Its been almost 2 weeks settled in St. Joseph, Michigan staying with family as the Colorado Countdown begins. I have been working 12 hour days making almost $200 each day I work painting condos on the beach. It is a beautiful place up here but It is continuously raining each day making it difficult for work at times. This work has been the best opportunity for me to get prepped up for my trip out west. Last night I found out that my best friend Jonathan back at home is going to be joining me on my journey on June 19 in Colorado for a few weeks as we rage across the west coast.
Today instead of working in a nonstop downpour we headed to the Casino at Four Winds which was my first experience at gambling in a casino. Scott, the fellow I have been working with gave me $20 to gamble off and ended up with $200 cash within the hour but the lucky feeling was lost when I kept throwing money in and walked out with $60. Scott is a great man who has been working me as much as I need to including weekend and is paying me well for my hard work. He is probably the best boss I have worked for as he is just some old hippie who lived the lifestyle I am living now in the 60s and 70s. It is a good time listening to all of his stories of his travels and gives me good insight on experiences to come in the near future.
I will be catching my first Phish show in Detroit, MI on June 3rd with my cousins while I am in town. I am very much looking forward to the show as I will see all of the friends I traveled with on Furthur tour as all of the vendors from the show follow Phish tour each year. From there I will be hitting the road to Denver, Colorado and work my way to Telluride to see the heart of bluegrass at Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The festival is sold out but with the funds to pay for a ticket at face value I don't believe it will be a problem getting inside to see the funk down. After the festival I will be joined up with my friend to travel for a few weeks.
Seems as though these fellows enjoy gambling on table tennis. We will be setting up a tournament match 1v1 with money on the line before I leave to the next town. Let us hope that those winter nights of continuously slamming on ping-pong will pay off.
Just keep truckin' on.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
5/16/11 St. Joseph, Michigan
It was good to visit back home for a week to spend some time with friends and family but shortly after wards headed back up north to spend time with other family in the hopes to make some extra cash for my summer trip out West. On the way up to Michigan I was stopped in Indiana about to call it a night when I met an old hippie while playing my 5-string banjo outside of a McDonalds. Russell was his name, and he explained to me about his work of transporting commercial vehicles around the U.S. after listening to me play some bluegrass tunes. This fellow to whom I just met, asked if I would follow him back south to Fort Knox, KY so he could drop off his truck and get a ride to the border of Michigan. I was convinced to have the extra company when he told me he would pay for the rest of my gas to get to St. Joseph, MI. It was far from a boring drive having the extra passenger on board who was just another happy traveler.
I arrived into St. Joseph, MI to stay with my cousin Kyle who also works on website design and is a great musician. It has been awesome to spend time with my cousins and the whole family up here. Ever since I got into Michigan though it has been long hard work on the websites and such. (I will save you from listening to the boring, long details.) There is a big music scene with my family and their friends up here and I have been playing keyboards with them while I am around. I haven't even been playing the banjo at all since my stay, just the piano, but it has been quite awesome. We are going to play at the Livery tonight for some drinks and fun.
I will be here in town for another 12 day at least in the hopes that I will make the Summercamp music festival before I make the trek out West.
I arrived into St. Joseph, MI to stay with my cousin Kyle who also works on website design and is a great musician. It has been awesome to spend time with my cousins and the whole family up here. Ever since I got into Michigan though it has been long hard work on the websites and such. (I will save you from listening to the boring, long details.) There is a big music scene with my family and their friends up here and I have been playing keyboards with them while I am around. I haven't even been playing the banjo at all since my stay, just the piano, but it has been quite awesome. We are going to play at the Livery tonight for some drinks and fun.
I will be here in town for another 12 day at least in the hopes that I will make the Summercamp music festival before I make the trek out West.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
4/30/11 MerleFest 2011
After spending my time in Hickory and Morganton, I headed over to Union Grove, back to the farm where my journey had begun. Had a great time raising hell around on the 4 wheeler with the storm breezing in. It was a great night with Adam and Jennifer just as one would expect. I stayed there for the night and geared up for MerleFest Thursday morning.
I thought I would be able to make some money busking outside of the festival, although I did not bring in much as I didn't take in the fact that half of the people coming to the festival were much better musicians than I was. It has been a great experience though, jamming along with tons of other musicians, learning much from those who seem to have mastered their instruments. For most of my time on Thursday and Friday, I spent most of my time playing along with other musicians in the "Pickin' Tents". That night Zac Brown Band played a great show and then stayed at my truck in one of the parking lots where a fellow Dead head stuck around until around 3:00 a.m.
