Greetings from..um... i'm not sure where (VOL. 1)

Well, this really is one of our only long drives on this tour, so I thought I’d use part of it to write a ridiculously long blog with too much information about what we’ve been up to on the road. ...ok. maybe i'll break it up into two posts

We’re on the home stretch of the tour and I’ve been so busy with the video bloggery that this space has been a bit neglected. Sowy.

It’s been a good tour. Much to be done, but high fun as well. It’s such a funny combination of people that it works brilliantly. It’s like when see an ice cream flavor with chiles in it. Sounds crazy, but it’s delicious. (said in jim gaffigan voice). It didn’t take us too long to hit our stride and it’s been such a fun time. I’m trying to think back of all that’s happened and it’s kind of overwhelming. We’d had some time in every city, so it’ been crazy… feeling like we’ve actually had all these experiences then a few hours later you’re in a completely different town with a completely different feel. Sounds pretty typical I guess, it just feels more potent this go-round. Here’s a fun little run down of the highlights:

5/17 - Birmingham, AL: we shared the bill with Emily DeLoach and MPJ. The Bottletree was a cool venue with great food and a super cool airstream for artists to hang out in (see video blog episode #2) ☺, but they took an absurd amount out of the door. Oh well. It was great to be in bham. We stayed with Jessica & Jeff Heine and it was so great to spend a little time with them. Also got to see emily’s fam which is always fun. I have such great memories of that town and have been lucky enough that I seem to only be having more great memories there. We wrapped up our visit with a trip to the Botanical Gardens then hit the road with a stop in Atlanta. (my first visit to anthropologie. Finally used my gift card the Normans were kind enough to give me for playing in their wedding a year ago and got sweet new burnt orange pants and a cool sailory looking blue jacket)

5/18,19 – Greenville, SC - got to meet a lot of the guys at Portland and hang out with Brannon. Picked up the etchings they did for Steve and they look very cool. Had a pint at an irish bar before the show and Kevin’s Costner’s band was playing next door. We tried to go see them, but had just missed their set. Ours was a kind of a crazy show in the beginning, but it was a fun night.

5/20 – Charlotte, NC – We mad a pit stop in King’s Mountain, NC and did a bit of hiking. They had just burned a lot of the brush and forrest part so it too closely resembled Middle Earth, but they had one of those great “movies” that state parks have on the battle of…so and so at yada yada Hill in which Steve and Judd fell asleep after we had a good laugh at a few of the “historians’” expenses. we made good time and got to Charlotte with a little time to kill. George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelik were playing directly across the street from us and we got to see him and his band a bit as they were hanging out before the show. We all love the Evening Muse and Joe (the owner) was great as always.

5/21 – we did an on-air at WWWW. I had actually done on on-air years ago with Emily there and as soon as I walked in the woman said, “you were here before with another band, right?” I was impressed. some people have amazing memories. It was a great on-air, and they were just as kind as I remember.

5/22 – Charlottesville, VA – super cool looking venue with books lining the walls, but a really small crowd. It’s not a good sign when you get to a venue and they say, “yeah. We’re probably going to go under. No one in this town comes to shows.” It was a fun night anyway and we really got to interact with the people at the show who were so kind and responsive. People asked questions and were so appreciative.

5/23 – Red Bank, NJ – (BobFest) – BobFest is an annual show that Pat Guadagno puts on every year in Red Bank on Bob’s birthday in a really great theater. Steve was asked to play again this year and it was so fun to watch. I mean, I’ll watch a good band play Bob Dylan songs for 3 hours any day of the week. Judd & Maggie’s friend Brother Andrew drove up and it was great to meet him. Steve and I went out after the show to grab a drink with all the guys from the show and they were a hoot. There’s definitely a jersey feel to them all and they were a blast to party with. We stayed with Steve’s dad, Nick, in Ocean and he was a riot. Imagine “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Yeah.. So great. ☺ We woke up the next day and drove just a few minutes to Long Branch and walked along the ocean, had some delicious Greek food and some gelato to top it off before we headed out.


.... to be continued

video killed the blogio star.

greetings from lovely NYC. I'm currently looking out the window of a new friend's AMAZING Brownstone in Brooklyn. Seriously. This place is ubelievable.

Well, the tour has been good thus far. Some stress, but a great deal of fun. The combination of people is crazy, but seems to work perfectly. I"ll be updating more tomorrow in greater detail, but to get you started, here are the first of the video blogs we made on the road (it's really just one broken up into 3 parts). enjoy. warning: we're weird. (you can also search "Delopoulos" or "Judd & Maggie" if these videos give you grief.

i've been duped.

two nights ago, i made a late night trip to Kroger for some essentials: Dog food, organic milk and some TP. Now, in terms of my toilet paper, i don't have a strong allegiance, and typically get what's on sale. I saw that Quilted Northern was on sale this day. My mind hearkened back to their commercials depicting charming cartoon grandmother-types quilting each square by hand. This sounded delightful to me in the Kroger isle at 1am. So, I fell for it. I got the Quilted Northern home only to find it was neither soft, nor charming. Let me tell you, friends...nothing about it felt quilted...unless people quilt burlap sacks to make toilet paper. Don't be fooled, kids. And, Quilted Northern, I'm on to your Tom Foolery.