tag:thefallenstars.com,2005:/blogs/latest-news--2?p=1Latest News2023-11-24T10:47:33-08:00The Fallen Starsfalsetag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/73088482023-11-24T10:47:33-08:002023-11-24T10:47:34-08:00Nov 24, 2023<p>Hey - we're playing <a class="no-pjax" href="https://loscon.org/49/" target="_blank" data-link-type="url">LosCon</a> in Los Angeles this weekend!<br><br>Full set of Firefly “Leaves on the Wind Collection” being performed in the grand ballroom of the LAX Marriot. 2 pm Sunday, Nov 26th!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/71868612023-04-09T18:50:49-07:002023-12-10T10:47:18-08:00April 9, 2023<p>Hey-O!</p><p>Sorry for blog update in a while. </p><p>To be completely honest, I've been doing so much more with my solo page, <a class="no-pjax" href="www.bobbobyrnes.com" target="_blank" data-link-type="url">Bobbo Byrnes</a>, that I forget to update this page and it gets to be a lot. <br><br>Tracy and I have just got back from SXSW in Texas as well as shows in Pheonix and at the Tucson Folk Festival and we're getting ready for some shows this week - 2 on the same day in fact! <br><br>Saturday, April 15, 2023<br>AnaCon<br>Anaheim Public Library<br>Broadway and Harbor, Anaheim, CA<br>3-3:40 pm</p><p>Saturday, April 15, 2023<br>Trans Empowerment Project Benefit Show<br>The Den<br>N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA<br>7-10 pm</p><p>Ok, back to work here. Talk to you soon.</p><p>xo</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/71441482023-01-26T16:06:42-08:002023-01-26T16:06:42-08:00January 2023<p>Hey Everybody,</p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy and Matt have started booking shows around SoCal for the year, including Tucson Folk Festival, Hellmouth Convention, The Harp, Bogarts and more. </p>
<p>Bobbo came home from Europe with a new solo album already done. The three of them have been rehearsing and getting new material down and writing some new songs as well. Hoping for a new release in 2023. </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/70446272022-08-23T21:05:10-07:002022-08-23T21:05:10-07:00August 24, 2022<p><a contents="New Shows Added To The Calendar Here!" data-link-label="The Fallen Stars Shows" data-link-type="page" href="/the-fallen-stars-shows" target="_blank">New Shows Added To The Calendar Here!</a></p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/70446192022-08-23T20:57:24-07:002022-08-23T20:57:25-07:00August 23, 2022<p>Man, it's been a minute. Sorry about that. I've been busy doing the solo thing over at BobboByrnes.com that I forget to update the band page.</p>
<p>So. There is one Fallen Stars show booked right now because I'm going to be solo touring in Europe from Sept 14-Nov 2, 2022. </p>
<p>The only thing the band has booked has is the Orange International Street Fair on Saturday, Sept 3. </p>
<p>What else is happening? Well, we are still donating proceeds of "Good Trouble EP" to the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation for voting rights. <br><br>We do have a few Fallen Stars shows booked in Germany in September. I need to get those on the calendar. So much scheduling! OK.<br><br>xo</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/69700282022-05-12T19:22:18-07:002022-08-01T06:53:14-07:00May 12, 2022<p>View this email in your browser </p>
<p>Hey folks! </p>
<p>Just dropping into your inbox to say hey and give a couple of updates. First up - no shows this weekend! How about that! </p>
<p>On Mother's Day we had our benefit for WTLC (Women's Transitional Living Center) and everyone was wonderful* - we raised $1100 for them. Thank you for contributing! </p>
<p>Next week's shows: </p>
<p>Wednesday, May 18, 2022 <br>Lunchtime Livestream (or Nachtshow if you're in Germany / Austria) <br>Singing and strumming your favs from 12-1 pm (3-4 pm EST | 21:00-22:00 CET) <br>Live on my Facebook page here. </p>
<p>Thursday, May 19, 2022 <br>Anaheim Farmer's Market <br>12-1 pm <br>Promenade, Anaheim, CA </p>
<p>Friday, May 20, 2022 <br>Bogart's Coffee <br>Seal Beach, CA <br>6-8 pm </p>
<p>Saturday, May 21, 2022 <br>The Night Owl <br>Fullerton, CA <br>8 pm </p>
<p>Now other things going on: </p>
<p>In June we are playing the Hellmouth Convention in Los Angeles on June 4th doing our Firefly themed music and then I am doing some driving. I have shows booked in Colorado, Tennessee, Illinois, Louisiana. I'm still looking for a couple of things to fill in in between. Would love to book something in Las Vegas and Texas. If you would like to schedule something or know a place I should look into - let me know. </p>
<p>In July I'm booking another short run up the west coast with shows in Berkeley and Cayucos and filling in more. </p>
<p>In August I will be in New England and booking some things from August 8-13. I currently do not have anything booked yet but that's the window I'm working with. </p>
<p>Then in September I fly to Europe for a month of shows in Austria, Germany, Belgium and the U.K. </p>
<p>If you look up the shows page on my website you will see what I have booked so far and if you'd like a show near you, now is the time to speak up. </p>
<p>Ok, I'm off to book more things. </p>
<p>I look forward to seeing you all out there somewhere and giving everyone a big hug!** </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>~Bobbo </p>
<p> </p>
<p>*There's still archived livestream of it on my FB page. <br>**I will ask first. I'm not about to go giving hugs all willy-nilly to people that don't want one.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/69628882022-05-03T15:26:20-07:002022-05-10T04:38:26-07:00Benefit Concert for Women's Transitional Living Center - May 8, 2022<p>Hey Folks, </p>
<p>There's a lot going on in the world right now but if I've learned anything at all - it helps to think global and act local. </p>
<p>This Sunday (yes Mother's Day) we're going to be having a backyard benefit concert here in Anaheim to help WTLC. They are a local organization founded in 1976 to meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence and have grown to also accept populations that normally struggle to find help, including mental illness survivors, folks struggling with drug and alcohol abuse, transgender victims as well as emancipated youth. </p>
<p>Our friend Elia has worked with them for a while now and that's how we heard about it. </p>
<p>Since this event is at our house - please message me for the address. </p>
<p>This is also a potluck event so if you feel so inclined, please bring something to share, be it a beverage, dessert or snack. I will have the grill going and cooking up some hot dogs and hamburgers too. </p>
<p>Sunday, May 8, 2022 <br>3-8 pm <br>Stop by anytime. </p>
<p>If you can't make it in person, we will have it livestreaming on my Facebook page here.* </p>
<p>We've enlisted some friends to help with the sugar for the medicine: </p>
<p>3:30 - Sound of a Distant Sun (Matt & Geo violin and guitar duo) <br>4:30 - The Odd Birds (Americana/folk duo) <br>5:30 - Courtney Chambers (alternative pop) <br>6:30 - The Fallen Stars (whatever it is we do) <br>7:30 - Starbird Falls (OC's shortest alt.country supergroup) </p>
<p>We will be taking donations through cash, PayPal and Venmo and donating directly to the WTLC. If you'd rather bring an item, WTLC. org does have suggested items on their website. </p>
<p>PayPal: Bobbo@BobboByrnes.com <br>Venmo: Bobbo-Byrnes </p>
<p>A short video about WTLC: </p>
<p>Thanks for hanging out with us. </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>Bobbo </p>
<p>*For fans of the livestreaming - I will be doing a Lunchtime Livestream next week. Lunchtime for me and evening for all my friends in Europe. More about that next week! </p>
<p>https://fb.me/e/4AsRF6fIg</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/68997322022-02-16T17:10:31-08:002022-05-10T05:02:31-07:00Touring up the West Coast - Feb 2022!<p>We'll be in Berkeley, CA on Friday, Feb 18 and San Francisco on Feb 20, 2022. </p>
<p>The Backroom Berkeley - <a contents="tickets available here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://backroommusic.com/events-1/2022/2/18/bobbo-amp-tracy-byrnes-of-the-fallen-stars-singing-strumming-amp-storytelling" target="_blank">tickets available here</a>:</p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/04adf392a2cb3e1a88db55a5547b3c11bd811110/original/winter-tour-2022.jpg/!!/meta:eyJzcmNCdWNrZXQiOiJiemdsZmlsZXMifQ==/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p> </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/67178792021-08-15T16:40:05-07:002022-05-22T15:00:49-07:00August 15, 2021<p>Updating pages, updating pages. There's so many updates!!</p>
<p>First up: Bobbo's having an album release party on Saturday, August 21, 2021 in Anaheim, CA. Click here for more info.</p>
<p>Then we head to Massachusetts for a pair of shows before flying to Europe for more shows in Germany and Austria. </p>
<p>Friday, Sept 10<br>Warp & Weft<br>Market St. Lowell, MA <br>9- midnight</p>
<p>Saturday, Sept 11<br>The Browncoat Ball<br>Four Points Sheraton<br>Wakefield, MA<br>4 - midnight<br><br>I'll be posting the Europe shows later this week. </p>
<p>xo<br>B&T</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/64452772020-09-29T09:39:38-07:002022-05-10T06:27:35-07:00Sept 29, 2020<p>Being creative and putting things out into the world is risky business. On the one hand you can connect with people, get reviews and nice things said about you that truly can sustain you through long periods of nothing. They inspire you to be creative and better than you were previously. And on the other hand you are making yourself vulnerable to rejection, criticism and even sometimes anonymous online trolling and even rarer, threats. </p>
<p>I have been blessed with all of these things from time to time and the Mark Twain quote “I can live for two months on a good compliment” definitely holds true. I have received some not good reviews, it only stands to reason that I won't be everyone's cup of tea. I can take that. The personal attacks are harder to swallow and their words find a place to nest in your brain and position themselves to reappear when you least expect them. </p>
<p>I don't like sharing or hell, even reading bad reviews but they do serve as a form of motivation. I create music that I would want to listen to first and foremost but at times you get a little bit of that "I'll show them" fire burning which isn't a bad thing at all. I got a review this past week that wasn't even entirely bad; it was just bland. Bland in the sense that they didn't like it enough to say anything good and didn't dislike it enough to say anything bad. And that is almost worse. To top it off they misspelled my last name in both the headline and in my website link - so no one could even find it if they went looking. (not a challenge) </p>
<p>But what it brings up in the memory isn't good either. I am far from being a celebrity but I am also very visible, easy to find online and outspoken about world events. I have received my fair share of private messages telling me to "shut the fuck up and stick to music." I've been told to get out of this country, threatened with bodily harm, I've been told that I could have more "American" fans if I embraced more "republican" country fans and stopped being a "Libtard musician." I've also had anonymous people post online attacks on both Tracy and me as well as say that listening to my new album was what killed my grandmother. That last one was creepy because it was obviously posted by someone that follows or knows me well enough because it was posted the week after my grandmother died and referenced someplace I had been. The crack about my grandmother was years ago but I still remember it word for word. That shit doesn't go away, that kind of meanness for the sake of being mean still penetrates whatever armor you have built up. </p>
<p>I mention all of this today because I'm bracing myself for some backlash over our new release and song "Good Trouble." It is more outspoken than I have ever been and it's way overdue. I am motivated by other songwriters that sought to bring their truth to a larger audience whether it was Woody Guthrie singing about how this land was made for everyone or Joe Strummer wanting white people to join up with black people in their struggle in "white riot." </p>
<p>White Privilege is defined as "inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice." I know the term "white privilege" triggers many people who may think it's taking away from what they have accomplished or struggled through. A younger version of me would've made the argument that I try to treat everyone the same and not see color but see people, but that is missing the point. I don't need to acknowledge my privilege for it to exist; I was born with it. It doesn't take away from any of the struggles me or my family has made, it just means that being born white wasn't an additional struggle in our society. </p>
<p>With "Good Trouble" I was very aware that I was paraphrasing and sometimes outright quoting things that the late Rep John Lewis had said. While I know I wrote the song it already doesn't feel like mine. I knew that I could not profit off of John's words and ideas, that is why I reached out to the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation about donating the money raised from this song to them. They loved the song and welcomed the support. I'm very proud that our fans have stepped up and purchased the song from our website and made donations through the Facebook link - in less than a week we have raised over $400 for the foundation. From their website: "The mission of the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, Inc. is to promote nonviolence, voting rights, civic engagement, social justice, democracy, international peace, human rights and civil liberties and to preserve and study African American history and culture and the history of the civil rights movement in the United States." That's a worthy cause. </p>
<p>As a white male in his 40's I'm very aware of my place in the world, for most of history I've been the center of everything. I am also aware that civil and equal rights are fights for all of us - there are voices that are still not being heard. Where I fit in at the moment is writing a song and giving the money from that song so others may amplify their voices. </p>
<p>It may be a small thing, a song that is, but it is what we do and if what we do can help to empower others then that too is a worthy thing. </p>
<p>And like John said: get in good trouble. </p>
<p>Video premiere tonight at 5:45 pm - <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DdNADFIjsxeg%26fbclid%3DIwAR1ZWQLX34y65Gwtum3LXxlvAT56zmm2xpUJvqeRc539vuFQlYdi-fNQIYM&h=AT3-ruZZ7JxMcLxLGd3l_SS5ZKueqg2HlDe43vcouponpqyOzMr-i8Ea4PvTDJX_oxL0PJzKOOtcsDRt8bhyEoTbewWcqfXDxJXKp4P_49Fkaml6Q67jciz9TnAwMP96rg&__tn__=-UK-R&c%5B0%5D=AT2pa-5zlvqRJaRr8QeU3mXNkpdZJ579Ds_m2inniO8ofvAjBteOqUazSwFQLUi5NapU5kA8BIoRv7bKwvk52YEu7bQKd8c3bJo5eKyG_Xj6JpkxFcIX_OwNh8t3IFbz9RqTIPI_sP_NYoy4fByxCeje2BQnbMb9pGYncwMwi46NyRlLS8bHs8Mi0BxZH74" target="_blank">HERE</a>. </p>
<p> </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/64437972020-09-26T21:27:07-07:002021-06-17T12:21:48-07:00Sept 26, 2020<p>I've been neglecting my blogging duties, apologies all around. But we have been working on new music during our Covid shutdown. I have released a new solo album called "SeaGreenNumber5" in July and we've just finished a new EP of civically minded protest songs called "Good Trouble". Proceeds from the song Good Trouble will be sent to the <a contents="John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.johnandlillianmileslewisfoundation.org">John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation</a>. We released the EP last week and we've already raised nearly $400 to send them. </p>
<p>It's quite a feeling when you can create something that has that ability to raise money beyond us. </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/63298702020-05-25T14:56:40-07:002022-03-08T22:28:47-08:00May 25, 2020<p>Hey!</p>
<p>With the different branches of our website I sometimes forget to update all of them as I've been concentrating on the Bobbo page for a while now as it is the most active.</p>
<p>Our Browncoats Firefly page does have the latest 2019 release of the complete Leaves on the Wind Music Project cd and the Bobbo page has the latest release The Red Wheelbarrow (2019) as well as the info for upcoming SeaGreenNumber5 release (summer 2020).</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/56376662019-02-11T08:16:50-08:002022-01-11T22:54:05-08:00Monday, February 11, 2019<p><strong><span class="font_large">Happy Monday! </span></strong></p>
<p>Lots going on here so I'm going to do bullet points and then more in depth below. Ready? Good. </p>
<ul> <li>Three shows this week in SoCal ~ The Fallen Stars, Bobbo solo and a Riddle & The Stars show! </li> <li>We have a new Firefly video hitting the YouTube airwaves today and more Firefly themed shows coming up. </li> <li>Touring updates from California to Germany to Australia. </li> <li>Bobbo's new EP gets some help from Wilco, Foo Fighters and Roxy Music* as well as new reviews. </li> <li>We got a new kitten! </li>
</ul>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Shows: </strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Tuesday, February 12, 2019 </strong><br>Sam Ash Music Store Songsalive Showcase <br>14200 Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA <br>w/ Sparky & The Ancient Mariner </p>
<p>Fun early night that starts at 7 pm and we're done by 8:30. I'm a big fan of Sparky and I think you'll dig them too. Our buddy Rodney runs the show and he brings drinks and snacks and it's a really good night. </p>
<p><strong>Thursday, February 14, 2019 </strong><br>The Harp Inn <br>130 E. 17th St, Costa Mesa, CA <br>Creative Circle Singer/Songwriter Night <br>Sparky will be there again as well as my nemesis Colleen Kinnick. Come sit with me as I boo her. </p>
<p><strong>Saturday, February 16, 2019 </strong><br>Tony's Original Deli <br>613 S. Anaheim Blvd, Anaheim, CA <br>6:30-9:30 and nothing but Riddle & The Stars all night. <br>This will be the only RATS show in the USA for all of 2019 (and probably 2020, we don't get together that often on this continent) If you see one show this week - this is the one to see. </p>
<p>------- </p>
<p><a contents="New Firefly Video Here!&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/gq-C7cRQw6w" target="_blank"><span class="font_large"><strong>New Firefly Video Here! </strong></span></a></p>
<p>Tracy has been editing the new video for "Carry Me" which goes with the episode "The Message" and it's one of the folkiest songs we've ever done. I say that because I used the really folk voiced tuning of double drop D tuning and played some accordion and Geo Hennessy played a nice violin part. It's unique in the fact that both Matt and Brandon played drums on the song - Matt on the cajon kit at the beginning and it morphs into Brandon playing the regular drums at the end. Tracy sang it beautifully and it was an interesting song to write having so many great lines in the episode. Thanks also to our friend Stacy Pendleton who added a harmony vocal on the chorus. </p>
<p>WhedonCon 2019 is in June here in Los Angeles and we will be playing the Bronze that night as well as chairing a panel on songwriting during the day. </p>
<p>We also recently finished writing the final song in the entire Firefly "Leaves on the Wind Music Project". The last song is for the movie and it came out great. We've started recording that as well as planning a remix and remaster of all the previous 15 songs we've done and package them in a fancy cd package with lyrics and all nice and shiny like! </p>
<p>And if you're planning way ahead - we've been asked to be part of the Browncoat Waystation in Long Beach in 2020 as well as continuing to be a global sponsor for the Can't Stop The Serenity charity Equality Now. </p>
<p>---- </p>
<p><strong><span class="font_large">Touring News: </span></strong></p>
<p>Tracy and I will be in Arizona in April for the Tucson Folk Festival. I'll be in Europe the end of June thru beginning of August. I'm working on some more tour dates with my friend Sonny Mone (formerly of Crazy Horse) for early fall on the east coast and then Tracy and I (and maybe Ben) are booking things from Melbourne to Perth in Australia for December of 2019. </p>
<p>---- </p>
<p>I meant to mention this before but I forgot - Goldmine Magazine, which you can find in your local Barnes & Noble, had a great review of my latest album in their January issue. I reprinted it on my website but here's my favorite part: "It only takes a cursory listen to Two Sides To this Town to recognize the fact that an important and essential new artist has indeed arrived." I don't know how "new" an artist I am but seeing that in print was pretty flabbergasting. </p>
<p><span class="font_large"><strong>Bobbo's "The Red Wheelbarrow" EP. </strong></span></p>
<p>Ok, now this is weird and wacky tale and has a lot of name dropping in it but it's fun. Ready? </p>
<p>About two years ago I got an email from a guy named Ken saying he used to be the drummer in Wilco and Uncle Tupelo and he liked our stuff and if we're ever in Nashville we should do some recording together. I told him I had been listening to him since he was in Clockhammer and I knew who he was. Fast forward to this past fall and I'm hanging out and recording with him in Nashville. We're talking about bands and music we love and Roxy Music comes up so I say "Let's do a Roxy Music song!"** So we crank up the amps and we rock out a Roxy song. A week and a half later I'm in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and they are announcing the nominees for this year's "class". My friend Kevin's wife is the assistant director of the R&RHoF archives and he takes me to see her and we're hanging out and upon meeting her boss I start threatening him, telling him he has to vote for Roxy to get into the hall of fame. We laugh and it's fun and he says he was going to vote for them and I tell him "If they get in, I'm taking credit for it." I get home to California and Roxy Music is voted into the R&RHoF and I'm working on the stuff that Ken and I recorded in Nashville and I take a break and I'm going thru facebook and up comes Phil Manzanara as someone I might know because we have a bunch of mutual friends. Phil is the guitar player in Roxy Music. So I write him and tell him this whole story along with "You're welcome for getting you in the hall of fame." Just totally owning it. He writes back and we have a nice conversation and he says "send the track over, I'll put some guitar on it." AND HE DOES! In the meantime I'm messaging my friend Rami who plays keyboards for the Foo Fighters and I tell him this story (he's also a Roxy Music fan) and he says "send it to me, I want to be on it too!" Now he's on it too! </p>
<p>The world can sometimes be an amazing place where lots of strange things come together. So if you're wondering where the intersection of Wilco, Foo Fighters and Roxy Music lies - apparently it's with me and I'm in awe of it. </p>
<p>I'm going to be running some kind of Pre-order campaign thing for this EP but I don't have the details of that worked out yet. </p>
<p>--- </p>
<p>About a month ago we got a new kitten. Our friend Cecille found her in her backyard and we took her in. She was just a tiny little thing that we think someone abandoned. She has extra toes on all her paws and looks like a Turkish Van (that's a thing, I had no idea!) We named her Princess Thumbelina and her Magnificent Floof but we call her Lena for short. (Yes, her tail got it's own name) We're adapting to life with a cat again and she's been very sweet and nice. She is pretty demanding in the studio and is pretty good at getting everything to run at her speed - which is full stop. Here's a picture of her: </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/b3f1bdd0fa81c0d6219136934a5482cc371e544c/original/img-2411.jpg/!!/undefined/b:W1sic2l6ZSIsInNtYWxsIl1d.jpg" class="size_s justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>I think that's everything for now. </p>
<p>Really hope to see you this week! </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Matt and Ben </p>
<p>*That's a lot of name drops. <br>**Early Roxy Music music was weird in '72 and it's still weird in 2019.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/56103822019-01-24T09:39:38-08:002019-01-24T09:39:38-08:00January 24, 2019<p>It's the new year and we're back at it. We have a couple of new tunes we're working into our live set and excited to be doing that.</p>
<p>This week we have one show. Just one. Easing back into the grind slowly. </p>
<p>We'll be in Laguna Niguel, CA at the Karman Bar with our friends, Colleen Kinnick, Palace Rooms and Lucas Elder. Show starts at 8 and it's only $5. Come hang out for a fun night of music.</p>
<p>Saturday, January 26, 2019<br>Karman Bar<br>26022 Cape Dr<br>Laguna Niguel, California 92677</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/55473102018-12-10T00:29:59-08:002022-05-10T06:49:55-07:00December 10, 2018<p>We're on vacation. </p>
<p>No shows until February 2019.</p>
<p>Merry Merry, Happy Happy!</p>
<p>xo</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/51920162018-04-20T01:06:59-07:002018-04-20T01:06:59-07:00April 20, 2018<p>As usual - lots going on!<br><br>Tracy and I spent tonight at the Akademia Awards Gala in Pasadena (I was nominated for 'Americana Artist of the Year' - didn't win) and had a great time dancing and meeting folks from all over. As Ray Wylie Hubbard says "The days I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations - I have good days". </p>
<p>We've been working hard on our Firefly inspired music "Leaves on the Wind Music Project" and disc number 3 is very close to being done. We're hoping to have it done within the next month because we've been asked to perform at as well as run a panel at Whedon-Con in Los Angeles on May 18-20. No pressure.</p>
<p>Tracy got a new job at Edwards Lifescienes in Irvine and is loving it. Everything I know about the company is obviously second hand from what she tells me but it really does sound like an amazing place to work and I'm just so happy for her to find something like this that will challenge her and allow her to grow in her field. It's exciting for me to see her being so excited by the new challenges, great co-workers and new learning she has in her career.</p>
<p>Me? I just released a new album "Two Sides To This Town" and I've already gotten a <a contents="great review here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://rockwrite.blogspot.com/2018/04/new-releases-mine-americanas-rich-roots.html" target="_blank">great review here</a> on it and I made a video for the song "<a contents="Angelia" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4XMmjwyrDk" target="_blank">Angelia</a>" yesterday and just been prepping for my upcoming summer tour in Europe. </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/50317242018-01-18T23:13:31-08:002018-01-18T23:13:31-08:00January 19, 2018<p>Lots of stuff going on beyond just our shows. </p>
<p>Friday night we'll be at a new place for us in Seal Beach and looking forward to that and next week I have a solo show at the Coach House opening for David Wilcox but the big news for us this week is that Tracy got laid off from her job of over 20 years. So if you felt like buying a cd or a download - now is a good time.* We're not going to play the sympathy card too much but if you know of a company that could use a Senior Learning and Performance Specialist** - please let us know. </p>
<p>And in other news we have updated some stuff on our website to include Matt Froehlich as our regular drummer now.*** We decided to do a fun questionnaire thing on our <a contents="Band" data-link-label="Band" data-link-type="page" href="/band">Band</a> page. </p>
<p>I have also started a new video series called "Singin' & Strummin'" on my <a contents="Guitar Geek Warning" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.guitargeekwarning.com" target="_blank">Guitar Geek Warning</a> website. <a contents="Episode One is here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.guitargeekwarning.com/2018/01/18/singin-strummin/" target="_blank">Episode One is here</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Friday, Jan 19 </strong><br>Bogart's Coffee <br>Ocean Ave, Seal Beach <br>7:30-9:30 </p>
<p><strong>Thursday, Jan 25 </strong><br>The Coach House <br>w/ David Wilcox <br>(<a contents="tickets available here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com">tickets available here</a>) </p>
<p>That's all the news for today. As always, thanks for hanging out with us and see you soon, </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Matt <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p><span class="font_small">*All of our music is not just for sale on our website but it's also "on sale", like blue light special - go dig it here. <br>**It's one of those titles that you're like "I know what all those words mean but when you put them together..." In Tracy's words: "I create and deliver live and online training to teach people the skills that they need to be successful in their job. My role mainly focused on skills like leadership, communication, time management, team building and conflict resolution." <br>***No we didn't fire Brandon. He's still a Fallen Star but he's been pretty busy lately - he will still do shows with us when his schedule allows.</span></p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/49981882017-12-28T23:47:50-08:002017-12-28T23:47:50-08:00Dec 28, 2017<p>Hey! </p>
<p>It's been a helluva year. I guess that can be said most years but this year had more upheaval and change for us than usual. I'm still not done processing it all - Lots of good stuff and some that was less than good, I guess that's a subject for a new album. We'll get there. It was nice having my solo album named in the top 15 albums of the year by NBT Radio in Germany - I like being on best of lists. </p>
<p>Hope this holiday season has been fun filled for you as well. We have one last show before we say adieu to 2017 and it's the night before New Year's Eve - ideal so we can rock and roll and roll and then stay home on NYE! Saturday night we're doing a long set at a new place - The Baja Beach Cafe in Newport Beach. It's a nice place, decent stage, late night happy hour and should be lots of fun. Our first set is at 9 pm and it's free to get in. </p>
<p>Saturday, Dec 30 <br>Baja Beach Cafe <br>2332 W. PCH, Newport Beach, CA <br>9:30-12:30 </p>
<p><a contents="Facebook Event Page Here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/180075669245230/" target="_blank">Facebook Event Page Here</a>. </p>
<p>Matt Froehlich will be on the drums with us and with this being a longer set - we're really going to stretch out and open it up to folks that might want to request some of our songs that we haven't played in a while. If you can get your request in - we'll play it! </p>
<p>In a techy-geek type note - we'll be bringing our fancy new PA system which I think is some of the best sound we've had in a long time. Which always makes things better. Said one TFS fan about our new system: "I've never heard you sound so good."* </p>
<p>We played at the Doll Hut last week and did some video of the show - if you'd like to hear a song from that - check out this link HERE. </p>
<p>That's all for now, got lots happening in the New Year including touring in the U.K, Ireland, Germany, Austria AND Australia! </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy and Matt <br>The Fallen Stars</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/48484722017-09-13T09:30:11-07:002017-09-13T09:30:11-07:00HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!<p>Yep, Tracy and I have been married 20 years today! </p>
<p>So that's a bit of a milestone. How do we celebrate? By playing a gig of course! See you tonight at Beatnik!</p>
<p>And in the meantime - dig this new article from the <a contents="OC Weekly" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.ocweekly.com/music/how-bobbo-byrnes-epic-european-tour-helped-define-his-roots-8419068" target="_blank">OC Weekly</a>: </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/48464762017-09-11T22:54:39-07:002022-03-22T13:08:54-07:00September 12, 2017<p>Hey Everybody! </p>
<p>So it's been a little while. Sorry about that - Tracy and I have been on the east coast and now we're back west and moved into our new place in Anaheim* and getting used to the Disney fireworks every night at 9 pm. And having a new neighborhood means finding some new venues and keeping up with the old ones as well.** </p>
<p>Oh! And the OC Weekly! I had an interview this week with the Weekly and it should be in Thursday's paper - so that's pretty cool. I'm becoming a regular interviewee type of person and it's hard to not sound stupid in these things!*** </p>
<p><strong>Shows:</strong> </p>
<p>Wednesday, Sept 13 - Tracy and Bobbo's Anniversary <br>Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium <br>417 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA <br>Americana Music Night <br>w/ Mario Rojas and Young Valley <br>Show at 8 we're on at 9:30 </p>
<p>Now what's cool and unusual about this show is that 1) It's me and Tracy's 20th Wedding Anniversary so we will be bringing cake with us. and 2) Tracy and I will be joined by Kyrie Anderson and Django Rowe, they are friends of ours from Australia - Kyrie plays drums and Django plays guitar. They are just in town for 2 days and they're playing this show and then going to Disneyland. It's going to be way fun. </p>
<p>Sunday, Sept 17 <br>Can't Stop The Serenity - Orange County <br>AMC Classic Woodbridge Cinema <br>4626 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA <br>2-6 pm - we play before the afternoon matinee of Serenity. </p>
<p>Now this show will be our Firefly themed music. We'll be playing songs from our two Leaves on the Wind Music Project cds and proceeds from today will benefit Equality Now. We did a rehearsal for it last night and it was sounding amazing. We had Matt Froehlich on the cajon kit, Georgiana Hennessy on the violin and Matt Tonge on mandolin and banjo. </p>
<p>We're super excited for these shows as they will be unique and lots of fun. Really hope you can make it out to one or both of the shows! </p>
<p>And this week's free song is "Stronger than Steel" from our Firefly project. It's a song about how we often don't see how strong women are underneath but just see how pretty they are on the surface. It's probably one of the prettiest songs we've ever written and we tried to capture the spirit of a fancy ball where folks would be waltzing - feel free to waltz along with it. </p>
<p>Alrighty, back to unpacking stuff - I have actually planted some zucchini in the backyard and some flowers out front already! I'm a regular Farmer Bobbo! </p>
<p>As always, thanks for hanging with us and see you soon. </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy (and this week: Kyrie, Django, Geo, Matt T and Matt F.) <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p> </p>
<p>*Sue: Hey man, you're not from here, alright. You don't know how it is. I grew up in L.A. <br>Trent: Anaheim. </p>
<p>**Looking to book at the Packing House in Anaheim soon. Anyone have the contact there? </p>
<p>***I'm hoping I was successful in this endeavor.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/48244502017-08-24T11:31:17-07:002017-08-24T11:31:17-07:00August 24, 2017<p>Well that was a summer. I think all told I played about 65 shows in 80 days across Europe. All of which I documented in my tour diary.* </p>
<p>I'm writing you from Cape Cod, Dennisport to be more specific. If you don't know where that is, imagine Cape Cod as an arm sticking out of Massachusetts and we are just before the elbow. Tracy and I are sort of relaxing. Well, it is very relaxing here - we can see the ocean as it's only about 50 yards away and there's a nice seabreeze blowing in the windows. I've been hard at work here and staying out of the sun** updating websites, cataloging shows, booking new tours and scheming for the next release. </p>
<p>It's going to be September when we get back to Southern California and we have a few shows coming up there as well as a run up the West Coast all the way to Portland, Oregon in November and then a benefit I'm organizing in New Hampshire in December.*** </p>
<p>Tracy and I are almost done with a new Leaves on the Wind cd and we're playing a Can't Stop The Serenity event on Sept 17 in Irvine, CA. We are also 4 songs into a new album that we've tentatively titled "Making Wishes on the Satellites". </p>
<p>This week and a half "off" is the most "off" I've been in a long time and I'm going a little stircrazy. It's been almost a week since I've played a show and I don't know what to do.**** </p>
<p>*No link to tour diary yet but it is on my facebook page <br>**Never trust a tanned musician. <br>***Because everyone should go to New Hampshire in December. <br>****Technically it's been 5 days.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/47256492017-05-28T17:14:55-07:002017-05-28T17:14:55-07:00Tour Diary Day 5, May 28, 2017 <p>I should’ve started this earlier, I’m beat tired and so much good stuff happened today. </p>
<p>Now I know Pete woke me up early this morning (10 am) but I can’t remember why. We did something today, was it today that we worked on recording stuff? I think it was. Pete’s band, Jakku Dogs, is working on a new recording and we dove into some of the tracks and it really makes me feel useful to be able to assist with mixing and give some recording tips. Recording and mixing are one of those things that I feel that no matter how much you know - there’s always room to learn more. </p>
<p>I’m also looking forward to getting to Bremen and into that studio because Peter has tracks there waiting for me to start mixing! </p>
<p>Most of mid-day today was spent watching Pete cook. There should really be a cooking show on his Sunday roast - FOR REAL. I was really upset that I wasn’t prepared to do a cooking video because Pete’s Sunday roast starts on Saturday night in a slow cooker, then today was peeled backed potatoes, carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, stuffing, gravy, salad and wine! (see pic) </p>
<p>It was - for real - one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Did you know parsnips taste good? Neither did I. I tried to explain to Connor and Oliver that their Dad’s cooking was really great and they should learn from him because I wasn’t able to learn cooking from my Mom at all - all I learned how to do was to how to burn frozen vegetables! </p>
<p>After Sunday dinner we headed over to Callington - which would be the furthest into Cornwall I am going to go. The road was small and winding with a large hedgerow and I don’t think I fully understood what a hedgerow was until today. I didn’t want to make a big deal of it but we just don’t see those things in the states - shit, this hedgerow was probably older than the United States!* </p>
<p>Tonight we were playing the Village Hall in Callington and it’s a beautiful hall with a stage and lights and excellent sound (provided by Jim on the drums) </p>
<p>Tonight’s show was also recorded by Peter’s son Conner who is going to University next year for film - and extra care was taken to make sure we were lit up right and the multi camera shoot and everything. So that’s awesome. </p>
<p>And the show was great, real listening audience and I kept my set a little more subdued tonight as the acoustics were really pretty and I was enjoying listening to the room. When I played the harmonica I got way back off the mic and could just hear it in the space and enjoyed it. </p>
<p>We played some more songs together tonight and I’m going to miss jamming with these guys. I can’t thank them all enough for having me and putting on these shows and playing together. Look up www.Peter-Crawford.com - there’s music there and links to the Jakku Dogs as well. </p>
<p>I have more to say and more to tell but I am fully exhausted and have to catch a train to Cheltenham in the morning and I am still not saying the name of that town correctly. (Appartently, you skip the middle ‘enh’) Oh, but that reminds me! I was playing a fun game with them about town names and my friends in California - none of them can say “Billerica”, “Tewksbury”, “Chelmsford”, “Gloucester” or “Worcester” correctly but everyone of the Crawford’s was able to nail them. Annalisa stumbled on “Billerica” for a second but then got it. </p>
<p>Fun with names and accents. </p>
<p>Really, so much more to tell but can’t keep my eyes open. Thank you so much Peter and Annalisa for having me in your home and making Cornwall, and more specifically - Saltash, such a wonderful place to visit and play music. I already can’t wait to come back. </p>
<p>*it was.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/47248022017-05-27T17:36:24-07:002017-05-27T17:36:24-07:00Tour Diary Day 4, May 27, 2017 <p>Tour Diary Day 4, May 27, 2017 </p>
<p>It’s Saturday! </p>
<p>I say that to remind myself, it doesn’t take long to lose track of what day it is - these Tour Diaries help. </p>
<p>Today we have two gigs and before we go Pete tells me where getting a proper Pasty. I told him I had one the other day and he said “what was in it?” I said “butter chicken.” “That’s not a Pasty.” So today we’re getting a real one. </p>
<p>I do really love regional food. It’s like when I go to Massachusetts and someone says “we have a great new Mexican restaurant” and you know it’s shite without even trying it. I was on the Baltic Sea last year for a gig and they said “We have the best nachos” and I accepted that challenge and it was a basket full of no. There were chips and there was salsa on top but it was the sweetest salsa I’d ever had - as if it was cherry flavored or something. I ate 3 chips and couldn’t eat no more. </p>
<p>Wherever you are - eat what they eat and you’ll be fine. </p>
<p>I get it though - I'm a bit of a burger snob. There's places that make great burgers, Golden Goose in Sedona, AZ, Park Bench Cafe in Huntington Beach, just about any 5 Guys Burgers - and nowhere in Europe. </p>
<p>So when Pete said I had to have a proper Pasty I knew what he meant and so we went to Oggy Oggy, the Cornish Pasty Company and I learned more about them from Pete like it was a tradition for the miners who ate them to drop the crusts down the mine for the “Tommyknockers” who were, as far as I can tell, the elves of good fortune. If you didn’t give up your crust to the Tommyknockers it was bad luck for that mine shaft. Sounds to me like it was a way of keeping the rats happy. </p>
