Posts

April 23, 2022 - Home

Image
21 days, 19 shows, 26 states, and 8,800 miles later, the Teething Veils Canopy of Crimson tour is over, and we’re back home in Washington, DC, among our familiar homes, humans, and animals. We saw many old friends from past eras, and met people who were strangers and who felt familiar and became friends. We visited the crossroads where Robert Johnson made his deal with the devil circa 1930. We saw the birthplaces of Jimmie Rodgers, Elvis Presley, Emmylou Harris, and Buddy Holly. We saw the gravesites of Jimmie and Buddy. We saw the childhood home of Wanda Jackson. We saw the place where Lee Harvey Oswald extinguished the life of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. We played songs as old as 1999 and as recent as 2021. We told stories of living and dying, harm and healing. We played in a cave hundreds of feet beneath the Earth’s surface, on a ranch in the desert, in record shops, in a bookstore, in bars, at farmers markets, and at a party place for kids. We dressed wounds and applied heat to aching...
Post a Comment
Read more

April 21, 2022 - Indianapolis, IN

Image
We left old friends in Milwaukee yesterday morning to make our way to see old friends in Indianapolis. Indiana feels closer to home than it's felt in a while. Maybe it's the eastern air, maybe it's being back in the eastern time zone again. We made our way to the home of an old friend who we've known and played shows with going back fifteen years. It felt enveloping to be in the guest room, and to wake up in Indiana this morning. The State Street Pub was just as I remembered it from the last time I played it on April 24, 2016. We played for our old friends, and wrapped up our tour. At the State Street Pub, Indianapolis, Indiana The spongy moth of Indianapolis Nineteen shows, twenty days, twenty-six states, 8,700 miles, gulf humidity, desert heat, snow drifts, black ice, springtime. The Teething Veils tour wraps up tonight, but we can see the routing on our bodies now. Setlist: Baltimore Broommaker The Castaway Between a Niche and a Ditch Auburn Aumbry A House After a Hu...
Post a Comment
Read more

April 19, 2022 - Milwaukee, WI

Image
We left Iowa into Illinois and Wisconsin, pulling into Wisconsin in the late afternoon. It's great to see the old Milwaukee friends. Some of these are people we've known and played shows with going back fifteen years. One of these is someone who I'd not seen since 1992. This person was there in 1991 when I played music in public for the first time. Situations, aka Ashley Altadonna, and Mildew, a noise duo, played nourishing sets. It feels like being that much closer to home, being in the guest room of old friends and talking well into the night. At the Lion's Tooth bookshop, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Situations Mildew Teething Veils Setlist: Baltimore Broommaker The Castaway Between a Niche and a Ditch Auburn Aumbry A House After a Hurricane Sewn Hands Yellow Walls The Microphone Died Tied to Nowhere Pinhole Camera Road music: Loretta Lynn
Post a Comment
Read more

April 18, 2022 - Omaha, NE

Image
We got onto the road from where we'd stopped for the night in Oacoma, South Dakota, across to the Iowa border that hugs along the side of Nebraska. We had the chance to stop in Simon Joyner's new shop Graprefruit Records, and find delicious burritos on the way to Pageturners. It was good to see Ben Eisenberger again just a couple of months after our show together back home in DC. His set was once again gorgeous, filled with delicate lyrics and beautiful finger-picking. He and everyone else were incredibly welcoming and kind to us. We venture onward tonight to Newton, Iowa, to give us a bit of a jump start on tomorrow's Milwaukee show. Outside of Pageturners, Omaha, Nebraska Ben Eisenberger at Pageturners, Omaha, Nebraska  Setlist: Baltimore Broommaker  To Have and to Hold The Castaway  Auburn Aumbry A House After a Hurricane Sewn Hands Yellow Walls Webbed Dinner Date Pinhole Camera Paper Lanterns
Post a Comment
Read more

April 17, 2022 - Rapid City, SD

Image
We had a fair amount of snow in Bismarck overnight, and our best bet for making it to Rapid City was to head westward and then south, to avoid the worst of the road closures and the weather. Still, the conditions were treacherous, with snow drifts making traction unpredictable and visibility poor. Slow and steady won the race, and we gave ourselves plenty of time and made it into Rapid City with just enough time to exhale meet our hosts. We didn't expect that the DIY space "the cave" would be an actual cave, hundreds of feet below the surface of the Earth. We walked down the steep rock stairs, around and around, deeper and deeper, to a nook with soft red lighting, and played our music. I've never played a show like this in my life. What a special place that they have outside of Rapid City, into the hills, beyond phone service, in a quiet corner of the world with big-horn sheep and few people.  The roadway out of North Dakota At The Cave, Rapid City, South Dakota Loadi...
Post a Comment
Read more

April 16, 2022 - Bismarck, ND

Image
We had a far less treacherous journey today, with only about thirty miles of dirt roads. The hilly terrain through North Dakota is gorgeous. We made our way into Bismarck and Rhythm Records, found food down the block, and made our way back to the shop for an excellent four-act bill. Shea Lea, Waters and Zion, and Richard Loewan all played with delicateness and power. We played The Human You Were as a cello and piano song. At Rhythm Records and Music Cafe, Bismarck, North Dakota Waters and Zion at Rhythm Records and Music Cafe, Bismarck, North Dakota Richard Loewan at Rhythm Records and Music Cafe, Bismarck, North Dakota Setlist: Baltimore Broommaker To Have and to Hold The Castaway Between a Niche and a Ditch Auburn Aumbry A House After a Hurricane Sewn Hands Pinhole Camera Yellow Walls The Human You Were The Microphone Died Paper Lanterns Road music: Lucinda Williams
Post a Comment
Read more

April 15, 2022 - Billings, MT

Image
We made our way in to Billings in the late afternoon, with a couple of hours to spare to go to bookstores. Kirk's Grocery is a gem of a gallery and music space. We felt right at home. Nathan is a duo who played their first show and lifted the spirits. It felt comforting to be received with such enthusiasm. When we played "Paper Lanterns," people danced together with partners. Parts of the interstate were closed following the snow of recent days, and the only route to Miles City, Montana from Billings took us through a series of dirt roads, with bumps of their own formation and bumps of snow and black ice. We did not see another car for a good hour. The main signs of life met us when we passed Forsyth, Montana. An older fellow told us of when he played in a country and western band, and as he aged, he slowed his life on the road in favor of playing in nursing homes. After one show, he approached an older gentleman who appeared to be in rough shape. He said "I hope you...
Post a Comment
Read more