Hey there Humans,

A belated post to wrap up the gig portion of the ol' tour:
Stopped in Milwaukee on the way to Chicago, and played at the Bremen Cafe open stage on my night off. Great club, great open mike....i love rooms/situations that are really music-centric....I played a short set, had a blast, met a bunch of cool people...looks like i'll be back at The Bremen sooner than later...this is a good thing....look out for a date in the fall or so ... onto Chicago ...

Arrived in the windy city mid-afternoon today, and walked around the neighbourhood near the club...it's a few blocks from Wrigley Field...lotsa stuff to see if you're into sports 'n' shit.

The van is really starting to take a beating too: the running board on the passenger side fell right off today... i noticed a large bang under the van as i drove over a tire scrap that i couldn't avoid on the way in from Milwaukee, but just assumed the tire just scraped the underside of the van and it was fine...not so...as i pulled into the neighbourhood near the bar and stopped the van, i noticed the running board was hanging right off...all i had to do was touch it and it fell right off...the van is now lopsided(aesthetically speaking)...great...anyway, it's fine, no big deal...just gotta jack 'er up, and put some mag wheels on 'er and she'll do just fine...i mean, you gotta remember "she goes like stink bud".

Anyway, all macho-guy van talk aside, the show later on was great...played at Uncommon Ground...stellar venue...all acoustic music 7 nights/week...played with my new friend Natalie Rivera (www.myspace.com/natalierivera) .... guess i can call her my new friend 'cause she invited me down to play and the gig was packed with her friends who are all U.S. grade "A" music-loving/interesting folk ... we hung out at her buddy Justin's after, and dammit I'd call him my friend too ... so cool of you folks to take a stranger like me in off the street without knowing much more about me than i play music and don't seem overtly threatening...anyway, what can i say?

thank you,

rob

 

Hey,

I'm in Escanaba,MI...for those of you who don't know where that is(a group of folks i belonged to, before i booked the gig here), it's in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan, with Lake Superior above and lake Michigan below(west of Sault St Marie)...beautiful country up here ... although i must say that i've grown desensitized to the beautiful scenery thing ... just seen too much---it's been relentless over this trip....if it's not mountains it's desert, if it's not desert it's ocean...i figure i need to stare at four blank walls or a computer screen for 16 hrs a day for a couple months and i'll be cured....seeing as i'll be working on my new CD once i get back, that's precisely what i'll be doing.....scenery therapy.

Anyway, the show last night was...umm....great venue...great folks....all 3 of 'em....yeah....major bummer....guess there was a street festival a few blocks away, which is where everyone was....i'm told playing here in the winter is best....must learn to deal with this kinda bummer better...i mean, really, like 30 or so great shows and one bummer and it'll bum me out for days....ahhh...at least it's good 'n' hot here think i'll go to the beach....got a day off....then Milwaukee tomorrow, and Chicago, then HOME!!....funny, never really been excited to go back home before....guess i'm a little cooked after 5 weeks, need to recharge...take some time off and get started on finishing the next CD.

rob

Hey Chums,

I'm writing you from Des Moines(french for...Of Monks??),Iowa ... i figured since i'd been living like a monk for the last few days, it would be fitting to stop here...been doing nothing but driving, eating sardines, rice cakes and granola....and some belgian beer....probably brewed by belgian monks...that's what i tell myself ....

lots to report since the last post:
-played the gigs on San Fran...ate one of the better meals of the tour at Brainwash cafe(earlier gig): seared, garlic/herb-rubbed Idaho trout w/ corn relish, wild rice and spinach salad, with a glass of Merlot...in a laundromat!!...now try and tell me the kids in San Fran don't live high on the hog for chrissakes!...the gig itself was ok, nothing to write in a blog about...the gig later at Hotel Utah was yee-ha...the kids got pumped and so did i... great folks, great venue (two tiers with gallery-type seating above the regular bar)...pretty cool affair all around, must return there soon...

-immediately after the gig, i loaded up the van and drove over the bay bridge into the night...thought it would be dramatic to write that.....that's what i did though...i got as far as the Lake Tahoe-ish kinda area around 4am before i had to shut 'er down at a rest stop in the mountains near the Cali-Nevada border....got a few hours rest and hit the road into the desert....now THIS is cool driving!!....strange scenery and a live-able speed limit: 70MPH=125KMPH="she goes like stink bud".....things were going well until someone in a pickup kicked up a rock and smashed the window on the sliding door of my van....stopped in the nearest town: Winnemuca,NV and the nice man at the auto glass shop told me i would only be able to get the replacement pane in Salt Lake City(6hrs?)...so i taped the window up all puurrty and hoped it would hold....no such luck.....so i'm driving around 80mph(130kmph) and without any kind of warning THE WHOLE WINDOW BLEW OFF THE SIDE OF THE VAN LIKE IT WAS BEING SUCKED INTO A VACCUUM...leaving nothing but a very large whole in the side of my van........once i got over the shock it was kinda nice, 'cause the desert was quite hot, so the breeze was welcome....