<p>I had my traditional Cornish Pasty {pronounced Pă/stee} and it had beef and potatoes and some other stuff as well. I took a picture of the bag it came in but by the time I was eating it - I couldn’t get my phone out in time. Pasty = Tasty. {those words don’t rhyme well) </p>
<p>Then we went over to the Ashtorre Rock Hall in Saltash which is a room in a community center where we played unplugged for about two hours. Two hours? Maybe. I lost track of time but it was wonderful, we would swap off songs and Pete, Phil and Jim (Jakku Dogs) would join me on songs and I joined in with them as well. </p>
<p>It was an intimate show but I really dug it because everyone was really listening. You can’t beat listening rooms. </p>
<p>Then we came back to Pete’s flat and he made sausage, salad and mushrooms and shallots.* Pete is a great cook, I’ve been spoiled here and apparently tomorrow we’re having a roast that is already cooking in the slow cooker. </p>
<p>After late lunch/early dinner we headed over to the The Brook Inn in Plymouth - a right proper pub with a great stage and soundman. We tore it up good tonight and I even broke a few strings. I actually said before we started that I would be lucky to get through tonight’s gig without breaking any strings as this was the third day of shows and that’s about how long they last for me on tour. I’ve been working myself like a professional bicyclist with how fast I can change a string - or maybe a pit crew working Indy 500. I got string changes down to under one minute. The first string to go was a D and the second was a B. I’m going to have to change out the rest of them before our show tomorrow. </p>
<p>I played a couple of songs that I hadn’t played yet this week and got my looping pedal going in a couple of tunes. I use it as a percussion thing in one song and as an instrumental part in another. I’m very aware of how using the looping pedal can become annoying to the audience and try to minimize the annoyance. There are some bands, like Whitehorse, that are a two person looping machine that is at a level of performance art of how they coordinate the pedal dance but when I see solo folks do it, I rarely enjoy it for more than a song or two. </p>
<p>So I used it in two songs. </p>
<p>I’ve been joining the Jakku Dogs on stage for a few numbers every night and it’s quite fun. They cover “When the night comes falling” which is a Bob Dylan song covered by The Jeff Healey Band in Roadhouse - which is a very convoluted way to get to a Bob Dylan song but we’ve really been giving it a good kicking and totally underrated Robert Zimmerman tune. </p>
<p>And the Jakku Dogs have been joining me for “No Expectations” as well and we did a pretty sweet version of it tonight. </p>
<p>After the show I find myself talking to a bloke sitting there who, between my having a hard time hearing him in a loud bar, his British accent and him being drunk - let’s just say I was getting about every third word but I can tell you: </p>
<p>He watches “Big Brother”. <br>Someone on that show recorded a song <br>His actual brother was most likely involved with the recording of that song. <br>I am a very good performer. <br>You need a gimmick to make a million pounds. <br>I need a gimmick. <br>The girl on Big Brother was a git. (what is a ‘git’?) </p>
<p>That is the extreme Reader’s Digest condensed version of our conversation. </p>
<p>After the show it was toast and tea for Pete and I and that’s how we rock and roll in Cornwall. </p>
<p>Cheers. </p>
<p>*Only they pronounce shallots wrong. I don’t know how these Brits keep screwing up the English language.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/47240422017-05-26T16:59:40-07:002017-05-26T16:59:40-07:00Tour Diary Day 3, May 26, 2017 <p>Tour Diary Day 3, May 26, 2017 </p>
<p>I lied. </p>
<p>Nothing big but I brought more socks and underwear on tour then I let on. There’s the set I was wearing and then the emergency set in my carry on so all told I have 7 pair of underwear and 8 pair of socks. </p>
<p>Why is this important? </p>
<p>Because today was a NEW SOCKS DAY! (NSD™) It’s like pillows for my feet walking around in brand new socks and underwear. </p>
<p>And a good thing too - I did a bit of walking. Not “a bit of walking” in the Roman sense* but I probably walked a couple of miles today, down to the bridge and hit a bakery to get a traditional Cornish Pasty.** It was a butter chicken pasty and delicious. I sat in the shade by the IK Brunel monument and read about the bridge he designed that was a technological wonder of it’s time and connected Cornwall to the rest of England. I ate a cookie too. </p>
<p>Then I walked out on the big main bridge to look over at the IK Brunel bridge in all it’s wonder. It really must have been amazing to see this thing get built in 1859! </p>
<p>I made my way back up Fore Street towards St. Stephens Road and peaked in at a couple of little shops, found a present for Tracy and a card for me mum and chatted with the locals. By the monument for Major General Sir William Penn Symons K.C.B. of Hatt - I had a nice chat with an older lady walking her sons dog. She had been in San Francisco recently and went on a cruise through the Panama Canal. “They must’ve really loved this General Symons of Hatt, because Hatt is a town with one street light now, there mustn’t have been anything there in 1899.” We speculated over what war would’ve been going on in 1899 for him to have been killed in but we couldn’t figure it out. </p>
<p>As I walked along St. Stephens road I found myself listening in at this garage, they were in there working on cars and the music that was coming out of the garage - Burt Bacharach! How positively British!*** I felt like I wasn’t of my own time for a moment. </p>
<p>I got back just in time for some afternoon tea with Annalisa and I made some toast with some nice multi grain bread I picked up at one of the bakeries downtown.**** <br>Tonght we’re playing in a school gymnasium, it’s all set up with a nice stage and kids climbing the walls (literally, it was a climbing wall!) and Peter’s band Jakku Dogs is playing and bringing the PA. Jim plays the cajon and Phil plays bass. Nice guys too. We rehearse a couple of songs that I’m going to join them on and we sound pretty good. I forget how much I like being a sideman, just playing guitar is SO easy! Make it loud here, make it quiet here. Originally it was my plan to be the sideman in someone else’s band but I had songs to sing so I morphed into this other thing. It’s interesting, when I do the sideman thing it feels like putting on an old pair of boots that fit really well, you sway side to side and everything feels familiar. </p>
<p>The show is sparsely attended. I actually blame the nice weather on this one. We’re in the U.K. and it’s sunny and in the 70’s and absolutely beautiful out - I don’t blame anyone for not wanting to come be inside on this lovely night. </p>
<p>I played first tonight and had an ok set. I used my looper pedal and my foot stomp making more sound than just me. Something you have to re-get-used-to when coming to Europe to play is when people sit and listen - you don’t have to bang them over the head with your music. It’s a holdover from playing in the states where you have to setting yourself on fire every 10 seconds to avoid folks getting bored. Tonight folks were sitting and listening and I found myself hurrying through the breaks to make sure I got to the next song quickly but they were listening to the stories and the tunes. It is a very different atmosphere. </p>
<p>The Jakku Dogs are great and Peter writes really catchy songs with beautiful parts, I wish we had more time to record stuff and work together. I can hear what they’re doing and the producer in me wants to record and mix. </p>
<p>After the show we came back to the flat, I bought a bottle of wine and Peter got some cheese, meats and crackers and we had a great hang in the back patio and even saw the International Space Station go by.***** </p>
<p>I’m truly sleepy tonight and hoping most of the jetlag is worn off as we have two shows tomorrow. </p>
<p>Word is the rain is coming back to Cornwall this weekend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>*No, not Romans. Roman. My friend in Vienna. That dude walks everywhere! Shit it is 83 steps up to his apartment! </p>
<p>**It’s a meat pastry that was originally made for the miners that worked the tin mines of Cornwall. It was made with a big crust so they could eat with their dirty hands and not get the part they are eating dirty. </p>
<p>***I know Burt Bacharach isn’t British but his music sure does fit. </p>
<p>****Thanks Deja for the toast tongs! Used them for the first time today. </p>
<p>*****No really, I took my phone out and with SkyView app - we tracked it!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/47233082017-05-26T08:14:57-07:002017-05-26T08:14:57-07:00Tour Diary Day 2, May 25, 2017 <p>I slept for 11 hours last night. </p>
<p>I’m staying in Saltash with Peter and Annalisa Crawford. I met Peter on a Songs & Whispers tour a few years back and we’ve stayed in touch through the wonders of the interwebs and they are really lovely people. He has set up all the shows here in the Cornwall area. </p>
<p>I felt bad sleeping so long today but they were really understanding and kept the dog and cat out of the room I’m staying in. It’s an air mattress bed but I could’ve been sleeping on stone last night and not noticed at all. </p>
<p>When I did finally wake up (at half past one) I took a little walk downtown. Annalisa gave me some directions, “I grew up here and me and my best friend used to try to get lost walking around and we never could.” Challenge accepted! </p>
<p>Walking around while not carrying a heavy backpack, suitcase and guitar feels so light, I feel I could walk anywhere today but settle for a ½ mile stroll downtown. Downtown Saltash has nice little shops, butcher shop and bakery and I ended up at Petit Pain, a nice little sandwich shop with one lady working and talking to a friend and one older gent in back making the food. </p>
<p>“You eating here or take away?” </p>
<p>“Eating here.” </p>
<p>“Well sit down, the menus are on the table.” </p>
<p>There’s a nice selection of sandwiches and so; </p>
<p>“Can I have the chicken curry baguette?” </p>
<p>“We’re all out of the chicken curry.” </p>
<p>“Can I have the chicken salad?” </p>
<p>“We’re all out of that too.” </p>
<p>“How about the chicken and stuffing?” </p>
<p>“We’re all out of that.” </p>
<p>This goes on for a couple more things I tried ordering. </p>
<p>“What chicken do you have left?” </p>
<p>“Coronation Chicken.”* </p>
<p>“I’ll have that.” </p>
<p>Coronation chicken is chicken in a curry mayonnaise sauce on baguette and it was delicious for less than 6 pounds. </p>
<p>As I’m walking back to the flat I hear a horn beep and it’s Peter on his way home, perfect timing! </p>
<p>We have a nice sit down in his back patio area with their dog R2 and cat Dylan until it’s time to head to Plymouth for the show. </p>
<p>Tonight’s show is at Bar Rakuda and it’s right along the water in Plymouth, we pass boats that are moored up and it’s a nice touristy type area with shops and bars that would remind you a lot of Rockport, MA mixed with a little bit of Hampton Beach, NH. Pete takes me over to a place that has “award winning” fish n chips. I’m not going to lie, it was very good. I’ve had better chips but the fish was excellent. I would’ve taken a picture but I needed both hands to eat it. We walk over to this area to eat and it turns out we’re standing at the place where the Pilgrims took off from in 1620. How about that! We joke about how they felt persecuted for practicing their religion so they left England to go practice in the new world and persecute others. Makes sense right?** </p>
<p>The stage area for tonight’s show isn’t ideal, it’s a small area in the center of what is probably the “summer” bar. Not a lot of dancing room and the speakers all face out but shockingly it still sounded good on stage. The cobblestone and old buildings providing just the right amount of bounce back and reverb. </p>
<p>Peter goes on first and he has an exceptionally easy voice to listen to, writes great songs and his cover selection takes me off guard - The Dobie Gray was excellent but I really was not expecting him to play Britney Spears! </p>
<p>Now the weather has been absolutely fantastic all day, it’s in the low 60’s but there is a bit of a breeze blowing. It’s not like a New England breeze that chills you to the bone but it’s still brisk and unrelenting. Bar Rakuda has what you might consider a “mayor” or “man about the bar” or a “consigliere” . His name is Colin and he’s always checking on everyone there, he sees a girl in a short skirt he’s right there with a blanket for her to cover up. He’s busy doing this tonight. He comes over to me: </p>
<p>“Do you need a beer?” </p>
<p>“No thanks.” </p>
<p>“Shot? Jamesons?” </p>
<p>“No, really I’m good. It’s a bit cold.” </p>
<p>“Would you like a pot of tea?” </p>
<p>“Yes, I would love that.” </p>
<p>“Would you like a biscuit as well?” </p>
<p>“Of course!” </p>
<p>That’s what kind of rock star I am. Now before you get all over my case for turning down beer and Jamesons - remember, this is the first night of my tour - I have 60 shows in the next 70 days. This is a marathon not a sprint. </p>
<p>I will happily call this the “Tea & Biscuits Tour 2017” </p>
<p>Apparently the weather is not always this lovely in Plymouth and it’s brought a bunch of folks out on this Thursday night and the group right in front of the stage is calling out requests left and right. When Peter plays “Hit me baby one more time” by Britney Spears they go crazy and sing along. </p>
<p>I don’t have a Britney Spears cover in my pocket. I have no intention of ever having a Britney Spears cover in my pocket. That’s not a diss on anyone who does - it takes a special talent to cover a song like that and do it well. Peter does that. I don’t play any Beatles covers either - I have tried a few and I’m doing them more of a favor by NOT playing them! </p>
<p>The girls come over and ask for a few covers. </p>
<p>“Do you know any Ariana Grande?” </p>
<p>“Sorry, no.” </p>
<p>“Really you don’t?” </p>
<p>It’s a weird thing when folks ask for covers like that. I’m never quite sure how to take it because I know that I have my own sound and I’m not being pretentious when I say that I do what I do pretty well and there isn’t anything in there that would suggest that I could pull off a Ariana Grande or an Adele song with any decency. </p>
<p>“Well, what do you know?” </p>
<p>“I know a lot of Replacements songs.” </p>
<p>“Who?” </p>
<p>“I know some REM.” </p>
<p>“Oh, I love REM - what do you know?” </p>
<p>“Driver 8, Feeling Gravity’s Pull, Begin the Begin, So.Central Rain, Gardening at Night, One I Love.” </p>
<p>“What are those?” </p>
<p>“They are REM songs.” </p>
<p>“They are?” </p>
<p>So I return to the regularly scheduled program and they seem to like it. </p>
<p>Pete and I finish up with a few songs together and it’s a fun end to the evening. </p>
<p>Same girl comes up to me to tell me how much she enjoyed the show. </p>
<p>“You guys are great performers.” </p>
<p>“Thank you very much.” </p>
<p>“Did you write any of those songs?” </p>
<p>“I wrote most of those songs that I played.” </p>
<p>“Really? They were good - and catchy!” </p>
<p>“Thank you.” </p>
<p>“It must be hard when people just want to hear the songs they know.” </p>
<p>“I’m trying to get my songs to be the ones people ask for.” </p>
<p>“You will get there, I didn’t realize you were playing your own songs.” </p>
<p>“I’m here on tour promoting my new album.” </p>
<p>“You have an album?” </p>
<p>“Actually I have about 9 of them.” </p>
<p>“No, really? You’re very good.” </p>
<p>Thank you Plymouth, goodnight. </p>
<p>*This dish was invented for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. There’s some food history for ya! <br>**Man, those Pilgrims must have been the worst at parties! Ha! </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/47233022017-05-26T08:07:24-07:002017-05-26T08:07:24-07:00Tour Diary Day 1, May 24, 2017 <p>Norweigan Airlines. That was the quietest flight I’ve ever been on. I was able to get some sleep and everything.* </p>
<p>Landed in London, small wait at Customs as they checked my paperwork out - Yes, I planned ahead and got my Tier 5 Sponsorship for musician coming into the country to play music - but it is still a disconcerting feeling when they take you to a sectioned off area and tell you to wait there and then they disappear with your passport. You end up with that feeling of “I know I did everything right, I hope there’s no problems.” And the woman who was sitting across from me who they were very calmly telling that she did not do things correctly but they know she’s a student studying abroad and they will work it out with her. </p>
<p>I make my way out of London Gastwick airport and find the train that is right there, ez pz. Hop on and head to Reading to make my transfer to Plymouth. </p>
<p>Reading is a nice little town, I’ve got some time to kill between trains as I purchased a later train so that I wouldn’t be rushed and I start walking around until I see some outside tables and chairs and two men and a lady start inquiring about the guitar case. </p>
<p>“What kind of guitar do you have in there?” </p>
<p>“Gibson.” </p>
<p>“He has a Gibson” the woman says “A ‘73 Les Paul.” </p>
<p>“Very nice.” </p>
<p>“I like the stickers on your case.” she says. </p>
<p>I can’t tell which sticker she is pointing at but I think it might have been “this machine kills fascists”, my nod to Woody Guthrie. </p>
<p>So I sit down and order a sausage roll and a drink. </p>
<p>We keep talking about traveling and where I’m going and what-not. Now, I know they are speaking English but sometimes when the guys talk I cannot understand anything they say. </p>
<p>The woman introduces herself as Annie and she asks if I’m playing in Reading that night. I tell her no and as we’re all talking I hand them one of my postcards with the website info and stuff. </p>
<p>“Your last name is Byrnes. My mothers family is Byrne. Maybe we are related.” </p>
<p> “It’s certainly possible.” </p>
<p> “Where you going now?’” one of the guys asks. </p>
<p>“I’m heading to the Cornwall area.” </p>
<p> “Was that an expensive ticket?” </p>
<p>“Not too bad, I think about 25 pounds.” </p>
<p> I hear them talking amongst themselves and hear one of the guys say something to her like “You’ve got the money, why don’t you go with him?” </p>
<p> “It’s been lovely chatting with you, got to run.” </p>
<p>Maybe that was hasty of me, but it made me feel very uncomfortable. Sorry folks. </p>
<p>I return to the train station and I still have about 2 hours before my train when I get a message from Joe Turner. </p>
<p>Joe Turner and I were in a band together in like ‘91? When I first met him I remembered being in his room and he had an enormous poster of Kate Bush from “The Dreaming” album cover and I immediately thought “this guy is cool.” We made a lot of noise in a basement in Newton, Ma before going our separate ways** Nick Gianotti and Jeff Turner also played in that band and it was good for a little while. I can’t even remember the last time I saw Joe but we have stayed in touch through FB to the point that when I saw Kate Bush was doing some shows for the first time in forever - I immediately messaged Joe to make sure he knew and yes, he spent a small fortune buying tickets to Kate’s show in London (when Joe lived in Boston). </p>
<p>Am I going on too much about Kate Bush? I don’t care. </p>
<p>Anyway - Joe now lives in Reading with his wife Jennifer and we met up and had a great catch up and fish n chips.*** </p>
<p>And then a long train ride from 9 pm to 12:20 am to Plymouth where Peter Crawford was waiting for me. I’m now about to crash because it’s nearly 6 pm PST and 2 am UK time which means I have spent 26 hours traveling to get here. </p>
<p>Peter has a nice flat and I just met his cat and dog. I’m sleeping next to Darth Vader and a Stormtrooper. I feel strong and stable. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>*But no wifi?? </p>
<p>**But I still remember that we had a great song together called “God Given”. Really catchy and yes, I do remember the chords. </p>
<p>***And Joe told me all about the Kate Bush concert!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/46682902017-04-12T11:06:06-07:002017-04-12T11:06:06-07:00Wednesday, April 12, 2017<p>Hey! </p>
<p>There's been some interesting articles that have come out lately about getting folks out to shows and how to make the experience the best for the listeners and it's really intriguing. We've toured around quite a bit and we try to incorporate what we've learned whenever we can. Things like starting shows earlier, making the venues easy to get to with plenty of parking, booking bands with us that we think work together*, playing house concerts, improving our own PA system for a better listening experience for the audience. This is all on top of trying to continue writing and entertaining folks. This is not bitter complaining, we are very thankful for all of you that we have met and continue to come to our shows - we're just always trying to improve the situation. </p>
<p>The first article I saw was in the <a contents="OC Weekly" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.ocweekly.com/music/how-do-you-get-audiences-to-care-about-local-bands-they-dont-already-know-7999074" target="_blank">OC Weekly</a> this past week and it highlighted the Orange County Music League, a local promotion (and more) company that is doing their best to improve local shows for venues, fans and bands. They've started a "Spotlight" series on local bands as well as released some compilation cds I also <a contents="found&nbsp;this piece&nbsp;by the CBC " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/chemical-weapons-start-concerts-earlier-and-nova-scotia-should-have-a-spaceport-1.4059275/if-you-want-to-keep-the-local-music-scene-alive-start-shows-earlier-1.4059357" target="_blank">found this piece by the CBC </a>in Canada on how to save your local music scenes. We get it, no one wants to be out late on a school night and we know that a lot of our fans aren't in the young-going-out-drinking-crowd anymore and starting shows at 10 or 11 pm doesn't make sense to anyone. I just wanted to let you know that we're always trying to make your experience as easy and fun as we can. </p>
<p>All that said - this week, two shows. </p>
<p>Wednesday, April 12 <br>Americana Night at <br>Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium <br>417 N Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 92701 <br>We're on at 9, show starts at 7. <br>Limited seating, $5 suggested donation at the door. <br>Metered parking out back </p>
<p>Saturday, April 15 <br>Beach Hut Deli <br>Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA <br>(corner of Beach & Garfield) <br>Without the Blonde & Phil Cody joining us. <br>Show from 7-10 pm. Tips welcome. <br>Lots of free parking </p>
<p>Next week we have a pretty big show - we're playing the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. RCPM are a fantastic band that we have played with a bunch of times now. They grew out of the band The Refreshments that you may remember from a couple of hits they had in the 90's like "Banditos" and they also did the King of the Hill theme song and that's just 2 of their songs - they have 13 albums out. They are really inspiring to watch as they always put on a great show and have such a close relationship with their fans - their fans who drive from Arizona to Southern California to see them play. And their fans who become our fans and then come see us when we play in Arizona! The shows we play with them are always like college courses in professionalism in the music biz. </p>
<p>Saturday, April 22 <br>The Coach House <br>Camino Capistrano Blvd, San Juan Capistrano, CA <br><a contents="Tickets available here&nbsp;" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="/shop" target="_blank">Tickets available here </a></p>
<p>The Coach House is a show that we have tickets to sell for. If you buy them at the door they are $18 but it's better for us if you buy them from us at $15 a ticket. That way the club will know that we have fans and are worth booking again. We've been rehearsing a special set for this night, really hope you can make it. </p>
<p>Thanks as always for hanging out with us and I've included the free download of the song "When We Ride" that came out on our *other* band Riddle & The Stars' last album. Hope you dig it. </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon (and sometimes Matt, Matt & Geo & Ben) <br> </p>
<p>*We used to get booked to play these shows with like 4 or 5 other bands and you'd show up and the first act would be a solo piano singer, the next band would be us and then the next band would be a death metal band and it was too schizophrenic for anyone to enjoy.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/46499012017-03-29T02:33:11-07:002017-03-29T02:33:11-07:00March 29, 2017Tour Dates for the remainder of the year (so far)<p>April 12 - Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium, Santa Ana, CA <br>April 15 - Beach Hut Deli, Huntington Beach, CA <br>April 22 - The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, CA (with Roger Clyne) <br>May 4 - Alta Coffee, Newport Beach, CA <br>May 5 - Raven Cafe, Prescott, AZ, USA <br>May 6 - Tucson Folk Festival, Tucson AZ, USA <br>May 7 - Private Event, Tucson, AZ USA <br>May 16 - AM Radio, Laguna Beach, CA <br>May 20 - Whedonopolis, Woodland Hills, CA, USA <br>May 25 - Plymstock School, Plymouth UK <br>May 25 - Bar Radkuda, Plymouth UK <br>May 26 - Core Youth, Saltash, UK <br>May 27 - The Brook Inn, Plymouth, UK <br>May 28 - Ashtorre Rock Hall, Saltash, UK <br>May 28 - Harrowbarrow Village Hall, Callington, UK <br>May 30 - Flying Pig, Cambridge, UK (with Alex Petrie) <br>June 1 - Tank, Gloucester, UK <br>June 3 - The Bath Tavern, Cheltenham, UK <br>June 6 - Tanzschule Cordero Lopez, Bremen, Germany <br>June 7 - Iberotel Boltenhagen, Boltenhagen, Germany <br>June 8 - Halmerweg, Bremen, Germany (workshop) <br>June 9 - Halmerweg, Bremen, Germany (workshop) <br>June 10 - City-Galerie Siegen, Siegen, Germany <br>June 11 - Halmerweg, Bremen, Germany (concert) <br>June 12 - Altes Gymnasium Bremen, Bremen, Germany (workshop) <br>June 13 - Universität Bremen, Bremen, Germany <br>June 13 - Hafen Casino, Bremen, Germany <br>June 15 - Tillmann Hahns Gasthaus, Kühlungsborn, Germany <br>June 17 - Private Show, Germany <br>June 17 - Weyher Theater, Weyhe, Germany <br>June 21 - Hart Backbord, Bremen, Germany <br>June 22 - Radio Show, Oldenburg Eins <br>June 22 - Litfaß Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany <br>June 23 - Knust, Hamburg, Germany <br>June 24 - Haus am Walde, Bremen, Germany (RATS) <br>June 25 - Badesee Westrittrum, Westrittrum,, Amelhauser Str. 42, 26197 Großenkneten <br>June 29 - Beavers, Miltenberg, Germany <br>June 30 - Grammatikoff, Duisburg, Germany <br>July 1 - Sonnendeck, Dangast/Varel, Germany <br>July 5 - Kanal 21 TV, Bielefeld, Germany <br>July 8 - Private Show, Germany <br>July 9 - Breminale, Bremen, Germany <br>July 12 - Iberotel Boltenhagen, Boltenhagen, Germany <br>July 15 - Private Event #1 <br>July 15 - Private Event #2 <br>July 16 - Olbers – Planetarium, Bremen, Germany <br>July 17 - Live - Club Bamberg, Germany <br>July 20 - Oldenburg Eins Radio Show <br>July 20 - Litfaß Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany <br>July 22 - Jack Festival, Kassel, Germany (Bobbo & Ben) <br>July 26 - Diakonie-Krankenhaus, Bremen, Germany <br>July 28 - Podium Café, Steendam, Netherlands <br>August 4 - Festival in Verden (?) <br>August 19 - Pasta Loft, Milford, NH <br>Sept 12 - Casa, Costa Mesa, CA <br>November 18 - TBA, San Francisco, CA <br>November 19 - House Concert, Berkeley, CA <br>November 26 - Benefit for Obstetric Fistula, Portland, OR <br>December 9/16 - Benefit for Homeless, Nashua, NH</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/46470722017-03-27T09:11:47-07:002017-03-27T09:11:47-07:00March 27, 2017So I just stumbled upon this review of a show we did in November. Thanks John for the nice words.<br> <p>https://captainunivac.com/2016/11/30/beatnik-bandito-monday-november-28-2016/</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/46316142017-03-15T16:47:31-07:002017-03-15T16:47:31-07:00March 15, 2017<p>Hey, you might have noticed there's not a lot of shows posted on my site right now - rest assured, it's not because we don't have any booked - it's because I'm looking into calendar options for the site to make it easy to post the shows. Currently I'm trying to use Songkick but so many of the venues are not in the database that I'm having to enter in all the information for them. It's very time consuming and frustrating. </p>
<p>This week I'll be rocking at the Clubhouse in Placentia with friends Tall as Men. </p>
<p>If you need more details, email me at bobbo@thefallenstars.com</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/46256842017-03-10T18:05:11-08:002017-03-10T18:05:11-08:00March 10, 2017<p>Hey! So this one is kind of last minute. I've been so busy prepping that I forgot to send out an email blast about our show this weekend. And before I forget - thank you so much for hanging out with us, following along with us and coming to shows - not only that but you had very neat handwriting that allowed us to put your email on our mailing list - that in itself is to be commended. </p>
<p>Saturday, March 11 <br>Beach Hut Deli <br>19025 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach,CA <br>7 pm - Jack Blake <br>8 pm - The Fallen Stars <br>9 pm - Phil Cody </p>
<p>Fun night of music, all free and all ages. Easy as cake. Piece of pie.* </p>
<p>I also have a solo show on: </p>
<p>Tuesday, March 14 <br>Sam Ash Music Store <br>14200 Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA <br>This show starts at 7:30 and will also feature Doug Schmude who has a new album out.** </p>
<p>As some of you may know - I'm a bit of a guitar geek. Well I've taken that to a whole new level and started the website www.GuitarGeekWarning.com *** It's where I do gear reviews, touring and performing tips as well as recording info. It's quite fun and a bit interactive as well - so if you play guitar or love guitars or know someone who does, surf on over there. </p>
<p>And lots of touring stuff going on. </p>
<p>Saturday, April 22 we will be back at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Tickets for that available here. </p>
<p>The first weekend in May we will be back in Arizona - The Raven Cafe in Prescott on Friday, May 5, Tucson Folk Festival on Saturday, May 6 and then the Mashie Road House Concert on Sunday May 7. </p>
<p>Then we will be playing our Firefly inspired music as part of Whedonopolis in Woodland Hills, CA on May 20. Hopefully having the last cd done in time for that! </p>
<p>Then we'll be gone a while in Europe. My first solo show will be in Cornwall UK on May 25th and doing almost 2 weeks in the UK before heading to Germany for another month of shows and Tracy meets up with me there. If you are in Europe and looking to book us - please email me here and we can make that happen. </p>
<p>After Europe we will be on the east coast for most of August, well mostly Massachusetts and doing some shows there as well. So if you're in New England - now is the time to let me know you want to book something. Might be doing some shows back there with Phil Cody, Russell Hill and The Farewells! </p>
<p>And then in November we will be heading up the west coast with stops in San Francisco, Berkeley and Portland. </p>
<p>Then we hibernate in December. </p>
<p>It's still March but it's never to early to plan this stuff! </p>
<p>Ok, that's it for now. </p>
<p>Talk to you soon, </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon, Matt (and sometimes Ben and Julian) <br>The Fallen Stars <br>oh, and dig the new Bobbo solo website at www.bobbobyrnes.com </p>
<p>*I've been mixing up that saying ever since I saw the movie 2010 Space Odyssey and now I can't put it right. <br>**And he just got a review that said; "You might like if you enjoy: John Mellencamp's '80s albums, The Fallen Stars, the Old 97's" Ha! He got compared to us! Be sure to give him a hard time about that. <br>***The name comes from the warning I would put on my facebook posts about guitars so that people who didn't care about guitar stuff could just scroll by.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/45364022017-01-04T01:00:21-08:002017-01-04T01:00:21-08:00January 4, 2017<p>Hey! So it's been a while since I've written. Sorry about that. Life, you know? First it was Europe and then I drove from Massachusetts to California with my Mom (playing shows across the way of course!) and then it was Christmas time and I took all the ornaments off the tree yesterday and now it's time to get back to it! </p>
<p>Friday, January 13 <br>DiPiazzas <br>CD Release Show for "Motel Americana"<br>w/ Tall as Men (also cd release show)<br>PCH, Long Beach, CA <br>9 pm - $5 </p>
<p>It's my U.S. cd release show for my new album "Motel Americana". It's new but I got an advanced copy to Rock 'n' Roll truth and they named it one of the 20 best releases of 2016!* </p>
<p>We'll be rocking at DiPiazzas next Friday. It would be great to see you there and if not - swing by the website and hear some of it - it streams on there <a contents="here" data-link-label="Bobbo" data-link-type="page" href="/bobbo" target="_blank">here</a>. </p>
<p>What else? Well, Tracy, Brandon and I have written and recorded the next 3 songs of our Firefly inspired music project (<a contents="Leaves on the Wind Music Project" data-link-label="Browncoats" data-link-type="page" href="/browncoats" target="_blank">Leaves on the Wind Music Project</a>) and we will be performing at Whedonopolis in Los Angeles in May. We're hoping to have volume 3 done by then. </p>
<p>We're also gearing up for a return to Europe in the spring and I have another solo tour there before Tracy and Ben get there. I will be starting in the U.K. the end of May and doing some shows there as well as running a workshop on songwriting in the Cornwall area with high school aged students. Then when I'm in Germany I will be teaching a class on folk songwriting to refugees there as well as giving a 2 day recording class. And non-stop touring! Then Tracy gets there in July and we do more shows! </p>
<p>I'm also most of the way through an acoustic album I've been working on - so I may have that ready by spring as well. </p>
<p>Oh, and we're moving out of our studio in February and probably moving 30 minutes south in March! </p>
<p>There may be something in April on the east coast as well as something in August as well. But that's more planning than I can do today. </p>
<p>Ok, that's enough for now. If you'd like to book us and you are somewhere in the world - email me at bobbo@thefallenstars.com and we can probably make it happen. </p>
<p>Peace and Love in 2017. </p>
<p>xo <br>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon (and sometimes Matt and Ben) <br> </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/44837302016-11-25T11:04:31-08:002021-12-04T05:11:10-08:00Friday, November 25, 2016<p>Hey Everyone! </p>
<p>So, it's been a little quiet here for a bit - I was driving across country with my Mom and played a couple shows on the way across in New Hampshire, Florida and Texas. We had an amazing time and I recommend it to everyone - take a trip with your folks!* </p>
<p>Today is "Black Friday" and in the spirit of the thing** we're offering a special buy one get one free on all our cds this weekend. Buy one cd and in the notes - just tell me what cd you would like for free and we'll put it in with your order. If you want to do it digitally, same thing - just put it in the notes and a free download for the second album.*** </p>
<p>OK. We have a couple shows happening and then we are taking December off to finish Leaves On The Wind Volume 3. So these shows are your last chance to see us this year. </p>
<p>Saturday, Nov 26 <br>House Concert <br>Tucson, Arizona <br>2:30 pm - Free <br>(email me for details if you want to come) </p>
<p>Monday, Nov 28 <br>Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium <br>Santa Ana, CA <br>Americana Mondays w/ Deja and Patty Booker. <br>Show at 8 pm. This is going to be a great night </p>
<p>Saturday, Dec 3 <br>Gram Parsons 70th Birthday Bash <br>Don the Beachcombers <br>Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach, CA <br>5:30-11 and we play at about 10. <br>The other folks on this bill make it worth seeing more than us! </p>
<p>Sunday, Dec 4 <br>Courtney Chambers Live Album Recording <br>at Wandering Star Studios <br>(This is actually Courtney's gig, we're just opening up <br>email me for details) </p>
<p>Free song today is "Tequila & Morphine", a song our buddy Kalai King wrote and we recorded on our "Heart Like Mine" album. We'll be playing it at the Gram Parsons fest. Dig it. It's a free download. </p>
<p>I've been doing so much traveling that I have neglected the mailing list and website for a little bit but rest assured - new music, website will be redone, and all kinds of new stuff happening in 2017. </p>
<p>I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving. There's a lot going on in the world that we have to be thankful for and a lot that needs our attention, love and diligence. </p>
<p>Here's a big hug from us to you. Thanks for hanging out with us and we'll see you soon. </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon (and sometimes Matt and Ben) <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p>*I'm *this* close to getting my Mom to fly to Europe next year! <br>**that is a SlapShot reference - c'mon stay on top of this stuff. <br>***This is a special for people that read this far down - If you would like a free digital download of any one of our cds, just email me back and tell me which one you would like and I will send it to you for free, no purchase required. Offer good only until Monday, Nov 28. <br>unsubscribe</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/44467432016-10-31T23:52:46-07:002016-10-31T23:52:46-07:00Full Tour Diary from September-October 2016<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 1</p>
<p>Started the day at the Brandenburg Gate and doing some touristy things then I made my way over to Budde Music Publishing. It was really nice to put a face to the names on our contract. Stayed and chatted for about an hour and did a little bit of strategizing for mine, TFS and RATS catalog. Be great if some things come to fruition. <br>Then I got an email from Hansa Studios about there may be a little bit of time to show me around the studio but they do have sessions going on today so I drove over to test my luck and they were in fact tracking so I couldn’t go in so I did the next best thing - I bought a t-shirt! “Is Bono here? How about The Edge?” I thought I was funny but I was the only one laughing. <br>So early morning jet lag = late afternoon nap. I slept in the car outside the club for over an hour. No complaints, it felt good. <br>Then I went and played Unterrock in Berlin, small basement style bar with a nice Yamaha PA system. Nice to not have to bring one and super easy to dial in. Small crowd as it was a bit wam in there, probably 25–30 outside listening but only 10 or so inside. <br>Play to the folks that are there not the ones that aren’t - that’s my mantra. <br>The folks really dug it, they asked me to play a couple of songs twice and I was really surprised that the song that seemed to go over the best was “Nothing needs to be said”, a quiet narrative type of song. I played the Paul Kelly song “To her door” and one guy sang along word for word! Turns out he’s from Melbourne and a giant PK fan. That was unexpected. In the break he and I chatted Aussie music - I told him I would play “Reptile” by the Church for him, he didn’t think I could do it. Afterward he said “That was amazing, you played all the different parts of that song and still made it your own!” <br>Was overall a great start to the tour, sold some CDs and the “I <3 Toast” stickers are going over huge. This started a whole conversation about toast and we got back to the flat I’m staying at and we made some amazing raisin toast. <br>The tour may have just been renamed “The Toast Tour 2016” </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 2 AND 3: <br>The thing I forgot to mention from Day 1 was at the end of the night being invited out to go to another bar (at 1 am) by my AirBnB host Norm and his two friends. They were super nice and already a bit drunk, but I had a 9 am call time at Potsdamer Platz so I did not go out. There’s something about this musician thing as a “job” and not as an excuse to drink on school night that some folks miss. It may make me a bit of a square at times but I do take what I do seriously. My host was very gracious and this isn’t a dig on him at all - I just get it a lot about why am I not drinking at gigs and stuff. <br>Moving on to Day 2 - I was so excited to be playing Potsdamer Platz, an art festival… I was inside the Potsdamer Platz MALL where the art festival was taking place. <br>It was a fine enough gig, paid well and what-not but I was still inside a fucking mall. I was swapping sets with another singer/songwriter named Sebastian Niehoff, he was very good from what I could tell, all his songs were in German (and didn’t rhyme at all -Ha!) and had a good day. We talked guitars for a few, now this is interesting to me - On Friday night someone asked me what kind of rental car I was driving. I have no idea. I had been driving it for a few days but the only description I could share was “It’s white.” (Turns out it’s a Ford and I still don’t know the model). I’m not a car guy. But when I saw Sebastian playing I said to myself “Oooh, a J45, banner year - looks like mahogany back like mine”. Sebastian had a nice Gibson, I spotted it right away. Turns out his Martin D28 got stolen at another gig fairly recently and this is still new to him. Sounded fantastic. We get to talking and he tells me that he once took a VW Van up the California coast. I explain to him that I rent space for my studio from some folks (Diane Staggs) that rent VW campers vans. After a few minutes of Internet searching and looking at his video - yep. Same folks. World gets smaller again. <br>I attempt a sing along with some folks in the last set and very nearly get them going, I’m upstaged a bit by two small girls aged 18 months and 3 years old dancing on the side of the stage and the younger one keeps trying to put the <br>sharpie from my mailing list in her mouth. They are adorable and you can’t compete with kids for attention - I don’t even try. <br>Sebastian and I swap 45 minute sets back and forth from noon to 8pm and I’m pretty beat by the time we finish up, I’m walking into my hotel room and I hear “Bobbo!” Which is really odd since 1) I’m in Berlin. 2) I’m about two miles away from where I was playing. It’s the soundman and he invites me to a rooftop party. This sounds like a lot of fun, it’s also the night of the anniversary of the Berlin Wall going up back in ’61. There’s probably some party or something. We make plans to meet in the lobby in a few minutes. <br>I go upstairs to my room and there is a fantastic shower, the bed has 6 pillows ranging from fluffy to flat and the music that comes on the tv in the room sounds like out takes from Brian Eno’s “Music for airports”. I hop in the shower and I don’t move for another 7 hours. <br>Sorry guys. <br>I guess playing 6 sets of music in 2 days is tiring. <br>Sunday I get up and plan to do some Berlin Wall history stuff, you know anniversary a day late - whatever. I go over to the museum, the east side gallery and then get lunch at Mustafa’s - hands down the best kebap place I’ve ever been to. This is my second time there and it was not a fluke. I stood in the rain for 30 minutes just to order and the line was longer by the time I finished eating. See pics. <br>Then I started the long drive back to Bremen, made longer by road construction and rain. Something I will say for Americans back home reading this - we could really learn a lot about driving from the Germans. Like. A. Lot. Folks think that the autobahn is no speed limit anywhere and that’s just not true, there are many places where there is in fact a speed limit, it could be 120 kmph (roughly 60 mph) or it could be open. But through all of this - people stay to the right unless they are passing. Going slow - that’s fine, stay to the right. Traffic moves along very well and there isn’t like that asshole weaving in and out of traffic in all lanes, you ONLY pass on the left. I’m not a “good” driver, I mean - I do ok, I’m aware of stuff, <br>use my turn signals but if I am used as a control for the average American driver 90% of American drivers need to go back to school. We as a country suck at driving. <br>Back in Bremen now and doing some guitar re-stringing (I get about 2 days out of a set of strings) and dinner. I learned that this tiny bottle of wine I bought is crap why would you make red wine sweet?? <br>G’night. </p>