Friday night I tried out Contra dancing for the first time ever and absolutely loved it. This folk style dancing involves starting with a partner and changing partners every so often and switching it up. I enjoyed hours of dancing yesterday and today, also seeing great bands play such as Tony Rice Unit, Sam Bush Band, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Freight Hoppers, Town Mountain, and Casey Driessen. There were many bands that rocked my world that were not on any of the main stages but had just as much talent as anyone there. Last night after the show, I packed up my gear and found a ride to the local campground where "SewerFest" is held. (The campground is located right next to a sewege plant, although, it was a beautiful place to camp.) There I met some musicians and friends from Indiana (I Think) that don't even show up for MerleFest but rather come to the campground each year for the "SewerFest" that goes on all night. A great night for sitting aorund a campfire jamming to folk tunes, meeting all sorts of new people.
Tonight I am going to relax a bit at the parking lot and gain some rest for the day tomorrow. I am looking forward to catching the Infamous Stringdusters along with some more jams. I reckon I will head back to Cumming, Ga shortly after to get ready for my court date for an underage drinking ticket that I recieved at a party a week or 2 before my 21st birthday.
Oh yes, and the women are beautiful! I fell in love at least 5 times today.
I thought I would be able to make some money busking outside of the festival, although I did not bring in much as I didn't take in the fact that half of the people coming to the festival were much better musicians than I was. It has been a great experience though, jamming along with tons of other musicians, learning much from those who seem to have mastered their instruments. For most of my time on Thursday and Friday, I spent most of my time playing along with other musicians in the "Pickin' Tents". That night Zac Brown Band played a great show and then stayed at my truck in one of the parking lots where a fellow Dead head stuck around until around 3:00 a.m.
Friday night I tried out Contra dancing for the first time ever and absolutely loved it. This folk style dancing involves starting with a partner and changing partners every so often and switching it up. I enjoyed hours of dancing yesterday and today, also seeing great bands play such as Tony Rice Unit, Sam Bush Band, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Freight Hoppers, Town Mountain, and Casey Driessen. There were many bands that rocked my world that were not on any of the main stages but had just as much talent as anyone there. Last night after the show, I packed up my gear and found a ride to the local campground where "SewerFest" is held. (The campground is located right next to a sewege plant, although, it was a beautiful place to camp.) There I met some musicians and friends from Indiana (I Think) that don't even show up for MerleFest but rather come to the campground each year for the "SewerFest" that goes on all night. A great night for sitting aorund a campfire jamming to folk tunes, meeting all sorts of new people.
Tonight I am going to relax a bit at the parking lot and gain some rest for the day tomorrow. I am looking forward to catching the Infamous Stringdusters along with some more jams. I reckon I will head back to Cumming, Ga shortly after to get ready for my court date for an underage drinking ticket that I recieved at a party a week or 2 before my 21st birthday.
Oh yes, and the women are beautiful! I fell in love at least 5 times today.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
4/26/11 Hickory, NC
You really do meet people in the oddest of places.
It was almost a week without meeting some good people to spend some time with but while practicing the banjo outside of a Ruby Tuesdays restaurant, sure enough some fellow Curt came up and asked me if I listened to Yonder Mountain. Turns out, the whole staff at the Rubys were all real great people. I spent time with the group of them last night over in Morganton, NC and the best part was I got to finally get a shower!!
I have had 2 days off from playing the banjo making money due to working on a website that has turned out to be a larger project that I had originally thought. Good thing, I could use the money for my upcoming tickets. Tomorrow I am off to Union Grove, which was my first stop on my trip. From there MerleFest begins!!! I should hopefully make enough money playing the banjo outside of the event to pay my way through.
It was almost a week without meeting some good people to spend some time with but while practicing the banjo outside of a Ruby Tuesdays restaurant, sure enough some fellow Curt came up and asked me if I listened to Yonder Mountain. Turns out, the whole staff at the Rubys were all real great people. I spent time with the group of them last night over in Morganton, NC and the best part was I got to finally get a shower!!
I have had 2 days off from playing the banjo making money due to working on a website that has turned out to be a larger project that I had originally thought. Good thing, I could use the money for my upcoming tickets. Tomorrow I am off to Union Grove, which was my first stop on my trip. From there MerleFest begins!!! I should hopefully make enough money playing the banjo outside of the event to pay my way through.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
4/23/11 Clingmans Dome, Tennessee
Walking up the path of the mountain a bit shy of midnight, there is an eerie but extraordinary feeling that overcomes you while hiking to the top. You cannot see much as you are inside of a cloud and the wind feels like it is going to violently throw you off of the edge.
Welcome to Clingmans Dome, highest point of the Smokey Mountains and of the Appalachian Trail. I slept up at the top of the mountain and then enjoy the views with the sunrise. Unfortunately, I have to work on making money with my banjo with it being Saturday and was not able to stick around very long.
The past week has been a busy one, with the beaches taking me broke. I started my banjo spree once again in the valley of Roanoke and Salem, Va and then worked my way along the mountains to Johnson City, Tennessee. From there I decided to try to make money playing in Gatlinburg, with it being one of the largest tourist attractions in the Smoky Mountains. After making decent money I was quickly informed that it was illiegal in this town due to there being a ton of money to be made. (In fact I was going to check into buying a permit for $50 to play Saturday, but turns out they wont even allow that.) I still tried my best to play the 5-string and rushed off at any sign of a policeman. Another busker, Trevor, told me they did not give warnings in the town only $200 tickets. Glad that did not happen though and after making a bit I decided it would be a good time to move on.
