leavin' this town

St. Louis and home!

2011-11-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hey do you guys wanna know who likes baseball a whole lot? St. Louis! Yeah Woo! And guess what, the last two games of the World Series were scheduled the same two nights we were in town! And the St. Louis Cardinals were IN the World Series and the World Series was IN St. Louis! See where I'm going with this?

So there weren't a whole lot of music fans out in the bars while we were there. The first show in town was at the Crack Fox with Mason Reed and Brown Bottle Fever, and it was awesome and the dudes were super nice and hardly anybody was there. Seriously a really cool show though. Here's a Crankshaft shot.

Billy from Brown Bottle Fever was so nice and let us park in his driveway and use his electricity and everything! We didn't even get back there til around 3, then crashed until around 10. We woke up super hungry and knew nobody else would be up for hours so we found a Denny's to eat at and use the internet. We were jerks and stayed til like 130, then decided to go see the Arch.

It is a really impressive building. Is it a building? I mean, you can go up to the top of it, and it was built by someone I guess.

So it was super rad from the ground, and Alex really wanted to go to the top. I'm afraid of heights and claustrophobic but I was like, this is a thing I can do, mind over matter and all that, plus I thought it would be cool to see the city from way up there. So we bought tickets and went to get in line, where they play you a video and show you how it was built and all that jazz. That's when I learned that you have to ride in this tiny little car with four other people to get to the top, for FOUR WHOLE MINUTES, and there are windows in the car, so the whole time you're going up you get to look at all the stairs you'll have to climb down if the thing gets stuck and all the rickety metal and old welders that they use to patch the thing back together, probably every day. I was trying hard not to enter full panic mode, but I thought I was going to barf on that nice other couple. Somehow I didn't barf, and I didn't even cry, just shook a lot, like a Chihuahua or something. So then we got to the top and I felt like I might pass out, but I just talked to the people that work up there (there are people that work up there everyday! and they take that terrifying car up there everytime!) and that made me feel better and I relaxed a little. I even stopped shaking long enough to take this picture of Alex exhaling a barge! We're clever.

Then I had to get the hell off that thing and smoke. We hung around in the park there for a little while longer and decided to go to the venue for that night, Three Kings Pub, which is down by the University. Leaving downtown we hit a bunch of traffic, possibly due to this:

That is a crappy cell phone pic taken through our bug-covered windshield, but you get the idea. When we got across town we somehow scored primo parking right in front of the venue, then decided to take a nap for a few hours. Every single person walking down the street was talking about the game, it was nuts. And it only got nutsier when they won. Airhorns aplenty! Drunk and screaming college kids! Yeah! We thought this would be a good thing because people would be in a good mood and stuff, but it turns out that almost no one at the bar was into music really, they were all sportsfans. Go figure. Alex was supposed to play at 10, but because of the game he didn't go on til 11:15.

He only played for an hour an a half and still got the guarantee though, so that was cool. We sold a few cds and a few people got up and danced. Not a bad show, but not the best way to end the tour either. After we loaded up, we found a Walmart to park in and bundled up in extra clothes and all of our blankets against the 38 degree night.

Then we woke up at 8 am and made for home. It was boring and flat and we barely stopped, so no photos. Eleven hours later, we pulled up to the Crankstead and greeted our frantic Fender dog and the venerable KP . Then we slept and slept and slept! The End.

Oh, and come see us on Sunday at the River City in Anoka from 6-10 for the homecoming show! We missed you!

The road to St. Louis- Mississippi Delta

2011-11-03T08:18:00.000-07:00

We had four driving days to cover the 650 miles to St. Louis from New Orleans and decided to take Highway 61. It was the first time on tour that we actually felt like we were on a road trip because we only drove about 200 miles a day and had plenty of time to stop and look at sweet stuff. Our first stop in Mississippi was this old town called Woodville and I noticed a little brown sign that said "Mississippi Blues Trail Site" with an arrow, so we followed it and found a marker with a bunch of info about Blues dudes from that town.

I did some research on my phone and found out that these markers were made and placed all over the state, so we made it our mission to find them. That night we stayed in Natchez State Park, and before we went "home" for the night we stopped and explored the town. They have an awesome park right next to the river, and a gnarly bridge!

