Hello All You Big Bus Lovin' Daddios!
As we got back from the longest tour we've ever attempted, everyone asked the exact same question: "So, how was it?," which is a much harder question to answer honestly than you'd think. A band the size of ours lives on the extreme ends of the spectrum. If we told you all the hard parts you'd say, "Well that sounds terrible. I'd never want to do that." But if we told you all the good parts you'd say, "That sounds like the best American road trip ever!" The answer lies in the middle, but I think we'd all easily agree that the trip was really great. We got to have the quintessential American road trip experiences; walking along the waterfront of Chicago in the summer, seeing The Badlands, going to Mt. Rushmore, driving through the beautiful state of Montana, walking around the mythical Sturgis SD, and going up in the Gateway Arch in St Louis.
We played 21 gigs in 25 days. Some of them were unexpectedly awesome, and some of them were pretty rough. But we expected as much on that front. It is always nice to find little pockets of coolness, like Lander, WY, which reminded me a lot of Santa Fe as it was a melting pot of extremely different people who share a passion for live music. Or the amount of people that came up to us saying they were from somewhere in the South and that our music reminded them of "home." We heard that a lot and loved it.
Here are a few pics of our trip!
This is the stage we played on in Chicago. This was a really cool place, right on the waterfront.
Part of our trip followed the legendary Lewis and Clark trail. Pompey's Pillar was a natural landmark that became famous in westward expansion. Clark carved his name into the rock here.
We had time to take a great hike up to a swimming hole called "The Devil's Bathtub" in Spearfish SD.
In Creede, CO we camped right beside a beautiful stream. As you can see, we are hammock camping converts. Sleeping in a hammock is 1000 times more comfy than sleeping on the ground!
A quick stop at Mt Rushmore.
Some of the beautiful scenery we drove through.
One of my favorite things we did was go up into the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. We've driven by it many times, and it is always impressive to see from the highway. But you don't realize how unbelievable this thing is until you stand under it and then go to the top. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Karen Moss and Beth Recchio had joined us by this part, and those two immediately double our party factor.
Riding up in the tiny little "pod."
This is looking straight down. Those tiny things are CARS down there!!
Looking straight up.
Before you go...
Thanks for keeping up with us, and please check out our schedule as we'll be playing a lot of southeastern shows in the next couple of months.
See ya there,
Brian and BDL
Upcoming Shows
8/15 Davidson, NC Carrburritos
8/16 High Point, NC Blue Bourbon Jack's
8/17 Private Event
8/22-
8/24 Lawndale, NC Clear Mountain View Music Festival
8/29 Washington, DC Hill Country Backyard BBQ
8/30 Terra Alta, WV Two Rivers Music and Arts Festival
8/31 Stuart, VA Front Porch Festival
9/1 Kill Devil Hills, NC Outer Banks Brewing Station
9/2 Beaufort, NC Backstreet Pub