I have been playing the banjo at all sorts of places including downtown, parks, supermarkets, and malls. I even was able to play inside of a Mall Food Court since I was donating part of my proceeds to the Polaski Hurricane Relief. What a fun way too make a living.
Day by day, I keep beginning to realize my life is being formed as a musician.
Welcome to Clingmans Dome, highest point of the Smokey Mountains and of the Appalachian Trail. I slept up at the top of the mountain and then enjoy the views with the sunrise. Unfortunately, I have to work on making money with my banjo with it being Saturday and was not able to stick around very long.
The past week has been a busy one, with the beaches taking me broke. I started my banjo spree once again in the valley of Roanoke and Salem, Va and then worked my way along the mountains to Johnson City, Tennessee. From there I decided to try to make money playing in Gatlinburg, with it being one of the largest tourist attractions in the Smoky Mountains. After making decent money I was quickly informed that it was illiegal in this town due to there being a ton of money to be made. (In fact I was going to check into buying a permit for $50 to play Saturday, but turns out they wont even allow that.) I still tried my best to play the 5-string and rushed off at any sign of a policeman. Another busker, Trevor, told me they did not give warnings in the town only $200 tickets. Glad that did not happen though and after making a bit I decided it would be a good time to move on.
I have been playing the banjo at all sorts of places including downtown, parks, supermarkets, and malls. I even was able to play inside of a Mall Food Court since I was donating part of my proceeds to the Polaski Hurricane Relief. What a fun way too make a living.
Day by day, I keep beginning to realize my life is being formed as a musician.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
4/14/11 Wilmington, NC
It's an amazing feeling being out in the wilderness all alone, taking in the grace of the mountain. Hopping from one rock to another across a ravine, knowing that one wrong step could mean the last. Turns out my rock climbing abilities are better when my life is on the line. When your on top of this 4 foot rock looming 50 feet high above the mountain ridge with a 360 panoramic view it is a spiritual feeling like no other.
After the Northern Virginia hike, I drove all the way to the east coast back to Hampton, Va to see Rob again and to finally get my wallet back. From Rob's house, I headed off to the Outer Banks of North Carolina which was a great place to visit. It was empty there being only springtime, so I was able to enjoy the beaches and sand dunes mostly to myself. I spent the day there and drove straight to Wilmington.
I spent all of my money getting here so I am going to settle here for the weekend to make some more money. I am loving every bit of my journey and looking forward to working my way out west next month.
It is both passion and fear that compels me to do what it is I do.
If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there....
After the Northern Virginia hike, I drove all the way to the east coast back to Hampton, Va to see Rob again and to finally get my wallet back. From Rob's house, I headed off to the Outer Banks of North Carolina which was a great place to visit. It was empty there being only springtime, so I was able to enjoy the beaches and sand dunes mostly to myself. I spent the day there and drove straight to Wilmington.
I spent all of my money getting here so I am going to settle here for the weekend to make some more money. I am loving every bit of my journey and looking forward to working my way out west next month.
It is both passion and fear that compels me to do what it is I do.
If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there....
Friday, April 8, 2011
4/8/11 Cumming, Ga
Music is blaring from a local bar in the town of Boca Raton, Florida. Hundreds of people are dancing in the streets. A man dances around shaking mason jars filled with neon green moonshine. A young woman fire dances to the music under the moonlight. There were more hula hoops than I could hope to count. Many others set up in the street selling glass pipes, artwork, and crystals from around the world. Every where you turn you see someone body lighting up a joint or drinking a beer. One fellow teaches on his belief of the Church of Synchronization. A Rastafarian elder steps into your mind and teaches you about the love and pain of the family.
Not one cop would go anywhere near the place no matter how loud it would get.
Then the world slows down and time stops as I realize, its a Wednesday night at 3 a.m.
This is the Furthur after party, in the middle of a shopping center all night until 5 a.m.
The furthur spring tour is over and the past week I have seen and heard things I never thought I would have seen before.
From Binghamton, NY, to Hampton, VA, then Charleston, SC, to Atlanta, Ga, to Orlando, FL and last but not least, Boca Raton, FL. I was able to make my way to each of these shows selling food, drinks, and playing the banjo while coming out of it with extra money. Now I have been dropped off in Cumming, Ga to hang out with friends and family for a day before I hitch hike over to Asheville, NC to catch a Widespread Panic show to vendor and then off to my truck in Virginia. Following tour is not easy. There is no such thing as sleep, there are only naps when you can fit them in. Each night your driving 8+ hours to the next show.
It was very relaxing to be able to sleep on the beach in south Florida and to watch the sunrise over the coast. It is a fun life but also a crazy one, I am looking forward to getting back to my truck and back to reality.
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