<p>TOUR DAIRY DAY 4: <br>Last night I had a glass of wine when I got back to the flat - I discovered that German word for “headache” is right on the front of the bottle - “Lieblich”. But I survived, new lesson learned today. <br>End of my first week here and so I headed down to the laundramat at 8 am. Waking up early still, I don’t know if I can continue to call it jet lag. Next to the laundramat is a bar and I as I walk by I notice a poster advertising a Songs & Whispers show there - I’m on the poster but I don’t think I’m playing there, wait. I may be playing there. Would be good to know so I can coordinate laundry day with the showtime. <br>Have now been approached by many teenagers who have a form that they ask to be signed to help children around the world and they ask for a donation. I’m pretty sure it’s a scam - I offered change but they only wanted bills. It’s strange to keep getting shown the same form. <br>Had our meeting at S&W today and it was good to figure stuff out for the week. I miss Astrid but Arne is doing a good job - it’s a lot of scheduling for sure. As I’m leaving Kaurna Cronin shows up and we do a cd swap. I tell him this one is going to sell better than his last one because he didn’t put his picture on the front. Everyone laughs. I’m such an asshole. <br>Pack up and drive the 222 miles to Amsterdam, it’s a fairly easy drive with the hardest part being when you actually get in the city. I fight for a parking spot near the venue - I find a short term loading zone type parking - it’s 5 euro an hour to park there and I have to do it because I’m actually early. The soundman handles all the details for the bands here and my itinerary says that I have a parking space provided. It’s a small thing for a venue to provide and so helpful. We’ve actually started including it in our rider back in the states. Places like the Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff actually keeps a spot blocked off for traveling bands. When booking in Hermosa Beach, it was the hardest thing for them to secure. Money? They have that. One parking space near where we are playing? That’s going to take a week to coordinate! <br>I’m playing Dwaze Zaken - it’s right in the heart of Amsterdam, I’m looking at canals and they are feeding me some chicken curry and rice and it is fantastic. The soundman has just informed me that there in fact is NO parking space for me. He takes out his phone and starts showing me where the free parking is available - it’s about a 15 minute drive. Across the river, past the green area and the big WHAT?? It is not close. He says it’s about a 30 minute walk so I better get going to be back in time for the show. <br>I’m kind of annoyed but not as annoyed as I will be in after driving around for 35 minutes trying to find it. I end up finding a car park that’s only about a 15 minute walk away - it too is 5 euro an hour. This is bullshit. <br>I’m starting to not like Amsterdam and I’ve only been here 2 hours. <br>Tune in tomorrow for part two !! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 4: PART 2 <br>I walk back from parking the car, Amsterdam is a fabulous city for a bike rider. I love bike riding but I can’t carry the stuff to play a show on a bike - so I have to use a car, and they seem to penalize you for this - you want to drive a car? We’re gonna make you pay. <br>The venue is a nice restaurant and I’m excited by the location and stuff, seems to be a good crowd there and there’s a soundman! That’s always a good thing. <br>As I’m setting up I am informed that the other performer for the night is not coming so I’m to play 2 sets instead of one. No big deal - it brings my total up to 8 sets of music in just 3 gigs! Woo - Jumping right in. <br>I ask the sound guy about monitors (a speaker facing me so I can hear what I’m doing) and he says they don’t need them in there, it makes it sound bad. I’m kind of confused by this but trust him. I plug my stuff in and I’m strumming waiting to hear my guitar and the soundman says “sounds good.” I look at him a little puzzled, “You can hear it?” “Yes, sounds good out here.” I talk into the microphone and he can hear me. I cannot hear myself or my guitar at all. AT ALL. This is a pretty loud room and there’s a table of 7 or 8 women all talking very loudly next to me. I am not annoyed with them because it also occurs to me that I haven’t seen any signs up that even tell people that music is happening tonight. They are just here and I happen to be standing next to them with a guitar. <br>Quick technical stuff: The venue has a pair of Bose loudspeakers that were nice stuff back in ’75 when Bruce Springsteen used to use them as monitors on stage. Here they are hung about 10 feet in the air and aimed at a small portion of the audience - they are very directional speakers meaning: if you are not right in front of them, you’re not going to hear them at all. And the PA desk is a Behringer eurodesk, One of the cheapest mixers you can buy and still call it a mixer. I have heard these mixers sound ok but I don’t have any idea how this one sounds. <br>Sound guy tells me we’re ready to start. I was going to do some looping stuff tonight with my pedals but that is clearly not an option since I won’t be able to hear the loop at all. I prep myself with “the people who are here don’t know any of this crap, you are just a guy performing - it’s not their fault, give them the best you got.” As I’m tuning up to start I break a string. Brand new string. Is this an omen? <br>I launch into some songs, staying a bit off the mic so I can sort of hear myself in the room - it really is like screaming into the abyss - if the abyss is a roomful of people talking louder than you are performing. The danger in this is that it is really easy to blow your voice out trying to be heard - so I just trust that folks can hear me and not push too hard. This trust is blown when the one woman paying attention in front tells me that she can’t hear me. <br>I get some response from a few folks and there’s a guy here taking pictures of me, he seems nice too. I’m reminded of a show we played a couple of years ago with @stressechoes that was a quiet room with no PA and how Andrew Corey from that band owned the room by doing a really quiet song - let’s try that. So I play a really quiet song, I put everything into it and I finish and get no response at all. Not even sure if people knew I ended the song. So I go the other way, the woman in front listening is named Martina and so I dedicate “APB” to her, when it comes time to do the solo I jump up on a chair in the middle of the room and I sing the rest of the song from there, no mic just being the loudest thing in the room - the table of 8 sort of looks at me for a second, Martina likes it, the camera guy snaps a picture and that’s it. I’m not breaking through tonight. Martina thanks me and leaves. <br>It’s a tough slog the rest of the way through, I don’t give up, I’m sweating it out and working my hardest but I’m not even sure anything is even coming out of the pa speakers. I’m told a couple of times that they can’t hear me. This is why there’s a soundman right? <br>The soundman tells me I have to finish by 9:45 so he can catch his ferry home. Ok, I don’t really care. While we are packing up I talk to him about the sound “I have a monitor for performers” he says “but we don’t like the way it sounds in the room so we don’t use it.” After talking to him for about a minute it occurs to me that I know way more about sound reinforcement than he does - I may not know his room but I bet I could make a better sound in here with just one AER that Songs & <br>Whispers provides me to use. I explain to him how we could use the AER behind the performer so they could hear themselves and then you can take a line out from the AER and go straight into the Eurodesk with one line and fill the rest of the room with the overheads. This clearly confuses him and he says “But then everyone will want to use their own pa.” <br>I’m done. Go catch your ferry. <br>You can have a tough night and still feel good because you played well or you made a connection with someone, maybe a few people bought CDs, maybe the financial side of it overshadows people not paying attention… <br>None of that happened. I ended up making 50 euro for the night balanced against no real connection, no cd sales, 32 euro spent on PARKING, and I drove 225 miles to get there. (80 euro in gas round trip!) I was going to find a place to crash for the night but I was pretty burnt on this city, get me out - I carry all my stuff the half a mile to my car and drive the 225 miles back to Bremen. I hit the pillow at 3:03 am. <br>It’s a long drive for sure, I stop off in a rest area and sleep for about 45 minutes at one point but I’ll be damned if I give that city another nickel. <br>I should add that my frustration is focused at the venue, the city of Amsterdam was a silent bystander and I know S&W sent them promo stuff - they always do The venue did nothing to promote or even let people know there was entertainment. I had the tools and the know how with me to make this an enjoyable show but that was blocked. I also found out today that I was supposed to pass the hat for tips - this was something that I asked about and the venue would not allow me to do. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 5: <br>Another long road day - 260 miles. The miles roll along today with the help of Kathleen Edwards Page albums 4 albums as well as her Building 55 EP. You could say I’m a fan. When she sings “you spend half your life trying to turn the other half around” - it gets me every time. I’m like, That’s ME! <br>After KE I moved on to some Luke Doucet (long haul driver - that’s me!) and then dove into Matthew Ryan alphabetically (by album) starting with Boxers and making it all the way to the beginning of “vs the silver state”. My iPhone is somehow missing “Concussion”, it’s an oversight that will be remedied. <br>Good traveling music is so important, not just that but I am using my iPhone for the gps for everywhere I am going and I discovered that with it plugged into the car - unless I have music going it won’t play sound through the stereo. Almost missed a turn today because the album ended and I was just driving along and whoah! There it is! <br>Haven’t figured out why it needs to be playing music in order for it to work. I may or may not become interested enough in solving that mystery. <br>Tonight I’m in Chemnitz (German pronunciation: [ˈkɛmnɪt ͡s]), but from 1953 to 1990 as Karl-Marx-Stadt. What a rad name! I’m at the Exil Cafe which is connected to this theater and it’s very nice. They are expecting me and have signs up and everything and bring me food. All good so far. <br>As I’m loading stuff on stage the manager come over and starts gesturing to the pa equipment, he doesn’t speak much English and my German is clearly nichts sehr gut and he is kind of showing me the mixer and he shrugs. I tell him “show me where the power is and I can handle the rest of this.” “You know how to?.. ”. He trails off, I nod yes and he seems genuinely relieved to not have to run sound. <br>It’s a pretty hefty system too, a pair of subs and two speakers mounted on top of each sub with one spun around facing the stage - monitors. All is good. This system is so good I’m going to break out the Porchboard tonight. The Porchboard <br>is kick drum pedal that I stomp with my foot and it…well, it sounds like a kick drum. Many PA systems can’t handle the low end but with these subs pumping I could get a regular rave style beat going for as long as I can keep stomping! <br>Excellent sound tonight. <br>I start off with “Part Time Cowboy” and it gets a mixed reaction. Not really a country type crowd me thinks and so I try “Heading South”, kind of spacey with ebow song, I use my looping pedal and I’m not even annoying with it and it goes over well. I play some quiet numbers and they go well, I kick it up and they like that too. Finding a nice groove. <br>At the break I sit and talk with a couple, he is from South America and she is from Finland, English is their common language and they are very nice, she has just been hired as a puppeteer here at the college. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the 17 follow-up questions to finding out someone is a professional puppeteer. He does music videos and we discuss working together when I come back thru Chemnitz in October. <br>I down about 10 glasses of water during the set feeling good that I’m still steering clear of the diet soda. Sarah, the bartender just keeps bringing me new glasses and soon there are empty water glasses all over the stage. You think beer bottles are rock and roll? Yeah, whatever. <br>I talk to Anya at the bar, she is really interested in the resonator guitar and so I show her and explain it as best I can in English and she is catching every third word. But we have a nice chat about traveling and she asks why I like traveling and where is my wife and so on. I tell her that I really like being in a place for a couple of days and then move on, maybe it’s because I’m still looking for a home and tell her a little bit about me and Tracy moving across country and stuff. Anya nods and says she grew up in Chemnitz but lived for 4.5 years in The Netherlands. “I really liked going somewhere else and then when I came back I realized the things that I missed and didn’t appreciate when I lived here.” She’s now a school teacher and said one of the things that is nice about moving back to where you grew up is “you get the jokes.” I thought that was nice, she also really liked the song “Hate this town” appropriately enough. <br>Three college aged girls come up to thank me for a nice night of music and it’s nice, they ask where I’ve been and I mention Berlin and they asked why I liked it and I talked about the history, the people…the kebabs and one of them says there’s a great kebab place, it’s outdoors and always a long line and describes Mustafa’s. I show her my picture of the Kebab I got there a few days ago and they are all jealous. <br>It was nice to be in a place where people wanted to hear music. This was a bar where folks hung out and talked. Hardly anyone on their phone and not a tv in sight. Awesome. <br>I’m writing now from my hotel room they got me. It’s nice. Not as nice as Berlin but nice. The clocks in the lobby show New York, Berlin, Tokyo and Moscow time. This hotel was here when Chemnitz was called Karl-Marx Stadt. You can see it in the details, the elevator, the decorations, the festival of brown that is this hotel. Everything is just a little bit more function over design. No fancy swipe cards here - we to metal keys. <br>Tomorrow I’m going to find the Nischel in town which is apparently a giant head sculpture of Karl Marx and everyone jokes about it here. Nischel is a Saxon dialect word for ‘head’. <br>Good. Night. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 6: <br>Good night sleep and caught up on my paperwork, yes there’s plenty of paperwork on tour and I wish I could do it while I’m driving but multitasking while driving is still not a good idea. <br>The iPhone gps is working great while driving but I still can’t figure out why Siri only talks when she’s interrupting music - if no music is playing, no gps directions. Very strange. It got so I was kind of tired of listening at one point and so I put on Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” just so Siri had someone to interrupt and the music nearly put me to sleep. <br>No Bueno. Nichts sehr gut. <br>For some reason there is no hot water for the shower today. It’s been a while since I have taken a legitimately COLD shower, thankfully it’s not all that cold outside the shower but not a pleasant start either way and then I get yelled at by one of the neighbors for not taking my trash out. We are both confused by this apparently someone else has been using the bins designated for our flat and left trash in them for a few weeks. “Ich habe nur funf Tag.” (I’ve only been here 5 days) I tell her. We come to an understanding and all is well. <br>Ich weiss nichts. <br>The drive today is actually quite nice and after the last few trips 180 miles seems almost…easy? There’s only little bits of traffic and 2 construction areas and then I’m on smallish country roads for about 30 miles winding through little villages and farmland until I get to the top of Germany on the Baltic Sea at Tillman Hahn’s Gasthaus - it’s a Bistro I think. Really nice restaurant in a vacation area. As I’m looking for the venue I see a large poster with me on it. That must be the place! It makes me think how odd it must be for the models that are on billboards - like that’s me right there! Granted this is a small poster, only about 3 foot square, it was shocking enough to see it not knowing it was going to be there. <br>Tillman comes out to great me and it’s a nice place, they tell me they have a special tonight on the menu just for me - chicken tikka masala. I think - that’s odd, I love CTM but then I remember that this place likes to have dishes from where the performers are from and ask what we would like. I had originally told them I was from SoCal but didn’t think having Mexican food or a Hamburger was all that special so I told them about the tikka masala! <br>It was for real. Tillman tells me how he brought a guest chef in from India a while back and they brought with them an authentic recipe for the tikka masala and how they only offer it on special occasions and I look up by the bar - there’s a huge flat screen tv by the bar (that immediately has me thinking ‘oh crap another sports bar I will be fighting for attention with’) and on the tv - there’s a revolving group of pictures letting patrons know who and when the musical acts will be. I notice three different pictures of myself and today’s date attached. Respect. <br>Tillman and I have a great conversation waiting for my dinner to arrive - I tell him how I’m fairly new to the Indian cuisine and how it started with our friend Sal who hosted a house concert and served up goat curry. Well Tillman knows a bit about goats! I learn about Boer Goats (from the Dutch word for farmer) and how they come from South Africa and were raised for meat and how there’s a local farmer here in Kühlungsborn that he gets his goat meat from. <br>I know enough to know I know too much. <br>The Gasthaus has a nice stage area in the garden, Tillman runs an extension cord to the stage for all power and brings out some lights and everything. <br>I’m playing for about 30–40 people and they are a very tough group to read. They seem to be understanding me but it is so quiet in between songs, I make sure that I’m talking slowly and clearly with my stories and folks seem to like it. The other night in Chemnitz the country type stuff didn’t go over well, tonight I get a request for Garth Brooks. (!?!?). I tell him I don’t know any Garth but I will play something better, how about a country hit from 1973 by Del Reeves? “This song has been my touring experience so far this year, it’s called ‘Looking at the world through a windshield’.” It goes over well. <br>It’s a good night, I get these very reserved folks to sing along with me in APB and we all have fun. Tillman invites me back any time I want and he gives me a copy of his cooking book! It’s still early and I like the idea of driving through the night while there’s hardly any traffic so at 11 pm I head south. <br>I crawl into bed at 3 am and call Tracy on FB calling. (Absolutely brilliant that we can talk and not have international phone fees!) She tells me that she mapped out my first ten days of this tour and it would be the equivalent of driving from Madrid, Spain to Moscow, Russia. <br>I fall asleep doing math in my head. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 7: <br>Had a good sleep and a hot shower - so I’m already ahead of yesterday. <br>Tonight I’m at Schwarzer Hermann, it’s only about 20 minutes away so EZ-PZ! It’s a bit of a long gig though - 7:30–10 pm. I don’t have a problem playing for 2.5 hours, I just wonder - who wants to listen to a solo acoustic guy for 2.5 hours? <br>I’m reading the tour rider before I go and I see that this place is a smoking bar. I just finished ironing my new t-shirts to sell but I’m not bringing them to a smoking bar! No one will want to buy t-shirts that are all smoky smelling - so I leave them home, I’ll bring them with me tomorrow. The shirts look good. <br>It’s an easy set up with the AER on the front of the stage feeding a monitor to me I got it mostly dialed in, I’m not 100% thrilled with my acoustic sound through the AER. I keep bringing down the presence and the highs but it’s still getting a little shrill in the top end. Maybe tomorrow I’ll figure it out. <br>I’m playing for a little bit, kind of a thin crowd inside of about 4 people and about 25 outside and I see Lara come in and sit down with her friend, I’m pretty sure I’ve met her friend before but my brain won’t put it all together. Lara is a Riddle & The Stars fan and when I play a couple of those songs I can see her singing along and that just carries me through. A bunch more people came in shortly after that and all was good. <br>Thank you Lara! <br>I try a couple of newish things tonight like a song I wrote last week called “Queen of the Party”, well actually the song is an old Gypsy Mechanics song but I couldn’t remember the words so I wrote all new words. First time I’ve performed that and I threw in the Pete Townshend song “Heart to hang on to” as well. <br>For a nearby gig I’m actually really tired for some reason tonight, I break down and as I’m taking the last trip to the car I notice that outside the bar has pretty much doubled in patronage. There must be 60 people outside now but for noise <br>reasons I can’t play past 10 pm but this bar starts picking up at 10 pm. Weird. <br>Sold some CDs, made some connections. Winner. <br>Throat is a little sore. 2.5 hours of singing will do that to you. <br>G’night. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 8: <br>I was bitching about all the driving I am doing and you know what? I got sick of listening to myself. I signed up to do this, it’s what I love to do. So in the words of Frank Zappa* “Shut up and play yer guitar!” <br>Today I am in Dangast at a place called Sonnendeck. It’s a holiday getaway type of town and I’m playing on the deck of this restaurant. They have weather curtains that drop down and they roll them up when folks are playing the deck so that all the folks on the beach can hear. When Tracy and I played here a few years back it was raining and the room was full. Today it was beautiful but a bit hot on the deck until they opened the curtains and then I was playing to about 100 or so people. <br>I’d been having a weird day with songs on the radio seeming to hit me the moments when I needed it and I’m sitting at Sonnendeck and every song on their overhead was a German language pop song. Not odd, I am in Germany but 40 minutes of nothing but German pop songs and then Phantom Planet’s “California” comes on and it feels like a ray of sunshine lifting me up saying “don’t worry, you got this.” I pull out my phone and message Jason Schwartzman (the drummer of Phantom Planet and the songwriter) and tell him “I’m in Northern Germany sitting here having a day and your song just came on and it was like a friend patting me on the back.” He writes back “No way! That’s the best.” Yes it is. <br>Sonnendeck is known for their French fries or Pommes (chips) and I get the gourmet burger and it’s pretty good but the Pommes are great! (See pic). They have people that come stand in line just for their Pommes! <br>Now I’m not gonna lie - my first song sucked tonight. I’ve been messing with the key of “Massachusetts” and it wasn’t ready. It wasn’t good. But the rest of the show rocked. I dove in, I rocked and rolled. Had kids on the front of the stage most of the night. During my first break I had a guy wearing a Dropkick Murphy’s sweatshirt come over to buy a cd - he looked at “Heart Like Mine” and said “I already have this one, which one is the new one?” “You already have it?” “Yeah, last time you were here I bought it and I really love it.” <br>That was two years ago. Awesome <br>Another guy comes up and says I remind him of The Band and do I play “The Weight” I tell him I haven’t played it in a long time. He says “I used to play it with my brother, we had a group, but I am just a doctor now not a performer like you. You play with such passion, I can’t help but wish I could do what you do.” <br>!?!??!!? <br>Second set goes well, I get a sing along for “APB” with Raphael (hard name to put into the song!) and I have an 8 year old boy named Paddy that wants me to do an autograph for him. I tell him I will give him an autograph if he will give me his. He is very cute and he runs to get some paper. <br>I end the set to the sound of “Zugabe! Zugabe!” (Encore) <br>So I take out the new song I’ve been working on “Queen of the Party” and I get people singing along with the “mama said she’d be alright” part at the end. I finish up with a big rocker and it’s the end. I put my guitar down and there’s a line of people to buy my CDs. One guy says “I’ll take one of each and a t-shirt.” I have to run to my car to get more CDs. <br>I’m exhausted but a good exhausted and I start breaking down the gear when Paddy comes back to see me, he’s brought some Pommes to share with me. Best tip of the night. <br>*that’s for you Chad!! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 8: <br>Lots to process today. <br>Woke up suddenly because I thought I heard someone say my name at 6:30 am. Was mistaken, I am all alone in the flat but I’m also totally awake now so I get up and go get my laundry from the basement. Still wet. My undies will dry in the back window of the hatchback rental car today. Sorry to those passing by. <br>My drive to Alsdorf today takes 4 hours and the fun is the construction in town once I get here, that coupled with the streets closed for the Europafest Festival today makes for interesting driving choices. <br>I’m playing at ABBBA Treff. I forget exactly what the acronym means but it pretty much breaks down to Alsdorf Couseling and Education Center. (Yeah, I know the letters don’t match, lost in translation!!). And the Center is in an older “Mall”. Like formerly shops and the like. Norbert is my contact and he’s super nice. He tells me that after a bigger mall went in nearby this one went out of business but it is centrally located in Alsdorf and so they started doing counseling there, put in a small restaurant and re-opened. There are lots of Syrian refugees here, some older German folks, a bunch of kids - there’s a lot going on the whole time I’m performing. <br>I start sawing away at my guitar and singing my songs and not very long into the playing the sheer ridiculousness of my songs in this circumstance is overwhelming. Everyone is very nice and folks listen and clap and cheer a couple of times but I see a woman who is missing most of her right arm and you just know that it’s her scar from Syria. And I’m singing about being Glad to be alive and driving across Texas and how Massachusetts is a funny word when you’re drunk and it just doesn’t add up. <br>Norbert passes the hat while I’m playing and yeah, this is my job - I have to get paid for my performance and yeah, I drove a long way to be here but shit - I didn’t leave a war ravaged country to be here! <br>I talk with Norbert some more and I convey these emotions I’m having while playing and he assures me that they enjoy having me and it’s great for some of them to NOT have to constantly be reminded of where they left and have some fun. Oh, yeah. That’s my JOB. <br>We talk more about the counseling that he’s doing and he tells me that most of all the adults are very happy to start a new story here. Meaning, yeah, they have lived through bombings and family being killed but they just want to start fresh, new life and leave the pain behind. They are enrolled in German speaking classes and take classes to get jobs and working really hard. Many of them have quite a difficult time with all the paperwork that needs to be done in order for them to stay, so they assist with that as well. He said the children have the hardest time letting go of what they have seen especially if they have seen one or both of their parents killed. They are more resistant to leaving it in the past. This last bit is said so matter of factly that my brain doesn’t even comprehend it until much later. <br>My mind is spinning from all of this. He continues that their center has received some criticism from far right Germans about “why are you helping refugees and not our own.” So they also started a group that works with retired aged folks to get them out of their home and mingling and meeting new people - including the refugees coming through. <br>We sit down to share some goulash and continue talking - making light conversation I tell him that I, too, make goulash and have a great recipe from my buddy Roman. We joke about my cooking show and he brings the chef over and tells her all this and then she disappears and comes back 5 minutes later with her hand written directions for her goulash!! (I’ll have to make a copy for Roman Sonnleitner) <br>Now here is the weird thing - last night I played a vacation area for some folks that, while maybe not rich…they were comfortable, fancy cars and holiday at the beach. There were easily 2–3 times as many people listening last night than there were today and today in the hat I made nearly twice as much money as I made last night. <br>The people today had less and they gave more. <br>I am very humbled by today’s show. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 9 <br>I kind of forget where we left off, Alsdorf and a very nice Spartan room at a discount motel and I drive the 3 hours to Darmstadt. <br>Darmstadt is a nice city, there’s a city center with produce stands and sausage stands and lots of people milling about. There’s a gelato place that is really busy every time I walk by and it’s tempting but I avoid. There’s like these little passageways into the Marketplace that lead to the outer ring and there’s plenty of parking in this city- beneath it! <br>I get some parking near the Golden Krone where I’ll be playing tonight, from the outside it looks a little worn down and…punk? I meet 2 guys waiting for the doors to open at 7 pm. I ask if they are here for the music “what music?” I point to my name on their calendar*, “no, we’re here to drink.” Back in the day The Gypsy Mechanics used to play the Rat in Boston and that place was run down back in the 90’s, this place looks like it hadn’t cleaned since the 90’s. The music on the overhead is putting me in time as well, “1%” by Jane’s Addiction, “Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana, “Holiday in Cambodia” but the Dead Kennedys… If I was still 19 I would be loving this mix. The people here are a little older than me. <br>On stage there’s a Yamaha PA head. Awesome. I know what to do with that. There’s two large pa speakers and one monitor. Testing proves the monitor has a blown horn (it sounds like there’s a big blanket covering the speaker) but the two big mains both work so I flip one around and face it towards me so I can hear and in a matter of minutes I get it sounding really good in this room. <br>As I start playing the room fills up with college aged students, I found out earlier that a lot of them have just landed in town and classes start next week. I get some good cheers and clapping. They like the songs with the fancy bits on guitar so I do a couple of rockers. After almost an hour I announce that I’m going to take a break for a few minutes and then do another set and I have a hat that I will be going around with - the mention of the hat clears the room. College kids are the worst. Zero dinero, zero CDs moved. <br>I go to the bar to get another water, mit gas unfortunately and start talking to this guy at the bar and his friend with a guitar. Turns out he’s from the states and stayed here after his time in the army, does a mean beat-box and we hang out and chat. His friend starts taking out his guitar to play with me (I guess) but when I start playing in F#m he puts his guitar away and leaves. Not sure exactly what happened there. Me and Bigg have a great chat after the gig about family, race relations in the states and here, his dad was a police officer too and the problems he’s faced in Germany being a black guy getting pulled over all the time. “I’m a black man who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs and I’m a security guard and I still get pulled over while driving my car and they say because ‘you looked suspicious’.” We talk about our dads and our moms and it’s a good night. <br>You can have a bad night performing but if you make connections with people it can override the rest. That said, I had a pretty decent performance, the sound was good. There wasn’t anything promoting the night anywhere in the place. On the tour rider it actually stated that the venue does not want any flyers from my touring agency. What the hell do they expect then? No flyers, no promo, no people. I’ll take my guarantee and leave. <br>Well, I thought I was going to leave. I ended up hanging out in the parking garage waiting for them to let me out after the machine took my ticket. I told my AirBnB host that I would be back by midnight, it’s nearly 1 am when they finally arrive. I’m not actually annoyed by this, it just kind of drains me. I was ready to go, now I can’t. Urgh. <br>I wake up to tea already steeping and waiting for me. Volker, my host, is super nice guy from Peru, he works placing abused and neglected kids in foster homes and is here in Germany working for a few months because…Ok, I don’t remember this part. Anyway, he’s here and has a nice flat and we chat about music and life while we drink tea. He was listening to my stuff yesterday and said it was kind of Garth Brooks like (!?!?!? Seriously??). I tell him I aim for more Springsteen and he says he hears that it’s more like Nebraska era. I can get on board with that. We try to find some common musical ground on YouTube, he plays me some Runrig (which is like traditional Scottish music with a progressive rock band playing along), they are hugely popular in Scotland. I introduce him to the Pogues. I say, it’s like Runrig if they were drunk, punk and Irish. He likes it. Then he plays me <br>some Peruvian pop music and asks me to play him one of my favorite songs so I put on Blue Rodeo’s “Hasn’t hit me yet”. As soon as the band kicks in he says “They sound a lot like you.” <br>I will be sure to tell Blue Rodeo that they sound a lot like me next time I see them. <br>I didn’t realize Darmstadt is only about 2 hours away from where my uncle Marty and aunt Petra live so I try to get in touch with them about having some lunch before I drive back to Bremen but I waited too long and didn’t give enough notice so I miss them but my friend Tobi from Radio Gong says he’s available so I stop by Wurzburg on my way north. <br>We met Tobi way back in 2011 when we came to Wurzburg to play a Radio Gong festival (shout out to Marty’s buddy Chris for making that happen!) and we have stayed in touch ever since - usually to compare hamburger recipes, Tobi takes his burgers seriously - dude even makes his own buns! So we hook up around the corner from Radio Gong and get some Thai food. Why Thai? Because he says it’s great and it is! I meet his wife for the first time and we have a wonderful lunch and then head over to Radio Gong where we record an interview to be played later on today. Tobi plays me the new Sting song and it’s really good. <br>One thing that comes up with everyone I talk to is Donald Trump. Part of me is happy to not be in the U.S. at the moment so I can try to avoid all his shit but everyone brings him up and how is it even remotely possible for him to be considered for president. How? “It’s like the people that live in these small places who only care about their small place and not about anyone else in the world or even anyone in the next town.” I’m told roughly this over and over. I agree. <br>People ask “You’re not for Trump are you?” And I shake my head no and then they say “I can’t imagine you being here doing what you do if you were.” <br>It’s an interesting moment in time right now. I’m going to get off this soapbox in a minute but being here has put me in an peculiar place and I’m just trying to be the best American I can be. <br>This ain’t the Olympics but it’s definitely something. <br>*The calendar I speak of is on one piece of paper about 6“x9” and has all the bands for the entire month on it. There is one copy, outside to the left of the front door. Only copy anywhere. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 10: <br>After my long ass drive back to Bremen last night I just wanted to make some dinner and climb into bed but first I had to wash dishes after being gone for 3 days the sink was left full of dirty dishes. Thanks flat mate! <br>Also, it’s way hot here. If you are doubting the whole global warming thing - I have noticed the summers and the heat in Northern Germany getting hotter just in the past few years of us coming here. They are breaking heat records all over the country right now. Shit is real. <br>Anyway, today. Meeting at S&W and discuss the gigs and stuff and I’m ready for this week. This week. Today is Wednesday! Alright. I’m back on track now. <br>Playing Zum Fass here in Bremen which is a bonus because it’s right next to the laundramat I like to use. I’m going to set up gear and do laundry at the same time. I can multi-task like that. Turns out I can see the dryer spinning from where I’ll be playing. <br>Zum Fass is in the gröpelinger section of Bremen, it’s walking distance from the flat and they are new to having music here. It’s like an old Irish pub here, smoking inside and out and a hard drinking crowd. <br>Bonus tonight - Geoff Geib (former mandolin and keyboard player in The Fallen Stars) is in town so he’s joining me on a few songs. It’s really great to see him and catch up. He’s here because he got married recently (a year ago) and his wife is from Turkey and they are having a wedding party thing soon. So his wife is visiting family in Turkey and he’s hanging out with me.* <br>I get a really great introduction from new friend Heiko and I’m off and running. It’s obvious early on that soft and pretty don’t count for much tonight. These folks want to rock, they like fast songs and the fancy bits of guitar. So I give it to them. We get a really great sing along going with APB and I swear one guy sang along with a couple other songs that I couldn’t figure out how he knew. <br>Geoff and I are rocking away and we’re given some shots. The shot we are given I’m told is called “Holy Crap”. Or some variation like that. I’m not much of a shot guy, I’m thinking it’s something traditional like schnapps or something. Nope. Down the hatch. <br>Smooth? No, not really. I play a couple of more songs and then more shots are offered. After the first shot my voice got noticeably… More Westerburgian** and some notes actually burn a little bit to sing. The second shot was too much. <br>Again, I don’t really do this. I was never the guy doing shots at a party - ever. But they are nice and we are walking distance from the flat… <br>I try to do the second shot and they made me laugh just as I did it and wouldn’t you know it - half of this thing comes back out through my nose. <br>Did it burn? You bet your ass it did. Was not as pleasant as the first shot. <br>“ZUGABE!! ZUGABE!!” <br>Alright - I will do another song. <br>I can barely croak it out. The cool Westerburgian gravel has given way to full on Tom Waits phlegm. My voice cracks and my sinus passage still burns. I play the last song and say goodnight. It’s a good night, I sign a few CDs, pick up my laundry and head home. <br>Bonus points for now knowing what I would sound like doing Tom Waits covers and also how to get my voice to sound like that. <br>I’ve seen Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers do loads of shots on stage. I should’ve been paying better attention to their form because I’ve never seen it come back out Roger’s nose. <br>I got two rock-n-roll demerits tonight. <br>G’night. <br>*He offers the traveling advice of “If you want to save money on airfare, travel to a country that has recently had an attempted coup.” **As in Paul Westerberg of the Replacements. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 11: <br>My throat still hurts from whatever crap I drank last night. Getting better but shots on stage not typically a good idea if I want to continue singing. <br>If it was just schnapps or something but I found out that they did the same thing to Tom Richardson last week saying “It’s good for the voice.” I think that’s a bit of a trap. I’m on to you now. <br>I got a notice saying that the amp that I sent myself from California has arrived in Bremen and I have to go pick it up at the customs office which is right around the corner from the S&W office so that’s my plan for this morning. I don’t have to leave for Oldenburg until about 1 pm so I get to the customs office at noon and I end up leaving at 1 pm. I was “next” in line that entire time. Maybe tomorrow will be better. <br>So I pick up Geoff and we drive up to Oldenburg and have a great interview on air and I play a song live and they spin a second one off my cd. Really great visit with Olie and we try to arrange another get together in October. These folks are so amazing and nice. He promises to come to Litfass tonight. (And does!) <br>Geoff and I get to litfaß a bit early so we drive around and find more döner. We are convinced we could make a fortune if we opened a döner shop in L.A. But neither of us want to work there, we just want to own it and eat there. It’s like Morrissey said “I was looking for a job and then I found a job and heaven knows I’m miserable now.” I’m shocked Geoff doesn’t know this lyric because I feel it sums him up nicely. He agrees. <br>Litfaß in Oldenburg has a nice big stage and PA system, I’m left to my own devices with it and dial it in pretty great. The Porchboard is making a nice thump through the system, the acoustic is big and full. I’m pretty stoked. <br>And then in walk some of my favorite people in Germany - Mike, Irene and Maryann. TFS and RATS have done 3 house concerts with them and this year will be the 4th. They are super nice and Mike is even wearing his “This is Happening” <br>shirt. We have a good catch up and talk about the show RATS is doing in October with them. All is good. <br>Starting playing this set, it gets off to a slow start but soon picks up speed No Expectations sounds particularly good, as I’m playing some TFS songs I can see a few folks singing along. I can’t tell you how awesome a feeling it is to see people singing along with words you wrote. There’s another guy here wearing a Motel Americana shirt that he bought off me last weekend up in Dangast! I remember him because, well he was wearing a Dropkick Murphy’s sweatshirt, and I’ve only made 8 of these t-shirts so I’m going to be very connected to whoever buys them, I’ve done them all by hand! <br>I dedicate APB to Mike and teach the room how to sing along with the song, having a few ringers in the room helps and the song goes great, huge sing along I jump up on a table and play the rest of the song from the middle of the room atop a table. Do a bunch more songs and end it up to the sound of “Zugabe!” (One more song) <br>So I play “Hold Me” and this song is really coming together on this tour. I’ve rehearsed it a ton and I’m really liking how I’m incorporating the piano part on the guitar (cause I only have two hands) and I love playing this song. It’s probably my second or third favorite song I’ve written. <br>Another encore and I’m done. Spent. The water bottles here tonight are tiny and so Geoff and I keep refilling them at the tap instead of getting new bottles. <br>It’s a good night. As I’m leaving the owner tells me to figure out how to come back next month because he would like to have me again. That always feels good. <br>I talk to Oliver from Oldenburg Eins (radio station) and he tells me how much he likes the song “Massachusetts” and that it is in rotation at their station. Awesome. <br>I have just fallen asleep twice while typing. <br>Tomorrow isn’t a terribly big drive, only 190 miles but I have to sleep. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 12: <br>Feeling pretty good from last nights show, with folks singing along and having a good time - I’m pretty jazzed to hit the pub tonight up by the Baltic Sea. <br>First I stop by the S&W office to pick up our schedule for October and stop by the customs office to pick up my amp. All goes well, we start planning for 2017 already with shows booked at Breminale and Haus Am Walde as well as a tv show thing. We also start talking about how if I ever finish writing my book I could incorporate that into some bookings here at book stores as well. So now I have to finish writing/editing my book. I created a folder on Google Docs for all my short stories and there’s currently upwards of 250 of them. It just sounds like so much editing!! But I’m excited by the idea. <br>I was talking with Gina Villalobos yesterday about touring and music and she has new stuff coming out really soon so I listened to her first two albums on the ride and they’re just great. I don’t want to say she sounds like Rod Stewart because it’s not accurate but she has a vocal sound that lives so easily in rock and roll. There’s a bit of raspiness to it that sits just above the guitars in the mix and just below the cymbals. Much like Rod Stewart’s voice does. Looking forward to her new stuff and I just love her World Party cover of “put the message in the box”! <br>Heading north to Rostock is a bit of a ride, I notice that a good portion of the Autobahn heading in the opposite direction is completely closed. That’s going to be an issue later. My ride does require a 30 minute nap pit stop in a rest area but I get there on time and they are happy to see me, they have my name on the wall and everything. Pub Mambo #1 is an Irish bar up by the Baltic Sea and a nice little bar too with nachos on the menu! <br>I set up in the corner and the place starts filling up. Norbert keeps me hydrated all night with some “Proviant” beverage that is like an orange lemonade. It’s tasty. <br>I start playing and I just can’t figure out this room. The music on the overhead is nothing but Fleetwood Mac for the whole time I am not playing. I love me some Fleetwood Mac but is it common for a bar to play nothing but one artist for an <br>evening? This can’t be like this all the time, maybe this is for me because I’m from SoCal. I’m going with that because otherwise it’s just strange. <br>The room sounds great and the little AER amp is filling space and I’m playing better and singing better than I did last night and I’m really into it but I feel like I’m annoying these people by being in their bar. Not the owners, the patrons. I get pretty decent applause at the end of songs but am pretty much ignored for the duration of the music part. I do big songs, I do quiet songs, I do in between songs - same exact reaction. I can see a few people on the other side of the bar paying attention and they are as far away from me as possible and still be in the same room. <br>I dig deep and leave nothing in the tank and still just a smattering. I announce last song and I rock a nice upbeat number and it ends, they all clap and it’s done. Trying hard to make that connection and coming up empty every time. Managed a little sing along but I am working on the farm tonight. <br>Taking the hat around, I seed it with a fiver to make it look better - I finish up with nothing but coin. One table gives me 5 euro and makes sure I know that it’s from all 10 of them. I sell 3 CDs. I’m just spent. <br>I have a handful of folks tell me as I’m loading out how much they enjoyed it and that’s really nice but when I was playing I couldn’t tell that at all! <br>The music on the overhead has changed to the jukebox and it’s now playing metal, specifically “breaking out of hell” by Airbourne. If this is what the crowd wanted then everything makes more sense. <br>Turns out there is a hostel for me to stay at tonight but I didn’t know that and didn’t bring a change of clothes or my toothbrush. I thank them but I’m going to drive home now. <br>As soon as I get out of town I hit up a rest area and my self loathing hits it’s zenith and I buy a bag of Doritos and a Mountain Dew. <br>Urgh. <br>Before I start driving I flip through my iPhone for some good music for the ride, I haven’t listened to Wilco in a while so let’s go back to the beginning. “AM” is an awesome album. It gets slagged by folks that want to compare it to Son Volt’s “Trace” but I love “AM”. It’s got a looseness to it and great songs. “Dash 7” is my jam tonight. I love how you can actually hear a really slow freight train rumble by in it. And then I move on to “Being There” and this album is amazing. How good is it? Well, it’s lifting my spirits. It reminds me that their drummer Ken Coomer contacted me about working together but we haven’t been able to make that happen. Maybe I will make that happen in 2017. And I start thinking about writing my book and what approach I’m going with and I’m up out of the doldrums. I’m ready for another day. Thank you Wilco. <br>OH, and the highway was deserted clear down to Breaker’s Point* - my detour puts me on back roads for about 25 miles through thickly wooded area that for a while I forgot I was in Germany - it felt like driving in the backwoods of New Hampshire, like Rte 153 or maybe some sections of 13. Over 25 miles I saw 3 other cars on the road and they were all together. It was a long bit of driving with pea soup fog for a good part of it where you could only see about 25 feet in front of you! Weather has changed here, the September Summer is gone, it’s now in the low 50’s at night, fall is here. <br>I’m mostly ready for tomorrow which is good because I have two gigs tomorrow. <br>Shake it off kid, You got more at bats coming up. <br>*Bonus points if you get that reference. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 13: <br>I HAD TO SET AN ALARM!! <br>I know, right?! The horror. I had to be in Verden by 11 am which meant I had to leave by 10:30. I can already tell that you are not feeling very sympathetic towards my need for an alarm but waking up by 9:30 is difficult when you don’t get to sleep until 4:30 am. <br>Today is a 2 show day with a short open air concert in Verden and then a 2 hour gig in Brake. I first got nervous about this but then realized they are only 66 miles apart. Piece of cake. <br>The Verden Open Air is put on by my friend Jeanette who I met back in 2013 and she’s been a good friend to the band and me. (She was also the cinematographer of the TFS “Glad” video where I run through Bremen). There’s a few other bands on the bill and it’s nice to hear live music that isn’t me for a change. <br>There was like an alternative type band, a jazz band, a pop band, a female singer who sang to a backing track and me. Quite eclectic and honestly, very nice. I chat with one of the guitarists about his telecaster. He mentions that he has the Ritchie Kotzen model pickups and I say “oh, Dimarzios” and he realizes I know some stuff about guitars and the conversation gets easier. Another band had a drummer using a cajon as well as a drum pad and it was actually really cool. I don’t know if I’ve just gotten more open to what can be done with one of those or if they have actually just improved that much. Brandon has one of these Roland drum pad things and what this guy did was pretty cool. The jazz band was fine. Ron Burgundy* would approve.** <br>I hop up and do my thing and get a pretty decent crowd happening. Nice. I sell some CDs, sign a few autographs and drink some free hot tea. It’s a good day! <br>Then I head up to Brake, well that’s not true. First I got in a few Facebook discussions about politics. THEN I head to Brake. I am that cartoon where the wife is waiting for the husband to come to bed and he’s at his computer “No! I <br>can’t come to bed - someone on the Internet is WRONG!” I’m going to try to take tomorrow off from arguing.*** <br>Brake. It’s not pronounced like the English “Break”. It involves rolling the R and elongating the K sound to an almost CH sound. German pronunciation: [ˈbʁaːkə]) and I’m playing Harrier Hof, it’s a very nice pub/restaurant. I’m showed around by the owner and he is keen to have me, tells me to order whatever I want off the menu and shows me the PA. Awesome. <br>It’s been raining on and off all day, it’s in the high 50’s for temperature and I see that they have goulash! Today keeps getting better. It is a very meaty goulash**** and very good. That’s two goulash’s in two weeks! RATS will be back to play Harrier Hoff in October and they are getting me their goulash recipe! I’m just going to wander the world picking up goulash recipes!***** <br>Time to play. It’s a pretty intimate room and rocking in here feels…too much. Maybe I can work up to that. The house PA is pretty decent and they run a speaker to the other side of the restaurant so folks in there can hear it as well. Well, actually - they more or less can’t escape it! <br>It’s a fun night with a very polite German crowd listening intently. I break down the 4th wall and all the solemn-ness with APB. As I’m introducing the song a woman in front of me is giggling and pointing to the guy sitting next to her. I find out his name is Frank and I sing it to him, everyone gets in on the singing along and we’re all friends now. Sell a couple CDs and sign some posters and chat with a woman who was married in Massachusetts and goes to California every other year. She is very nice and knows a bit about the states and everything. Nice! It’s almost time to go but our friend Rebekka and her boyfriend Claus are still here so we have a nice sit down chat. Claus is a journalist who has been covering the recent German elections and I ask him to fill me in on all the goings on. <br>There’s a lot to it, lots of ins and outs and who-done-it’s but it is really interesting to see where we are as a people. I feel like humanity is standing on the edge of either embracing all fellow man OR building a wall around everything and bury our heads in the sand of isolationism. There’s a lot of imaginary walls that folks are working really hard to build and justify. <br>Rebekka is also a firefly fan and did the artwork for our Leaves on the Wind Music Project. <br>Show is good. I try to play mandolin by itself on one of my songs and it turns out it doesn’t actually sound like.a good idea. <br>Tomorrow I am at Katakomben in Achim which is like 30 minutes away and I don’t have to be there until 6 so no alarm and I picked up raisin bread for toast tomorrow- will be celebrating Bobboism in style! <br>Oh and first equipment casualty today. Guitar cord died so that needs to be fixed tomorrow as well. I seriously have an incredible knack for breaking things. <br>Tschusssssss!! <br>*they had a flute. <br>**I don’t really enjoy jazz but this was actually quite nice to listen to. <br>***Unless someone is REALLY wrong! <br>****Sorry Roman and Ben. - But it was awesome. <br>*****If I was to open a restaurant it would be goulash, doner, pizza and chicken tikka masala. Actually that sounds like an amazing restaurant!! <br>GUITAR GEEK WARNING: (ON THE ROAD EDITION) <br>Everything has been working pretty well so far. I brought my Gibson Acoustic J30 (Hummingbird) guitar and it’s a real work horse. There’s a real openness to it’s sound so I am able to play with great dynamics just on it amplified. My two pickup system still working*- sending the piezo bridge pickup to the LRBaggs para DI (thanks Rick!!) and LR Baggs sent me a nice little carry case for it as well. <br>The Fishman Rare Earth humbucker in the sound hole is feeding a Tech 21 NYC “Liverpool” pedal so it adds a little dirt to the signal when I need it and I can of course blend in some atmospheric what have you with the Line 6 M9 any time it’s needed. <br>I picked up a really cheap resonator so I don’t have to do a bunch of retuning for a couple of my open tuned slide playing songs. It has been really helpful despite being a bit underwhelming tone-wise** and a real conversation starter for some guitar folks who always ask about it. <br>The resonator has a mini humbucker pickup and if you use traditional bronze or bronze alloy acoustic strings the sound can be very unbalanced so I found some strings that are nickel wound for acoustic. So that helps. I really wish it had a pickup on the cone or the bridge, it’s just really dark sounding. <br>I’m continually asked about how many guitars I own and I truthfully don’t know anymore. I think it’s more than 30 but it’s definitely less than 50. I’m not entirely sure where they all are. When I got here to Germany, Ben told me that there was a mandolin at the S&W office so I went and got it and have been using it. It has a red star sticker on it and I know we got it for a RATS tour but I may have given it to Ben. So I don’t think it’s mine anymore. So that means I only own 2 mandolins - 4 tops. This may seem like a lot but I’m still 2 shy of where I should be. I don’t have a single Gibson electric guitar and my 12 string acoustic is not to my liking. I can’t foresee needing any more beyond those two things. <br>Other things I’m using on this tour is of course my Franklin Strap guitar straps. I’ve been using them exclusively for a bunch of years now and I have also been using a Tapastring Guitar Care strap keeper. This thing is so clever - acoustic guitars have that endpin/jack combo and your strap is always falling off of it and no strap locks work on it - this solves that problem. I’ve been using mine for about 2 years without fault. It slips around the strap and onto the jack and then a small plastic clip holds it in place. Essential if you do any kind of movement while playing. <br>I’ve included a pic of my traveling tool kit. I don’t have a roadie, I have to be able to fix things on the spot and sometimes finding a music store ain’t that easy while traveling. <br>*Well, once I replace the broken Mogami Cable. <br>**“She was underwhelmed if that’s a word” ~ Sloan </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 14: <br>It’s Sunday so all or most of the shops are closed here. I made a dash to ReWe at 11 pm last night to get some stuff to eat and beat the closing doors to get some good raisin bread for toast and some eggs and what-not. <br>That might sound boring but I’m staying in a flat here in Bremen (in the Gröpelinger section specifically) and if you don’t plan ahead for a Sunday - you’re food options become very few. <br>I worked on some guitar stuff today to be ready for tonight when I’m playing at Katakomben in Achim. <br>Every time we have played at Katakomben we have had a good show, first time was an open air festival type of stage, second and third time were indoors (one of those with an awesome stressechoes double bill) and tonight is my first time here with the new owners. <br>Michaela is very nice and she suggests that I play outside. I look up at the sky and she can see my doubt so she pulls out her phone and shows me the weather - 3% chance of rain and a low of 50 degrees. She assures me it will be better and she is right. <br>There’s always that moment of when you’re setting up the gear of “Is anyone going to show up?” It’s part of pretty much any performers psyche. But before I can ponder this too long people are already arriving! <br>I see some familiar faces and have a great chat with friends Jens and Horst and a few others. Jens is even wearing a Firefly shirt!! We chat about Firefly and some other stuff and I’m ready to play now. <br>The folks listening are awesome, we get two sing alongs going and it’s just a fantastic night. We get a good “APB” sing along and some ringers in the audience help with the second “A PPPP B”. (You have to hold the second P!) and while <br>playing “Queen of the Party” we all sing “Mama said she’d be alright” together and my night is complete. <br>We all make plans to see each other again in Verden and Club Moments. I sell some CDs and a tshirt and call it a night. Achim, you deliver again. Thank you all! <br>TOUR DIARY 12.5. (TOM BRADY EDITION) <br>I hate the number 13 so there will be no tour diary day 13. Today’s is 12.5 in honor of Tom Brady. Why 12.5? It’s a PSI joke. Come on! FREE BRADY - AGAIN!! <br>Anyway. <br>It’s Monday all day today which means a meeting at the S&W office and we go over stuff for the coming week. I hang behind to catch up on our itinerary for October as well as borrow a drill to make fixes in a guitar. Aw Yeah. It’s happening in the morning. MAKES HOLES IN TEETH!! Ha!* <br>I’m driving to Hannover today, playing a record store and Kulturpalast. I’ve heard good things about both so I’m looking forward to it. <br>Hannover isn’t that far, only about 85 miles. I take my time and listen to some good tunes on the way - which on the ride up included The Stelle Group, Kurt Vile, REM and Phil Cody. Piece of cake until I hit the city and all their construction messes with my gps and I drive a couple extra circles. <br>25 Music is an awesome record shop with CDs and vinyl and a stage type area by the front door. Benjamin told me to get there early to look around and I’m here about an hour early so perfect used cd shopping time! I score 2 amazing CDs. Roxy Music’s debut album from 1972 and Jim Cuddy’s “the light that guides you home”. These along with Tom Richardsons’s “Pockets” EP. <br>More about the albums later. <br>I play the record store and it’s not quite as bad as when Spinal Tap do the in store signing but it’s not really a happening gig either. Some folks listen for a minute the staff seems to like me. Ah well. On to tonight. <br>Kulturepalast is a nice venue, small but a cool stage and nice sound system. Tycho Barth is opening up for me and he’s really good. Acoustic playing that I hear some Dave Matthews chord changes and he sings in English and reminds me a <br>little of Sun Kil Moon. His guitar player, Phillipp, is using delay and volume pedal swells, I didn’t catch the bass player’s name but the cajon player is named Be John Winston - I know this because his dad tells everyone that he named him after John Lennon and John Winston KILLs on the cajon. <br>Watching and listening them I’m thinking “aw shit, I hate going on after really great bands!” <br>So they finish and I set my stuff up and I dive in and have a pretty great show. There’s probably less than 15 people there but they are so into it and we sing along and when I go into “1, 2, 3” John Winston hops up on the cajon and we ROCK it for the last bunch of songs. He knocks over his cajon, I strum until I break strings - we jump and end the set. So much fun. <br>I play rockers and quiet songs and it’s great. Sell a couple of CDs and pack up. Nicest compliment of the night is I’m told that my voice is really easy to listen to. I can dig that. <br>Can’t wait for Tycho to get some stuff recorded. That shit is gonna be great. <br>Now I’m going to go off here a bit on my cd purchases. <br>Roxy Music’s debut is so freaking weird. Even today this album would still be completely freaky. Just listen to Remake/Remodel or Virginia Plain. How the hell did this band go on to make “Avalon”??** I love Eno’s contributions to this band, it’s kind of dumbfounding that this band was even allowed to make a second album. I’ve seen videos of Remake/Remodel and man, the early 70’s were such a crazy time to be in the music business - throwing money at art school bands like this. I’m glad they did but this shit would never get made today and the world definitely suffers for the lack of it. <br>Jim Cuddy’s “the light that guides you home” is a fantastic companion to anyone who is a Blue Rodeo fan and what sold me on it was two things: 1) seeing that it was produced by Colin Cripps and 2) seeing that it had the Cuddy/Kathleen Edwards duet “married again”. Fantastic. Everything this dude does is fantastic. He’s got an annoyingly beautiful voice - like he could sing the phone book and you would be singing along. <br>Tom Richardson’s “Pockets” EP is like an acoustic “Avalon” album. -I’m thinking he has sex while listening to his own album. I ask him about this and he denies it but that’s what his music sounds like. Rom Tichardson. Tom and I did a cd trade today and it was nice to finally hear what my flat mate sounds like. <br>Now I’m home in the flat, getting ready for bed. Ben is all hyped up on some Jagermeister he had tonight and while enthusiastically making a point showers me with his water bottle. He and Tom had a good night. Really wish I had a show with one or both of them before the end of this tour. <br>*Will be covered in a new Guitar Geek update. <br>**Which is still the best “mood” music for any guy that can’t get his head around a Barry White album. <br>FILE UNDER: PEOPLE ARE AWESOME <br>Played a show a couple of days ago and this guy liked what I was doing but he didn’t have any cash on him. We tried using the Square card reader but my signal wasn’t strong enough and it wouldn’t work so as we’re talking he says “I have a paypal account”. So I tell him I do as well and “here, take the cd - my contact is on there, you can just go to the website and send me $10 for the cd.” <br>He promises me he will do it and I believe him. <br>Next day I get a notification of a sale of “Motel Americana” off the website. <br>Awesome. <br>Then I get 5 more notifications: sales of “leaves on the wind volume 1”, “new coastline”, “found & lost”, “this is happening ” and “where the road bends”. <br>I believe with that many purchases you should get at least one for free - you know like if you keep the punch card from the sub shop? So I’m sending him a free “heart like mine” today. <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 15: <br>I set to working on my resonator today. (See GUITAR GEEK WARNING post) and installed a second pickup on it. Just a stick on piezo thing. It sounded pretty ok. Not fantastic but definitely better than I thought it would sound. I had to borrow a drill and make holes and it worked out ok. Now I can send the piezo to the DI and the magnetic pickup to the pedals and what-not. <br>That was most of what I got done during day light hours today but then I was only awake for a handful of hours before it was time to leave to go to my show. It’s day 14 and I’ve played 18 shows so far. In the 27 days of the first leg of my tour I will have 3 days off. <br>Something interesting about doing these tour diaries - people have been coming up to me at shows having read them, they already know what’s going on! I have nothing left to say. These diaries may exhaust all my charm. <br>Anyway - I’m playing the Immanual Church in Bremen tonight. We played here last year with Rufus Coates and it was my favorite show of there’s - it’s a big old gothic church with a Bösendorfer piano, a giant gong and just great natural sound. <br>Arne is here from S&W and he’s helping set up sound and lights. I like Arne, we’ve developed a good working relationship which roughly translates to “I give him a lot of shit and he mostly puts up with it.” <br>We have the PA dialed in and it’s room filling. Like loud in here. We turn it down but it’s still a bit much. A few folks come in and I start playing, I’m having a hard time delivering because I see as soon as I play the opening guitar chords two women in front immediately reach for ear plugs. That’s not good at an acoustic gig. So I play one more to see if it can be better and it’s actually hard to sing it because I just know it’s too loud so I unplug. I unplug and walk down in front of the PA and say to the folks that I think this will be better and it is. <br>I play the rest of the show pretty much in the audience and it’s one of the best shows of the tour. I’m able to tell what the songs about in a very relaxed manner and it’s great. I get a kick out of myself by playing “Nothing needs to be said” and dropping 2 F bombs in a church.* I love it when that song goes over well, it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve written. I dedicate APB to Petra in the front row - they were pretty nervous about singing along but we got it going and I did a cover of “Looking at the world through a windshield” and dedicated it to Arne because of all the driving he’s making me do! We have a good laugh it’s a good night. <br>Sell and sign some CDs and talking to two nice women and they say “we’ll see you at Club Moments!” And I tell them that I’m not playing Club Moments because I’ve been booked to play a TV station in Chimnitz and they get mad. I say I’m sorry and that I would love to play Club Moments but I got this other gig. They ask if Arne booked me and I say yes and I immediately feel bad because they go over and corner my booking agent about me being booked somewhere else! It’s funny and I’m glad I can’t understand what they are saying although I can kind of get the gist of it but because it’s in German it just sounds a bit more severe. <br>I get home from my gig and one of my flat mates tells me “the girl I bought weed off of knew you.” And for some reason that made me feel like more of a rock star than it should’ve. <br>Now I’m drinking some wine and getting ready for my 1 am skype biz meeting with a friend in the states. <br>All in a day’s work. <br>*I’m badass you know, I’m nationwide! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 21: <br>I just realized that my day numbering was way off. I couldn’t figure it out. I’m writing down Tour Diary Day 15 and I’m thinking “shit, I’ve been here longer than that.” So I did math. My counting got off somewhere along the way - this is day 21. <br>That makes more sense. <br>I felt like doing something simple today so I went to the mall. My brain was like “go get something for Tracy for your anniversary and have something to eat at the food court.” I accomplished all of that but while making change at the food court someone walked off with Tracy’s present. It wasn’t anything big or expensive but I was pretty annoyed just the same. So I stewed about it for a few and then went to a different store and bought her something nicer. On top of that the chicken curry I got in the food court wasn’t that great either. <br>After that I go to the S&W office and pick up Maraike - she is the PR person there and we head up to Syker for the show. Tonight I’m playing in an art museum but it turns out in the past they have had some of their artwork damaged by patrons of the music events so I’ve been moved to the basement. <br>The basement is actually pretty cool but has so much reverb it’s like playing a tiled room. The ceilings swoop down and around and it’s almost designed for echo. I suggest NOT bringing the PA down here but the woman from the place said it would be better. (Ha!). So I set the whole damn thing up and then when the folks arrive - I don’t use any of the PA. <br>Maraike and I are served a very traditional German type of meal of bread, grapes, ham, cheese, cheese/yogurt spread and beverages. It’s very tasty and Maraike and I have a really great conversation about where we live and come from, lots of stuff about the venues and this tour. It’s the longest I’ve ever spent with her and I’m glad we had this time to connect. <br>I feel like I sang ok tonight but with so much echo going on it was hard to tell at times as everything just kind of blurred together. This was also one of the smallest “crowds” I’ve played to and I’m told it’s because there was a big football (read: soccer) match tonight and everyone is watching that. <br>Doesn’t matter where you play; football is messing with your career. At least it’s not on a tv playing in the corner. That shit is the worst. I love me a football game but I hate performing opposite one. <br>We have a good show together, it’s way intimate and I tell stories and dedicate songs. I feel really bad because I recognize folks who have seen me play before but I really can’t remember their names and it makes me feel like I’m ungrateful and I’m really not! I play the song “part time cowboy” and mention my boots that I’m wearing and one of the guys says afterward - “those the same boots that fell apart last year?” And I’m gobsmacked! Not only has he seen me play before but he remembers the absolute ridiculousness of my boot dilemma last year! <br>I’m told there was a reporter there - I don’t know if she’s writing a story about the show or what. In any case - it was a lot of fun. <br>One thing that I’ve really discovered on this tour is the essence of what my songs are about. I’ve learned a lot about them and about me through playing 2 sets of music almost every day. I may think I write songs about people and characters but there’s a lot of me in there as well and there’s a few little ticks that keep coming up - there’s a line in “1, 2, 3” that goes “We were listening to Westerburg singing ‘hold my life’ the day I asked to you be my wife, time for this one to come alive.” And Tracy is always to my left and it started a long time ago that whenever we’d sing that line we just started looking at each other on stage. I’m here by myself and whenever I sing that line I look over to my left - and I’m hit with a bit of “where’s my Tracy?” And I do it every time I sing the song. I’ve been rehearsing the song “Hold Me” a lot outside of the shows because I really love the song and the big long notes are really hard for me to nail and it intimidates me every time it’s coming up. So I’ve been playing this song more consistently and figured out how to add the piano line in on guitar. And every time I play “Massachusetts” I’m reminded of playing it for my dad just a little over 2 months ago and it gets me every time. It used to just be a song I wrote and now it’s become a part of my memory of him. <br>Tonight when I’m playing “Dam” and I’m not plugged into any effects so I just start stomping the floor to add a backbeat and with this room it really booms kind of like last night in the church when I did the same thing only in the church it really felt like the stomping on the floor was resonating through the whole church. <br>Pack up, time to go home. <br>Since Maraike rode with me I’m also driving her back and she asks if I can drop her off at the bar where her boyfriend is hanging out and so we stop by the Schwarzer Hermann and have a nice drink and great conversation with her boyfriend and her roommate. It’s a very greatly needed rest at the end of the day. I tell them about my adventures shopping today and about the thing I got Tracy* (Tracy don’t read the footnote!) and Maraike’s roommate thought that was very romantic. I tell them the story in the footnote and it’s very nice. I think Maraike bought my wine but it may have been her boyfriend - either way I say thank you and head home. <br>I may have only played for a half a dozen people tonight but they all will remember it. <br>In other news - I am not playing the Club Moments gig on Sunday. I am driving to Dresden for a show on Saturday and to Chimnitz for a show on a TV station on Sunday. Monday will be my first day off in 15 days and I will spend it driving 6 hours. And then Tracy and Ben show up and we start the Riddle & The Stars tour. <br>OH! And I just got a notice that my song “Hold Me” is a finalist for “Best Song 2016” by The Miews. So I got that going for me, which is nice. http://www.themiews.com/ <br>*a while back I discovered that if you get some perfume for a trip that you’re taking together - in the future whenever she wears that perfume you both will be reminded of that trip and wherever you were. It started with our honeymoon and now whenever Tracy wears that perfume - we’re transported back to that time and place. We think it’s pretty cool and so I got Tracy some perfume because we’re going to have a couple of days off and we’re going to go to Copenhagen and I wanted that same sort of thing. Ta-da! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 22: <br>Today started uneventful, did some laundry and hanging out waiting to go to my show in Bremen and then I get a phone call from S&W - there’s been a change of schedule for tonight - is there any chance I can drive to Düsseldorf to play there instead because one of my tour mates got arrested last night and can’t make that show. <br>Well, that’s different and new. <br>Sure, why not. Playing an Irish bar sounds good to me tonight. It’s a few miles there (180) but it sounds like a better gig than the one I had. <br>I get to the club and as I walk in I can hear The Stone Roses playing over the stereo - that’s cool. I have never heard the Stone Roses playing at a bar anywhere! <br>As I’m setting up in the corner a guy comes up and says he heard me on the radio this afternoon and it sounded good so he came to the show. He and I talk for a while and he’s also a guitar player and he is from Düsseldorf but his band is all refugees and they are sponsored by the city of Düsseldorf! He shows me some pics and a little video. Folks from all over, mostly Syria but also Croatia and Pakistan. They all bring their own world instruments into it. He said the cajon player is 17 and the one of the violinists is 63. We swap info and he’s going to send me some video and music to share with everyone. <br>I’m playing and singing and a few people are digging it and I get some clapping. I take a break and order my dinner for when I stop at 10 pm. Mark the bartender/manager guy is really nice and of all the places I’ve played this seems to have the most people who English is their first language and the outside sitting area has a bunch of Americans hanging out listening. <br>Second set goes well and as I finish up another guy comes over to me, his name is Misha and he’s from Libya and he really likes it, enjoys my voice and songs and buys 2 CDs. We fist bump and all is good - he even speaks English too! I make my <br>way out with the hat to pick up any stragglers and all the American folks that have been outside listening don’t offer up a nickel for the show. Zero. Nada. I tell them I’ve been the one performing - “We know.” Is the reply. <br>Can’t even say I’m surprised. <br>Mark comes over to me as I’m breaking down and brings me my fish & chips. Irish bar in Düsseldorf- damn straight I’m getting fish & chips (and it’s awesome.)He tells me how much people liked it and I eat my dinner and try to piece that information together what I just experienced. I don’t succeed in figuring it out. <br>Last thing tonight - I drive the 180 miles back to Bremen, just where the autobahn goes down to 70 kph from 120 - I’m slowing down and I see the flash. <br>Dammit. Speeding ticket. I start to get mad about it and then remember that I’m not in jail - I’ll take a speeding ticket over jail any day. <br>Goodnight. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 23: <br>I meant to write this when I got home last night but we had a good hangout in the flat amongst fellow touring musicians and then just crashed afterward so I’m now having a hard time remembering what I did yesterday. <br>Had a gig in Weyhe. Which is not pronounced like you may think. The W is a V sound and the “he” is more of a “ha” sound. Don’t worry if you don’t have it - I was helped a dozen times last night and it’s still not sticking. <br>I get to town a little early, I kind of wanted to sit and go over some of my tour itinerary for next month so I found a restaurant nearby and for what seems like the first time in a month had a real nice sit down meal - with vegetables and everything! (See pic). This is one of those meals that makes me think of my mom. No, not making fun. We talk about traveling and she’s always afraid of what she’s going to eat when she’s traveling because she doesn’t like anything spicy. “Spicy” to my mom is a catch all term for “flavor I’m not used to”. Tonight’s food is amazing and she would’ve loved it as it’s pork medallions, potatoes and broccoli with gravy. I devour it. As I’m sitting there it gets cold outside. Fall is definitely here. But I love how people are still using the outside tables, as I get chilly I see most of the other folks just grab the wrap or jacket they brought with them and carry on. The beginning of this tour the weather was setting heat records throughout Germany and now it’s hitting low 50’s and high 40’s. (Fahrenheit) <br>The venue tonight is the Shakespeare Theater Pub and it’s fantastic. Patrick runs the bar, his folks own the theater above, there’s a great stage and beautiful sound and sound man!! Me and Patrick talk about guitars and music - he plays in the theater band as well as has his own band. Telecaster guy but wants a Gretsch. It’s a nice casual hang and a nice change to have some downtime before I start instead of rushing to get somewhere and starting right away. <br>Sound check takes literally 7 minutes and it sounds great in here. There’s a play going on upstairs and I play when the play ends at 10 pm. At about 9 the room starts filling up and I ask Patrick “Is it intermission?” He says “No, they’re here for you.” <br>The room fills up and I start at 10. Great response in a pretty loud room. There’s probably about 100 people here and about half are just listening to me and the rest are folks that just came down from the theater above and are just talking. Because of this mix, it’s a hard room to read while I’m thinking to myself - “did that one go over? Should I do a rocker or a quiet song next?” That sort of thing keeps going through my mind. It’s not technically insecurity because I know what I’m doing, it’s more just trying to figure out how to keep their attention for 2 hours that is really difficult. <br>It’s fun to watch people that are obviously guitar players or performers watch me closely, like when I use my looping pedal and then play e-bow over it - you can see them scrutinize what I’m doing. I’m not doing Whitehorse level looping here but it’s still pretty cool if I do say so myself. And when I use the Porchboard you can see them looking around for where the kick drum sound is coming from. Tonight’s system has sub-woofers so my Porchboard sounds especially good. And when I fade in the octave reverb and long delay over some parts I can see these same folks watching my feet for how I’m doing it. When I do a big slide solo in one song - I get big “WOOS” from the crowd when I finish - it is then I know I’m doing alright. <br>I don’t say this to brag because I know guitar heroes and I’m no guitar hero but I have a few tricks that I own pretty well and it feels nice when you see people digging it or asking me how I do things. <br>We get an awesome sing along going and we sing APB for Patrick the bartender but I mistake his name on stage and call him Mark because I’m an idiot. I hate when I mess up things like that. He’s so gracious he doesn’t even tell me I screwed up his name until the end of the night. <br>I do some more big rockers, well as big as rock can be with a guy and an acoustic and some pedals and I say “danke schön”. They won’t let me leave without doing a few more songs. That’s cool but my voice is starting to go now, I can feel it all scratchy and sore so they let me go after two encores. <br>There’s these moments that are just strange too where someone says to me after the show “so when does Tracy arrive?” And my brain has to readjust and realize that I put stuff out in the world and shouldn’t be surprised when people know stuff about me. Still catches me off guard. <br>Starting to get a little worn down I feel. Looking forward to a couple of days off when Tracy gets here. I have Mon/Tues/Weds without a show and then the second leg of the tour starts up. <br>I had planned to do a bunch of video blog type things but it hasn’t happened, maybe next month when I have someone to hold the camera that will be easier. <br>Before I fall asleep I start scrolling on FB and I see someone that I know posting obviously racist and very easily disprovable shit online - and it really took the wind out of me. I start typing and then just stop. I just can’t do it today. I’ve sat with and talked to so many amazing people on this tour, I wish people could get out of the small box they live in and see the world for the bigger place it is. More love is needed. <br>Time to drive to Dresden. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 24: <br>Woke up late in Bremen. Driving 360 miles the night before probably added to the tired but I’ve gotten used to the bed in the flat and look forward to hitting my head on the pillow. There’s a pretty big spider that hangs out on the second floor window by the stairs, I’ve started having conversations with her. I think it’s a her because of the good sized nest she is protecting. There’s stripes on her legs and for a spider - very pretty. She keeps the mosquitos out and I’m ok with that so we continue our separate but symbiotic existence. So far all the conversation is one sided and usually is about how little she has moved since the last time I saw her. <br>I have 5 hours to get to my gig which is normally enough time to finish laundry and get there but today’s gig is 5 hours and 300 miles away. Yesterday I was very nearly at the border for The Netherlands/Belgium and today I’m very nearly at the border of the Czech Republic. “Well I’m looking at the world thru a windshield, watching it fly by me on the right.” Is how the song goes and while it was written about a truck driver in the states it seems to fit my touring for the past month as well. <br>Tonight’s show is at a bar/coffee shop called &Rausch in Dresden. It’s a really nice little shop, they set me up with food and a hostel for the night. They suggest I go without a PA and that’s fine with me. I’ll just belt it out in the corner. <br>As luck would have it I’m way early for this gig. I thought I had to be here at 6, soundcheck at 6:30 and play at 8. Turns out I have no soundcheck and I start at 9. I eat dinner and sip tea outside while really enjoying the brisk weather. It’s not cold but someone nearby has a fire going and the smell of woodsmoke combined with the chill in the air really reminds me of New England - and it’s nice. Late September and early October is clearly the best time to live in New England - right before the 7 months of winter set in. <br>The gig is fine but just ok. For a Saturday night this part of town is dead and the venue neglected to put up any of the flyers sent to them promoting the show. So I rock all 7–12 people there - only one of which actually came to see me. He is really nice and is a Springsteen fan, he grew up in East Berlin and saw Springsteen in <br>’88 along with 180,000 other East Germans (back before the wall fell). He likes my stuff and has been listening to me on line. I get polite applause from the rest of the patrons and I call it a night after 2 sets. <br>I have some more tea and chocolate torte and talk with the two folks working there, they are very nice and we talk about Germany and USA, traveling and weather. She tells me she’s been to the states and the thing she missed the most about Germany while there was the bread. “I had this bread called ‘Wonder’ and it was terrible, it all just mushed together and fell apart. When I got back I just got some bread and ate it plain - I missed it so much.” We laughed and I said “Yeah, but Germany can’t make a hamburger.” We all laughed and she said there’s one place in Dresden that makes a good burger and she wrote down the address for me. I will try to find it today. Hopefully they are open on Sunday. <br>As I’m leaving I am given the instructions for the hostel: “there’s a lockbox by the door, the code is ‘1, 2, 3, 4’.” Me, “Really?” Him, “I guess it’s easy to remember.” <br>Before I go to the hostel i drive thru the city a bit, I’m told it’s really pretty at night and they are correct. So much old gothic-ness to it. <br>I drive to the hostel and it’s in a…not great part of town. I find a parking space on the street and head in. The lockbox has a note for me and all is fine. I fall asleep doing an itemized inventory of everything in the car assuming it will be gone in the morning, it’s a slightly nerve-racking way to fall asleep.* <br>*car was not stolen </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 25: <br>I’m awoken in my hostel 6:30 am by another guest staying in the room. <br>Oh, did I not mention there were 5 beds in my hostel room? Guy sleeping above me when I got there at midnight(ish) and was fine but then this other guy comes in at 6:30 and starts watching something on his phone - with the volume on! It’s like music videos or something. I shoot him one of those “are you kidding me?” Looks and he turns the sound off but now I’m awake. <br>Pack my stuff, brush my teeth and get out of there. I’m pretty excited to see that my car is still where I left it and I put in the address for the Marktplatz (market place) and find a Starbucks there so I can chill out and check mail and stuff. <br>I wander pretty aimlessly for a few hours, I get a hamburger at a place that has been highly recommended for having the best burgers in Dresden* and then I drive to Chemnitz which is only like an hour away. <br>It is too early for me to check into my hotel but I am exhausted. I didn’t even mention the lumpiness of the bed at the hostel. (It was paid for so I’m done complaining). Across from my hotel is a nice little park and a fountain, I sit down on the bench and listen to two old ladies talking next to me. I’m still trying to pick up more German but it is hard. I’m getting to the point where I can hear the different accents from different areas but the words still just fly by me. As I’m sitting there I fall asleep sitting up for about 30 minutes. I must’ve been tired. <br>The hotel is really nice, I check in and take a proper nap until it’s time to go do this radio show. <br>I’m playing on Kwartirnik. Now this is a cool word. It has it’s roots in Soviet times where there were bands that wanted to perform but not everyone was allowed to so they would organize Kwartirniks which translates to “living room concert”. I keep messing up the pronunciation so I have Frank record it into my phone. I’m going to be using this word in the future! <br>Now technically speaking - it’s a bar but it’s very home-y. There is a stage and comfy chairs scattered about and Frank and his assistant are running cables for the microphones. I ask about using my effects and pedals and they said they prefer not to - even though it’s all being amplified through a PA system. Eh, whatever. I’m good. <br>I order some tea with honey and the bartender is visibly disappointed in me, he continues with his disappointment with each subsequent cup he pours for me. It’s a nice crowd of people and I’m live on the radio for an hour. Frank interviews me and the question starts in English, I answer it and then he translates the question and the answer into German. It makes the interview twice as long but at least everyone understands it. The first of the two interviews is about the music, the second is all about American politics and how is it possible for Trump to be in the position he is in, what is wrong with Americans? Do I consider myself a good will ambassador coming to Germany? It’s a really interesting line of questioning that I never really prepared for but am happy to answer. <br>He asks if I was always political and does it come through in my songwriting and honestly it doesn’t really, socio-political if anything but any time I’ve ever written anything vaguely political it came out terrible. And here in Chemnitz you can still feel the effects of the Cold War - it’s a city that still feels like it’s rebuilding - over 90% of it was destroyed in WWII. I was 17 or 18 when the Berlin Wall fell. That was a huge thing in the scheme of global politics and I was in high school completely unaware of what was going on. Retrospectively - Painfully unaware. <br>The music section of the night goes as well as the interview and we all have fun, we sing along and stomp the stage. The stationary mics are difficult for me because of how much I move around but I think it comes through alright. <br>The people are really nice and I chat with a few of them; a nice couple from the area that are heading to Wales next week and thought how being in this pub and hearing music in English is getting them ready for it and a nice older gent who I was very nearly understanding - his brother lives in San Jose and works as a park ranger in the forest. He didn’t speak any English and we had a nice chat. Everyone really liked it and I get good compliments and folks ask for my website address so they can look me up. And they ask if the band is coming back thru Chemnitz in October. <br>That’s really nice. <br>But two nights in a row without any cd sales or hat money is rough. Thankfully I’m being put up in a hotel but this is brutal. A few ask about cds and I say they are 10 euro and they kind of just put them back and say they will check it out online. <br>I pack up and Frank helps me carry stuff to the car, he wants to talk politics some more. He is a teacher, teaches English to refugees here in Chemnitz. He wanted to donate money to Bernie Sanders but the website wouldn’t let him since he wasn’t American. He works with a lot of teenage refugees and says their struggle is different, they aren’t old enough to get jobs, most don’t have parents any longer and they are just kind of floating - there’s nothing for them to do in the summer time and nowhere for them to be. They are living this rootless life - they have no family support system and are drifting through the system trying to find something to hold on to. <br>We talk a bit about how the far right in Germany is making a return and the similarities to the far right in the U.S. (and the far right of Muslim which is ISIS) And how comparing Trump to Hitler isn’t just Godwin’s Law coming into play. Folks are feeling pushed out of the new world because they don’t want to change, they don’t like computers, or fact checking or the fact that advertisers aren’t after them. They want things the way they used to be before homosexuals were out of the closet and before women wanted to be equal and before minorities didn’t bitch about being treated like minorities. <br>And we get it. Folks don’t like change. Change is hard. <br>I’m traveling and playing music and trying to sell cds. A lot of the new world doesn’t have any use for cds. I love what I do but is there still a place for it? Am I the musical Brexit? <br>I get back to the hotel and I watch a documentary on Mikhail Gorbachev. I learn how his policy changes were too much for the system he was in and way to slow for the people of his country. <br>The times they are a-changing. <br>*Maybe best in Dresden! But if any of these folks had a 5 guys burger they would freak out. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 27: <br>Picked up Tracy at the airport, cleaned the flat and swapped my small rental car for a bigger one for the rest of the tour. <br>I said earlier that I wasn’t going to complain about the amount of driving I’ve done and I’m still not going to complain but I am offering a free cd/free download and tshirt to whoever comes the closest to guessing how many miles (or kilometers) I drove in the past 27 days. <br>When they told me at Hertz car rental how many miles I went - I was kind of shocked. <br>You have one day for guessing. Keep the guessing in multiples of 10’s please. I will tell you it was less than 10,000 Kilometers but more than 5,000. <br>Tracy is sleeping now, I don’t think she got over jet lag from her last trip from Massachusetts to California because two days later she flew to Germany! <br>New Guitar Geek Warning blog coming up too. <br>That’s all for today. <br>Don’t forget to place your guess to win a cd/t-shirt! <br>Later, <br>Pic is of my Ford Fiesta rental car that is exceptionally bug splattered. Sorry bugs. <br>GUITAR GEEK WARNING: <br>This one is short. A lot of companies make travel guitars and they are usually short scale or crappy versions of a guitar that you don’t really want to play. <br>My solution was different. I brought my #5 Bobbocaster to Danny Ott, I bought some machine screws and anchors and I had him install the anchors in the neck and then when I take the neck off - it’s not stripping out wood every time an wearing it out. It’s machine screws so I can take the neck on and off as many times as I need to. <br>Works great. I brought the body with me in my suitcase, Tracy brought the neck with her in her bass bag. Done. <br>Intonation is set, action is set. It’s ready to go. <br>Specs on the #5 Bobbocaster guitar: <br>2 piece Ash Warmoth body, <br>Late 60’s Fender Telecaster neck (decal had been removed) <br>Seymour Duncan Alnico II bridge pickup <br>Fender Wide Range Humbucker in the neck <br>Custom Wired by Danny Ott to be “Gretsch Wiring” with master volume, master tone and two sub volumes for each pickup. <br>Strung with 10 gauge Everly Nickel wound strings. <br>Violá </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 28: <br>Not much today. <br>Went and settled up the last month of touring with S&W and then Tracy and I had a leisurely lunch. <br>It was a good “day off”. <br>Then we organized our inventory for the month, set up the spreadsheet and then picked up Ben at the train station. <br>Ben made his famous pasta, with creme frisch and salmon and capers and we killed a great bottle of red gifted to me by Jens Fischer. <br>It was a good day. <br>Also announced the winner of the free cd/t-shirt combo to Patrick Walters who was the closest to guessing how many kilometers I drove in my September tour. The correct answer was 7850 which is nearly 5000 miles. <br>I will be announcing new contests shortly. <br>Thanks for playing along. The home version of my tour is also available. :) <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 29.1 <br>What is 28.1?? Well, it’s the 28th tour diary and it’s the first day of the Riddle & The Stars tour. (From here on out Riddle & The Stars = RATS) <br>We have the flat to ourselves, just me, Tracy and Ben. Tracy did a little “Congratulations” thing in Ben’s room for him getting married. (He got married like a week and half ago!) We put some Rouge de France in there and it was good. <br>Today we all woke up early - 9 am! Because we had rehearsal with Julian at the studio. Julian Claus has drummed with us before - we met him when he was about 17 years old and he’s now 20 or 21. Great drummer and he’s moving to Hamburg on Sunday but playing a gig with us on Saturday night! <br>At rehearsal Julian is playing all the songs like he wrote them and we have a great rehearsal. We even played “Tracks” for the first time ever. Seriously, it was a song we wrote in the studio and have never played it. We all spent some time staring at our hands during that one! <br>Rehearsal, home, shower, leave for the gig. <br>Tonight RATS are playing in an old (I think they said 300 year old!) church. It’s on the same site as a few other churches that had been destroyed or something before. We meet the blokes from Rivers Of England who we will be sharing a few dates with and they are really nice guys so I of course set straight to giving them shit about damn near everything. <br>(SMALL GUITAR GEEK WARNING FOR JUST A PARAGRAPH) <br>Ian, the guitar player for ROE, sets up his Musicman RD112 amp. And I say “That amp was my friend Kevin’s baby.” I then go on to explain how my buddy Kevin worked at Musicman and that amp was his thing, his design and what-not. Ian tells me that he loves this amp so much he bought a second one when he found it. He’s having trouble with the second channel on this one and so I take a picture <br>and send it to Kevin and he writes back “My baby!” Kevin says if he has any questions about it to message him, so I’m going to put them in touch. Just a cool gear thing <br>(SMALL OTHER GUITAR THING) <br>Ben took his tenor guitar out of the case and the bridge to the archtop had cracked in two! . I have broken lots of things but this is a first. I pick up some super glue and we fix and it ready to go. <br>Heiko is here doing sound and lighting which is cool because that means we don’t have to do it and it’s a pretty good size space - hard to do your own sound in a place like this. <br>Did I mention it’s a church? I don’t know what denomination but there’s a winged angel that is floating directly above where Ben is standing. It might be a winged Jesus or John the Baptist. I don’t know, it’s hard to tell them apart sometimes. In any case Berne, the Vicar, tells me that they lower it down for baptisms. <br>ROE soundchecks first and then we set up. Sound in here is tough. Lots of bounce back reflection and actually difficult to gauge volume of my amp or effected channel. I forgot to mention - Ian let me use his amp. It sounds fantastic. After some trial and error we have pretty decent sound. <br>Now before we play, there’s a pub that is in walking distance from the church. Hell, walking distance - it’s about 25 feet from the gate! The owner there is going to be open for us to have some dinner before we play and do we all like schnitzel? All but Ben, so we are set up with dinner before we play. <br>Our set goes really well. We all make a few minor mistakes but nothing that derails us. One rehearsal and then a show - we haven’t played together since April and it sounded great! <br>They have a piano on the alter and so Ben plays that during “Hold Me”* and it sounds amazing. Really good night and the folks are really into it too. We finish up but they want more so we encore with “Chance”. Sell and sign some cds and hang out. Good night. <br>Had a guy tell me that I am a “Technological Wonder” on the guitar. That’s a great compliment. <br>We get a nice encore and then we pack it up - or so we think. <br>After we get all the gear loaded into the car, Cord (who owns the pub next door ) invites us over. He’s bought 2 cds as well. Great hang at the Pub and Cord won’t let me pay for any of our drinks - or french fries!). Awesome evening. <br>And then at midnight we walk with the Vicar back to his place, which is like 100 meters away. The Vicar has an amazing. No, truly amazing whiskey and bourbon collection. Tracy is drinking her birth year I believe and it’s just great hanging out. Get to hear a Vicar tell a dirty joke and I am put in charge of finding the music for t he night - Roxy Music’s “Avalon”** sounds really great today. Going through his cd collection, I don’t think too many Vicars would have Monster Magnet cds and Green Day, Nirvana, Depeche Mode - just really eclectic and nice. <br>Bernd, The Vicar, has rooms dedicated to his whiskey, and there’s a lot of booze flowing, good booze. He knows his stuff too - tells us about the MacLean song that inspired a kind of bourbon that is produced. He offers to let us spend the night but we didn’t prepare for that so we drive home. <br>There’s more to tell but I just fell asleep typing this. It’s 2:37 am and I need sleep. <br>Thank you all. <br>G’night. <br>*Did I mention that this song is up for Song of the Year in the Miews? Please click this link and give us a vote! <br>**Hard to believe it’s even the same band that recorded “Remake / Remoel”. <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 29.2 <br>Start off today by making new RATS t-shirts. We will finish them up tomorrow so we will have them ready for Sensadaal. <br>Today was supposed to be easy. We leisurely wake up and have to be in Hamburg by 5:30 for a 6 pm downbeat. We’re playing this open air plaza type stage fro 6–8 pm. <br>Hamburg is about 90 minutes away, so we leave at 3 pm to be there by 4:30 - a full hour early for soundcheck. <br>Apparently a major tunnel is closed and they have buckets of road work going on, throw in 2 cars broken down in the same stretch and we get to the gig at 6:20 pm. <br>We play one long set that is good but I don’t know about Tracy and Ben but I never really got into the groove having gone from car to stage in zero minutes. <br>Folks like it, we sell cds and we’re already exhausted. That happens when an hour and half drive turns into three and a half. <br>We’re loaded and ready to drive back by 8:45, let’s beat the traffic and go have some dinner back at the flat. <br>We’re flying along nice and easy and then everything is stopped. Major accident. We are stopped on the autobahn for a long time, car off and watching a movie on Tracy’s tablet. <br>11:45 and we’re home. 3 hours traveling turned into 6.5 hours traveling - all for a little over an hour on stage. <br>I am drinking wine now. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 30.2 <br>It’s Saturday all day today and we have a big show tonight at Sendesaal in Bremen. Sendesaal is a performance theater designed just post WWII. It also houses what was Radio Bremen. In designing the building, knowing the importance of maintaining a radio station during wartime, they built the whole place on springs so it could adjust to any earth bound vibrations. (just in case! So pragmatic!!)The whole building is made like this and it makes it a uniquely designed performance stage as well. Apparently there are only two music halls like this in the world we are told. <br>They have piano concertos as well as choir things, there are no less than 4 grand pianos backstage, harpsichord… <br>The place is impressive and beautiful and only about 15 minutes away from the flat! We have our tour rider orders to be there at 2:30 and both bands missed the email update saying to be there at 1:30. These things happen. <br>Michael and Heiko have been at Sendesaal for hours already setting up lights and sound equipment. The room is already beautiful but with nice backlighting and what-not, it’s really nice. (Someone must have pics of this!) The sound is difficult in this room. It can be overwhelming very easily and we have drums and amps tonight. I’m trying to find the balance of being able to hear electric guitar and not be the loudest thing in the room. On most attempts of this - I fail and am clearly the loudest thing in the room. <br>Our stage set up consists of 7 guitars for Tracy, Ben and myself. It’s a lot but we could easily use more to get these songs over. More on that in a future Guitar Geek post. <br>We’re playing with Rivers of England tonight (ROE) and it’s our second show with them, I’m really starting to dig their stuff. Musically I would say it flows upstream - that is to say it doesn’t take the easy way to get where it’s going and it’s really interesting in that way. <br>We finish soundcheck and all head to the restaurant for dinner. This is a proper “show” where they came around a few hours early and got all our menu requests. I order the Kalbfleisch and gnocchi. (Veal and potato dumplings). I don’t typically order veal, this was probably only my second time ever but it was amazing. (See pics) <br>ROE go on first and have a great set and perform an encore as well. They sound tight and really great. I’m looking forward to working with them in the studio this week as I’m producing a song with them. More on that later this week. <br>We go out to do our set and I notice that Michael, the soundguy, is wearing a Riddle & The Stars shirt. Things like that fill you with a feeling of love. The friggin’ sound man is wearing our shirt! I see more friends like Horst right in front of me and he’s wearing my Motel Americana shirt. That’s awesome. <br>First song in and I’m already too loud. I have the amp off to the side and it’s turned down but in this room - it can really take over. We tipped it back so it wouldn’t hit so hard in the front but wow. I keep turning down, using the neck pickup so it’s not bright sounding… I’m still just LOUD. I am the loud American tonight. <br>Did I mention the whole show is being recorded? I will end up with a full 24 track recording for me to mix later on. So hopefully it came out alright and we can release it as a live album. <br>Show goes really well. In the middle of the show we unplug and we perform “Stronger than Steel” with just acoustic guitar, shaker and Tracy, Ben and I singing center stage - not plugged in, no mics or anything and it’s really beautiful. I’m mostly excited to hear that song. <br>We finish up our set and come back out and play some more. It’s a 2 encore night which is a great feeling. Hang out and sign some cds, Ben gets a wedding present from some folks and all is good. Then we realize that it’s 11:30 and the grocery store closes at midnight and won’t be open for two more days. (Sunday closed and Monday is a national holiday). <br>I feel bad leaving Heiko and Michael to pack up all the sound equipment - It’s the AV side of me that feels like I should start coiling cable - but I am really shite at coiling so it’s probably best I don’t. So we pack up our guitars quick and try to make it to ReWe before midnight so we have food for the next two days. <br>We fail at this task and so we eat at Özlum, the döner place down the street. <br>Back at the flat we meet our other tour mates for the first time, his name is Chris Rowe and his accompanist Jimmy. They are from New York and are really nice. We share some more of Ben’s wedding wine (wine he brought with him from his wedding) and talk about gigs and before long it’s 2:30 am and we all fall asleep. <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 31.4 <br>Fall has finally come to Northern Germany and we all slept until close to noon. Tracy, Ben and I had today off from gigs. It’s the first day in a while that none of us had to “do” anything. The rain in the afternoon was nice and we just watched it out the window. <br>I did 3 loads of laundry and we worked on travel plans and took naps in the afternoon. Ben made a potato and lentil soup that he added so much crushed red pepper to that out faces were sweating but we couldn’t stop eating it because it was so tasty. <br>Then we worked on a couple of tunes to add to the set list this week and played a board game. <br>I think that’s all we did today. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 32.5 <br>Today I was working as a record producer. <br>Which is actually a pretty cool job. I was with Rivers of England in the studio here in Bremen. Heiko was engineering the session and it was a lot of fun and is coming out really great. <br>We had some initial problems of the technical nature - I’m not familiar with Cubase and the software is in German. But we got it sorted and the music is coming out stellar. I did what I do best: “In the intro, try something like….”. “Cut that part going into the bridge…”. And these guys are total pros and nailed it. Then tweaked the kick drum with a dish sponge and duct tape, did a 6 mic treatment and got great drum sounds and viola. <br>We’re back at it for a while tomorrow too. <br>Finished up in the studio and rushed home to pick up Tracy and Ben for dinner at 9 pm! Today is Unification Day in Germany and pretty much everything is closed but they found an Indian restaurant downtown so we went and had chicken tikka masala - probably the hottest ctm I’ve ever had! So we had ice cream afterward. We were at the ice cream stand with hats and scarfs on but our mouths are not burning any more. <br>Have some interesting press type stuff happening as well with our song “Hold Me” being nominated for Song of the Year on the Miews website and our album “New Coastline” getting a great review from the LA Music Critic. Links below. <br>http://www.lamusiccritic.com/indie_voice_blog/get-it-or-forget-it-ray-remorariddle-the-stars-earwig/ <br>http://zooglelabs.com/campaigns/412880/79052/aHR0cDovL3RoZW1pZXdzLmNv bS9taWV3cy1tdXNpYy1hd2FyZHMvYmVzdC1zb25nLw== </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 33.6 <br>Still playing record producer today. It’s a good day in the studio with Rivers of England and I’m excited for them to share the song we worked on - we still haven’t mixed it yet but it came out awesome. <br>We get great acoustic sounds with a Neumann km184 and the little musicman amp sounds great with the ribbon mic on it, vocals thru a Neumann TLM 103 and yeah, some nice mics here. <br>Before we finish recording the idea for a chorus of people singing the end bits comes up and everyone gets involved including the interns from Songs & Whispers! Mona Li does her own part and it’s really great. <br>I’m starting to understand Cubase a little bit more - it’s interesting how you can be recording for years and years and all of a sudden you’re on a whole new platform and it just grinds you to a halt. Well, that and all the instructions and tabs are in a language foreign to you. <br>It’s a very creative atmosphere in this studio with it being almost hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world, no idea day or night and just the room and what you’re doing. I would love to be here working on a larger project. <br>Head home and Tracy, Ben and I have a pre-birthday dinner (we’re traveling tomorrow so, it works out well) of spaghetti bolognese, pretzel garlic bread and wine. Mona comes over and Chris and Jimmy come home and we have a nice low key time eating brownies from the supermarket with a match for a candle. Happy Day. <br>Oh, and I almost forgot - Rob from Rivers of England has the same birthday as me - here’s wishing him a happy day and my friend Emma from TPL it’s her birthday too - she’s 21 now (and owes me pancakes!) and my friend Britt-Marie from Bombshelter, it’s her birthday too! And my friend Jen Armstrong, and Be John and Bobby Turner and Matt Roberti, Jonathan Seeliger and Kimberly Erin too!!Happy 5th everyone! <br>Tomorrow it’s back to the shows as we drive to Munster and Düsseldorf for some shows. Then we have 2 shows in the north and then Tracy and I are taking off for a couple of days to Copenhagen! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 34.7 <br>Started the day on AirBnB site booking places for us to stay. Tonight we’re in Munster and tomorrow in Düsseldorf - the 2 places are about 90 minutes away from each other but about 180 miles away from Bremen so we need a place for tonight. I found a nice place for the three of us to stay close to Munster and the guy who lives there also wants to come to the show. Awesome. <br>I also found a nice place in the Fredericksburg section of Copenhagen for Tracy and I to stay in next week. Which reminds me that I have to contact my cousin Dylan who is studying in Copenhagen this semester. <br>The place we’re playing tonight Ben played in July and it’s in the back room of this restaurant. Last time they closed the doors and charged 6 euro to get in. Thru Ben’s persuasion we have gotten them to open the doors, make it free and for us to pass a hat. Make it more inviting. Tracy says from stage “It’s free to come in but if you think we’re worth something, drop some money in the hat or buy a cd.” <br>We end up getting about 20 people in the room. You might think that’s not a lot but we sold 16 cds and a songbook. That’s pretty great percentages! Did I mention that we printed up songbooks? When we first did it, it was just for us we had a bunch of new songs and it was helpful for us to remember all the words and the chords but we had people ask about them and so we did them up nice, put a little something about each of the songs and included the guitar chords so you can play along and…we’re out of them! We need to print more! So cool. <br>We have a pretty good show tonight, Ludger (from AirBnB does come and he brings his friend Joseph. Joseph buys at least two cds and whoops and woos for most songs and is so enthusiastic. Some folks that saw Ben play in July have come out as well and our friend Astrid is there too! (Thanks for the schnapps!) Astrid used to work at Songs & Whispers as the booking person and she now lives nearby. We have worked with her the past 3 or 4 years and to be in Bremen and NOT see her has been weird. <br>Our set tonight is pretty good. I’m trying something different with my electric guitar - just using the Tech 21 Liverpool pedal and going direct to the PA (Boris will laugh and say ‘Told you so!’) and it’s mostly pretty good. It doesn’t sound entirely like a guitar amp (cause it’s not) but for my atmospheric guitar stylings in RATS it works pretty well. <br>We finish up two sets and end and they want more music so we do some APB and get a really great sing along going. Then it’s time to go to someone else’s home. We sign some cds and say goodnight. <br>Back at our AirBnB we hang out with Ludger and have a glass of wine. He has a really nice place that reminds me a lot of Marty & Petra’s place in Schweinfurt. Very much same esthetic. He lives here alone, his girlfriend lives somewhere else. We have a really nice talk, he’s been to Boston and speaks pretty good english. He’s leaving early in the morning but tells us to make coffee or tea and leave whenever we’re ready. <br>I’m loving AirBnB. You stop in, meet some new folks, get a small bit of their world, learn something new and keep going. <br>Oh, and bonus - today was my birthday too. Thank you all for the FB wishes. The Birthday wishes on FB has to be one of the nicest things about this site. We all bicker and fight and bitch and moan but I will wish my enemy a happy birthday. Well, if I had an enemy. Do I have an enemy? I think I have a nemesis but that’s not the same thing. <br>G’night and thanks again! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 35.8 <br>Had a really nice night last night in Münster. Sometimes you have shows where the audience is just with you and they can carry a night. Sure they buy cds and sure there’s money in the hat and that’s great but there were people in there really listening. Ben made one woman cry. A couple of days ago we had a guy that wanted to buy a copy of the show he just saw, didn’t want the cd, wanted the live thing. <br>It’s nights like that that carry you through nights like tonight. <br>O’Reilley’s Irish Pub in Düsseldorf is a nice place, they treat us well, staff is top notch but the people don’t care. Well, that’s not fair to say - there were a couple of people that liked it but it was rough. <br>We show up and they don’t even know we’re supposed to be there tonight. The flyers that they were supposed to have to promote the show were supposed to be delivered last month (by the person playing there but he ended up in jail) and they were like “we’re having music tonight?” <br>I send an email to our booking agent telling him they don’t know we’re supposed to be playing, he tells me it’s been confirmed since May and that the promo material has been sent. Ah, well. The staff advises us to play earlier because there are a couple of football (soccer) matches starting at 8:45 so play from 7–9. That’s cool. <br>Something that is way better than playing in the states - there is a giant tv to the side of the stage that has had sports stuff going on the whole time we’re there when we play, they shut it off. THEY SHUT IT OFF! <br>If you are a musician you understand how incredibly rare that is for a venue to do. It’s a respect thing that we aren’t always afforded. It’s a small gesture but it’s huge to us. (Us = musicians everywhere) <br>So we do our two sets, get a volunteer from the audience to go around with the hat in exchange for a free cd. Next to nothing in the hat and we end up selling one cd - to the bartender who really liked us. We eat our fish and chips and get in the car and drive 180 miles home. <br>There’s no time to get a big head about yourself on tour - if you have one great show, the next one will remind you that you ain’t all that. <br>You ain’t nothing but some free fish and chips. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 36.9 <br>Großenkneten. <br>We’ve been looking forward to this show ever since it got booked. We have these amazing fans there. Irene is kind of the ring leader of the group but there’s also Michael, Harry and Maryann (sp?). Maryann’s daughter Liza is pretty awesome too. <br>We met them back in 2013 when we did our first show for them. It’s just gotten better since then. We played their 4th of July party in 2015 and they sang the Star Spangled Banner to us. Yeah. It was pretty amazing. And the year before that Irene made us her pumpkin soup that has become a thing in our house as well, she did a Youtube video to teach us how to make it and everything. <br>Tonight we’re playing a Pub they have rented out for the night. Irene made her famous pumpkin soup for us and we all did shots of…I’m going to say “alcoholic egg nog”? I don’t know what it was but we devoured all of it. Ben’s bowl was so clean that you wouldn’t have known there was soup even in it. And they had a tray of appetizers that were all hand made of deviled eggs, pastry with bacon, tomato and cheese things. Just awesome. <br>We’re in a big hall and it’s a bit echo-y and not in a good way. We got the AER set up and we’ll be ok but it’s a tough room to get good sound in. <br>Liza comes up to me before the show and says she has a birthday present for me she says “I know you love toast so I made you this.” She sewed me a sandwich. SEW. It’s so adorable I can’t even tell you. I took a pic tonight, will take one tomorrow. It’s coming with us everywhere. There’s two pieces of bread, a piece of lettuce, swiss and tomatoes. Seriously, she cut them out and sewed them. So sweet, so amazing. <br>The difference between tonight and last night couldn’t be more drastic. Had a guy who, for the life of me - I can’t remember his name, he has come to 3 shows in the past two months - 2 of my solo shows and now one RATS show. He was wearing a <br>“Motel Americana” shirt tonight and was asking what other cds we have available that HE DOESN’T ALREADY HAVE. Turns out he has everything, and 2 shirts as well! <br>We play two sets and it’s great. We get an awesome sing along, Irene actually joins us on stage and everything and OH! I almost forgot. Here in Großenkneten they have a new Music and Arts Culture type club that they have started called MUK. They started it after the first show we played here. Our performance got folks involved in bringing more arts and music to their town. This is why we do this. Wow. <br>So we do some encores, I think we did 5 or 6 encores. They request songs for the encores. It’s great, it’s amazing. We may have been invited to someone’s wedding next year, I’m not sure. <br>I love Großenkneten. <br>I’m talking with Maryann and she says to me “When I saw you play in Oldenburg, I am not here anymore, I am in America and I’m on a highway - you take me there.” <br>You really can’t ask for anymore than that. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 37.10 <br>Started today mixing the Rivers of England song that we worked on in the studio. Really wish they were around to be part of the process (as I’m sure they wish as well). Hopefully they like what’s happening with it. I do really enjoy mixing and the producing aspect of what I do - After working with Cubase for a couple of days now I can’t say I’m a fan of that platform. I much prefer my ProTools. I know they all kind of work the same but going from tape 4 tracks to 2" tape to ADAT’s and then ProTools seemed fairly seamless. It made sense. I’m having a difficult time with Cubase’s layout. <br>It’s a rush from the studio to shower to road for our show tonight in Delmonhorst. <br>Now Delmonhorst is not far away, it’s only about two towns over but we have an early soundcheck of like 6 pm for our set at 10 pm. <br>Rock and Roll is all about hurry up and wait. <br>We get to the White Lion (Yes, they had a poster of the band!) and this is a proper “Rock Club”. There’s smoking inside, a dirty sticky stage and absolutely great atmosphere for live music. Tracy and I look at each other - we know how to rock this room. <br>Tonight’s lineup is Johnny Thunder (solo acoustic) Flatbilly DeVille (acoustics, upright bass, banjo/suitcase drumkit) and then Riddle & The Stars. Jens has set up this show and has really taken care of us, included in our pay for the evening is dinner and a case of wine. (Because we’re classy). We were supposed to do an Amigo Hayride show last year but it got messed up by scheduling (my fault) so I’m really happy that he still wanted to book us this year. <br>Some friends show up to the show and it’s a nice hangout beforehand. We’re about halfway done with the second leg of the tour and we’re feeling it a bit, we’re tired. Ben goes out to the car and falls asleep for about an hour. Julian has just finished his first week at Music college and has a lot of music in his head already. Me? I’m enjoying hearing new music and being in a rock club. <br>Johnny Thunder’s set (not to be confused with Johnny Thunders - grammar is important people) is decent, he has a bunch of his fans here and his first song is actually about him “Ich bin Johnny Thunder!” Some of the crowd sing a long at a specific time. He sings about being punk rock acoustic and I know this because those were words I understood. This is not me making fun of him, it’s me making fun of my lack of German vocabulary. <br>Flatbilly DeVille is great. Mike, the singer, is from Bakersfield. His dad used to play steel guitar with Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. He’s a Panhandle Slim snappy shirt and is A-OK in my book. The upright bass player keeps it tight and rhythm acoustic guitar is good and then they have another dude on banjo/suitcase drumkit. It’s a suitcase with a kick drum pedal attached, a small snare and a splash cymbal. I hope I remembered to take a picture of it. Mike also played slide and mandolin. Really enjoyed their stuff. Funny part during their set was when Johnny Thunder was talking really loudly in front of the stage and got called out on it from the stage by Flatbilly DeVille and followed up by Mike saying “You know, you can’t put your arms around a memory.” And I laughed. And Tracy laughed. And No One Else Laughed. <br>In the moment it was a great joke on stage, slammed the dude for using the “Johnny Thunder” name and not even knowing the history of his own stage name. It was perfect and tragic. <br>Now something we’re looking forward to tonight is kind of a feeling of not holding back. A number of our shows have been in environments where you can’t really “go for it” musically speaking. There’s a self imposed limiter and it’s difficult at times because we have a wide dynamic range in our tunes. You play quiet when you need to play quiet and when you need to be loud you have to be able to get loud. <br>Mike from Flatbilly DeVille has brought an amplifier for me to use tonight and oh what an amp it is. He’s had it for 20 years and he recovered it in leopard print. It’s a Marshall JCM 800, 2x12 with Eminence Speakers in it (!??) and it sounds absolutely fantastic. It made me rethink all of the amps I’ve had in the past few years - that great. Tracy has a nice big bass amp, Julian is on the drums, Ben is plenty loud with the PA and we just rock. <br>It’s cold outside (5C or 41F), it’s warm inside, it’s full of smoke and not well lit and in a strange twist it feels like it’s the 1990’s when The Gypsy Mechanics used to play places like this all the time. Places like Toad in Cambridge, The Safe or Smithwicks in Lowell, Red Square in Nashua, or even The Rat in Boston. It’s a drinking crowd that’s listening and wants to rock and we go over well. <br>As we’re being introduced I hear Jens also mention the opening bands and I give a little nod to Flatbilly DeVille’s joke and start singing “Doesn’t pay to try, all the smart boys know why.”