At the visitor center we scored a map of all the blues trail sites, then we went to the historic downtown and read a few markers. The architecture reminded me a lot of New Orleans and a shop owner told us that most of the buildings are from the early to middle 1800s. I would have loved to see more of the town, but we were both feeling sick and it was getting late so we called it a night.

The next day our camping destination was Clarksdale, about 200 miles away. We stopped for another bass drum photo before we left the park--it was such a pretty drive!

This is a sweet old building in Port Gibson, right by the Rabbit Foot Minstrels Blues Trail marker.

Then we drove through Vicksburg. We didn't walk around there because it seemed like everything was under construction. We did drive along a stretch of road by the river that had tons of murals with the town's history and that was pretty cool. Also, we checked out the Highway 61 Blues Trail marker.

Next we stopped in Rolling Fork, birthplace of Muddy Waters. Here's an old shanty that was next to his marker, brought in from a plantation years ago.

We stopped in Leland and met the mayor while we were reading Johnny Winter's blues trail marker.

Then we walked across the street to the Highway 61 Blues Museum and met Pat Thomas, son of James "Son" Thomas. He was incredibly nice, very talkative, and a bit loopy. He played some songs with a dude that drove down from Memphis to see him, then gave us a couple of his cat head dominoes (he's also a folk artist that specializes in cat drawings--that's him on the right).

Also Alex got hassled for change and a cigarette by a guy pretending to be deaf. We went and got some Mexican food for dinner then drove the 45 more miles to Clarksdale without stopping. When we got there we could not find the stupid campground because my phone couldn't find the road it was on. Turns out it was at the fairgrounds in town, so we drove by and it seemed adequate and then we headed downtown to try to find some music and a drink. Downtown was deserted. As we were driving past the third or fourth club that was closed (it was a Tuesday), Alex hollered out the window at this old hippie/mountain man lookin dude that was walking down the street. He told us that there wasn't music anywhere on Tuesdays in Clarksdale, but he brought us to the Hopson Plantation Commissary, which was open and totally awesome. I must have been totally wiped because I didn't take any pictures and that place was soooo cool! Here's the website: http://www.hopsonplantation.com/

We talked to him (Ed) and his wife (Tobi) for a while and found out that they're traveling artists/vendors at lots of music festivals. Tobi is a potter and Ed makes amazing pieces out of old silverware. Check out his site: www.forkman.com. They were parking at the Hopson that night and let us park next to them, which was super awesome and also free.

The next day we went to the Mississippi Delta Blues Museum and walked around town a little.

This shop is actually named after Pat Thomas' art.

Front door of Ground Zero.

Sweet stencil on the side of a building.

Cool old lamppost.

And the old Greyhound station. I'm pretty sure it's a museum or visitor's center or something now.

We left around 11 and rattled out of town to St. Louis!
Mississippi Blues Trail website: http://www.msbluestrail.org/index.aspx

Four days in New Orleans

2011-10-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

When we got in to town, we called up Laura, a friend from Minneapolis who lives there now and set up three shows for us at the bar where she works. She was also sweet enough to let us park the camper in her driveway while we were down there. Check out this crazy creepy house across the street from Laura's, oh my god!

After we got parked, she drove us around to make copies of flyers and handbills to pass out to the tourists in the French Quarter. Then we went on a suuuuper long walk down there and tried to sweet talk people into coming to the show. When we got back to the house, we relaxed for about an hour before heading to the show and Laura told us that we were going to get a big surprise that night. The bar that we played is right on the edge of the hood so I didn't want to bring my camera in there-but I'm sure you know what Crankshaft looks like by now. The attendance was pretty lackluster, but Alex was sick and we were both pretty tired so it didn't really matter. Then our surprise showed up, Connie and Tom (Alex's mom and stepdad) all the way from Minnesota, wearing Crankshaft t-shirts! It was awesome! They stayed in town the whole time we were there, so we got to spend time with them sightseeing during the day and they even got us a room for a few nights so we could sleep on a real bed! We had so much fun with them and our old friends from Minneapolis that moved down there a few years ago! I'm not even really sure what happened on which day, so I'm just gonna throw a million photos at you.

