Day 4 - Cleveland Agora

After the longest day of our professional music career, we all had our longest night of sleep yet and woke up in the quiet little town of Bellefonte, outside of State College, PA.  Before we could even sit down to breakfast with the Zimmerman's we were already receiving calls from the venue in Cleveland.  Problems with sound, problems with costs ... the list went on and on.  Nothing like last minute problems on the day of the show.  But given how well the tour had gone so far, we were determined to have a great final day.

On a crisp clear day in Western PA, Benny was outside making phone calls and he snapped a great shot of the bucolic scene in front of us as we ate breakfast.  Needless to say it was a great place for us all to get some shut eye and we are so grateful to the Zimmerman's for hosting us and our giant tour bus.  After we consumed enough food for a family of 20, and most of the venue issues had seemingly been handled, we all took our first "real" showers in a while ... just ... don't ask.

We hopped back on the road for a relatively short drive to Cleveland.  We were extremely excited for this show as the Agora in Cleveland is one of the most famous venues in all of the United States.  The Beatles, Elvis, ZZ Top, Springsteen, The Ramones and many many others have graced the Agora's stage and we were very excited to be playing such an established venue.  Just before we pulled into the Cleveland city limits we encountered the storm to end all storms, with heavy winds, rain and pitch black clouds overhead ... but we still refused to let it dampen our hopes for the show.

The next three hours included, load-in in the rain, meeting Shannon Finch (who brought sweet snacks), one band getting arrested before their set, a broken bass amp, and a host of other "fun" items.

 But, reason #41,000 that this band rules ... it did not matter.  Regardless of how long the trip had been, how many hours of sleep we had all lost, the weather, broken gear, the pungent smell of dude on the bus, it all did not matter.  We all agreed that the Cleveland show was maybe the best show we had ever had.  For those of you that were there, thank you so much for the support.  I am continually impressed by how this band comes through even when things seem down.  


We have a new saying inside the band ... "Tokyodome."  The idea is that no matter what happens, no matter where we are playing or who we are playing to, we play like it is the biggest show of our lives.  It all came together in Cleveland and to all the boys in the band I must say thank you.

Some 2,500 miles later, six performances, tons of meetings, 45 driving hours and many many mugs of tea later ... we are still alive and ready for more.

Until the next time we are on the road ...

VB

Day 3 - Ocean City and Philly

So ... perhaps we were a bit ambitious on our roadtrip planning ...

We had an excellent time at Sixthman, but after we left Atlanta we had a 13 hour drive to Ocean City, Maryland for a morning radio show at 8:30 am.  You don't need to have Albert Einstein around to figure out it was a heck of day of driving.  For other people it may sound daunting, but that is why this band is so special.  

Even though we were already tired, there was no complaining, no whining, just a great attitude of getting on to the next thing and performing like true professionals.  Instead of a daunting task, this band pulled together to make it into a great day.  Not only did we create the Tour Bus decathalon that included sit ups, planking, bench press and arm wrestling (we dropped the marathon, which would have required something like 12,000 laps in the bus), but we wrote a song, napped and made excellent time, arriving in Ocean City at 3 am.  

The 7:30 alarm was the most unfriendly sound we may have ever heard.  As we shuffled out of our condo/bus with the sun barely shining ... you could hear "zombie Will" groaning "Staaaaaaarrrrrrrbucks" as we pulled out of the driveway.  With time slowly ticking we only made it to a Dunkin' Donuts, which surprisingly had no donuts.  Go figure.  Still undeterred we made our way to the WOCM studios at Seacrets in Ocean City.

Seacrets is one of the Top 10 grossing bars in all of the United States.  There are currently 21 independent full-service bar areas, four stages and around 10,000 non-native plants, including palm trees that are shipped in every year to create the jungle paradise feel of the area.  Within the Seacrets complex is WOCM or irieradio.com, which is owned and operated by the same company.  WOCM is a AAA station that plays by its own rules and was the first station to play our record.  We stumbled our way through the maze of the complex and opened the door to the studio to find an energetic, magnanimous man named Bulldog (we were forbidden from using his real name, FBI stuff).  As we set up for our live set on his show, he consistently was cracking jokes and keeping us laughing as we prepped to perform.  He was so entertaining, friendly and really the perfect host.  

