal got pushed back until Saturday, so when my own birthday comes up soon, I’ll be reminding him of the three days of celebration we afforded him.

Next stop: Boston University and 2 dates @ Northeastern.

dusty the red

Do you feel Randy?

So check this out:

Thanks to our very good friend, Sailesh (a bitchin' hypnotist that you HAVE to check out when he comes to your town!), we made another very good friend in Randy Wilson, Jr. See, here's what happened:

We got booked (by Randy) to play Duffy's Tavern in the great college town of Lincoln, Nebraska. Good plan, right? Well, there was one minor flaw... it was during SPRING BREAK! College town on spring break = no audience. And I mean no audience for our show on Wed night. When we got to our last song, the only person sitting out there was Randy, himself!!! Well, Randy refused to let us leave Nebraska with that kind of opinion of his town. So he proceeds to ask Josh and I to come out the next night to play an acoustic set at his place (he owns a sports grill which is not really made for full band shows). He THEN proceeds to personally call everyone he knows in town and invite them to the show. I have never seen a club owner work so hard to bring in people for a band. Never.

The next day, as we are enjoying some killer food at Randy's place, he comes in all excited with a copy of our cd in his hand. Seems that he had been playing the cd (and the video) for people ALL DAY LONG and was so amped that he convinced us to play a full rock show instead of the acoustic one. Despite our fear that we would make his crowd bleed from the ears, we agreed. The result was one of the best (and most fun) shows we have played in quite some time. Everyone there loved it (not ONE complaint about the volume) and finished in time to enjoy a few drinks with some of the fine people of Lincoln before the 1am cut off. It was a very good night.

So we extend our thanks to Randy for proving to us that Lincoln is a place we should come back to and thanks to all of Randy's regulars who made it out for the show. We will be back!

- Jay

r&r

The day off was much-needed. After driving mostly non-stop for the past couple weeks (we picked up the RV on the east coast, drove it west to load it, and immediately set back out on tour), just having a chance to kick up our feet and make a real meal was a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

We spent a little time on the Internet. I made breakfast (eggs w/ asparagus, cheese, salsa, ham and garlic), we lounged about, and Dave made dinner (mustard chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and sauteed portabella mushrooms). We ate like fat rats, and rubbed our bellies like the swine that we are.

I'd also like to put in a side note that Josh's grandma is an awesome cook and made sure we gained a few pounds a day.

We're off now to Lincoln, Nebraska, for a Tuesday night show. Night driving, yet again. Haven't seen much scenery yet on this trip...

_dusty

0ff and running

Once the snowstorm passed, we again hit the road, pulling in to Great Falls, Montana just in time to have a shower and begin setting up for our show at the Loading Zone. This place was a full-on biker bar, filled with the exact people you would imagine. THe burly, tattooed men sipped their draughts as the massive bartender sucked on a cig. The old man in cowboy boots lounging by the taps looking on skeptically as we four young rockers hauled our gear on stage.

This being the first full-band show of the tour, we were both excited and anxious. We felt a million miles removed from Los Angeles as we positioned our amps and kit. There were no friends in this crowd, and no comfort zone to speak of. But this is what the road is all about.

Jay and Josh took the stage for round 1, breezing through a 45-minute acoustic set as Dave and I sat back. The crowed cheered, heads bobbed, boots rocked on rhythm, and everything was off and running.

Sets two and three were full-band, and by the second song all anxiety had melted away. The moment on stage is what we live for. The adrenaline is an addiction stronger than any other.

When the show ended, the crowd stayed to BS and have a drink with us, posing for photos and sharing laughs. The tour is off and running.

Thank you to everyone we met in Great Falls. You were a wonderful crowd, and we can't wait to get back there.

We unfortunately had to call it a night a bit early, as we had a show the next night across the state in Miles City, at the Texas Club. More good people, more good times.

And a little PS about Miles City...it may be a small town, but it has some absolutely badass pizza. Hit up Mama's place, you'll love it.

We're presently in Ft. Collins, Colorado, hanging with Josh's grandparents and enjoying the snow that's falling like finely sifted flour. There will be no horrendous snowstorm on this day...

_dusty

The Les who was more...

So here we are, a few dipshits on tour. We're rolling in an RV, cause we've always envied the retired.

We just got finished playing an acoustic show at CBC (who was very gracious and totally awesome by the way), and we're on our way to Great Falls, Montana. Unfortunately, the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and we're currently sitting just outside of Spokane, WA, parked and waiting out the storm. The roads are slick with ice, and a bitter wind is howling. At least the snow has let up.

We pulled off the freeway, intent on shutting down for the night. A misleading road sign had us driving up some back-country road that obviously hasn't been plowed since hell last froze over. We happen upon a church whose parking lot was big and empty enough to turn our behemoth vehicle, and are slowly making our way back to the main road.

At under 10mph, we pull up to a stop sign, only to find that our brakes have been rendered useless, sending us silently sliding off the pavement into a thick patch of mud. Everyone was safe, but the RV was stuck like a pig on a spit.

As we're calling around, desperately trying to find someone who can winch out an RV, along comes this middle-age guy bundled head to toe and toting a huge bag of white powder. Long story short, this crazy motherfucker (seriously, it's snowing. What's he doing out driving around?!) starts spreading his powder, something called "Suck-It Up," all over the ground around our tires, simultaneously pitching his product and insulting us "idiots" for getting stuck in the first place.

We're able to get out, therefore avoiding the undoubtedly horrendous winching fees.

The dude's name is Lester Kuty, as in cutie, as in "hey baby, you're a cutie *wink wink*" He refused our cash, but did make us buy his massive bag of Suck-It Up. Apparently this crap instantly turns anything you can imagine into a powdery substance. We're talking coffee, ice, urine, poop, whatever.

Anyone who knows me surely understands my excitement at the prospect of having unlimited substances turned into powder. Jay says we have to save the bag, in case we idiots get stuck again. But I'm already thinking of the endless possibilities of an instant powder-turner-into.

Yes, my dreams shall be sweet tonight…

PS Les actually founded and developed Suck-It Up. It’s not like he was just some dude who happened to have it in the back of his car. What a crazy situation, start to finish. Glad he happened to be driving by… We're deeply indebted

_dusty, lord of the white powder

Damn You DMV!

Okay, so we were supposed to leave last night but we spent the day stuck in CT because the dealership lost (or rather didn't bother to get) our temporary registration. As Josh and Dave sat in an RV that we couldn't even drive down the street for sodas, I spent all day on the phone with the dmv in NY, CA, and CT trying to figure out our options. In the end, turns out that we had none. So, in yet another move showing how cool he is, Mike somehow convinced his boss (owner of a mechanic shop in CT) to loan us a dealer tag. I think the conversation went something like "I don't want to hear how they are heading all the way to California. I don't want to hear how it's a risk. All I want to hear you say is 'sure Mike. No problem.' Now how about it?" 30 minutes later, we were finally on the long road back to Cali. So, uh, yeah. Anyone in CT who reads this and sees Mikey at a show... buy the man a beer, will ya?

- Jay