-had to mention this too though: while i was at the auto glass place i noticed 2 things: 1) i saw what i thought was a large rat scurrying around the side of the building only to notice that it was in fact a lizard....riiiiight, we're in the desert 2) the sand is REALLY fine here...kinda like drywall dust...it's extremely fine, and it's almost impossible to get it off anything it gets onto ....

-...finally got into SLC that night, had to rent a fleabag motel 'cause i had a giant hole in the side of the van, so i had to load all my worldy possesions into the fleabag...surprising what $35US can get you in SLC.... stained ... everything ... and the dust was about the same ..... memories of the Grande Prairie motel....anway,played my set at Mo's...was kinda low-key, but the kids seemed to dig it....the spanish-heritage folk seemed to really get it tonight....sold Cds to Alonzo and his buddy, who, in broken english told me that they really appreciated the honesty in my music...jesus christ that means alot to me...very glad i met you guys....

-another spanish-american helped my cause the following day at the junkyard...found me a replacement window and helped me install for $45...a major coup since i don't have "all perils insurance"...his name was Marcelino....good looking fellow, the chicanas were trying to pick him up while we were bolting the thing in....he didn't let it go to his head though...i like that in a guy...

-drove the rest of the day ...got as far as Cheyenne,CO, just north of Denver...hoped to get down to Denver to play an open stage i'd sussed out, but got told off over the phone by the girl at the bar...i was just trying to get some info to see if it'd be worth my while to make the trip ...that was all...anyway, that bummed me out, so i kept driving and pulled over at a rest stop in Wyoming....nice night...you can really see the sky in the prairies at night...

- so yeah, that's about it...drove all day today and got to the Fabled City of the Monks....and it is from here that i deliver you these words of thanks & praise:....thanks for giving a shit...

rob

Hello there,

Yup, i do love it. It's gotta be my favorite city i've been in yet. Everyone's heard it all before, and this time it's all true.

Been here since friday, played my gig at a small cafe(Dolores Park Cafe--great folks) in the Mission district...it was cool, kinda low-key, i opened for a Bossa band which is out of the ordinary for me.

Just had 2 days off in the city and got to explore and get to know the town...hung in the Haight/Mission kinda areas...did the requisite haight/ashbury stop...nothing to see there but weed shops and retro-hippie shopping...not my bag....i love everything else though...the hills, the bridges, the folks, the food.....had some of the best mexican ever at a taqueria on Mission.(Cancun taqueria)

I also had a great live music night as an audience member last night---I don't get to do that nearly enough 'cause i'm always playing right?....saw a woman who i'd been meaning to see for 6 months: Sylvie Lewis (www.sylvielewis.com) ....a very, very god-damned serious singer...one of the best i've heard...killer songs too...i went to see her open for The Weepies (www.theweepies.com) and they totally tore my head off too...amazing singers, great songs and totally unpretentious, no bullshit, just the music...just what i like...and they sing the songs like it hurts them to sing them....

alright, gotta jet and play 2 gigs today...first one at Brainwash, which is a laundromat with live music 7 nights/week....cool eh?..shrewd move on my part 'cause i really need to do laundry after 4 weeks on the road...(so all i need to do now is book a gig at a psychiatrist's office right?)...next gig is later tonight at Hotel Utah...stoked for that.

after that, it's driving madness for the next week: gotta drive all night to make it to Salt Lake City tomorrow, then Denver on Wed., then probably Iowa somewhere....

yee-ha,
rob

Hey Folks,
Just a quickie: 2 things:

1) Thurs. July 28 & Fri. July 29-Regina Beach,SK-Cafe De La Rosa-CANCELLED-
(The cafe has closed, my condolensces to Chris Lobb)

2)Sun. July 31-Escanaba,MI-8th Street Coffeehouse-8pm
HAS BEEN MOVED TO:
Sat. July 30-Escanaba,MI-8th Street Coffeehouse-9pm

...stuff's been great. Northern California is everything they say it is ... redwoods and ocean....camped in the midst of it last night....truly immense beauty.

rob

ps-i'll post a more complete update of the last little while later this week....