City Park with Nate, Molly, Connie, and Tom:

Alex and Nate on a giant tree:

Pretty black swan:

Sitting at the French Market with Connie and Tom:

Down at the levy with Molly and Laura and Trixie:

Alex and Izzy:

French Quarter buildings:

Sorry I don't have more words, but trust me we had a blast! Thanks New Orleans!

Gulf coast

2011-10-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

We spent the first night of our trip to New Orleans at St. Andrews State Park in Panama City, Florida. It was a really rainy drive but we got there just as the rain was clearing out. Alex stopped at this super cute seafood joint for lunch and they even had veggie food for me and a few bisuits for Trixie.

The park included a long stretch of white sand beach so we went for a really long walk down to the pier only to find out that we weren't supposed to bring pets out there! But we did anyway cuz that's how we roll.

And we found an old VHS tape poking out of the sand.

Trixie still didn't know what to think of the ocean and she tried to fight it, then went nuts digging in the sand. We hung out there awhile and I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday, then we walked back to the camper and fell asleep pretty early that night.

In the morning we set our for Buccaneer State Park in Waveland, Mississippi. When we called to make a reservation, the dude on the phone said “Yeah, you won't need a reservation.” It was another longish day of driving, but when we got down to the Mississippi gulf we understood what he meant. So many things were never rebuilt or cleaned up from hurricane Katrina, even six years later. Driving along the coast, tons of houses were up on ten-foot stilts or even higher, and probably two-thirds of the lots were still vacant. There were steps and sidewalks leading to nothing, and a few piles of rubble still hanging around. There were decimated piers abandoned along the ocean, with nothing left except long rows of posts with a few sections of walkway remaining waaaay out in the water. The park we stayed at was pretty much in the center of the disaster but was one of the first things that got rebuilt after the storm because it had lots of electric hookups and that's where a bunch of the FEMA people stayed in the months after Katrina. The park used to have a big waterpark but that was ruined and hasn't been rebuilt yet.

One of the rangers there told us that all of the pine trees that were there died because of all the salt deposited in the soil and the only trees left were live oaks that were definitely struggling to adapt.

It was totally surreal, and really mind-boggling to think that this was after six years! There were only four or five other RVs in the whole park, but there was room for a few hundred at least.

It was a pretty sobering thing to see...I always thought I wanted to be Tank Girl, but standing in that post-apocalyptic wasteland, my heart just went out to all the people and animals that suffered through that nightmare.

Florida

2011-10-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hoo boy. We slept overnight in the parking lot of the Village Tavern in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, then woke up and started the 310-mile trek to Gainesville. We drove our asses off that day because the show started at 6 and decided that 200-250 miles a day is our cutoff for the next tour. Too much driving just to get somewhere and unload stuff and play right away is sort of a bummer. We did stop at this cute little fruit stand to get some citrus and Trixie met her brother from another mother. He was kinda shy though so I didn't get a great shot.

We pulled in to the Kickin Devil around 430 and Alex's uncle Todd had just pulled up. He was the one that helped us set up the show, and he and his son Spencer helped us unload everything and bring it in. Alex decided to hang out for a while since nobody was really there and he thought he was going to play until around 8 or 9 before the blues society's open jam night. So we had about half hour of chill time, then the wardrobe change and setting up. Oh! And Bo Diddley's saxophone player, Nick Savage, called Alex up before the show and said he was really excited to come to the show that night! Woah! So Alex asked him if he'd like to sit in, how cool is that???

Todd and his buddy Ron were super into it!

Alex started around 530 and at about 615 the owner showed up and told Alex he'd have to stop at 630 because the blues society jam started at 7. The blues jam dudes were super rude and passive aggressive and they started setting up on stage while Alex was still playing. While Alex was tearing down, one guy kept asking him if he was a professional musician and said “We should have been playing one minute ago!” It was completely ridiculous to see grown men throwing a tantrum because a touring band wanted to play, unlike any other experience we've had on tour or at home. Also, it was totally the owner's fault for the lack of communication with those guys and Alex because she told us he could play til 8 and I guess totally forgot to mention that Alex was playing to the blues society. We definitely didn't make any friends there! Except for Nick, of course.

