Dubuque, IA as seen from the top of the Fenelon Place Elevator

Local guitar-and-bass trio Silo Halo is on an eight-day tour of the Midwest. We’ve asked the band to send us thoughts and photos from the road.

Christin Durham writes:

After a spontaneous autoharp and vocal rendition of The Smiths’ “I Won’t Share You” and finding a parking ticket on Mother Whale, we had a lovely drive through southwest Wisconsin, crossed the Mississippi River, and entered Dubuque, Iowa. This was exciting for several reasons: 1) Chris and Greg had never been to Iowa before, 2) the Fenelon Place Elevator and 3) we met up with my dear friend Rachel who I hadn’t seen in over three years. We had no idea what to expect from the gig, as we were the only band scheduled to play and had no friends in the area.

We splurged on a room at the local Holiday Inn, offsetting the cost somewhat by working out a deal with William Shatner. The room came complete with hot tub access and a large flat screen TV (which we would later use to watch the Harold and Kumar Christmas movie). Historic downtown Dubuque is quite aesthetically pleasing and everything was close by. Rachel, Greg and I walked to dinner at a restaurant called Crust that has vegan pizza and pasta options. I drank some Iowa-brewed pilsner and ate a salad that was served on top of flatbread.

Monk’s Kaffee Pub

We arrived at Monk’s Kaffee Pub around 9:00 p.m. and were told to set up in the basement, where there were some slow jams playing over the PA system, a Rickenbacker bass on a stand and an upright piano. Chris killed the slow jams and we set up. Rather, I should say that everyone else sat up while I sat like a slug on a couch, cursing my uterus. Rachel set up the mics and merch; such a handy lady. They have a camera on you at Monk’s so people sitting up at the coffee/booze bar upstairs can watch the show. That was pretty weird. There were only two people in the room when we started playing but probably about twenty by the time we finished. Greg improvised a little piano part at the end of “Rosalind,” our last song of the set.

A man named Bob Bucko was in attendance, and he asked to interview us for Ruix Zine. We were taken to the third floor of the building, which serves as a record store and art studio. We had a blast talking with Bob and looking through records. Chris picked up the Sundazed remastered 180-gram reissue of The Stooges’ “Funhouse” and Greg found Bruce Dickinson’s “Tattooed Millionaire,” which includes his cover of Bowie’s “All the Young Dudes.” Luckily, the guy Aaron who booked the show let us leave our gear in the basement overnight so we could just go back to the hotel and pass out. In the morning, Greg and Chris, precious lovelies that they are, went and loaded the van while Rachel and I sat in the hot tub. Then it was off to Dyersville to see the house where Chris’s grandmother was born as well as the baseball park where they filmed Field of Dreams.

Bob Bucko from Ruix Zine