Salut mes amis,

Ok. Know this: The drive down the US West Coast is RIDICULOUS, and gets more ridiculous the further south you go ...i'm not kidding. And when I say ridiculous, I mean stupid, and when i say stupid i mean just crazy natural beauty and indescribable....i know, you're probably beginning to stick your finger down your throat thinking: "alright, enough with the 'immense natural beauty' stuff Szabo, you're giving me a rash", but what can i say???...OK, first of all, Portland is a really cool city. I spent less than 18 hrs there, but from what i saw it's a really progressive, environmentally conscious town doing some pioneering work in how we should all probably be living. Case in point: a free of charge, fast, light rail system in the city centre, strict dedicated carpool lanes...and this might seem superficial, but in the area i stayed in, in the middle of the day on a weekday, there were people jogging and exercising everywhere....anyway my Dad told me they've won awards for their cutting edge enviro approach, and he knows lots of stuff, so there you go.

Alright, i gotta move this along...much to say, little time to type....time for a quick synopsis (sic?)
-Tuesday: left Portland, and drove south though Oregon...big mountains growing further east(away from me), and the trees changing from North-ish looking trees(sorry, I'm no expert, i guess they're pines or cedars, or...you get the picture) to REDWOODS...now I've never seen redwoods before, so i'm snapping over here...they're soooo beautiful...for the uninitiated, they look like they are carved from stone....they just jut out from the ground and go straight up for stories without any outgoing branches until the very top, hundreds of feet up.....many spots on the drive are national parks and you get to drive though these "tree corridors" where it's just the road splitting an immense dense forest with trees right up to the roadside and yer winding throught the remnants of the mountains, and.....ahhh, i could go on...anyway, so much for synopsis eh?....ok, i'm gonna get serious here about moving this along...
-ok. great. trees,mountains, oceanside. yeah. crazy. slept in the van on the side of the road last night. overlooking the ocean. had sardines, mustard and beer and went to sleep. was woken up today by tourists stopping to take pictures...will make sure to pick a less popular "rest stop" next time.
-got into California, wow. stuff changes. trees turn to bushes except for the almighty Redwoods.
-played my gig in Trinidad,CA...a quaint little beach town. it went really well. better than expected. outdoor cafe. the kids dug it. i had a guy stop his car (he'd heard me driving by), run up and listen for a second or two and then sign my e-mail list and buy a CD and zoom off in his car....he knew the drill i guess.
-staying in Patrick's Point provincial park tonight...booked the site before the gig...crazy...IN the Redwood forest...ON the oceanside....basically looking down a cliffside...crazy business...more bear warnings...this time they come along with wild cat warnings too.....nice....

rob

Hey Humans,

Well, just leaving after one of the best tour stops so far ... Vancouver was amazing, the shows were great ... much better than expected seeing as i haven't played the city since 2001. Got to hook up with friends whom i hadn't seen in eons and overall just pick up the west coast vibe...y'know, carpool lanes, and mountains/ocean side by side, easily accesible health food...yee-ha.

The Robert's Creek(just N. of Vancouver ...but you gotta take the ferry) show may be the best show of the tour so far ... I played the Gumboot which is my dear friend Joe's place and wow...never played there before, but the room was full and people got it ... i don't mean to sound like what i do is especially difficult to "get", but it was just one of those nights were i felt like everyone was with me for the entire set and it seemed like there was a synergy between the audience and the performer, which happened to be me in this case...or maybe the folks in RC just dig on music and it's got nothing to do with me...anyway, beautiful night all around, especially since i got to hang with dear friends in a setting that can only be described as paradise....i mean jeeesus, we went swimming in the ocean the next day, and then walked through what i think technically is a rainforest and it just goes on ...

So you're all probably thinking "jeesus Szabo, give us a break, shit can't always be peachy, and beautiful and blah, blah, blah and we know your tours aren't all roses"....or something like that....well you're right....as i was leaving Robert's Creek i was thinking that myself: "Wow, all the shows have gone better than expected, everything has gone off without a hitch, the van is holding up great...something is bound to go wrong soon"....well it did.