After we got loaded back up we got the hell out of there because screw those guys. We followed Todd out to his house about 30 miles out of town where we slept for the night. We hung out a for a little bit and Trixie met his two labs, then Alex took a shower (I refused since there was no door on the bathroom or on the bedroom that the bathroom was in, and I'm too prudish for that) and we all went to bed. In the morning we went to town for some breakfast and hit up a thrift store for a few more movies. We stopped by Todd's girlfriend's house so I could shower, do laundry, and use the internet. Also, we went to the auto parts store for a gas cap because Alex left ours somewhere in North Carolina. Then we went back to Todd's and let the dogs run around while Alex and Todd changed the oil and flushed the radiator on the Beast.

Todd and Spencer made dinner for us, the best part of that was when Todd asked us if we'd like a napkin and reached into his cupboard and pulled out some old holey t-shirts. And he wasn't kidding! After dinner Spencer lit up a huge fire out back and we sat out there for a bit while Alex played some tunes.

The next morning we set out for Panama City to stay at St. Andrews State Park, which was only about 200 miles north and west of Gainesville and we had 3 driving days to get to New Orleans.

South Carolina

2011-10-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

On the way to Georgetown, South Carolina, we found this sweet abandoned gas station.

We pulled in to town around 4 on Friday afternoon. The downtown area there is super cute, it reminds me of a bigger version of Anoka except that most of the storefronts are still occupied. We found the Backstage Cafe and went in and talked to the owner Brad and his cousin Brent.

They were really easygoing and fun to talk to. Also, they fed us! We explored the marina and went for a walk on the pier.

We also noticed a bunch of people setting up tents and stuff along their main street and found out that the next day was the wooden boat show. It's a huge event there and lots of people come to town for it, so we had a great turnout that night. We met this group of bikers that fell in love with Alex, it felt so much like home! I don't know what it is but bikers love them some Crankshaft. The next day we only had an hour's drive to Mt. Pleasant so Alex asked Brad if he could play for tips outside the cafe during the boat show.

There was a band set up in a tent so Alex could only play during their set breaks, but he still sold around 120 cds by donation in 45 minutes. The south was nothing but good to us! I was sick that day so I didn't really get to walk around or explore much of the show, I mostly stuck to the camper with Trixie. It was so bad that by the time we got to Mt. Pleasant I was a terrible roadie and let Alex do all the work. I just needed to sleep and missed the whole show, so no photos from there, sorry! Next up is Florida.

North Carolina

2011-10-21T09:44:00.000-07:00

We rolled out of Richmond and headed to North Carolina on Wednesday morning. That night we camped at Kerr Lake State Park at Satterwhite Point, which was deserted and the crappiest of all the state parks we've stayed at so far. It was still fun, just kinda dirty and I had 3 spiders in the shower with me there—not cool dude. The lake there was pretty, but the beach was all heavy clay that we got all over our shoes and paws.

Before we left Richmond we stopped at a thrift store and picked up a City Slickers VHS and watched it that night, which I'm pretty sure is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. We slept really well though! In the morning we took of for Chapel Hill, NC, a town that has birthed many rock bands including Southern Culture on the Skids, which is one of Alex's favorite bands and a big reason that we wanted to play there. We got there around 4 and parked right in front of the venue, the Cave, then went to find some food. When we were done eating we came back and hung out with Trixie for a bit which was sort of funny because we were parked right in front of some really fancy shops/restaurants in our crappy eyesore of a camper. The Cave was a really cool space underneath one of those fancy shops, decorated to look like, wait for it... a cave!

Even in North Carolina drunk people steal Alex's tambourine.

The staff was really nice and the place is dog-friendly so I brought Trixie in after Alex's set and let her chill for a bit, then one of the guys that works there whose name I can't remember brought his little pup in to play. Her name is Basil and she was much better behaved than Trixie, but they had fun together. After we got everything loaded up we decided to drive a bit out of town toward South Carolina and find a spot to sleep. The first Walmart we went to had “no overnight parking” signs posted so we had to keep going and found a Sam's Club lot to park in. We got woken up in the middle of the night by some jerkwad employees bumping their bass right next to the camper. In the morning we drove on to Georgetown, South Carolina.