We played four songs live that went out to over 6,000 people in the immediate Ocean City area and reached all over the east coast.  Quite a cool thing for our band and day we are all proud of.  Thanks to those of you that tuned in!

 
When the radio set ended we were given a tour of Seacrets, had some 11:00 am Gin with Bulldog and then we quickly found Will some Starbucks and grabbed lunch at nearby Macky's.  The restaurant is built on sand and was a 40 second swim from the condo where we were staying ... not that any of us were brave enough.  We were all exhausted and just asked that all the food come quickly so we could take a short nap before we hit the road.  

After lunch we made our way back to the condo and most of us took the opportunity to rest before heading to Philly.  Matt and Brent took the opportunity to relax and set up the perfect shot for a Cialis commercial. 



We gathered ourselves quickly and headed off through the great state of Delaware to get to Philly.  In Delaware ... wait, nope, nothing here to share.  Our drive lined up perfectly as we arrived in Philadelphia just in time for Phillies, airport and Peter Gabriel traffic.  Benny and Matt had to do a driver swith-a-roo when Ben, yet again, poorly timed his bathroom breaks.

Finally we arrived at Rebel Rock Bar in North-East Philly.  The bar was actually really nice, having been established only some short months ago.  The place was clean, well-appointed with rock paraphernalia and we settled in nicely upon our arrival.  We also got free advertising when everyone headed into the strip club next door had to walk by our rock show on the way in.  haha.

We played a raucous set with local bands Music Box Dynamo and The Great Party, who both really put on great shows and were cool people as well.  Not only that, but they both brought a decent sized group of people out to hang with us.  However, it was the Zimmerman crew that took the cake.  Family, friends and old college buddies swarmed the bar and we gave them our absolute best.  It was a great night, good venue and a truly awesome atmosphere.  It was also the first time we played Unchained as it was written with no mash-up ... more's the pity.

As we were packing up from the Philly show, Matt told us he was up for driving all the way to State College where we could stay with his family.  This meant a 5:00 am arrival time, which at first we all thought was ridiculous.  However, we all went with it, and after a short jaunt to get Philly Cheesesteaks for the hungry bus crowd, Matt operated like a Terminator as everyone else slept the whole way to State College.  Thanks to him we all were able to get a little shut eye and actually got to sleep in on Saturday before we headed to Cleveland.

Such a great day overall with a TON of road miles covered.  Out of it we got a great radio show, new friends in Philly and some time to sleep in at the Zimmerman's in Bellefonte, PA.

Day Two - Sixthman

Today we had the chance to tie together a bunch of band history into a neat little package.  Visiting Sixthman was a huge step forward for the band as we continue on our path, wherever it may lead.  The trip was originally an idea by Will Byington to provide an avenue by which the band could introduce themselves, while satisfying all of Hazelnuts that we had met during our time with them.  Funny enough, but we first met Will Byington almost 4 years ago when he took photos at our Halloween party back when we were rocking cover tunes in a different band.

We drove last night after we left Nashville and arrived just outside Atlanta where we shacked up at a Kroger’s parking lot.  After a solid 4.5 hours of sleep for some of us, we woke up, got some coffee and breakfast and took off for Sixthman.

At Sixthman we were so warmly received by Chardy McEwan and the rest of the staff.  The office itself is so open and welcoming, like you would envision the Palo Alto floorplan for Google, except with an added island touch, appropriately enough.  We were given time to set up, get comfortable and chat with a few friends that showed up to greet us and watch us play. 

As for the set, we were asked to play three acoustic tunes and we played “California Road,” “Set You Free” and “Here to Stay.”  We don’t often do acoustic sets any more, so this was a good chance to hone skills and also a good test of how far we have come.  We felt really great about how we played and were really happy that the small crowd of Sixthman employees that gathered seemed to enjoy it as well.