* And Tracy shoots me a look like “no, don’t do it.” So I stop. <br>During our set I decide to be the guy that thanks the opening bands for playing and I say “Let’s hear it for Johnny Thunder and Hillbilly Deluxe!” And now I’m the guy that screws up the band’s name. It’s Flatbilly DeVille. I feel like an ass. I was just looking at their merch and didn’t screw up one part of their name but BOTH parts of their name. What a jackass. This isn’t like the time we played BB Kings in Los Angeles and they treated us like shit and I did a “Thank You House Of Blues” into the microphone. This was an honest mistake. I like Flatbilly DeVille! <br>Our set is sounding great. I’m a touch on the loud side but I am playing through a Marshall - no it did not go to eleven, I had it on 2. “Running back to you” sounded like it’s supposed to with the full band treatment, “Massachusetts” flowed great, “I may never know” had a terrific groove and everything is clicking. One of the highlights for me is when we get to “Chance”. In this song I am playing mandolin and I’m splitting the signal to the PA and to my pedals/amp. So I play all pretty along with Ben’s part but then when the solo its I’m playing distorted mandolin with delay into a Marshall and it’s glorious. <br>We finish up to the sound of “Zugabe! Zugabe!” Which is German for “keep playing”. We rock out an APB with everyone singing along, Tracy sings Jolene and we call it a night. <br>I hang out with Mike from Flatbilly DeVille and it’s nice. I tell him how horrified I was that no one got his Johnny Thunders joke and he says “He doesn’t know punk rock, I’m 50 - I was at a bar once and had Exene Cervenka fall on top of me drunk!” I laugh and say “I’m not that punk but she sang with us one time.” We laugh and swap stories and make plans to go get what he claims to be “the best pizza in Bremen”. So that will be later on this week. <br>We get home and we all remember the worst part of tonight - we stink. Yeah, there’s the “after rock n roll sweat thing” but on top of that is the cigarette smoke. Peel it off and put it in the wash and shower before bed. <br>Our plans to wake up early on Sunday are thwarted by our desire to sleep in. We’re driving to Copenhagen today as we have 3 days off (!!!). We’ve never been to Copenhagen so this is like a mini vacation for me and Tracy. It’s about a 5 hour drive including a ferry! New pics soon. <br>*This is the first line of the Johnny Thunders song “You can’t put your arms around a memory”. I don’t expect everyone to know this song but I do expect everyone using the name Johnny Thunder(s) to know this song. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 38.11 <br>We had today “off”. So what did we do? Drove 5 hours north to spend three days in Copenhagen! <br>Tracy missed the perfect windmill picture and we’ve been looking for another windmill to take a pic of and so far have not found it. We took a ferry across the Baltic Sea and got an amazing recommendation for dinner from a new friend of a friend. (Thanks Gary Young!) <br>Our Airbnb is pretty cozy and it’s pretty cold outside. Low 40’s but nice. Everything is so green. <br>For dinner we went to Les Trois Cochons and it’s a place that only has like 3 things on the menu and it’s a 3 course meal. <br>The appetizer is steak tartare, cured scallops and a smoked salmon thing. I really liked two of the three (not a fan of salmon) and it’s been a while since I’ve had steak tartare me this was excellent. <br>For dinner I chose the tenderloin and Tracy had the lamb and his was a top 5 all time great meal. I ate all the vegetables and hardly touched the fries! It took us about 2.5 hours to eat and it’s so laid back we didn’t even notice. <br>Then dessert came and its cremé brulee, ice cream with chocolate sauce and lemon pastry things. <br>Oh and wine. <br>I leave you with the pics. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 39.11 <br>Woke up at our AirBnB in Copenhagen, it’s a nice little flat in the Fredericksburg area. (It’s spelled berg but autocorrect won’t let me spell it that way) and we go for breakfast in a little nook of a place and order fantastic food. Seriously, the food in Denmark is a thing. It’s different in a good way and unique to them. I don’t know how to describe it any other way. We’re still pretty much full from the night before when we had one of the best meals of my life. <br>Our plan today is to go to Hamlet’s castle or otherwise known as Kronborg. It’s pretty awesome with a moat and cannons and we take the guided tour from someone who is in authentic garb and explaining everything to us like it’s 1586. That’s the year. Yeah. 2 centuries before America. The history is fascinating. How the King levied a tax on all ships going by and became quite wealthy because of it and how that all stopped in 1857 when a ship from the US refused to pay. (Speculation is that it was one of an elder Trump’s ships that refused to pay the tax!) <br>After the guided tour you can wander the castle on your own and it’s cool and all but then we meet back up with the tour guide while in the gift shop and just talk to her normal and she gives us some other advice like "well, if you’re already here - you should take the 20 minute ferry over to Sweden. ! ! Tracy has always wanted to go to Sweden and while it won’t be a full Swedish experience we decide to go there, get some food and walk around a bit. <br>The ferry is right close by and after navigating the parking situation. Oh! Parking here sucks! We were in the parking for the castle and we estimated wrong how long we’d be in there and came out to a parking ticket that is very nearly $100. Puts both of us in a mood - it’s both our fault and that pisses us both off. <br>But Sweden! We get off the boat and it’s colder here! We joke about tourists in SoCal - you can always see the out of towners by the way they are wearing shorts in January. Well Tracy and I both have two coats on, big scarfs and I have a hat on and we’re friggin’ cold! People are buzzing by with just a light jacket and on a bike. <br>Out of towners. <br>It’s nice and we walk around and find a restaurant and I notice hamburgers on the menu. Ha! What the hell, I’ll be that guy. I ordered a hamburger in Sweden! And it wasn’t bad. Still a little over cooked but overall pretty decent. <br>The ride back to Copenhagen is nice, it’s still rainy and cold - it’s dipped under 40 degrees and it’s nice to sit in the car for a bit. <br>We get back to the flat and there are two other people staying there with us, mother and daughter. The daughter is 16 and has just enrolled in a local cosmetology course so she’s going to be in the city for a few months and we have a really great conversation about all sorts of things. <br>The daughter is really stuck on “so when you go to the hospital, you have to pay? That’s so wrong!” We explain a bit about the health care industry, Tracy having worked in it for over 20 years now and I worked in it for about a decade. “But why don’t people vote for a system where they don’t have to pay?” This is a good question that we don’t have the answer to. <br>Then the conversation turns to the debate - they watched it. They watched our Presidential Debate. <br>Did you know that Denmark still has a Queen and a royal family? Yeah, I didn’t until just the other day. Do you know anything about the Danish political system? I don’t either. <br>We talk about all sorts of political type things and they know our system and the players going way back. The gist of it comes down to “why can’t the American people see how qualified Hillary Clinton is and the good she has done?” And “How can anyone be dumb enough to vote for Trump?” <br>These are also very good questions that we don’t have easy answers to. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 40.12 <br>Ok. I was so excited to come to Copenhagen- it’s Scandinavia, it’s north, it’s awesome - it’s freezing!! <br>Tracy and I find a nice place to get some breakfast and we end up staying for over an hour because we don’t want to go back outside. <br>We do some sight seeing and go to a few shops. Our friend Mona recommended a few places to check out and we make our way around the city looking for them but there is so much construction going on that driving and parking is really a challenge. Traycy downloads three different parking apps so we can pay for parking on the phone but none of them work because our phone number is in the US! Frustrating. <br>We find an open air market going on and wander thru, we’re thinking it might be nice for gifts but we don’t find much, Tracy does score a very important hat and i try to find gloves but none of the gloves fit my hands. <br>We read that the Little Mermaid statue is the most disappointing tourist attraction in Copenhagen and we say “Bring it on!” I don’t know what people are expecting - it’s a statue in the ocean of a mermaid. It fulfills all my requirements for just such a thing. The wind is blowing sting here and it’s about 6 or 7 degrees (C) while we are there so our photo op is very quick. <br>Do we eat now or take a nap? Nap wins and then we head out for dinner. <br>Tracy found a nice place that was highly recommended and it’s like tapas but they pick what you get. A bunch of little things and it’s fantastic. Everything is 100% organic, they have their own farm, their own cows… a map on the wall showing where everything comes from. Steak tartare is their specialty and it’s great <br>As we’re sitting there another couple is seated at our table - and we have an amazing conversation. He’s from the U.K., she’s from Florida and they’re married and working on her moving to the U.K. He’s been a teacher and works in <br>sustainability now. So the restaurant is right up his ally, she is a history major in the British Tudors era. <br>We laugh and share traveling stories and cover Brexit, elections, healthcare, music, steak tartare, scarfs, Japanese folks music, how the recent hurricane may have effected Jacksonville, Kronberg Castle, otherplaces to eat… we were at dinner for nearly 3 hours <br>Great time and new (fb) friends. If we’re ever in the U.K. We will look them up and the same if they get to SoCal. <br>We’re introduced to a new term of Danish Hygge (pronounced hooga ) and we’ve really been feeling it here tonight. It’s hard to explain but easy to feel. <br>We leave in the morning to head back to Germany as we have a show tomorrow night. Enjoy the pics! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 41.13 <br>Early start today, we get driving south by 8:45 am - we have to drive nearly 300 miles south from Copenhagen, Denmark to Bremen, Germany. We’ve decided to not take the ferry (because it’s $93!) and drive the longer way down which has a 18 km long bridge (which has a toll of 35 euro!) but it’s pretty and is obviously cheaper than the ferry. <br>Doing the conversions gets confusing in the head. We can buy gas with Euro but they can only give change in Danish Kronnes. Our credit cards have decided to not work at any gas stations in Denmark so fortunately we have some euro on us. <br>It’s a nice ride but long, nearly 6 hours driving and we get back to Bremen and rest for an hour, pick up Ben and head out to our gig in Verden tonight. <br>Now we love playing in Verden. Verden loves us and we love them. Tonight we’re at a store called Borboletta, they sell jewelry, scarfs, crystals and I’m pretty sure you can get your chakra cleansed here. They are all super nice and they clear out all the space and put in benches and people have been reserving seats for our show, we were in the paper and on the local radio station this week. We have a bunch of familiar faces in the audience, folks singing along and everything. <br>Because of the size of the place we opt to go without a PA and we just sing and play acoustically (tracy still plugs in her bass) and it sounds great, they are super attentive and listen. There’s one guy watching everything I do on guitar and at the end of a song I reached down and pretended to turn the guitar volume down (guitar is not plugged into anything) and I see him point and laugh. He’s the only one that caught it and I saw him. It’s a small moment but I notice it - just one of those things like, you can’t fake them out - they are on top of it! <br>We take a break and open the door because even though it’s like 8 degrees outside (41F) it’s hot inside, the windows steaming up and everything. A bunch of folks buy cds at the break, a few people buy TFS cds because they already have the RATS cds and just want more. What a great feeling that is. <br>Set two is good - I set up my camera and get some video, hopefully it’s attached to this tour diary - and you can hear the folks here. So awesome, so much fun. We finish up with a sing along and some Johnny Cash and everyone is happy. They want us to promise to come back in 2017 but we don’t know that far ahead yet. <br>Great night. <br>Back at the flat we eat some pizza and wine and decide to break out the Schnapps that Astrid got me for my birthday. It smells a bit like Vicks44D but it tastes excellent. <br>Now bed. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 41.14 <br>I seriously woke up this morning and thought about doing laundry and convinced myself not to go to the laundromat because it was a Saturday and would be really busy. Woke back up at 11 am and realized it was Thursday. <br>That in a nutshell is what being a touring musician is like. <br>But today Marty and Petra are visiting (my aunt and uncle) from Schweinfurt (in Bavaria), they drove about 4 hours to get here and are using their vacation time to come hang out with us, go to a show and maybe go to Freimarkt. <br>What is Freimarkt? Only one of the oldest running fairs in all of Europe. It was first started in 1035. That is the freakin’ year! Not only that but it’s only listed as “one of” the oldest running fairs! So we’ll be going to that too. <br>We had a nice visit with Marty and Petra at our flat and then they headed to their hotel. They brought Ben & Vivien a wedding present and some Fritos and wine for Tracy and I and it was just great to see them. <br>It’s strange when people visit us at the flat because the artist flat is like this oasis away from the world - it feels like no one knows where we are and we can hide so when anyone from outside the band is here it’s weird. The buzzer for the door goes off and we all look at each other “who knows we’re here?!?” Sometimes there’s a guy that’s a fan of the S&W crew that comes by and brings us homemade jam but we haven’t seen him this time. He buzzes the door and says “It’s Windy, with the jam!” And we get all excited. <br>Tonight we’re playing a place I cannot pronounce: Der Kuhhirte. It’s a fine dining restaurant and this is their first time having music. It’s a nice big stage and Heiko and Christina have come along to help with sound and lights. After a longer soundcheck than normal (more speakers = more problems) we have pretty great sound happening. The room never fully fills up but people seemed to like it. Our set is a bit more subdued tonight. <br>Oh, I forgot to tell you about the food! I had the chicken curry and it was really good, not the best ever but definitely good. <br>I guess the food update wasn’t that important. <br>So yeah, we have to fix the set list - Ben switched guitars almost every song. That definitely slows us down and breaks up the flow. It’s hard though - the songs flowed but it was just a lot of changing. It’s like - we don’t need roadies or anything but if we had a guitar tech that set up our guitars for the next song - that would be huge. Between all the different capo settings, the open tuned guitar songs, the tenor guitar, the mandolin never being in tune… Damn. Every time we put a capo on - the guitar is out of tune. I hate that. <br>Something new though - we did a cover of the song “The Letter” by the Box Tops and our label/publishing company liked it so much that they are releasing it as a single in a few days. And tonight we remembered how to play it and performed it for the first time ever. If you’d like to hear it: https://soundcloud.com/songsandwhispers/sets/s-w-cover <br>And we’re currently in talks to figure out when we’re coming back in 2017. It’s so hard to plan a year ahead when you barely know what day today is. <br> <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 42.15 <br>Finally got laundry done! <br>This was actually a big accomplishment as it involved getting up early. <br>Tonight we’re playing in atMusicStar Norderstedt. It’s a first for us there and we really have no idea what kind of place it is, we’ve seen some pictures on line but can’t really figure it out. <br>We get there and it’s kind of in this strip mall but around the corner…underneath it, connected to an ice cream shop. So we’re a bit skeptical about what we’re walking into but then the door opens up and there’s a proper stage, fantastic sound system, rugs, full lighting rig and cameras everywhere. <br>We set up for soundcheck, Julian is playing with us again tonight and we didn’t have room in the car for him and his drums so he’s got his cajon and my Porchboard bass pedal thing. Turns out they have a drum kit here so we morph it into a cajon, porchboard and snare drum set up which sounded great in this room. My little ZT Amplifiers Lunchbox sounded the best it has all tour and actually I’m going to say that tonight was probably the best sound of the whole tour. I’m assuming out front sounded good too but where I was standing it was the best we’ve had. Wolfgang (soundman/organizer) says we’re really easy to do sound for, I agree but he had it dialed in! <br>Before we start playing Tracy is given a request list from a new fan, Michael, in the audience who has been listening to TFS online and it’s 7 or 8 songs from our “heart like mine” album. We promise to play one or two of them but tonight is RATS. But how cool is that? As we’re hanging out waiting to play the lighting guy has acoustic guitar out and I can hear he’s doing some drop D modal type stuff so I go get my Keyser short capo and put it on his guitar - he totally freaks out. “What is this??” And seeing a whole new language of guitar chords and shapes open up in front of him is inspiring. <br>Then I look across the room and there’s a guy wearing the same exact shirt as I am. This is a little odd since I’m wearing a tshirt from the first Vienna Americana Festival that we played 2 years ago. I see him and he looks at me and says “Othmar told me to say hello!” His name is Jörg and we have a great talk about how small the world is. (Oh, yeah - Othmar is our friend in Vienna who organized the Festival we played) <br>We do our two sets and go over pretty well, we fixed the set a bit so there’s a bit more flow and less downtime between songs tuning and swapping guitars. There’s no way to totally avoid it but it’s better. <br>It’s not a big room and it doesn’t take a lot of people in here to make it look full and it’s a really fantastic crowd of music lovers. Looking at the walls I see pics of Dan Stuart and I see the The Mastersons are playing here soon - this is a music loving space and I really hope to come back. <br>We finish our set to the sound of “Zugabe!” So we teach them “APB” and then give them a little Johnny Cash and call it a night. <br>But that’s just where the music stops - we hang out for another 2.5 hours. The ice cream shop is also a bar and they haven’t been charging us all night. The guy behind the counter is leaving Germany to go live in Winnipeg, Canada in a few weeks and we have a great chat about hockey and Tim Hortons and how cold Winnipeg is going to be. At this point the lighting guy has got his guitar out again and Ben and Vivienne are singing along making up new songs and the bartender has decided we need more drinks. Tracy is up for it and he brings her a really great sipping rum, everyone else is on the beer and the driver (me) has hot chocolate. <br>Lighting guy (I can’t remember his name!) is talking to Tracy and me and says to Tracy “When you finally move on from Bobbo, can I have him?” He was a big fan of my guitar playing. It’s very cute and funny. I look at him and say “You would be so miserable!” We all laugh. <br>At about 1:30 the bartender is trying to get people to leave (I think they closed at midnight) and he is not being very successful at it, he too is drinking rum. I’m trying to get everyone in the car as well so I show him the Cashman trick. <br>What is the “Cashman Trick” you ask? Well, we used to play this bar in Lowell, MA called Smithwicks and up on the second floor was, well, it was another bar and the bartender’s name was Cashman. At the end of the night when he wanted everyone to leave he would put on Ethel Merman. Loud. Ethel Merman was loud anyway but you would be in this room and your brain would just click to “I have to get out of this room, now!” <br>So I pull up “Everything’s coming up roses” on my phone and hand it to him to plug into the stereo. <br>Works like a charm every time. He gets his phone out and puts it in as a favorite. Tonight we gained new fans, I showed a guitar player a few tricks as well as a bartender. And we’ve sold out of our Riddle & The Stars songbooks again! Win, win, WIN! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 43.16 <br>Woke up in Norderstadt today at a nice hotel and I’m going to tell you about breakfast because I had Cocoa Pebbles for breakfast today and they were everything I hoped they’d be. Ok, they may not have been real Cocoa Pebbles but they were still tasty. <br>We started the day off by driving from Norderstadt to Hamburg (to drop Julian off at his flat) and then on to Bremen (about 2 hours total), meet up with Marty and Petra for what was supposed to be lunch but our get in time for tonight has been changed so we hang out with them for an hour and then we get ready to leave to go to Grossafen. I’m spelling the name wrong but I can’t find it’s correct spelling. In any case it’s about 90 minutes away. <br>I really needed a nap today, pretty sure everyone else got one in the car or at home but I didn’t and it’s making me a little crabby. Well, crabby now. Mostly I was just a bit low energy the rest of the day. I hate being low energy for a gig. <br>Heiko and Michael are already at the gig getting ready to set up - tonight we’re in a very old church in a small village. How old? 13th century old. (Dig the pics!) and we’re in front of the alter. It’s pretty rad. Heiko brought a bunch of lights that make it look really cool as well. Michael dials in the sound and we’re ready to go. <br>Now we’re all set up and we have about 40 minutes to find a restaurant and eat before so show time and fortunately there is a really amazing restaurant about 1000 feet away from where we are! Vivien has been wanting schnitzel and this place delivers. (See pics) <br>Tonight has been billed as TFS and RATS so Tracy and I are going to go on as kind of opening for ourselves - we pick 5 songs to go with and we were alright but just alright. <br>Because of all the bounce back in the church - our monitors have been turned down and it’s working against me. We play a song that I’ve been playing on my solo tour but Tracy hasn’t played that much and there’s a bad note or two in the <br>beginning and for the most part we were ok but I never really settled in. In our last song I break the G string on my acoustic and I adapt by going barre chords but it kind of sucks. Folks liked it but I’m just annoyed because I wasn’t my best. <br>A good thing about playing every night is that if you have a bad gig one night - you can redeem it all the next night. This is the only TFS set we are doing for the rest of the time here. So it’s just festering with me. <br>You know in the movie Purple Rain when Prince finishes playing “Purple Rain” and he runs off stage, through the hallways and down to his motorcycle because he’s got this pent up frustration? Yeah. That was me. <br>Then RATS goes on and we have a pretty good set. I’m still in my weird headspace but we play pretty well, few new mistakes tonight but it’s good. I’m wrestling my guitars and when we play “Chance” I take the opportunity to exorcise some demons and I get up on the front pew and stand over everyone while I beat up this poor mandolin. Anyone who plays music and has never wanted to smash a guitar hasn’t played enough shows. It’s like saying fighting doesn’t belong in hockey. If you’re going to do anything with all your emotion and intensity - there should be some bloodshed and splinters. <br>The mandolin survives to go out of tune another day and we finish up with “Mexican Home” and get a standing ovation and then we do two encores. <br>We sell some cds and sign some cds and before we can go home the pastor has invited us over to her house for some drinks. We have a lovely time with the pastor and her husband. Tracy, Ben and Vivien all have whiskey. I have Fritz Orange (soda) as we still have 120 km to drive home. <br>I’m feeling better but still frustrated with myself. I’m the only one awake at the flat and I really feel like breaking something and we have no shows for two days! ARGH!! <br>On the drive home we’re going through all these little windy roads and I have Tracy keep track of the speed limit changes on the road and the gps because they are big jumps from 100kmh down to 50kmh in an instant. We’re keeping a good <br>eye on it and we get off the autobahn and there’s a sign posted of 70kmh, I see it and start slowing down and the flash goes off. The camera is about 20 feet after the speed limit sign. &^%$#@%^()^!!!!!! <br>And then tonight I get an email from someone whose profile name is Jesica Caspedes offering to sell me votes in that contest we are nominated for “Best Song” in. I play along and ask how much votes costs and what email to send paypal to - If you’re looking to rig an online contest, the going rate is $300 for 9000 votes. (Oh, and “please check the ”gift“ option on PayPal”). Her email address is salevotes@gmail.com if you want to sign her up for anything. <br>I’m not saying the other folks used this service - I’m just sharing what is available. It’s pretty sad really. I notified the contest about it just now and they wrote back immediately and they were kind of stunned. I get the feeling they knew this stuff was going on but had no way of proving it. To their credit they are trying to figure it out and may get rid of all the voting and pick winners themselves. <br>What’s weird in my brain about this - If I won this contest and I had paid for the winning votes, I would feel like the biggest fraud. It’s the hollowest victory. It would mean less than nothing. <br>Don’t get me wrong; I love to cheat but never to win, I cheat just for fun. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 44.17 <br>Day Off!! <br>We slept until damn near noon and it didn’t even feel like it. <br>Today’s tour diary will be mostly food based and missing the best meal of all because we were so hungry we destroyed it in seconds. <br>After toast and tea and a bunch of nothing we took the tram down to the city center. Here in Bremen is a gigantic festival every year called Freimarkt. (Free Market). There are loads of food kiosks and crafty type things and amusement rides and a shit ton of people. <br>It’s one of the longest running festivals in Europe having been going on for over 950 years now. Seriously. 950. Who the? What the? For the love of… What the hell was happening 950 years ago? Well, it certainly wasn’t a Renaissance Festival because it would pre date the Renaissance!! <br>It made us think of what the OC Fair will be like in 900 years and it wasn’t pretty. OC Fair is already serving deep fried butter. This fair had hot wine, potato things on a stick and hand made pastry things… <br>The part of Freimarkt in the old section of the city is smaller and has more crafty type things to go to and the food is fantastic and we just wandered around for a while trying stuff and getting a few gifts for people (see pics) <br>And then we went to the larger part of the festival which is behind the Hauptbahnhof (train station). Thousands of people were walking thru the train station to get to the other side and then it was just a sea of people going through. Tracy and I couldn’t take it - it was too many people. It’s overwhelming, shit we didn’t even get a photo! <br>Then we came home and took a nap. When Ben and Vivien got home we convinced Ben to cook us all dinner. He makes this amazing dish of Salmon, creme fresch, capers and pasta that I really wish I did a cooking show for. It’s out of this world. <br>Today’s story is in the pictures. <br>Bis Später! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 45.18 <br>Super boring day. <br>We had a meeting at the office to go over the coming weeks shows* and we discuss our availability for 2017. And just like that we have 3 shows booked in July of 2017. <br>Then we came back to the flat, Tracy and Ben took naps and I fixed The action/Intonation on Tracy’s bass and restrung 2 guitars. And then we did the paperwork that goes along with live performances so we get paid from our performing rights organizations. <br>That’s another thing - at a lot of the venues here, when you finish playing they have a GEMA form for you to fill out with the songs that you played so we get paid our royalties. There are venues that I’ve played at in the states that refuse to pay these PRO’s (performance rights organizations) and I don’t get that. <br>So. Here’s the pic. I am wearing my Elvis Costello glasses and filling in paperwork (on actual paper!!) <br>Oh and an update on the person trying to get me to buy votes for that contest. The contest changed how people can vote and she is trying to find a work around. Ha!! I just keep sending the info to them so they know how people are trying to circumvent their attempts at an honest contest. God damn parasites. <br>*yes our meetings are just like on Flight of the Conchords. <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 46.19 <br>It was a two show day. <br>Up early to leave by 10ish to get to the University as we are playing from 12:30– 12:55. It’s a short set but a good set. We had some familiar faces there, a good crowd and everything! <br>Even though it’s a short set we still have to set up the whole PA system and we manage to craft a set that requires us to use all 7 instruments we have with us. Seriously, we’d use more if we could fit them in the car. <br>After that we stop by the S&W office and print out more of our songbooks. It’s really cool that these are selling. I took a while and wrote up all the chords to our songs to put in with the lyrics so you can play guitar along with what we’re doing. Our songs aren’t particularly difficult to play but they are easier when you have the chords in front of you. <br>We chill for a bit before heading to Immanuel Germadkaiadlafelkjs. Ok, I forget the second half of the name of the church. But it’s a pretty old church right in this neighborhood in Bremen. I can’t figure out what it must’ve looked like before but now it’s got buildings coming right up to it on both sides - like no space between buildings. This church also has a Bösendorfer piano. It was locked last time I was here but we have the key so we can use it tonight. Arne (from S&W) and I go over and unlock the piano and check it out. It’s a really unique sounding piano and the action is different from a Steinway or a Yamaha. It seems to lack an immediate attack but it’s got it’s own thing going on that’s for sure - plus 97 keys!! <br>We load in all of our gear and start setting up the PA. Jimmy and Chris (tour mates that we’re sharing this show with) serenade us on the piano and guitar while we set everything up. <br>Arne has brought a bunch of lights with him to make the room all spooky and gothic looking and succeeds. <br>Chris and Jimmy go on first and have a nice set. It’s my first time hearing them play and they are super chill. Jimmy does a lot of the same kind of atmospheric guitar playing that I do and then filled in with fancy bits. They play a couple of songs that are guitar, piano and Ben gets up and sings harmony and those were my favorites. <br>The church has filled in a bit with people and a lot of familiar faces again. I’m asked if we’re playing “APB” tonight and I tell them not tonight and they are sad. I explain this is a RATS show and they understand but still request it. This happens sometimes when you play as a couple different entities. At the same time when TFS is playing back in CA we will sometimes get a request for “Cornershop Love” but it’s RATS song and Ben sings it. Tracy and I can’t do it without him. <br>Tonight is a pretty mellow set and suits the environment nicely. A favorite moment of mine was when we played “Hold Me” - I unplugged my acoustic and Ben got on the piano and we went down and played it that way. Tracy stood next to me (kept her bass plugged in) and gave it a different vibe. The last time I played here I was solo and I did the whole show without a PA and it was nice. With more peoples here on stage we kind of needed it but breaking it down for a song was a nice change. <br>After the set it’s nice to hang out and talk to everyone. I have a great conversation with Horst and his wife about music and sound. I meet Chris’ parents who are visiting for a couple of days from the states, Petra lives nearby and last time I played here I sang “APB” for her and just so much fun. <br>Then it’s time to punch the clock and load out the gear. <br>GEAR GEEK WARNING AHEAD: <br>Now the PA that we are using is an AER Domino 3. It’s got 4 xlr inputs on top and a bunch of ins/outs/who-done-its in the back. We use this along with 2 satellite fallback amps on either side of the stage. It’s a nice wide sound we get with clear acoustics and vocals but often hard to contain with all the hardwood floors and concrete and high ceilings. It’s a real Tetris job getting it, the yellow box full of leads and power cords, a merch box, bass amp, ZT Lunchbox amp, 7 guitars and 3 people in a station wagon. <br>Back at the flat I’m heating up spaghetti bolagnase and we’re drinking wine. Tonight it’s Jens’ wine that we got for playing in Delmonhorst. We’re all wide awake and Chris is teaching us how to play bridge. As a card game I believe Bridge has way too many rules. It’s like a game made up by people who had nothing to do with themselves because Dungeons and Dragons hadn’t been created yet. If there was a way to incorporate at 12 sided die I’m sure they would’ve. After a few glasses of wine I’m done and pretty much fall asleep at the kitchen table. <br>I’m writing today’s tour diary with the tastiest Berliner ever. It’s pronounced “Behrleener”. pic included. Good morning! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 47.20 <br>Woke up a little hung over today. First time in the whole tour. I wasn’t drunk last night just had some wine and then some more wine and then tried to learn how to play bridge. <br>Remember that joke about “marriage is really just two people arguing over where to eat forever”? That was Tracy and I today. We have a restaurant near the flat called Özlem and it’s fine. It’s good. It’s doner and they have chicken and rice and pizza and the dudes there know us. But at some point you’re like “Ok, enough of this place.” So Tracy got online and started looking for a cafe or someplace we haven’t been before and we start driving. <br>The late afternoon is an interesting time here in Germany as it’s between lunch and dinner and a lot of places just close for a couple of hours. That’s the time we were in. 3 places we went to just weren’t open at 3:30 pm. So we made a little video of us driving through the backwoods and little streets looking for an open cafe and then ended up back at Özlem eating doner. <br>Then we came back to the flat and worked on some music. We have a couple of new Leaves on the Wind songs we have yet to record and one that we keep forgetting how to play so we worked on that song and then another song that will be on a new release next year that sounds like a hit song to me. I love playing it and it’s different. Different because it idolizes a female musician. Not like me singing it to Tracy, it’s different. It’s partly about Emmylou Harris, partly about some other folks we know in the Americana music scene and I just really dig it. I love songs that are about music and this falls into that category and I’m excited to share it soon. (I was going to post some video of us playing it but Tracy says it’s not ready yet) <br>Tonight we’re playing at Zum Faß - a smoky little bar in the heart of the Gröpelinger (the section of Bremen we stay in) We could walk there. We won’t because we have to bring a PA but we could. <br>It’s great seeing folks come out time and again to see us play. Petra came to see us - she saw us yesterday at the church. Twice in two days and she saw me solo last month! It’s a small crowd which is probably good because this place can’t really handle more than say 15 people in the back room we are playing. <br>We have made a request that folks not smoke while we are performing and they politely oblige. Our set is a bit more subdued than it needed to be tonight. I’m wishing we brought a little bit of energy to the room, sometimes you need to bring more to get some back. And that isn’t a criticism of the audience - they were all sitting and completely listening to everything we did. We needed to give more I think. And it sucks that I realize that after the fact. Annoyed at myself for missed opportunities like that. <br>We did try something very new - our song “Tracks” off of the New Coastline album. It was our first time trying to play it live. It didn’t go well. At all. Crashed and burned. I hate when that happens. Kept it real that’s for sure. <br>We finish up playing and the lighters come out and it’s smokey time in here. Time to go. <br>Goodnight. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 48.21 <br>Had a great night sleep but am still tired. I’ve been yawning all day and just wanted to crawl back in bed. Had planned to go do laundry today as the smokey bar last night ruined our clothes but slept too late. Fortunately I still have 1 clean pair of underwear left. <br>Tomorrow it is. <br>It’s cold and rainy here and after Tracy and I work on what we’re going to do with our two days off at the end of the tour and scan AirBnB for an hour looking for a place near there - it’s time for lunch. So we make our way down to the city center and go to Arabic. Absolutely the best rollo around. I get the Tandoori chicken and Tracy gets the Asia rollo. The guy looks at me and asks “Spicy?” I say “ein bisschen”. (A little bit) So good. <br>What else did we do? I think we had tea and then went to our gig. That might have been the whole day! <br>The gig tonight is in a cinema. We’re actually set up in front of the screen. It’s a nice room and folks can just sit in the cinema seats and listen. There is a concession stand where they can get beer and wine and it’s totally nice. <br>Next door to the cinema is a restaurant that I don’t know what it’s called but we get fed there. The menu has steak on it. I’m going for it. We all get a glass of wine as well. It’s just the right amount of alcohol for us to loosen up a bit for tonight’s show. <br>It was a great crowd. Well, I don’t want to oversell it. There were 8 people there but all 8 people loved it. I think we sold 5 cds which percentage wise is awesome and had a decent hat as well. There was someone taking pictures and did a small interview with Ben and a guy named Michael that drove down from Brake and brought greetings from our friend Rebekka! So cool. <br>And while I technically didn’t break anything tonight - I did have the string cover on the back of the mandolin actually popped off during my solo in “Chance”. Totally threw me when a piece of the mandolin actually flew off. So that’s a new one. <br>Can really feel the tour winding down. We have three shows left and while I could easily keep going - I definitely am looking forward to a few days rest. