Seemed like a good idea to welcome the new EP into the world by taking it on the road. So I took a week off work, and the EP and I went to these places:

Saturday 4/17: 1974 Bar & Grill, Tulsa (918 UFN EP Release Party)
Wednesday 4/21: Kirby's Beer Store, Wichita KS
Thursday 4/22: 1974 Bar & Grill, Tulsa
Tuesday 4/27: The Music Café, Columbia MO

If you're wondering why I called this the Nervous Breakdown Avoidance Tour, ask me about the day job I was on vacation from. Put it this way, most days I'd rather play for tips to an empty room in a town 6 hours away and sleep in my truck than go to work. Fortunately, tours like this afford me just such an opportunity.

Two shows were completely solo -- all me all night -- but I had some great folks with me on the bill at the other two shows.

On the 17th I was joined by my good friends The Engine Hearts and the Free Beer Band. Like the original "Three Headed Monster" gig we did together in February, we rotated sets throughout the night. At the original show, we went a song at a time, and voted almost unanimously to do do something a little more sane this time, so we did half-hour sets instead.

At the Music Café, I got to share the stage with some friendly folks from California, Citizens Here and Abroad. For a long time that night, it looked like it would be one of those shows where it was just the bands and the staff drinking and talking about music, but eventually enough people showed up for us to start the show. Mind you, there was a local band booked to play first, and even THEY stayed away that night. Too bad for them -- it turned out to be a fun night. My set was a bit on the lame side -- when is it not? -- but the Citizens were amazing. How amazing? The following night -- after I'd driven all night back to Tulsa, with a nap in a rest area along the way -- Gloria & I drove two hours to Fayetteville to see another Citizens Here and Abroad show. You can read about both here on their website. Now go buy their CD. Trust me.

As usual, I bought a lot of music on the road, including the Citizens' cd, an old Woody Guthrie LP, the new NoMeansNo comp, and the new Black Keys single, among other things.

Matt Gleason at the Tulsa World contributed an absolutely fantastic bit of press in that weeks' Spot magazine, complete with the great picture above by A. Cuervo. You can read a tidbit about the making of that picture here.

I managed to record about 2/3 of the EP Release show -- everyone's first set, plus my second one -- and I've since posted a few tracks over here. There's even a brand-new song there, one I broke in on this tour. See what you think.

The new EP itself was a difficult birth. Once I finally got the master finished at the end of March, and rushed it off to the duplicator I'd chosen, I started to rethink the duplication choice. Turns out I didn't chose well, and although the copies themselves turned out OK, they took just short of FOREVER to get here. Meantime, I went to a local company to get a short run made, just in case. Both were finished by the time of the release party -- the original batch arriving from California less than 24 hours before said gig.

I ordered some stickers and buttons too. The stickers came from a company I'd used before, and got here in plenty of time. The button folks promised to get them here "in two shakes of a lamb's tail" -- and the buttons arrived nearly three weeks later. On the day after the tour ended.

So now I guess I've gotta get some more shows booked. Stay tuned.