These United Tour Diaries: If I Can Make It Here...
Editor's Note: J. Tom Hnatow from These United States is writing a tour diary for DCist chronicling the band's latest national tour.
July 26, 2007
We wake up, get ready, and go right back into rehearsing. Jason and Robby are champs…we're throwing songs and ideas at them left and right, and they're doing a great job of learning the material. Jesse and I are really lucky to know so many phenomenal musicians.
At the level that we're at as a band, one of the more interesting aspects about touring is the quality of venues we play. It spans from pristine rooms like the 930 room (in Louisville) to…the Rock Room in Pittsburgh. It defines the term "dive bar". By the time we arrive, the unmoving air is filled with nearly impenetrable cigarette smoke. They move the pool table for us and we set up the PA (no sound person) under a dirty air conditioner spitting water on the floor. There is no door person and no cover — we set up a tip jar. Despite the situation, we have a fun show. However, it does remind me that we still haven't quite cracked Pittsburgh…maybe next time.
After the show, we set off for an all night drive to Rochester. While the patrons of the Rock Room party into the night, we drive. Trucks and fellow wanderers keep us company as we roll through the sleeping countryside. One of my favorite parts of traveling is these kind of drives — they sum up perfectly the intense feelings of solitude and movement that being a musician entails. We arrive in Rochester just as the sun is burning off the low hanging mist, and, as the rest of the town gets ready for work, we groggily pile into my brother's apartment for a few hours of sleep.
July 27, 2007
Rochester is my favorite place to play. That might sound like something we say everywhere (except Pittsburgh), but in this case, it's absolutely true. Even though this is only our third time playing here, we've consistently had great shows, and this time we're one of the headliners of a music festival called Boulderfest. All of the people we know here are amazing, but special credit has to be given to our biggest fan, Max. Max knows the words to the songs — he even has his own "band", who mime along to our CD. And his biggest idol in the world is our own Jesse Elliott.
Max will also be four years old come October, and we met him through his mother, Hilary, who, in addition to being one of our biggest supporters, serves as our "den mother" when we come through: giving us a place to crash, beds, food, and generally showering us with kindness. It humbles me the way people — not related to anyone in the band — not only support the art, but also support the actual artists making it. We absolutely couldn't do this without those type of people, and meeting and hanging out with people like Hilary make this whole endeavor worthwhile.
Friday afternoon we hit up WRUR for an on-air performance and interview. We strip everything down to the basics. Robby plays a single snare drum, and I only play banjo. It's a lot of fun, and WRUR is a college station with a good following. At our show later, I'm surprised how many people tell us they listened in.
Despite the threat of rain we have a great set at Boulderfest and have a lot of fun. A few hundred people turn up for the show and make a lot of noise for us…it's a great feeling for a show this far out of town. This is one of the shows we built the tour around, and it's well worth it. The Stabler brothers sound great with us by this point, and their own song in the middle of our set goes over just as well. I'm really glad we could take them on the road for a few days.
We all split up to celebrate for the rest of the evening. I go out wandering the town with our various friends and my brother (who lives in Rochester). One of the nice things about having so many people we know here is that we can all spend some time away from each other -- no matter how much we like each other (and we actually really do), it's nice to get some "away time" in. At some point, I find myself in the "Sunken Garden"…somewhere (by this point of the evening, I was lost) a beautiful marble structure lit only by the nearly full moon. All traffic and city noise vanishes. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
July 28, 2007
Since our show in the evening is only an hour drive away, we basically have a day off. It feels great to have a lazy day. We know we're staying with Hilary again tonight, and we're all starting to learn the city. At one point I refer to our crashing-pad as "home." Jesse plays with Max. Then we visit the Bop Shop record store and hang out, browsing through the unbelievable amount of records.
We eventually make our way to Buffalo and play. The show turns out to be a somewhat disappointing house show. However, getting to take pictures in front of the graffiti on the wall more than makes up for any shortcomings (like someone yelling, "Go home and practice.")
Since it's an early show, we head back to Rochester and head out on the town. The Staebler brothers decorate a 10 foot section of a wall at a bar with an incredible chalk mural…of course, I'd left my camera back at the house. The rest of the crew heads back to head to bed, and I spend the rest of the night (and nearly until dawn) hanging out around a campfire with my brother.
July 29, 2007
A breathtakingly beautiful day – the Barn Owls head back home to Columbus, so the next few shows are just Jesse and I all by our lonesomes. The rest of us have a quick bite to eat and hang out with our friends Lulu and Andy –- they were our initial contacts in Rochester, and they're great people to spend time with. Lulu also performs with D.C.'s own Thievery Corporation.
We point the car towards Boston. I'm actually sad about leaving...one of the most bittersweet things of touring is meeting some of the most amazing people around the country, and then spending far too little time with them.
Our show in Boston is our first duo show of the tour. As much as I've loved having other people along, its nice to have no worries about the music…to just set up and play. No set list, no cues, just going. At this point, things are on autopilot –- and in a way, this is the hardest point of tour. Any tiredness or soreness from sleeping on floors and staying out late has set in. Any minor irritations have had time to fester. What we're doing at this point is pure work –- work we love deeply, but hard work nonetheless. We've got one week left until we're home.