Three days in Richmond

2011-10-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

It was another crazy long drive from Delaware to Richmond on Sunday. Lots of beach traffic and road construction, wahwah. Cy Taggart, a guy that Alex got hooked up with on the internet was hosting a DC Blues Society open jam in his backyard and was nice enough to let Alex play a few tunes. The show was from 1-6 and we didn't roll up until around 4. The crowd really seemed to enjoy it and we sold a few CDs too! Talked to some really enthusiastic dudes who gave us lots of contact info for the next time we head this way. Here's a video that Paul Magill Smith took of Alex's set: http://www.facebook.com/crankshaftmusic#!/photo.php?v=10150345540949500. Also learned that Cy's house/property used to be owned by a family that ran a private zoo with giraffes and zebras and everything. Plenty of room for Ms. Trixie to run around, which she definitely needed. Cy and his wife Connie are awesome people, they even let us sleep in their driveway and plug in and made food for us! Cy also hooked Alex up with an opening gig for Monday night in Richmond at Bogart's. Alex gave this guy a shirt because he had a tatoo of Slim Pickens riding the bomb from Dr. Strangelove (the inspiration for Alex's request bomb poster/new shirt design).

During the day we explored a few parks, including this one that with an old broken down building and tons of rocks to climb around on.

And some robots.

And a goofy lookin duck.

The Monday gig led to two more on Tuesday, one at Legend's Brewing Company and another one at Bogart's. Legend's has an amazing deck that overlooks downtown Richmond.

Richmond was so kind to us, we will definitely be back! Here's a parting photo of Cy and Alex:

Delaware

2011-10-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday (yeah, I'm a little behind...) we drove from a Philly suburb to Bethany Beach, Delaware. Alex's cousin Tara and her husband Heath and a bunch of their friends were staying in a rented beach house for the weekend and were kind enough to invite us along.

We got there mid-afternoon and I took a long nap while Alex went down to the beach. I woke up and the dudes were teaching Alex how to play foursquare in the street.

I got a shower and then they fed us some delicious vegetarian lasagna and devil's food cake. After dinner and a game of liar's dice, Alex played a short set for them (due to noise restrictions) and they all loved it. So nice to have a good reception after the last few crappy shows!

In the morning we stopped by the beach so Trixie and I could see it, and it scared the crap out of her at first!

Then she was just really happy to be tearing around in the sand.

We let her freak out for 20 minutes or so and then we were off to Richmond, VA.

Pennsylvania

2011-10-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we drove from West Branch to Pittsburgh. We stopped in Millvale, PA at the Attic, which is a sweet record store that Thomas recommended to us. We met the owners and talked to em for a bit, they were really nice dudes. Here's Alex and Fred:

And a sweet old church:

Then we went downtown to the Smiling Moose to set up. I think total there were 5 people through the door at this show? Including the sweet drunk guy who they kicked out for pretending he was in the band.

That night we stayed in a Sam's Club parking lot and before we went to sleep Alex decided to change the gate on our black water tank because it was leaking a tiny bit and we had emptied the tank out earlier that day. So, at like 1 a.m. he's rolling around on the ground and screaming because apparently it wasn't empty and the previous owners' shit was spilling out all over the parking lot. Oops. Luckily he didn't get any on himself, but there was a lovely trail of poo and t.p. going from our camper into the storm sewer grate. Sadly, I didn't get any photos.

The next day we got up bright and early to set out for Philly. We stopped at this really pretty waterfall just off the freeway and walked around a bit.

It took over 8 hours to get across Pennsylvania, and more than an hour of that was spent in Philly traffic trying to move 13 miles down the road. Luckily we haven't had to deal with much traffic so far, but holy crap. We even broke the no smoking in the camper rule! The dude who set up the show invited us to his house and fed us before we went to the venue. Sooo many good people have helped us out so far!