Here's some stuff that happened:
-got up and rushed off to catch the ferry back to Van which only comes about every 3 hrs, got there in the nick of time and waited in line for about 30 mins to find out I was the LAST vehicle they would let on this ferry...after a pregnant pause, when everyone in line thinks: "well that's it, gotta wait 'til the next fairy", the dude in the orange vest that directs traffic onto the ferry waived me onto the ramp saying: "we got room for one more", so i excitedly drive up the ramp only to be turned away when i arrive at the top by an irate man in a orange vest essentially yelling at me to reverse all the way down the ramp....so i do that, with my tail, between my legs.....anyway, turms out they DID have room on the bottom of the ship, so all was well.
-drove through Van and on the way to the border I got a F!~#** $250 speeding ticket!! 115 in a 60!!....it was right at the border and it was a TRAP i tell you!...one of those things were it's 110km posted and 3 lanes and everyone's sailing along stoked to get to the border and they put up a couple of orange pilons and call it a "work zone", and put up tiny sign that says "60km work zone" and the cop just sits there and waits.....anyway, the guy was nice enough and was sure to tell me how lucky i was that i wasn't 15 minutes south because he was "letting me off with" a $250 fine(coulda been $400) and if I had been in the US it woulda been $1000..... lucky me...

ahhh, it could be worse....and i'm thinking it's just a numbers game for me at this point, i mean, i just watched my odometer roll past 400,000kms ...

rob

 

Hey Peeps,

....been hanging in the mountains the last few days. I camped in Jasper National Park on my night off....had a fire, and ate some dinner, and relaxed with a few cans of liquid bear fear management tonic. Please excuse the flowery euphemism for beer, but as I entered the park, the attendant proceeded to hand a me a pamphlet that went into great details explaining how clean(devoid of any trace of food etc.) campsites must be in order not to attract bears and he told me this: "Yeah, bears come through the grounds every night."

#$%^&*(!!!!

...anyway, all bear anxiety aside, it was unspeakably beautiful and quiet.

I played the first 2 nights at The Revelstoke Street Festival and that has been amazing as well...playing in the town square literally looking right down the main drag as i play up at a HUGE mountain...inspiring.

The people have been swell, and i met this great guy called Brad. He's a merchant marine. He explained to me what that was: he's not in the army, he drives large sea vessels. He actually steers the boat! He also paraglides. Crazy life. He goes out to sea and works for 4 months at a time, and then comes back to Revelstoke and plays until the money runs out. He actually bought property before the last time he left because he didn't want to go out to sea with any money in the bank!!! great life eh?....anyway, needless to say i'm learning alot. Apparently the merchant marines have a great history of being musicians and artists: Woody Guthrie...and a bunch of other famous people who i can't remember were merchant marines.

anyway, more news on this later....my web time is quickly running out.

Salut!

rob

 

Hey folks.

So here it is, the 2nd blog post of the tour, and we're already 10 days in. I know, I know, i said I'd try to post often, but, in my defense, this is the 1st web access I've had so far ... and to be honest, I'm kinda digging being away from the damn computer ... not to mention the fact that i wouldn't have had time anyway, since the 1st week or so had some pretty punishing driving(i.e. Winnipeg to Calgary=13hrs=quickest I've ever done it: stopped twice to pee and fill up, and once to eat a tuna sandwich---onto Edmonton that same night(3 more hrs--16 total for the day---me+ 16hrs driving=about as cooked as i get) ... anyway, without further ado (sic?), I bring you some highlights of the 1st LEG of the tour. (Leg is a funny word isn't it?... thought it merited capitalization ... speaking of legs, i've been sticking very strickly to the no short-pants whilst onstage rule, so no one's got to see mine yet ...)

The shows have all been going better than expected, the kids are into it, and i can't complain ... the Marquette,MI show was great: DIY indie-punk rock show in one of the cooler venues i've played: essentially a large loft space, with apartments above it populated by a group of music-lovin' folks who put on shows (plus you can get a gin & tonic in Marquette for $1.75!) ... Winnipeg was swell, i opened for Greg Macpherson(www.gregmacpherson.com) ... really dug his set (think a punk-rock Springsteen) ... left the club and realized i had LOST MY WALLET!!!(BIG trouble)..... managed to get back to the club and recover it without incident within an hour of losing it(sigh of relief). Edmonton was really cool ... matinee show at The Black Dog ... really swell folks who treated me like royalty ... since it was a matinee this means there was time for dinner and drinks on a patio with friends and, um, more drinks ... the sun sets REALLY late up here so the sky was beautiful and it remains light until 10:30-ish ... love it ... also got to hear some of Damien Rice's new music ... listened in a friend's car late at night ... it sounded really good, but music always sounds better to me under "extenuating" circumstances--i wonder if it'll hold up in the light of day?..... so here i am in FSJ on the second night of my 4 night stand, getting a bit of rest and, um ... nothing else of note.

Ok.

Time for dinner.

rob