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 49.22 <br>In case the star date code on the tour diary is confusing - it’s my 49th day on tour and the 22nd day of the second leg of the tour - being Riddle & The Stars. <br>Just clarifying. <br>Early day today doing laundry at 10 am. IT’s a weird laundromat- which I know is redundant as all laundromats are somewhat strange. Whether they were last decorated during the Nixon administration or weird hole in the wall places - this one that I go to is nearly across the street. They recently did a huge upgrade to all their machines. Washers and dryers are all new but the way you pay is still the old system of going over to a wall and putting the money in there and selecting the number machine you want activated and then going back over to the machine and operating it. That and today I was there for 2 hours. I was the only one in there the whole time. Last time I was there there was one person in there for a few minutes. <br>But I love laundromats, no really I do. They are always interesting for people watching and always a bit…odd. But with no one in here - it’s odd in a different way. Usually you’re in the laundromat and Jerry Springer is on the TV or the People’s Court or something and a few kids running around - I don’t know it’s just strange that no one is ever here when I am. <br>After laundry I head over to the S&W recording studio. I convinced Heiko to get new drum heads for the studio kit and now he wants me to put them on and tune them. I meet Alex who somewhat runs the studio when Heiko isn’t and he’s super nice and he’s a drummer as well. We talk music for a few and we set to changing the drum heads - he flips them over and tunes the bottom heads first and I really just watch and learn. This guy is good. Tuning drums often feels like trying to hit a moving target. “oh, this side sounds good but it’s thrown off the other side…”. And I learn quite a bit from watching and listening to him. I like learning stuff. <br>Then me and Heiko go grab some lunch at his place. It’s pumpkin soup and it’s awesome. We have a good conversation about world events - Philippines leaving the U.S. And committing genocide on it’s own people, the creation and sustained support of Israel, how ISIS stepped in the void left in Iraq… <br>You know - normal things you talk about with the guy who runs your record label. <br>We talk about other things including another solo tour for me and one for RATS in 2017. It’s really good talk. There’s some other label artists that are going to be working on new albums in 2017 and he would like me to produce some of them. So that’s kind of exciting. Hoping to put stuff together and make it all happen. It may mean more time over seas for me but if I’m working - it’s not bad. Can’t just come here and hang out you know. <br>Then Tracy and I head to the mall. For real. Tracy discovered this lip stain/gloss combo over here a few years back and it’s like the best ever. Doesn’t come off on me or the tea cup and stays put. She’s done such a good job talking it up that friends place orders with her to bring back this lip stain/gloss. We had to go buy 30 of them today but actually could only get 25 as we cleaned out two stores. “Anything to declare Ms. Byrnes?” “Only 30 lip glosses!” It shouldn’t be an issue but it’s odd. <br>Tonight we’re doing a private party/house concert thing. Jens has been great to us and he has helped set this on up and it’s in this warehouse for their stage supplies. It’s a theater company and this is where they go to hang out and where they store all their old props. We walk in and see the concrete and the metal ceiling and all kind of groan - this is going to sound like hell. <br>Where we’re playing is on the second floor loft area, there’s tables and chairs up there and a stage area they have made for us. We set up the PA and plug everything in and it sounds great. No, like really great. We’re kind of looking around waiting for someone to say it and finally we’re like “Is it me or does it sound really great in here?” We’re high up enough in the room that it’s lost a lot of it’s big room sound and the wall in front is like the perfect distance away to create a nice slap back on the mics. Weird. <br>We are all hanging out and chatting - Ben has played a house concert for them before and it’s nice to be in a room full of people that are all there for one reason only and that’s to listen to music. Not that last night wasn’t like this or most of our shows for that matter (well, a few were not) but it’s everyone here whose only reason for being there is to listen to us. And that’s very humbling and gratifying. <br>Everyone has brought food too, there must be 4 different pasta dishes and they’re all great. Wine, beer, soda, water… <br>We play our first set and it goes over great, we sound good - everything hitting on all cylinders. We play “Mexican Home” and I dedicate it to my Dad as today would’ve been his 70th birthday. I had a nice dream last night with him where he was showing me around Billerica Center and where he used to direct traffic. I kept telling him “Yeah, I know.” And he kept saying “But you have to remember.” And then we got lunch at One Stop Market. It was a nice visit/dream. During our break we sell some cds and chat with folks. We get some nice compliments and folks dig it. I get some nice compliments on how I can get a mandolin to sound like that and it’s all good. <br>Second set ends with an encore of a request for “Jolene” and then we end. Hanging out with them is really amazing. Petra is running the show here and she’s super sweet and nice. She kind of reminds me of some of my family, like my great aunt Jean or my aunt Joma. She’s way supportive of the arts and is heavily involved in the theater as not just an actor but in a very hands on way as well. We have a great talk and she brings us down stairs to show us all the welcome packages that are stored here for refugees. <br>Delmonhorst took in many refugees, mostly children without parents. I don’t care what your political stance is - that is heartbreaking and if you can’t get behind helping them then you don’t deserve the air you’re breathing. <br>In this warehouse shared space they have several hundred of these welcome packages ready to go and ready for the next wave. They also bought loads of tables and chairs and bed things. She told us about a 20 year old refugee that came to their theater group and told his story about how he left Syria when he was 18 and how it took him over 3 months to walk to Germany. And how everywhere he went - he had to deal with the fact that it was illegal for him to be <br>there. Sleeping on the street and being scared of being robbed and hiding at night and the horrible things he had to endure just to try to start a newer, better life. He’s now in school here studying to be a computer engineer. <br>Boy, I had it tough when I was 20… living at home, having to mow the lawn… <br>I point out how amazing it is that the city has stepped up to get all this stuff and welcome the refugees in - when so many will not and she shrugs it off and says “It’s so easy for us here, we have a house, we have a table, we have. Why wouldn’t you want to give back? I don’t need two tables or more chairs, we don’t need more.” I have had limited contact with any refugees myself and yet I have been so moved by the people here and their generosity, patience and willingness to help these people that they don’t know at all. It makes you want to be a better human. <br>Petra and I have a brief conversation about the US election and she can’t understand Trump’s popularity any more than I can. That is really the consensus among every single person I have met. I haven’t found one Trump supporter outside of the U.S. And it’s so easy for we as Americans to compare him to Hitler but when Germans compare him to Hitler - it’s not just Godwin’s Law in play. <br>Petra and I hug and we make plans to come back in 2017 and play for them again and I really hope we can put it together. <br>Outside the gig I talk to my mom on the phone for a few minutes. She’s been busy making her quilts and Christmas tree skirts. I tell her it’s about time, she got on that, she’s been slacking. (While my mom can’t cook - she kicks ass with a sewing machine and her quilts are real works of art). Talking more about traveling and what-not, I think I very nearly have her convinced to visit Europe with me. I really want that to happen. <br>Back at the flat Ben has promised to make me his salmon, creme fresch pasta. It’s a little after midnight when he starts cooking. We destroy this plate of pasta and since I didn’t have any wine at the gig - I finish off this bottle of South African merlot and write this blog. <br>One thing we have noticed -when you have songs that mention how much you like drinking wine and we tell people we like wine - we have been gifted so much wine on this tour, we haven’t had to buy a bottle since the first week! <br>Only two shows left on this tour. I’m starting to get sad. </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 50.23 <br>Well today didn’t go as planned. <br>No one really needs the details so I will summarize: Bang on the door from a neighbor saying “Are you in the blue car? Your window is broken.” We knew right away. It was just a race down stairs to see what was gone.* <br>We tour with 7 guitars, we know how ridiculous that is but it’s what we need to deliver a show properly. Part of our “show” is the different guitars and how we intergrate them into the music. Ben’s tenor guitar is so unique and songs have been written on it that don’t work on regular guitars. That’s just the way it is. An electric guitar sounds different than an acoustic and sometimes you need an electric. <br>Anyhoo - Heiko came over to help us and we all went to the Police Station together, spent nearly 2 hours in the waiting room and then went through everything with us, taking pics of the car and going over our stolen stuff and reports. So we get out of there around 3 and then have to go to Hertz to exchange the car for one without a broken window but the Hertz in town closes at noon on Saturdays and so we have to go to the airport, drop off one car in the garage, go inside to the rental desk, get a second car, get the car, exit the garage, go back in where we dropped off the other car and get our stuff out of that car… Oh, my god are you still reading this? It was a PROCESS. <br>I’m bored of the story, you must be. <br>Tonight we’re in Brake. Yeah, it looks like you’d pronounce it “break” but you’d be wrong. That last ‘e’ isn’t silent. It makes it a kind of a “ah” sound. So Br - short “a” sound then a hard K sound and then “ah”. The venue is Harrier Hoff. Ben played here in July, I played here in September and we’re here in October. We’ve set the stage for a good time. <br>But first - Running late to the gig, pick up a guitar from Heiko for Ben to use…Get to the gig, set up PA stuffs, Ben’s borrowed guitar keeps cutting out…packed room full of people…our food shows up when we’re supposed to start…We scarf down the very good food, play a set, play a second set, they want more songs… we unplug and step in front of the microphones and THEN the show gets really good. <br>Ben played a new song that’s awesome, I played a new song and we got everyone in the crowd singing along with us. We had like 3 or 4 times through the chorus with everyone singing along with us and no instruments. What a cool feeling. And it’s the first time we’ve played that song! <br>I check my phone at the end of the night and see I have 73 comments or shares and messages all with everyone offering help and guitars, sharing our story, spreading the word on our missing guitars. The world is a wonderfully small place when you have such great friends scattered all around it. Thank you all so so much. <br>Talking to really nice folk here and there’s one guy who’s been watching me play guitar all night, he comes up to ask what the e-bow is and I show him and he asks about a few different guitar type things. After the show he says to me “I’ve never heard anyone get as many different sounds from an acoustic guitar before.” So I got that going for me, which is nice. <br>There are some silver lining type things - a couple of the guitars are insured. We won’t be able to get the exact instruments back but we can probably get something close. Our rental car we paid for with a new credit card that Tracy hooked up because it had better travel rewards and benefits and one of them is insurance on rental cars. We read the fine print today and it’s a good thing we switched cars the end of last month because there’s a 30 day clause - saying after 31 days they don’t cover stuff. Today is the 30th day. Woo-hoo! <br>My mom calls me and she’s worried about us and stolen guitars - my folks bought me a guitar last year (it’s in a safe house in California) and she is being motherly concerned and says “I got a new credit card in the mail this week if you need any money”. I tell her that we’re ok and she tells me that they even sent one in my <br>Dad’s name. “Well, can we use that one? I mean what are they gonna do right?” She says “oh he’d be so pissed if we ruined his credit score!” And we have a nice half laugh at the idea. <br>Tomorrow’s show in Bremen is our last show of the tour and thanks to Heiko letting us borrow an acoustic and telecaster and the guys in Flatbilly Deville hooking us up with an acoustic and a tenor guitar - we’re going to be able to do a nice send off gig. <br>I know that whoever stole our guitars isn’t a musician, this was a smash and grab for quick money. The only thing I can hope for beyond getting them back is that they end up in the hands of some musicians that truly need them. <br>*Ben and I are both secretly disappointed they didn’t steal our crappy mandolin so we could get a new one! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 51.24 <br>We start off today with breakfast at Heiko and Martina’s place. Really great spread of food, tomatoes and mozzarella, meats, eggs, toast…all kinds of stuff. It’s a really nice day out so we all go for a walk over to the ocean. You forget how close it is here in Bremen. Heiko shows us some remnants of the second world war in the form of huge concrete bunker/construction sight where they made U-boats. They couldn’t knock it down so they re-purposed it and built offices on top of it. <br>As we walk back we talk a lot about the history of Bremen and this area and our plans for beyond this tour. Songs & Whispers is releasing “Motel Americana” in early 2017. Yes, I’ve been touring it but it hasn’t had a proper release and they are going to promote it and I will have another solo tour in 2017. Heiko also has the idea of me doing some shows in bookstores where I talk about my (as yet unfinished) book and how it ties into certain songs as well as me giving some workshops here on guitar playing, songwriting, studio stuff, etc. So a lot on that front. Then RATS will be doing a short tour as well. <br>It’s a nice relaxing walk and hang out and perfect for this, our last day really, together. We get back to Heiko and Martina’s place and there’s a couple of kids on bikes out in front of their house waiting for Heiko. One of them has a flat tire. Seeing how much they are connected to not just Bremen but also their own neighborhood is inspiring. They don’t have kids but they have somewhat adopted the neighborhood. There has been a number of refugees living in the area - like 8 or 10 people living in a two room flat. And they are grateful for that space but work very hard to get out of it and into their own. This Groplingen section of Bremen is like a micro version of what’s going on all over Europe and it’s eye opening on a daily basis. <br>Tonight we’re at Club Moments. It’s a bit of a tradition type of show where the last show of the tour is always here. Last month I missed my Moments show because I was booked solo in Chemnitz so Heiko asks me if I would do 3 songs solo tonight between the sets - that sounds cool. I can do that. <br>Moments is in downtown Bremen and is a nice space. Nice stage, nice club, nice sound.. all that. Julian suggests we eat at the Thai place next door and it’s a solid recommendation. I finally find some coconut chicken curry soup and have some chicken curry and rice. <br>We’re being helped out tonight by some friends - besides Heiko loaning us his acoustic guitar and his telecaster, our friends in Flatbilly Deville have brought a tenor guitar and another acoustic for us to use. The tenor ends up being strung with different gauge strings and tuned completely different from what Ben is used to so we can’t get it to go (although it is an absolutely beautiful instrument, custom made like a Gibson ES–335 and the other guitar is…I DON’T REMEMBER!! Wow, I’m bad. Anyway, it works great so Ben can have a guitar in his weird Open C tuning and the other one in standard tuning. <br>Speaking of being helped out - our buddy Doug Schmude has taken it upon himself to start a Go Fund Me page to raise money for us to replace our stolen guitars. (https://www.gofundme.com/2vq9q70). Wow. I can’t believe someone would do that for us. <br>Chris Riffle opens up the show and he sounds great, it’s really intimate singer/songwriter style and his accompanist Jimi Zhivago pulling notes in on his electric guitar. Ben joins him for a few numbers singing backup and it’s really pretty. <br>Then I go up and do something completely different with 3 songs from my solo album - Heiko has asked me to do a short set in between as they don’t have any video footage of me solo and will be promoting it for next year. So that’s very cool but also feels a bit strange in a way of “Here’s Bobbo!” I’m happy to do it as I love playing but I don’t know if people were expecting me or just RATS. It’s fun though and brief. <br>Having these other instruments to use has been incredibly amazing and huge signs of love and compassion folks have for us. I still feel guilty when people tell me they feel sorry for me for having our guitars stolen. I get it. But I’m just annoyed. I am not worthy of the sympathy. I know better than to leave guitars in the car and I still did it. So the guitars we have are fine but they are different enough that they are actually making their unfamiliarity known to Ben and I as <br>they are just different enough to mess us up a bit. We play and it’s all good but I felt like I never hit that point of…release. We were close but the wave never crested. <br>Not that it was a “bad” show. It was a good show but I wanted more. I wanted to give more to it and it’s a frustrating energy I’m left with. Before we play the Sea and Ben makes the joke that the people who stole our guitars left the mandolin behind. This mandolin has been frustrating - it won’t stay in tune, it fights us all the time… and he’s like “they could’ve taken this one and then we could’ve gotten a nicer mandolin!” And as we’re playing The Sea - and on the fourth or fifth strum we hear it go out of tune and he leans over to me “Can I break it?” And I’m like “No, we need it for one more song!” “Then can we break it?” It’s that level of frustration. I play the mandolin in Chance and as I’m doing my solo I break a string and the whole thing goes out of tune, I start searching for a string in tune to finish the song and I break another string - now none of it’s in tune! Tracy said to me afterward that she thought I was going to smash it. <br>I didn’t smash the mandolin - I didn’t have the heart to do it. It would be a very “Folk Star” thing to do - smash a mandolin! <br>We have a bunch of fans here tonight and it’s really great to see them - there’s something really amazing about seeing people wearing your shirt to the gig. I don’t think that ever stops being awesome. <br>We all say our goodbyes and make plans for 2017, load the car and go home. <br>But not without a stop at the Heartbreak Hotel - the tradition started by some of the folks at S&W, it’s a dive bar. A super dive bar and we hang out with Mona and Christine and have a nice mellow drink after the show. <br>On the way home from there we make a quick stop at Ozlum and get some chicken and rice. We’ve been stopping here for years now after gigs, it’s a restaurant that’s walking distance from our flat. A few years ago the guys working here serenaded Tracy when they found out it was our last night here and we were leaving. Tonight I’m in here by myself talking to the “new” guy behind the counter. He’s been here 7 months. By here, I mean Germany. He’s been giving me crap for the past two months because I can’t say “Kein Kohl” with the correct inflection in my voice to make it understandable. I show him the video I made the other night <br>with the folks from Delmonhorst saying it for me. He laughs and he finally understands me. He moved here from Turkey, speaks Arabic, Turkish, some French, English and German. German is the hardest for him. “Why does there have to be 3 words for ‘the’?” I feel his pain. He’s going to school 3 days a week to learn German. He says he can’t wait to get his German passport (he has to wait 3 years to get it) because then “I’m going to see the world!” He says and I believe him. <br> <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 52.25 <br>We said goodbyes early this morning. Brought Ben to the Hauptbanhof at 11 and then headed over to the S&W office to drop off equipment, sort the leftovers and do a little more planning for 2017.* <br>Sitting and talking with Heiko can be overwhelming. The dude has got ideas for days! How about this, how about this, have you thought about this… For my SoCal friends; imagine Boris when he is super caffeinated. <br>We have two days off until we fly back to the U.S. and Tracy has found us a great deal on a place to stay in Castle Stecklenberg - a castle! Ok, so it’s a hotel in a castle but still - CASTLE! I was going to tell the story of the place but I will just take a pic of the story and share it below. <br>I’m now going to say one of the most pompous things I have probably ever said: <br>“This is the second nicest castle we’ve ever stayed in.”** <br>Now I have never written a review of a car before, it’s not really my wheelhouse. (Pun!) I know about guitars and things but no one is asking me to test drive cars or how is the Hearst in that 396 with the dually heads and what-not. But I am now driving my 3rd car in 2 months so I feel I can weigh in on the rental options of Hertz. <br>The first car was a Ford Fiesta. It was small, great on gas, handled well and had comfy enough seats for me to sleep in at rest stops. <br>Second car was a Ford Focus estate car (station wagon). This car had lots of power, the clutch had a completely different feel than the Fiesta but this car went fast and smooth. Cruising speed on the Autobahn was comfortable at 160 kph. Hell, it was comfortable at 180 kph. <br>Then we had to get a new car because someone smashed the window on the Focus - Hertz didn’t have any more Focuses so we got a Fiat 500. This is one of the worst “new” cars I’ve ever driven. The seats are uncomfortable - after 2 hours driving I was getting cramps from my leg to my lower back. Tracy can’t get comfortable in the seat either. The shifting feels…plastic-y. Like a toy. It shifts like it’s connected to a tv set for a car racing game. Remember “Out Run” the video game that you sat in at the arcade? That shifted better than this car. And we never got over 130 kph because it just rode “hard” and not at all smooth on these great roads. <br>First car review done. <br>Dinner in town is ok. Nothing special tonight other than Tracy singing “Fish heads” while she ate. <br>This area is really cool and full of history. More to report tomorrow. <br>*Lots of interesting things in the works! <br>**#1 was in Italy, I’m looking at you Marina DE Palma!! </p>
<p>TOUR DIARY DAY 53.26 <br>We wake up in this very beautiful castle in the Harz mountain area here in Germany to a wonderful breakfast spread at the hotel. I may or may not have taken a picture of it. Meats, cheeses, eggs, bacon, vegetables, breads, rolls, tomatoes… So much food! <br>And not a single toaster in sight. <br>That would cost them a star if it was up to me. <br>Today we’re heading into…town? There’s sort of a downtown area about 20 minutes away and they have a narrow gauge steam train! It’s like in regular service around the area but we’re taking the touristy “up the mountain” ride. <br>Riding on a steam train is totally different - I can’t even fully explain why it’s different but it is, the sounds, the smells - the push and pull that you feel of the engine. And if this was in the states they definitely wouldn’t let me walk between the cars and hang out on the outside platform area between the passenger cars. I even go all the way to the back and hang out in the back of the train hanging over the edge watching the rails go by. <br>It’s so awesome. I can’t believe Tracy found this. And the weather is 2/3rds awesome for this - it’s cold and rainy and super cloudy/foggy. I love the cold and the rain but the fog is preventing us from seeing most of what is around us. It is so foggy that when we reach the top of the mountain we can’t see the observation building until it’s about 50 feet away from us! <br>This area was on the west side of the wall during the Cold War and when the wall fell in 1989 - the next day - THE NEXT DAY - 100,000 people climbed the mountain. They grew up being able to see the mountain and never able to climb it and as soon as they could - they all did! It’s the highest mountain in this whole area of Germany. <br>The trip up takes 4 hours round trip and I loved all of it. Tracy dug it too but she found this for me. It would’ve been better had we been able to see anything from the top of the mountain but I still loved it. <br>Then we drove around town and found dinner. Tracy won tonight with her goulash and potato dumplings. My schnitzel was ok. <br>And now we’re back in our castle ready for bed. <br>It’s weird to not have a gig. But we made up for it by doing an outline for my book, researched a few new song ideas and got 4 emails from Heiko about 2017. <br>Tracy is watching German tv and trying to figure out what is going on - American tv shows dubbed into German aren’t funny, I mean - I hope they don’t think Jim Belushi is funny. Why would you bother dubbing that crap? <br> <br>TOUR DIARY DAY 54.27 <br>Not much to report today. <br>Left the small town of Stecklenberg after walking around the city center for a while. Spent a long time in an unending antique store that seemed to have been built like the housing in the Harry Potter books - “look, another staircase!” They had a super old concert harpsichord for sale, dual keyboards and sustain pedals! The guy got really excited when I asked about it. Turns out is is for sale for 380,000€. (!!!!) <br>Drove back to Bremen and did a final drop off of stuff at the S&W office of publishing live show royalties stuff and pick up of hard drive- 3 of our shows were recorded so I will go thru those soon. <br>Then we met up with Mike from the band Flatbilly Deville. (See? I get it right in print!) because he has been promising to take us to the best pizza in Bremen. <br>He wasn’t lying. <br>We have a great last night hang with Mike Scott, Karen and his daughter Sasha. Eating great pizza and exchanging great stories from the road. <br>I’m really excited about all the building I have done in the past two months and the people I’ve met. There are amazing people in this world if you look for them. <br>I’m sad to leave Bremen but it’s time to head home. I promise to be back soon</p>
<p> </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/44226542016-10-17T09:55:46-07:002016-10-17T09:55:46-07:00October 17th<p>Moin! </p>
<p>That's German for good day, good morning or something. Like all things - it's very similar but still quite different. </p>
<p>We're still a couple weeks away from being back in the states but I wanted to stop in and say hello. </p>
<p>I've been here touring since the end of August supporting my solo album "Motel Americana" and Tracy flew over the end of September and we met up with our buddy Ben Riddle (creating the pseudo Wonder Twin Power form of Riddle & The Stars) and we've been all over playing shows. </p>
<p>I thought it would be nice to not be in the U.S. during the run up to this election but everyone here wants to talk about it. I had an hour long radio show and interview in Chemnitz, Germany that was 25% about the Presidential election. It puts you in an interesting place when you're in a foreign country and are asked to speak for and represent your fellow Americans. </p>
<p>Oh, and remember that link I sent you about voting for our song "Hold Me" for Song of the Year? Well, interestingly - I got an email on my facebook page from someone in Serbia guaranteeing me all the winning votes I would need for just $300.* I was obviously disturbed by this and kept pressing them for more information about themselves and then gave the info to the folks at The Miews who run the contest. To their credit they are looking into it and have had some issues with folks and cheating/voting going on. He said to me that they just wanted to do something good to support Indie music and they've had to deal with all kinds of crap. So the voting aspect of it may go away entirely. </p>
<p>If you're reading this and are in Europe - we still have a bunch of shows left including Immanuel Church this week and Club Moments on Sunday. </p>
<p>And if you're in the US of A - here's a quick breakdown of what's going on in the next month(s). </p>
<p>Wednesday, Nov 2 <br>The Pasta Loft <br>Milford, NH <br>w/ Morgan Keating </p>
<p>Wednesday, Nov 16 <br>Barley House <br>Dallas, TX <br>w/ Professor Fuzz (Mike Farmer) and Ronnie Fauss! </p>
<p>Saturday, Nov 19 <br>College Radio Days <br>Long Beach, CA. (More info soon) </p>
<p>Monday, Nov 21 <br>Americana Mondays at @beatnik Bandito Music Emporium <br>Santa Ana, CA <br>w/ Patty Booker and Deja Nichole </p>
<p>Saturday, Dec 3 <br>Gram Parsons Birthday Celebration (GramFest) <br>Don the Beachcombers <br>Huntington Beach, CA </p>
<p>Sunday, Dec 4 <br>Courtney Chambers Live Album recording <br>(Tracy and I will be opening up for CC and this will be at our studio) <br>Costa Mesa, CA </p>
<p>And then I think we're off until January when I will be scheduling a cd release show locally for "Motel Americana" and it will be released worldwide on Songs & Whispers Records in January of 2017. </p>
<p>I think that's all that's going on. I am keeping a really fun tour diary on my personal FB page at www.facebook.com/BobboByrnes if you feel like following along. </p>
<p>Ok, it's almost 3 am here in Bremen, Germany. Time for bed. </p>
<p>Bis Spater. </p>
<p>~Bobbo, Tracy and Ben<br> </p>
<p>*The person who gets votes even went ahead and got me 50 votes as a show of good faith that she could easily do this. I of course told the folks at Miews to not count the last 50 votes I got. </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/43929642016-09-27T13:49:14-07:002016-09-27T13:49:14-07:00Tour Diary Month of September<p>My good buddy Boris took all my FB tour diary and put them in an easily readable folder here. If you want to read all these and see the pictures that go along with them - just go to www.facebook.com/BobboByrnes </p>
<p>Enjoy! <br> <br>Tour Diary Day 1 </p>
<p>Started the day at the Brandenburg Gate and doing some touristy things then I made my way over to Budde Music Publishing. It was really nice to put a face to the names on our contract. Stayed and chatted for about an hour and did a little bit of strategizing for mine, TFS and RATS catalog. Be great if some things come to fruition. </p>
<p>Then I got an email from Hansa Studios about there may be a little bit of time to show me around the studio but they do have sessions going on today so I drove over to test my luck and they were in fact tracking so I couldn’t go in so I did the next best thing - I bought a t-shirt! “Is Bono here? How about The Edge?” I thought I was funny but I was the only one laughing. </p>
<p>So early morning jet lag = late afternoon nap. I slept in the car outside the club for over an hour. No complaints, it felt good. </p>
<p>Then I went and played Unterrock in Berlin, small basement style bar with a nice Yamaha PA system. Nice to not have to bring one and super easy to dial in. Small crowd as it was a bit wam in there, probably 25–30 outside listening but only 10 or so inside. </p>
<p>Play to the folks that are there not the ones that aren’t - that’s my mantra. </p>
<p>The folks really dug it, they asked me to play a couple of songs twice and I was really surprised that the song that seemed to go over the best was “Nothing needs to be said”, a quiet narrative type of song. I played the Paul Kelly song “To her door” and one guy sang along word for word! Turns out he’s from Melbourne and a giant PK fan. That was unexpected. In the break he and I chatted Aussie music - I told him I would play “Reptile” by the Church for him, he didn’t think I could do it. Afterward he said “That was amazing, you played all the different parts of that song and still made it your own!” </p>
<p>Was overall a great start to the tour, sold some CDs and the “I <3 Toast” stickers are going over huge. This started a whole conversation about toast and we got back to the flat I’m staying at and we made some amazing raisin toast. </p>
<p>The tour may have just been renamed “The Toast Tour 2016” </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 2 and 3: </p>
<p>The thing I forgot to mention from Day 1 was at the end of the night being invited out to go to another bar (at 1 am) by my AirBnB host Norm and his two friends. They were super nice and already a bit drunk, but I had a 9 am call time at Potsdamer Platz so I did not go out. There’s something about this musician thing as a “job” and not as an excuse to drink on school night that some folks miss. It may make me a bit of a square at times but I do take what I do seriously. My host was very gracious and this isn’t a dig on him at all - I just get it a lot about why am I not drinking at gigs and stuff. </p>
<p>Moving on to Day 2 - I was so excited to be playing Potsdamer Platz, an art festival… I was inside the Potsdamer Platz MALL where the art festival was taking place. </p>
<p>It was a fine enough gig, paid well and what-not but I was still inside a fucking mall. I was swapping sets with another singer/songwriter named Sebastian Niehoff, he was very good from what I could tell, all his songs were in German (and didn’t rhyme at all -Ha!) and had a good day. We talked guitars for a few, now this is interesting to me - On Friday night someone asked me what kind of rental car I was driving. I have no idea. I had been driving it for a few days but the only description I could share was “It’s white.” (Turns out it’s a Ford and I still don’t know the model). I’m not a car guy. But when I saw Sebastian playing I said to myself “Oooh, a J45, banner year - looks like mahogany back like mine”. Sebastian had a nice Gibson, I spotted it right away. Turns out his Martin D28 got stolen at another gig fairly recently and this is still new to him. Sounded fantastic. We get to talking and he tells me that he once took a VW Van up the California coast. I explain to him that I rent space for my studio from some folks (Diane Staggs) that rent VW campers vans. After a few minutes of Internet searching and looking at his video - yep. Same folks. World gets smaller again. </p>
<p>I attempt a sing along with some folks in the last set and very nearly get them going, I’m upstaged a bit by two small girls aged 18 months and 3 years old dancing on the side of the stage and the younger one keeps trying to put the sharpie from my mailing list in her mouth. They are adorable and you can’t compete with kids for attention - I don’t even try. </p>
<p>Sebastian and I swap 45 minute sets back and forth from noon to 8pm and I’m pretty beat by the time we finish up, I’m walking into my hotel room and I hear “Bobbo!” Which is really odd since 1) I’m in Berlin. 2) I’m about two miles away from where I was playing. It’s the soundman and he invites me to a rooftop party. This sounds like a lot of fun, it’s also the night of the anniversary of the Berlin Wall going up back in ’61. There’s probably some party or something. We make plans to meet in the lobby in a few minutes. </p>
<p>I go upstairs to my room and there is a fantastic shower, the bed has 6 pillows ranging from fluffy to flat and the music that comes on the tv in the room sounds like out takes from Brian Eno’s “Music for airports”. I hop in the shower and I don’t move for another 7 hours. </p>
<p>Sorry guys. </p>
<p>I guess playing 6 sets of music in 2 days is tiring. </p>
<p>Sunday I get up and plan to do some Berlin Wall history stuff, you know anniversary a day late - whatever. I go over to the museum, the east side gallery and then get lunch at Mustafa’s - hands down the best kebap place I’ve ever been to. This is my second time there and it was not a fluke. I stood in the rain for 30 minutes just to order and the line was longer by the time I finished eating. See pics. </p>
<p>Then I started the long drive back to Bremen, made longer by road construction and rain. Something I will say for Americans back home reading this - we could really learn a lot about driving from the Germans. Like. A. Lot. Folks think that the autobahn is no speed limit anywhere and that’s just not true, there are many places where there is in fact a speed limit, it could be 120 kmph (roughly 60 mph) or it could be open. But through all of this - people stay to the right unless they are passing. Going slow - that’s fine, stay to the right. Traffic moves along very well and there isn’t like that asshole weaving in and out of traffic in all lanes, you ONLY pass on the left. I’m not a “good” driver, I mean - I do ok, I’m aware of stuff, use my turn signals but if I am used as a control for the average American driver - 90% of American drivers need to go back to school. We as a country suck at driving. </p>
<p>Back in Bremen now and doing some guitar re-stringing (I get about 2 days out of a set of strings) and dinner. I learned that this tiny bottle of wine I bought is crap - why would you make red wine sweet?? </p>
<p>G’night. </p>
<p>Tour Dairy Day 4: </p>
<p>Last night I had a glass of wine when I got back to the flat - I discovered that German word for “headache” is right on the front of the bottle - “Lieblich”. But I survived, new lesson learned today. </p>
<p>End of my first week here and so I headed down to the laundramat at 8 am. Waking up early still, I don’t know if I can continue to call it jet lag. Next to the laundramat is a bar and I as I walk by I notice a poster advertising a Songs & Whispers show there - I’m on the poster but I don’t think I’m playing there, wait. I may be playing there. Would be good to know so I can coordinate laundry day with the showtime. </p>
<p>Have now been approached by many teenagers who have a form that they ask to be signed to help children around the world and they ask for a donation. I’m pretty sure it’s a scam - I offered change but they only wanted bills. It’s strange to keep getting shown the same form. </p>
<p>Had our meeting at S&W today and it was good to figure stuff out for the week. I miss Astrid but Arne is doing a good job - it’s a lot of scheduling for sure. As I’m leaving Kaurna Cronin shows up and we do a cd swap. I tell him this one is going to sell better than his last one because he didn’t put his picture on the front. Everyone laughs. I’m such an asshole. </p>
<p>Pack up and drive the 222 miles to Amsterdam, it’s a fairly easy drive with the hardest part being when you actually get in the city. I fight for a parking spot near the venue - I find a short term loading zone type parking - it’s 5 euro an hour to park there and I have to do it because I’m actually early. The soundman handles all the details for the bands here and my itinerary says that I have a parking space provided. It’s a small thing for a venue to provide and so helpful. We’ve actually started including it in our rider back in the states. Places like the Monte Vista Hotel in Flagstaff actually keeps a spot blocked off for traveling bands. When booking in Hermosa Beach, it was the hardest thing for them to secure. Money? They have that. One parking space near where we are playing? That’s going to take a week to coordinate! </p>
<p>I’m playing Dwaze Zaken - it’s right in the heart of Amsterdam, I’m looking at canals and they are feeding me some chicken curry and rice and it is fantastic. The soundman has just informed me that there in fact is NO parking space for me. He takes out his phone and starts showing me where the free parking is available - it’s about a 15 minute drive. Across the river, past the green area and the big - WHAT?? It is not close. He says it’s about a 30 minute walk so I better get going to be back in time for the show. </p>
<p>I’m kind of annoyed but not as annoyed as I will be in after driving around for 35 minutes trying to find it. I end up finding a car park that’s only about a 15 minute walk away - it too is 5 euro an hour. This is bullshit. </p>
<p>I’m starting to not like Amsterdam and I’ve only been here 2 hours. </p>
<p>Tune in tomorrow for part two !! </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 4: Part 2 </p>
<p>I walk back from parking the car, Amsterdam is a fabulous city for a bike rider. I love bike riding but I can’t carry the stuff to play a show on a bike - so I have to use a car, and they seem to penalize you for this - you want to drive a car? We’re gonna make you pay. </p>
<p>The venue is a nice restaurant and I’m excited by the location and stuff, seems to be a good crowd there and there’s a soundman! That’s always a good thing. </p>
<p>As I’m setting up I am informed that the other performer for the night is not coming so I’m to play 2 sets instead of one. No big deal - it brings my total up to 8 sets of music in just 3 gigs! Woo - Jumping right in. </p>
<p>I ask the sound guy about monitors (a speaker facing me so I can hear what I’m doing) and he says they don’t need them in there, it makes it sound bad. I’m kind of confused by this but trust him. I plug my stuff in and I’m strumming waiting to hear my guitar and the soundman says “sounds good.” I look at him a little puzzled, “You can hear it?” “Yes, sounds good out here.” I talk into the microphone and he can hear me. I cannot hear myself or my guitar at all. AT ALL. This is a pretty loud room and there’s a table of 7 or 8 women all talking very loudly next to me. I am not annoyed with them because it also occurs to me that I haven’t seen any signs up that even tell people that music is happening tonight. They are just here and I happen to be standing next to them with a guitar. </p>
<p>Quick technical stuff: The venue has a pair of Bose loudspeakers that were nice stuff back in ’75 when Bruce Springsteen used to use them as monitors on stage. Here they are hung about 10 feet in the air and aimed at a small portion of the audience - they are very directional speakers meaning: if you are not right in front of them, you’re not going to hear them at all. And the PA desk is a Behringer eurodesk, One of the cheapest mixers you can buy and still call it a mixer. I have heard these mixers sound ok but I don’t have any idea how this one sounds. </p>
<p>Sound guy tells me we’re ready to start. I was going to do some looping stuff tonight with my pedals but that is clearly not an option since I won’t be able to hear the loop at all. I prep myself with “the people who are here don’t know any of this crap, you are just a guy performing - it’s not their fault, give them the best you got.” As I’m tuning up to start I break a string. Brand new string. Is this an omen? </p>