The Phillies lost, so about halfway though the show most people took off. But the local band we played with was really fun, check em out: https://www.facebook.com/sourmashphilly. And they were really encouraging and suuuuuper nice. We headed out of town toward Delaware after the show. Sorry I didn't get any photos in Philly, the venue was stoo dark and we were only in town a few hours. Next we're going to the beach to hang out with Alex's cousins and their friends!

West Branch State Park

2011-10-11T09:11:00.000-07:00

From Cleveland we headed to another Ohio park for the night. We were both feeling pretty run down and just needed a day to chill and recharge and it was only 50 miles away. We stopped at a Target and got some camping chairs and more frozen meals (kings, I tell ya!). I'm pretty sure we got the best spot in the whole park because our campsite backed right up to the lake. It was awesome.

They even had laundry machines and showers! We cleaned up and sat out by the lake on our his and hers camping chairs until the sun went down.

Then we watched the Wedding Singer and crashed out at like 9:00. We woke up the next day feeling tons better and headed to a little town a few miles away called Ravenna. There we walked around the old downtown area and found a place called Bear's Vintage Metalworks, here's the website: http://www.bearsvintage.com/home.html. They have a sweet little Harley museum inside the place and they gave us cookies! We also stopped at a donut hut called Deluxe Pastry Shop and agreed that Mediocre Donut Shop would have been more fitting. With bellies full of sugar and fat, we drove on to Pittsburgh.

Cleveland

2011-10-10T12:52:00.000-07:00

We pulled up to Now That's Class in Cleveland around 5, then went to grab something to eat. After dinner we hung out at the venue and they let me bring Trixie inside so that was pretty rad. The drinks were stiff and cheap and it reminded me a bit of Palmer's, crackheads and all. We talked to a couple of locals that seemed cool and said they would come back to the show, but they never did. Dummies. One of the bands on the bill, Mr. California, didn't show up but he did send some really drunk dude to play his songs instead, which was ridiculous and awesome except that we had to listen to it. Also, he opened and probably drove out a fair amount of the regulars. Crankshaft played second.

The other two acts, Shouting Thomas Torrent and Miss Firecracker, were really great and super fun to talk to. It was a bummer of a show because nobody came--7 people through the door total. It might have been because of the drunk guy, or because there was another big local show across town, or because it was a Tuesday. It was still fun to see the other bands and play for them though. That night we slept in some grocery store strip mall parking lot and the next day we went back into Cleveland to check out the Arcade that was built in 1890. That was really sweet.

We explored a bit of the downtown then headed out on the road again.

Chicago to Cleveland

2011-10-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

We slept surprisingly well in the parking lot off the interstate in Chesterton, Indiana. In the morning we headed to the auto parts store to get supplies to fix the muffler that got broken by the freaking hellish tollway the night before. I'm surprised the whole camper didn't rattle apart on that road. Alex bought what he needed to fix it while I made reservations at Maumee State Park on Lake Erie in Ohio. We drove 195 miles to the park without incident or muffler. We checked in at about 7:00 and found our site. It was a really pretty grassland/wetland area with tons of deer. Trixie loved it! We got to plug in the rig for the first time and use the fridge and microwave; we made lean cuisines or something and ate like kings. That was an awesome night's sleep. In the morning I took Trixie for a nature walk while Alex started trying to pull the broken muffler and exhaust system off the camper.

All he had was a vice grips, nail from a tent, and a hammer that the park ranger was nice enough to lend us. Some other park workers said we couldn't use their angle grinder or any power tools because it would be a liability. Weiners. After several hours and lots of swearing Alex was able to peel the fitting off the old muffler like a can of sardines.

He finished up right before we had to check out, only to find out that the muffler he bought the day before wouldn't fit. So then we drove to Sandusky without a muffler to their Autozone and got another one that didn't fit, but the clerk at the store was awesome and let us borrow a pipe expander and combination wrench to try to make it fit. That was hilarious because you really need a vice and a big extender bar to use that tool. Alex improvised by wedging it under the camper tire and holding it there with his feet while I stood on top of the wrench, then we'd rotate it and repeat. A hundred times. In the Autozone parking lot. But it finally worked! Then we were off to Cleveland.