You can find the video of our set here: www.ustream.tv/channel/sixthman-live-loud

After we played we chatted with everyone for a bit and then took off for our long haul to Ocean City, MD.  

Talk to you tomorrow!

VB

A New Beginning - Day 1 in Nashville

Sometimes in life, doing the same things somewhere new, can be like starting all over.

We can remember all the way back when we first started as a little band in Chicago, playing covers and a few originals for friends in dive bars in Chicago.  We remember the nervousness, the palm-sweating and the excitement of our friends who had never seen our musical sides.  

There is a different energy in the air when you are brand new ... people have absolutely no idea what you are about to do and where you might lead them during your set.  It is a unique energy that can only truly be experienced as you pour your heart out into the songs you have carefully crafted for your audience.  As you play, song by song, you can watch as the "uninitiated" turn and watch in earnest as they only now start to scrutinize.  

It is a key moment in the show, when you realize that right then, right at that moment, you have the opportunity to truly display your wares, because you have the crowd's full attention.  So you sing a little louder, wail a little harder and pour even more.

Tonight we had the chance to experience this moment, and to deliver.  Tonight we had a blast playing in front of a great Wednesday night crowd at Hard Rock Nashville.  And we cannot thank all of them enough as they truly gave us their attention and love.  It was a great way to start the tour.

It is late and we all need to sleep ... on our way to Atlanta at 1:00am ... Good night guys ...

VB

On Tour in Two

Who wouldn't want to travel in a confined space with 6 grown men for 5 days, 41 road hours and 2,344 miles?

As scary as this proposal may sound to your every day corporate executive, it is the opportunity of a lifetime for a group of guys that got our start a few years back playing Johnny Cash and Rolling Stones tunes to a handful of friends at a hole in the wall in Chicago. "Blue September," as we are calling this short-run tour, is the culmination of years of work on honing our craft, creating our sound, playing live, telling/forcing our friends to come and see us live, and continuing to grow as writers, musicians and friends. The tour planning has been much more condensed and without a booking agency, there have been many lessons learned about recruiting bands, negotiating contracts with venues and debating every last possible detail. Thinking about every detail that has gone into this trip, from the big things, like what cities to play ... all the way down to the smallest of details, like who is bringing the hand towels ... it is stunning that we are only two days away and that mostly everything is under control ... (where is some wood to knock on ...)

If this is the first you are hearing of our tour ... WAKE UP!!! The tour will begin on Wed, September 19th at the Hard Rock Cafe Nashville, where we will be playing with local bands Classic Addict and Adam James and the Firecrackers. This is a big event for us as Nashville is such a key city for musicians and we will be meeting several contacts to expand our network in the industry. We will move from there to Atlanta, where we will be giving a lunch-time performance (1PM EST) for the employees and staff of Sixthman LLC. They are the company that puts on many of the world's biggest and most awesome "concerts-at-sea" or Rock Cruises.

The tour will continue to Ocean City, Maryland where we will be performing in-studio at WOCM or www.irieradio.com at 8:30am EST. WOCM was the first station nation-wide to start spinning our record and this was an easy decision to come in for a visit. 

 

From Ocean City we will travel up to Philadelphia, where we will be playing a cool little bar called Rebel Rock Bar with local bands Music Box Dynamo and The Great Party. With a little side trip to meet the Zimmerman's at State College, we will then make our way to Cleveland, to play the World Famous Cleveland Agora. So many acts have come through that venue and we are proud to be playing such an amazing venue with SIX other bands!

We hope that you will keep up with us as we make our way across the country. We will attempt to keep you all posted on this blog daily, as well as Instagram (vintagebluechi), twitter @vintagebluechi, and Facebook (www.facebook.com/vintagebluemusic).

In addition, if you know anyone in these cities, please let them know we will be coming though!


THANKS!