Back from what has been a gruelling few weeks on the road in Holland and Germany giggling a lot as well as gigging a lot, such a fine line between pleasure and pain and sometimes they hit at about the same time.
Spent last night rooming with Chris Hall and laughing out loud at his amazing musical snorting and snoring and I just wished I had a video recorder with me, it would surely be a massive hit on youtube, and then there’s L’il Jim, who also giggles a lot who played with us on the last night of the tour so what can a po’ boy do but laugh at the absurdity that the construct throws at you sometimes?
Back now in Sherwood to winter out with only a handful of gigs till spring so time to heal my aches and pains,do some teaching, dig the garden, find some more gainful employment, generate some new sustainable and authentic creative ideas, and consult the oracles for the best way to conduct myself over the next few months.
So why the ‘Lost & Crippled Calamity Tour’? Well the cripple bit came from me as everyone seemed to be suffering from some physical ailment or other and was limping around including me. Then Classie Ballou - legendary Bass player with War, Archie Bell & the Drells, and on this tour with headlining act Jeffery ‘Mr Horny Devil’ Broussard - came up with the calamity part as one by one we all seemed to suffer from one calamity after another. For example I tripped up in the dark carrying wood for the fire at the place we were staying and grazed my chin and Classie collapsed one night and needed to go to hospital! The lost bit came from Hazel ‘losing’ her laptop (probably was stolen), Chris losing his wallet, and me leaving a research book on the plane coming home.
The shows however were excellent it’s just the bits that the audience don’t get to see that can be tough. Late nights, early mornings, often sleeping on floors, long hours in the back of a bus warp speed driving to the next venue, Loading gear in and out, in and out, setting up, sound checking, cheese, ham, bread, cheese, ham, bread, cheese, ham, bread, and the inevitable weak tea if you’re lucky. Also comfort eating, free beer, and sitting around all day means that I’ve put on about 4 Kilos that I now need to shed.
The Louisiana guys were awesome though and great fun too I don’t think I’ve laughed so much in my life! Jeffery, Mary, and Classie made a great team and with the addition of Andy and Fabio on Drums and guitar, they were a force to be reckoned with…A ‘Zydeco Force’ you might say!
Audiences were enthusiastic and the shows were almost all very well attended, what more can you ask for?
It’s now Friday and I’ve just got round to finishing this off. The Oracles have been consulted and it’s all looking favourable, everything is more or less packed away, and I’ve got a couple of good nights sleep in. My wounds and aches are slowly healing, and I’m off out this afternoon in the rain foraging, collecting Yarrow stalks, and other herbs and things and getting some fresh forest air in the process.
Oh and one more thing, in a previous blog I mentioned that I had been observing the spirals on the top of people’s heads and that they all seemed to spin ‘widdershins’ or anti clockwise. I saw one the other day that went clockwise but hadn’t the courage to ask him if he was from ‘down under’!
