It may seem strange to say, but this tour really snuck up on me. In the past I've always focused all my energies on one trip at a time, trying to make sure all the loose ends are tied up before I hit the road. Then once I'm out actually doing it, actually playing the shows and enjoying the scenery and people, I don't worry about a thing. I just relax. It's like the booking part is my normal work schedule, and the touring part is a vacation (even though I'm working a lot on the road, too). It's a state of mind thing, I guess.
Well that was then. Ever since I decided to move I also decided that I would be touring more. In fact, I plan to be on tour more often than I plan to be at home. So the past few weeks (and months before that) I've been simultaneously booking two, three, even four different stretches of shows. Mini-tours, I guess. And every once in a while in the midst of all the madness I'll stop and think: This is my life now! This is how I've chosen to make my living, so I'd better get used to it.
So I'm sitting around last Sunday, making one of my never-ending to-do lists for the week to come, and I realize, oh yeah! I need to pack! I need to pack because on Friday I'm leaving town for 19 days. And where are we staying in Houston? What time is the show in Bryan? Do we have posters out to these places? I wouldn't say it hit me like a ton of bricks, because I love to travel. It's a good thing. But I did feel somewhat unprepared. I ended up shoving some clothes in my duffel bag and hastily packing up the rest of my gear. It's a miracle I didn't forget anything.
I'm writing this from a coffee shop in Little Rock, AR, and I think it's only been in the last few hours that the idea that I'm on tour has really sunk in. I won't be back for a little while, and I only have a little while left in that home that I'm returning to. And I'm fine with that. I'm good with that, even.
I guess I should include some details about our shows in Tyler. But to do that I have to begin the day before we played. Since our first show on Saturday was at 10:45 in the morning, we elected to drive in the night before, and since our friends
Jacob Metcalf and
Lalagray were performing that night, we elected to catch their show. They were fabulous as always, and after they finished the four of us retired to an incredible lake house generously donated by our new friend Sandy.
The morning came and Kristy and I dragged ourselves out of bed and to the 8th Annual Kiepersol Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp. There's a first time for everything, including playing in 106 degrees. Luckily, those east Texas pines gave us plenty of shade, and we even got to cool off by stomping a few grapes. Delicious.
Later that even we hit KE Cellars, a wine bar owned by Kiepersol. The crowd was rambunctious and appreciative. We even met a nice couple that said they considered us their children. There was a lot of love in the room.
The day after was a day off, and we spent it well, with some rehearsing, emailing, and off course, boot-shopping. Monday we hit the road with full bellies and that familiar bittersweet feeling of finding the perfect place and having to leave it.
See you in Shreveport,
Dylan