2 more nights in Chicago

2011-10-06T16:09:00.000-07:00

Wifi, yeah! So, this is old, but better late than never, right?

Holy crap! Saturday night we played at Morseland in Roger's Park. That was a great show and we met a bunch of cool people, one of whom Alex was convinced was John Malcovich. You decide:

We also met the dude who set up the show and the one opening for Bob Log III. He and his girlfriend were awesome and even let us stay in their spare bedroom for the night (Trixie too!). We left their place on Sunday and went to a park right on Lake Michigan. Hung out for a few hours and got a nap in too.

The show at Reggie's was kind of a bummer, the local band dropped out and the replacement local band didn't draw anyone--but they were badass! It is a split venue, and Alex was in the smaller room while there was a huge punk show playing in the larger room...not a lot of crossover traffic. But, we got a free meal and drinks out of it at least!

The show was over at like 10:30 and we decided to drive a few hours toward Cleveland after that. Turns out that I-90 is a tollway the entire width of Indiana and Ohio, who knew?? So we got off that crap and slept in a commuter lot on the side of the interstate. In the morning we took highway 20 instead, all the way up to Lake Erie. Wait til you see those photos! I'm gonna try to get that up tomorrow but we have a long ass haul between Pittsburgh and Philly tomorrow (I am so behind!), so no guarantees. This weekend should be a lot more chill though as far as traveling goes so I hope to get caught up. Gah!

2011-10-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

imma try to get wifi and update this in the morning! too much to do!

Milwaukee to Chicago

2011-10-01T11:02:00.000-07:00

On Thursday we played at the Uptowner in the Riverwest neighborhood of Milwaukee and met the great granddaughter (or something like that?) of John Schlitz. The people there were super friendly, especially the guys in Gnarrenschiff! We ate dinner at this great Hard Times-esque coffee shop called Fuel that had “great coffee, lousy service” written on the awning, and it was not a lie. Can't wait to go back! I also made a video that I can't upload til we get home, sorry! Here's a photo of our "gnome away from home" that my sister gave us instead.

The drive to Chicago was congested and construction-filled. Sooo glad Alex was driving! What a mess, and there's no place to park. Luckily we got to stay parked in the loading zone outside of the Double Door while we played and through the magic of Facebook and the lovely Mary Renz we found a driveway to sleep in.

The show was really fun and the venue was huge. We had our own green room and everything! Didn't get any photos of Alex playing though because I was working the merch table all night. Tonight we're headed to Morseland in Rogers Park, show's at 9pm, cover is $5. Look, here's Trixie with the gnome!

Eau Claire to Milwaukee

2011-09-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here is yesterday's post, I couldn't get it uploaded due to crappy internets:

Last night was an awesome show in Eau Claire! Big thanks to all the Anoka fans that came out and to 4onthefloor and the Heart Pills!

This morning we stopped to gas up just outside of Eau Claire and as I was walking in, my brother's best friend Chad was walking out! Crazy to see him so far outside of Anoka, and he said he almost didn't stop because he was running late. He got a new Crankshaft tshirt and wished us luck and we jumped in the Beast.

We made it the 240 miles to Milwaukee despite nasty winds that threw us all over the road so hard that stuff was falling off the shelf Alex built in the back--and the little amp hit poor Trixie. Just when she was getting used to all the rattling noises and finally calming down! She's fine, but definitely shaken. She rode up front under my feet for the rest of the trip. I feel bad that she got scared, but this is damned adorable:

We're running on 4 hours of sleep and ready for the tonight's show, playing with Gnarrenshiff at the Uptowner! 8pm, $5 donation.

2011-09-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here we go! Thanks so much to everyone that came out to see us off last Sunday night! And special thanks to Pat, KP, Jay, Dave, Al, Keith, and Frenchy for playing pro bono. Tonight we're pointing the Beast east to Eau Claire and the House of Rock. With 4onthefloor, the Heart Pills, and our boy Crankshaft, the house better be rockin. Show starts at 10, doors are at 8, there's a $5 cover, and it's only 2 hours from Minneapolis. Last chance for a Crankshaft fix for the next 30 days!
Love, the Travel Masters

2011-09-27T20:34:00.000-07:00