<p>I launch into some songs, staying a bit off the mic so I can sort of hear myself in the room - it really is like screaming into the abyss - if the abyss is a roomful of people talking louder than you are performing. The danger in this is that it is really easy to blow your voice out trying to be heard - so I just trust that folks can hear me and not push too hard. This trust is blown when the one woman paying attention in front tells me that she can’t hear me. </p>
<p>I get some response from a few folks and there’s a guy here taking pictures of me, he seems nice too. I’m reminded of a show we played a couple of years ago with @stressechoes that was a quiet room with no PA and how Andrew Corey from that band owned the room by doing a really quiet song - let’s try that. So I play a really quiet song, I put everything into it and I finish and get no response at all. Not even sure if people knew I ended the song. So I go the other way, the woman in front listening is named Martina and so I dedicate “APB” to her, when it comes time to do the solo I jump up on a chair in the middle of the room and I sing the rest of the song from there, no mic just being the loudest thing in the room - the table of 8 sort of looks at me for a second, Martina likes it, the camera guy snaps a picture and that’s it. I’m not breaking through tonight. Martina thanks me and leaves. </p>
<p>It’s a tough slog the rest of the way through, I don’t give up, I’m sweating it out and working my hardest but I’m not even sure anything is even coming out of the pa speakers. I’m told a couple of times that they can’t hear me. This is why there’s a soundman right? </p>
<p>The soundman tells me I have to finish by 9:45 so he can catch his ferry home. Ok, I don’t really care. While we are packing up I talk to him about the sound “I have a monitor for performers” he says “but we don’t like the way it sounds in the room so we don’t use it.” After talking to him for about a minute it occurs to me that I know way more about sound reinforcement than he does - I may not know his room but I bet I could make a better sound in here with just one AER that Songs & Whispers provides me to use. I explain to him how we could use the AER behind the performer so they could hear themselves and then you can take a line out from the AER and go straight into the Eurodesk with one line and fill the rest of the room with the overheads. This clearly confuses him and he says “But then everyone will want to use their own pa.” </p>
<p>I’m done. Go catch your ferry. </p>
<p>You can have a tough night and still feel good because you played well or you made a connection with someone, maybe a few people bought CDs, maybe the financial side of it overshadows people not paying attention… </p>
<p>None of that happened. I ended up making 50 euro for the night balanced against no real connection, no cd sales, 32 euro spent on PARKING, and I drove 225 miles to get there. (80 euro in gas round trip!) I was going to find a place to crash for the night but I was pretty burnt on this city, get me out - I carry all my stuff the half a mile to my car and drive the 225 miles back to Bremen. I hit the pillow at 3:03 am. </p>
<p>It’s a long drive for sure, I stop off in a rest area and sleep for about 45 minutes at one point but I’ll be damned if I give that city another nickel. </p>
<p>I should add that my frustration is focused at the venue, the city of Amsterdam was a silent bystander and I know S&W sent them promo stuff - they always do - The venue did nothing to promote or even let people know there was entertainment. I had the tools and the know how with me to make this an enjoyable show but that was blocked. I also found out today that I was supposed to pass the hat for tips - this was something that I asked about and the venue would not allow me to do. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 5: </p>
<p>Another long road day - 260 miles. The miles roll along today with the help of Kathleen Edwards Page albums 4 albums as well as her Building 55 EP. You could say I’m a fan. When she sings “you spend half your life trying to turn the other half around” - it gets me every time. I’m like, That’s ME! </p>
<p>After KE I moved on to some Luke Doucet (long haul driver - that’s me!) and then dove into Matthew Ryan alphabetically (by album) starting with Boxers and making it all the way to the beginning of “vs the silver state”. My iPhone is somehow missing “Concussion”, it’s an oversight that will be remedied. </p>
<p>Good traveling music is so important, not just that but I am using my iPhone for the gps for everywhere I am going and I discovered that with it plugged into the car - unless I have music going it won’t play sound through the stereo. Almost missed a turn today because the album ended and I was just driving along and whoah! There it is! </p>
<p>Haven’t figured out why it needs to be playing music in order for it to work. I may or may not become interested enough in solving that mystery. </p>
<p>Tonight I’m in Chemnitz (German pronunciation: [ˈkɛmnɪt͡s]), but from 1953 to 1990 as Karl-Marx-Stadt. What a rad name! I’m at the Exil Cafe which is connected to this theater and it’s very nice. They are expecting me and have signs up and everything and bring me food. All good so far. </p>
<p>As I’m loading stuff on stage the manager come over and starts gesturing to the pa equipment, he doesn’t speak much English and my German is clearly nichts sehr gut and he is kind of showing me the mixer and he shrugs. I tell him “show me where the power is and I can handle the rest of this.” “You know how to?.. ”. He trails off, I nod yes and he seems genuinely relieved to not have to run sound. </p>
<p>It’s a pretty hefty system too, a pair of subs and two speakers mounted on top of each sub with one spun around facing the stage - monitors. All is good. This system is so good I’m going to break out the Porchboard tonight. The Porchboard is kick drum pedal that I stomp with my foot and it…well, it sounds like a kick drum. Many PA systems can’t handle the low end but with these subs pumping I could get a regular rave style beat going for as long as I can keep stomping! </p>
<p>Excellent sound tonight. </p>
<p>I start off with “Part Time Cowboy” and it gets a mixed reaction. Not really a country type crowd me thinks and so I try “Heading South”, kind of spacey with e-bow song, I use my looping pedal and I’m not even annoying with it and it goes over well. I play some quiet numbers and they go well, I kick it up and they like that too. Finding a nice groove. </p>
<p>At the break I sit and talk with a couple, he is from South America and she is from Finland, English is their common language and they are very nice, she has just been hired as a puppeteer here at the college. I couldn’t bring myself to ask the 17 follow-up questions to finding out someone is a professional puppeteer. He does music videos and we discuss working together when I come back thru Chemnitz in October. </p>
<p>I down about 10 glasses of water during the set feeling good that I’m still steering clear of the diet soda. Sarah, the bartender just keeps bringing me new glasses and soon there are empty water glasses all over the stage. You think beer bottles are rock and roll? Yeah, whatever. </p>
<p>I talk to Anya at the bar, she is really interested in the resonator guitar and so I show her and explain it as best I can in English and she is catching every third word. But we have a nice chat about traveling and she asks why I like traveling and where is my wife and so on. I tell her that I really like being in a place for a couple of days and then move on, maybe it’s because I’m still looking for a home and tell her a little bit about me and Tracy moving across country and stuff. Anya nods and says she grew up in Chemnitz but lived for 4.5 years in The Netherlands. “I really liked going somewhere else and then when I came back I realized the things that I missed and didn’t appreciate when I lived here.” She’s now a school teacher and said one of the things that is nice about moving back to where you grew up is “you get the jokes.” I thought that was nice, she also really liked the song “Hate this town” appropriately enough. </p>
<p>Three college aged girls come up to thank me for a nice night of music and it’s nice, they ask where I’ve been and I mention Berlin and they asked why I liked it and I talked about the history, the people…the kebabs and one of them says there’s a great kebab place, it’s outdoors and always a long line and describes Mustafa’s. I show her my picture of the Kebab I got there a few days ago and they are all jealous. </p>
<p>It was nice to be in a place where people wanted to hear music. This was a bar where folks hung out and talked. Hardly anyone on their phone and not a tv in sight. Awesome. </p>
<p>I’m writing now from my hotel room they got me. It’s nice. Not as nice as Berlin but nice. The clocks in the lobby show New York, Berlin, Tokyo and Moscow time. This hotel was here when Chemnitz was called Karl-Marx Stadt. You can see it in the details, the elevator, the decorations, the festival of brown that is this hotel. Everything is just a little bit more function over design. No fancy swipe cards here - we to metal keys. </p>
<p>Tomorrow I’m going to find the Nischel in town which is apparently a giant head sculpture of Karl Marx and everyone jokes about it here. Nischel is a Saxon dialect word for ‘head’. </p>
<p>Good. Night. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 7: </p>
<p>Good night sleep and caught up on my paperwork, yes there’s plenty of paperwork on tour and I wish I could do it while I’m driving but multitasking while driving is still not a good idea. </p>
<p>The iPhone gps is working great while driving but I still can’t figure out why Siri only talks when she’s interrupting music - if no music is playing, no gps directions. Very strange. It got so I was kind of tired of listening at one point and so I put on Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” just so Siri had someone to interrupt and the music nearly put me to sleep. </p>
<p>No Bueno. Nichts sehr gut. </p>
<p>For some reason there is no hot water for the shower today. It’s been a while since I have taken a legitimately COLD shower, thankfully it’s not all that cold outside the shower but not a pleasant start either way and then I get yelled at by one of the neighbors for not taking my trash out. We are both confused by this - apparently someone else has been using the bins designated for our flat and left trash in them for a few weeks. “Ich habe nur funf Tag.” (I’ve only been here 5 days) I tell her. We come to an understanding and all is well. </p>
<p>Ich weiss nichts. </p>
<p>The drive today is actually quite nice and after the last few trips 180 miles seems almost…easy? There’s only little bits of traffic and 2 construction areas and then I’m on smallish country roads for about 30 miles winding through little villages and farmland until I get to the top of Germany on the Baltic Sea at Tillman Hahn’s Gasthaus - it’s a Bistro I think. Really nice restaurant in a vacation area. As I’m looking for the venue I see a large poster with me on it. That must be the place! It makes me think how odd it must be for the models that are on billboards - like that’s me right there! Granted this is a small poster, only about 3 foot square, it was shocking enough to see it not knowing it was going to be there. </p>
<p>Tillman comes out to great me and it’s a nice place, they tell me they have a special tonight on the menu just for me - chicken tikka masala. I think - that’s odd, I love CTM but then I remember that this place likes to have dishes from where the performers are from and ask what we would like. I had originally told them I was from SoCal but didn’t think having Mexican food or a Hamburger was all that special so I told them about the tikka masala! </p>
<p>It was for real. Tillman tells me how he brought a guest chef in from India a while back and they brought with them an authentic recipe for the tikka masala and how they only offer it on special occasions and I look up by the bar - there’s a huge flat screen tv by the bar (that immediately has me thinking ‘oh crap another sports bar I will be fighting for attention with’) and on the tv - there’s a revolving group of pictures letting patrons know who and when the musical acts will be. I notice three different pictures of myself and today’s date attached. Respect. </p>
<p>Tillman and I have a great conversation waiting for my dinner to arrive - I tell him how I’m fairly new to the Indian cuisine and how it started with our friend Sal who hosted a house concert and served up goat curry. Well Tillman knows a bit about goats! I learn about Boer Goats (from the Dutch word for farmer) and how they come from South Africa and were raised for meat and how there’s a local farmer here in Kühlungsborn that he gets his goat meat from. </p>
<p>I know enough to know I know too much. </p>
<p>The Gasthaus has a nice stage area in the garden, Tillman runs an extension cord to the stage for all power and brings out some lights and everything. </p>
<p>I’m playing for about 30–40 people and they are a very tough group to read. They seem to be understanding me but it is so quiet in between songs, I make sure that I’m talking slowly and clearly with my stories and folks seem to like it. The other night in Chemnitz the country type stuff didn’t go over well, tonight I get a request for Garth Brooks. (!?!?). I tell him I don’t know any Garth but I will play something better, how about a country hit from 1973 by Del Reeves? “This song has been my touring experience so far this year, it’s called ‘Looking at the world through a windshield’.” It goes over well. </p>
<p>It’s a good night, I get these very reserved folks to sing along with me in APB and we all have fun. Tillman invites me back any time I want and he gives me a copy of his cooking book! It’s still early and I like the idea of driving through the night while there’s hardly any traffic so at 11 pm I head south. </p>
<p>I crawl into bed at 3 am and call Tracy on FB calling. (Absolutely brilliant that we can talk and not have international phone fees!) She tells me that she mapped out my first ten days of this tour and it would be the equivalent of driving from Madrid, Spain to Moscow, Russia. </p>
<p>I fall asleep doing math in my head. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 7: </p>
<p>Had a good sleep and a hot shower - so I’m already ahead of yesterday. </p>
<p>Tonight I’m at Schwarzer Hermann, it’s only about 20 minutes away so EZ-PZ! It’s a bit of a long gig though - 7:30–10 pm. I don’t have a problem playing for 2.5 hours, I just wonder - who wants to listen to a solo acoustic guy for 2.5 hours? </p>
<p>I’m reading the tour rider before I go and I see that this place is a smoking bar. I just finished ironing my new t-shirts to sell but I’m not bringing them to a smoking bar! No one will want to buy t-shirts that are all smoky smelling - so I leave them home, I’ll bring them with me tomorrow. The shirts look good. </p>
<p>It’s an easy set up with the AER on the front of the stage feeding a monitor to me - I got it mostly dialed in, I’m not 100% thrilled with my acoustic sound through the AER. I keep bringing down the presence and the highs but it’s still getting a little shrill in the top end. Maybe tomorrow I’ll figure it out. </p>
<p>I’m playing for a little bit, kind of a thin crowd inside of about 4 people and about 25 outside and I see Lara come in and sit down with her friend, I’m pretty sure I’ve met her friend before but my brain won’t put it all together. Lara is a Riddle & The Stars fan and when I play a couple of those songs I can see her singing along and that just carries me through. A bunch more people came in shortly after that and all was good. </p>
<p>Thank you Lara! </p>
<p>I try a couple of newish things tonight like a song I wrote last week called “Queen of the Party”, well actually the song is an old Gypsy Mechanics song but I couldn’t remember the words so I wrote all new words. First time I’ve performed that and I threw in the Pete Townshend song “Heart to hang on to” as well. </p>
<p>For a nearby gig I’m actually really tired for some reason tonight, I break down and as I’m taking the last trip to the car I notice that outside the bar has pretty much doubled in patronage. There must be 60 people outside now but for noise reasons I can’t play past 10 pm but this bar starts picking up at 10 pm. Weird. </p>
<p>Sold some CDs, made some connections. Winner. </p>
<p>Throat is a little sore. 2.5 hours of singing will do that to you. </p>
<p>G’night. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 8: </p>
<p>I was bitching about all the driving I am doing and you know what? I got sick of listening to myself. I signed up to do this, it’s what I love to do. So in the words of Frank Zappa* “Shut up and play yer guitar!” </p>
<p>Today I am in Dangast at a place called Sonnendeck. It’s a holiday getaway type of town and I’m playing on the deck of this restaurant. They have weather curtains that drop down and they roll them up when folks are playing the deck so that all the folks on the beach can hear. When Tracy and I played here a few years back it was raining and the room was full. Today it was beautiful but a bit hot on the deck until they opened the curtains and then I was playing to about 100 or so people. </p>
<p>I’d been having a weird day with songs on the radio seeming to hit me the moments when I needed it and I’m sitting at Sonnendeck and every song on their overhead was a German language pop song. Not odd, I am in Germany but 40 minutes of nothing but German pop songs and then Phantom Planet’s “California” comes on and it feels like a ray of sunshine lifting me up saying “don’t worry, you got this.” I pull out my phone and message Jason Schwartzman (the drummer of Phantom Planet and the songwriter) and tell him “I’m in Northern Germany sitting here having a day and your song just came on and it was like a friend patting me on the back.” He writes back “No way! That’s the best.” Yes it is. </p>
<p>Sonnendeck is known for their French fries or Pommes (chips) and I get the gourmet burger and it’s pretty good but the Pommes are great! (See pic). They have people that come stand in line just for their Pommes! </p>
<p>Now I’m not gonna lie - my first song sucked tonight. I’ve been messing with the key of “Massachusetts” and it wasn’t ready. It wasn’t good. But the rest of the show rocked. I dove in, I rocked and rolled. Had kids on the front of the stage most of the night. During my first break I had a guy wearing a Dropkick Murphy’s sweatshirt come over to buy a cd - he looked at “Heart Like Mine” and said “I already have this one, which one is the new one?” “You already have it?” “Yeah, last time you were here I bought it and I really love it.” </p>
<p>That was two years ago. Awesome </p>
<p>Another guy comes up and says I remind him of The Band and do I play “The Weight” I tell him I haven’t played it in a long time. He says “I used to play it with my brother, we had a group, but I am just a doctor now not a performer like you. You play with such passion, I can’t help but wish I could do what you do.” </p>
<p>!?!??!!? </p>
<p>Second set goes well, I get a sing along for “APB” with Raphael (hard name to put into the song!) and I have an 8 year old boy named Paddy that wants me to do an autograph for him. I tell him I will give him an autograph if he will give me his. He is very cute and he runs to get some paper. </p>
<p>I end the set to the sound of “Zugabe! Zugabe!” (Encore) </p>
<p>So I take out the new song I’ve been working on “Queen of the Party” and I get people singing along with the “mama said she’d be alright” part at the end. I finish up with a big rocker and it’s the end. I put my guitar down and there’s a line of people to buy my CDs. One guy says “I’ll take one of each and a t-shirt.” I have to run to my car to get more CDs. </p>
<p>I’m exhausted but a good exhausted and I start breaking down the gear when Paddy comes back to see me, he’s brought some Pommes to share with me. Best tip of the night. </p>
<p>*that’s for you Chad!! </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 8: </p>
<p>Lots to process today. </p>
<p>Woke up suddenly because I thought I heard someone say my name at 6:30 am. Was mistaken, I am all alone in the flat but I’m also totally awake now so I get up and go get my laundry from the basement. Still wet. My undies will dry in the back window of the hatchback rental car today. Sorry to those passing by. </p>
<p>My drive to Alsdorf today takes 4 hours and the fun is the construction in town once I get here, that coupled with the streets closed for the Europafest Festival today makes for interesting driving choices. </p>
<p>I’m playing at ABBBA Treff. I forget exactly what the acronym means but it pretty much breaks down to Alsdorf Couseling and Education Center. (Yeah, I know the letters don’t match, lost in translation!!). And the Center is in an older “Mall”. Like formerly shops and the like. Norbert is my contact and he’s super nice. He tells me that after a bigger mall went in nearby this one went out of business but it is centrally located in Alsdorf and so they started doing counseling there, put in a small restaurant and re-opened. There are lots of Syrian refugees here, some older German folks, a bunch of kids - there’s a lot going on the whole time I’m performing. </p>
<p>I start sawing away at my guitar and singing my songs and not very long into the playing the sheer ridiculousness of my songs in this circumstance is overwhelming. Everyone is very nice and folks listen and clap and cheer a couple of times but I see a woman who is missing most of her right arm and you just know that it’s her scar from Syria. And I’m singing about being Glad to be alive and driving across Texas and how Massachusetts is a funny word when you’re drunk and it just doesn’t add up. </p>
<p>Norbert passes the hat while I’m playing and yeah, this is my job - I have to get paid for my performance and yeah, I drove a long way to be here but shit - I didn’t leave a war ravaged country to be here! </p>
<p>I talk with Norbert some more and I convey these emotions I’m having while playing and he assures me that they enjoy having me and it’s great for some of them to NOT have to constantly be reminded of where they left and have some fun. Oh, yeah. That’s my JOB. </p>
<p>We talk more about the counseling that he’s doing and he tells me that most of all the adults are very happy to start a new story here. Meaning, yeah, they have lived through bombings and family being killed but they just want to start fresh, new life and leave the pain behind. They are enrolled in German speaking classes and take classes to get jobs and working really hard. Many of them have quite a difficult time with all the paperwork that needs to be done in order for them to stay, so they assist with that as well. He said the children have the hardest time letting go of what they have seen especially if they have seen one or both of their parents killed. They are more resistant to leaving it in the past. This last bit is said so matter of factly that my brain doesn’t even comprehend it until much later. </p>
<p>My mind is spinning from all of this. He continues that their center has received some criticism from far right Germans about “why are you helping refugees and not our own.” So they also started a group that works with retired aged folks to get them out of their home and mingling and meeting new people - including the refugees coming through. </p>
<p>We sit down to share some goulash and continue talking - making light conversation I tell him that I, too, make goulash and have a great recipe from my buddy Roman. We joke about my cooking show and he brings the chef over and tells her all this and then she disappears and comes back 5 minutes later with her hand written directions for her goulash!! (I’ll have to make a copy for Roman Sonnleitner) </p>
<p>Now here is the weird thing - last night I played a vacation area for some folks that, while maybe not rich…they were comfortable, fancy cars and holiday at the beach. There were easily 2–3 times as many people listening last night than there were today and today in the hat I made nearly twice as much money as I made last night. </p>
<p>The people today had less and they gave more. </p>
<p>I am very humbled by today’s show. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 9 </p>
<p>I kind of forget where we left off, Alsdorf and a very nice Spartan room at a discount motel and I drive the 3 hours to Darmstadt. </p>
<p>Darmstadt is a nice city, there’s a city center with produce stands and sausage stands and lots of people milling about. There’s a gelato place that is really busy every time I walk by and it’s tempting but I avoid. There’s like these little passageways into the Marketplace that lead to the outer ring and there’s plenty of parking in this city- beneath it! </p>
<p>I get some parking near the Golden Krone where I’ll be playing tonight, from the outside it looks a little worn down and…punk? I meet 2 guys waiting for the doors to open at 7 pm. I ask if they are here for the music “what music?” I point to my name on their calendar*, “no, we’re here to drink.” Back in the day The Gypsy Mechanics used to play the Rat in Boston and that place was run down back in the 90’s, this place looks like it hadn’t cleaned since the 90’s. The music on the overhead is putting me in time as well, “1%” by Jane’s Addiction, “Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana, “Holiday in Cambodia” but the Dead Kennedys… If I was still 19 I would be loving this mix. The people here are a little older than me. </p>
<p>On stage there’s a Yamaha PA head. Awesome. I know what to do with that. There’s two large pa speakers and one monitor. Testing proves the monitor has a blown horn (it sounds like there’s a big blanket covering the speaker) but the two big mains both work so I flip one around and face it towards me so I can hear and in a matter of minutes I get it sounding really good in this room. </p>
<p>As I start playing the room fills up with college aged students, I found out earlier that a lot of them have just landed in town and classes start next week. I get some good cheers and clapping. They like the songs with the fancy bits on guitar so I do a couple of rockers. After almost an hour I announce that I’m going to take a break for a few minutes and then do another set and I have a hat that I will be going around with - the mention of the hat clears the room. College kids are the worst. Zero dinero, zero CDs moved. </p>
<p>I go to the bar to get another water, mit gas unfortunately and start talking to this guy at the bar and his friend with a guitar. Turns out he’s from the states and stayed here after his time in the army, does a mean beat-box and we hang out and chat. His friend starts taking out his guitar to play with me (I guess) but when I start playing in F#m he puts his guitar away and leaves. Not sure exactly what happened there. Me and Bigg have a great chat after the gig about family, race relations in the states and here, his dad was a police officer too and the problems he’s faced in Germany being a black guy getting pulled over all the time. “I’m a black man who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs and I’m a security guard and I still get pulled over while driving my car and they say because ‘you looked suspicious’.” We talk about our dads and our moms and it’s a good night. </p>
<p>You can have a bad night performing but if you make connections with people it can override the rest. That said, I had a pretty decent performance, the sound was good. There wasn’t anything promoting the night anywhere in the place. On the tour rider it actually stated that the venue does not want any flyers from my touring agency. What the hell do they expect then? No flyers, no promo, no people. I’ll take my guarantee and leave. </p>
<p>Well, I thought I was going to leave. I ended up hanging out in the parking garage waiting for them to let me out after the machine took my ticket. I told my AirBnB host that I would be back by midnight, it’s nearly 1 am when they finally arrive. I’m not actually annoyed by this, it just kind of drains me. I was ready to go, now I can’t. Urgh. </p>
<p>I wake up to tea already steeping and waiting for me. Volker, my host, is super nice guy from Peru, he works placing abused and neglected kids in foster homes and is here in Germany working for a few months because…Ok, I don’t remember this part. Anyway, he’s here and has a nice flat and we chat about music and life while we drink tea. He was listening to my stuff yesterday and said it was kind of Garth Brooks like (!?!?!? Seriously??). I tell him I aim for more Springsteen and he says he hears that it’s more like Nebraska era. I can get on board with that. We try to find some common musical ground on YouTube, he plays me some Runrig (which is like traditional Scottish music with a progressive rock band playing along), they are hugely popular in Scotland. I introduce him to the Pogues. I say, it’s like Runrig if they were drunk, punk and Irish. He likes it. Then he plays me some Peruvian pop music and asks me to play him one of my favorite songs so I put on Blue Rodeo’s “Hasn’t hit me yet”. As soon as the band kicks in he says “They sound a lot like you.” </p>
<p>I will be sure to tell Blue Rodeo that they sound a lot like me next time I see them. </p>
<p>I didn’t realize Darmstadt is only about 2 hours away from where my uncle Marty and aunt Petra live so I try to get in touch with them about having some lunch before I drive back to Bremen but I waited too long and didn’t give enough notice so I miss them but my friend Tobi from Radio Gong says he’s available so I stop by Wurzburg on my way north. </p>
<p>We met Tobi way back in 2011 when we came to Wurzburg to play a Radio Gong festival (shout out to Marty’s buddy Chris for making that happen!) and we have stayed in touch ever since - usually to compare hamburger recipes, Tobi takes his burgers seriously - dude even makes his own buns! So we hook up around the corner from Radio Gong and get some Thai food. Why Thai? Because he says it’s great and it is! I meet his wife for the first time and we have a wonderful lunch and then head over to Radio Gong where we record an interview to be played later on today. Tobi plays me the new Sting song and it’s really good. </p>
<p>One thing that comes up with everyone I talk to is Donald Trump. Part of me is happy to not be in the U.S. at the moment so I can try to avoid all his shit but everyone brings him up and how is it even remotely possible for him to be considered for president. How? “It’s like the people that live in these small places who only care about their small place and not about anyone else in the world or even anyone in the next town.” I’m told roughly this over and over. I agree. </p>
<p>People ask “You’re not for Trump are you?” And I shake my head no and then they say “I can’t imagine you being here doing what you do if you were.” </p>
<p>It’s an interesting moment in time right now. I’m going to get off this soapbox in a minute but being here has put me in an peculiar place and I’m just trying to be the best American I can be. </p>
<p>This ain’t the Olympics but it’s definitely something. </p>
<p>*The calendar I speak of is on one piece of paper about 6“x9” and has all the bands for the entire month on it. There is one copy, outside to the left of the front door. Only copy anywhere. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 10: </p>
<p>After my long ass drive back to Bremen last night I just wanted to make some dinner and climb into bed but first I had to wash dishes after being gone for 3 days the sink was left full of dirty dishes. Thanks flat mate! </p>
<p>Also, it’s way hot here. If you are doubting the whole global warming thing - I have noticed the summers and the heat in Northern Germany getting hotter just in the past few years of us coming here. They are breaking heat records all over the country right now. Shit is real. </p>
<p>Anyway, today. Meeting at S&W and discuss the gigs and stuff and I’m ready for this week. This week. Today is Wednesday! Alright. I’m back on track now. </p>
<p>Playing Zum Fass here in Bremen which is a bonus because it’s right next to the laundramat I like to use. I’m going to set up gear and do laundry at the same time. I can multi-task like that. Turns out I can see the dryer spinning from where I’ll be playing. </p>
<p>Zum Fass is in the gröpelinger section of Bremen, it’s walking distance from the flat and they are new to having music here. It’s like an old Irish pub here, smoking inside and out and a hard drinking crowd. </p>
<p>Bonus tonight - Geoff Geib (former mandolin and keyboard player in The Fallen Stars) is in town so he’s joining me on a few songs. It’s really great to see him and catch up. He’s here because he got married recently (a year ago) and his wife is from Turkey and they are having a wedding party thing soon. So his wife is visiting family in Turkey and he’s hanging out with me.* </p>
<p>I get a really great introduction from new friend Heiko and I’m off and running. It’s obvious early on that soft and pretty don’t count for much tonight. These folks want to rock, they like fast songs and the fancy bits of guitar. So I give it to them. We get a really great sing along going with APB and I swear one guy sang along with a couple other songs that I couldn’t figure out how he knew. </p>
<p>Geoff and I are rocking away and we’re given some shots. The shot we are given I’m told is called “Holy Crap”. Or some variation like that. I’m not much of a shot guy, I’m thinking it’s something traditional like schnapps or something. Nope. Down the hatch. </p>
<p>Smooth? No, not really. I play a couple of more songs and then more shots are offered. After the first shot my voice got noticeably… More Westerburgian** and some notes actually burn a little bit to sing. The second shot was too much. </p>
<p>Again, I don’t really do this. I was never the guy doing shots at a party - ever. But they are nice and we are walking distance from the flat… </p>
<p>I try to do the second shot and they made me laugh just as I did it and wouldn’t you know it - half of this thing comes back out through my nose. </p>
<p>Did it burn? You bet your ass it did. Was not as pleasant as the first shot. </p>
<p>“ZUGABE!! ZUGABE!!” </p>
<p>Alright - I will do another song. </p>
<p>I can barely croak it out. The cool Westerburgian gravel has given way to full on Tom Waits phlegm. My voice cracks and my sinus passage still burns. I play the last song and say goodnight. It’s a good night, I sign a few CDs, pick up my laundry and head home. </p>
<p>Bonus points for now knowing what I would sound like doing Tom Waits covers and also how to get my voice to sound like that. </p>
<p>I’ve seen Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers do loads of shots on stage. I should’ve been paying better attention to their form because I’ve never seen it come back out Roger’s nose. </p>
<p>I got two rock-n-roll demerits tonight. </p>
<p>G’night. </p>
<p>*He offers the traveling advice of “If you want to save money on airfare, travel to a country that has recently had an attempted coup.” <br>**As in Paul Westerberg of the Replacements. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 11: </p>
<p>My throat still hurts from whatever crap I drank last night. Getting better but shots on stage not typically a good idea if I want to continue singing. </p>
<p>If it was just schnapps or something but I found out that they did the same thing to Tom Richardson last week saying “It’s good for the voice.” I think that’s a bit of a trap. I’m on to you now. </p>
<p>I got a notice saying that the amp that I sent myself from California has arrived in Bremen and I have to go pick it up at the customs office which is right around the corner from the S&W office so that’s my plan for this morning. I don’t have to leave for Oldenburg until about 1 pm so I get to the customs office at noon and I end up leaving at 1 pm. I was “next” in line that entire time. Maybe tomorrow will be better. </p>
<p>So I pick up Geoff and we drive up to Oldenburg and have a great interview on air and I play a song live and they spin a second one off my cd. Really great visit with Olie and we try to arrange another get together in October. These folks are so amazing and nice. He promises to come to Litfass tonight. (And does!) </p>
<p>Geoff and I get to litfaß a bit early so we drive around and find more döner. We are convinced we could make a fortune if we opened a döner shop in L.A. But neither of us want to work there, we just want to own it and eat there. It’s like Morrissey said “I was looking for a job and then I found a job and heaven knows I’m miserable now.” I’m shocked Geoff doesn’t know this lyric because I feel it sums him up nicely. He agrees. </p>
<p>Litfaß in Oldenburg has a nice big stage and PA system, I’m left to my own devices with it and dial it in pretty great. The Porchboard is making a nice thump through the system, the acoustic is big and full. I’m pretty stoked. </p>
<p>And then in walk some of my favorite people in Germany - Mike, Irene and Maryann. TFS and RATS have done 3 house concerts with them and this year will be the 4th. They are super nice and Mike is even wearing his “This is Happening” shirt. We have a good catch up and talk about the show RATS is doing in October with them. All is good. </p>
<p>Starting playing this set, it gets off to a slow start but soon picks up speed No Expectations sounds particularly good, as I’m playing some TFS songs I can see a few folks singing along. I can’t tell you how awesome a feeling it is to see people singing along with words you wrote. There’s another guy here wearing a Motel Americana shirt that he bought off me last weekend up in Dangast! I remember him because, well he was wearing a Dropkick Murphy’s sweatshirt, and I’ve only made 8 of these t-shirts so I’m going to be very connected to whoever buys them, I’ve done them all by hand! </p>
<p>I dedicate APB to Mike and teach the room how to sing along with the song, having a few ringers in the room helps and the song goes great, huge sing along - I jump up on a table and play the rest of the song from the middle of the room atop a table. Do a bunch more songs and end it up to the sound of “Zugabe!” (One more song) </p>
<p>So I play “Hold Me” and this song is really coming together on this tour. I’ve rehearsed it a ton and I’m really liking how I’m incorporating the piano part on the guitar (cause I only have two hands) and I love playing this song. It’s probably my second or third favorite song I’ve written. </p>
<p>Another encore and I’m done. Spent. The water bottles here tonight are tiny and so Geoff and I keep refilling them at the tap instead of getting new bottles. </p>
<p>It’s a good night. As I’m leaving the owner tells me to figure out how to come back next month because he would like to have me again. That always feels good. </p>
<p>I talk to Oliver from Oldenburg Eins (radio station) and he tells me how much he likes the song “Massachusetts” and that it is in rotation at their station. Awesome. </p>
<p>I have just fallen asleep twice while typing. </p>
<p>Tomorrow isn’t a terribly big drive, only 190 miles but I have to sleep. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 12: </p>
<p>Feeling pretty good from last nights show, with folks singing along and having a good time - I’m pretty jazzed to hit the pub tonight up by the Baltic Sea. </p>
<p>First I stop by the S&W office to pick up our schedule for October and stop by the customs office to pick up my amp. All goes well, we start planning for 2017 already with shows booked at Breminale and Haus Am Walde as well as a tv show thing. We also start talking about how if I ever finish writing my book I could incorporate that into some bookings here at book stores as well. So now I have to finish writing/editing my book. I created a folder on Google Docs for all my short stories and there’s currently upwards of 250 of them. It just sounds like so much editing!! But I’m excited by the idea. </p>
<p>I was talking with Gina Villalobos yesterday about touring and music and she has new stuff coming out really soon so I listened to her first two albums on the ride and they’re just great. I don’t want to say she sounds like Rod Stewart because it’s not accurate but she has a vocal sound that lives so easily in rock and roll. There’s a bit of raspiness to it that sits just above the guitars in the mix and just below the cymbals. Much like Rod Stewart’s voice does. Looking forward to her new stuff and I just love her World Party cover of “put the message in the box”! </p>
<p>Heading north to Rostock is a bit of a ride, I notice that a good portion of the Autobahn heading in the opposite direction is completely closed. That’s going to be an issue later. My ride does require a 30 minute nap pit stop in a rest area but I get there on time and they are happy to see me, they have my name on the wall and everything. Pub Mambo #1 is an Irish bar up by the Baltic Sea and a nice little bar too with nachos on the menu! </p>
<p>I set up in the corner and the place starts filling up. Norbert keeps me hydrated all night with some “Proviant” beverage that is like an orange lemonade. It’s tasty. </p>
<p>I start playing and I just can’t figure out this room. The music on the overhead is nothing but Fleetwood Mac for the whole time I am not playing. I love me some Fleetwood Mac but is it common for a bar to play nothing but one artist for an evening? This can’t be like this all the time, maybe this is for me because I’m from SoCal. I’m going with that because otherwise it’s just strange. </p>
<p>The room sounds great and the little AER amp is filling space and I’m playing better and singing better than I did last night and I’m really into it but I feel like I’m annoying these people by being in their bar. Not the owners, the patrons. I get pretty decent applause at the end of songs but am pretty much ignored for the duration of the music part. I do big songs, I do quiet songs, I do in between songs - same exact reaction. I can see a few people on the other side of the bar paying attention and they are as far away from me as possible and still be in the same room. </p>
<p>I dig deep and leave nothing in the tank and still just a smattering. I announce last song and I rock a nice upbeat number and it ends, they all clap and it’s done. Trying hard to make that connection and coming up empty every time. Managed a little sing along but I am working on the farm tonight. </p>
<p>Taking the hat around, I seed it with a fiver to make it look better - I finish up with nothing but coin. One table gives me 5 euro and makes sure I know that it’s from all 10 of them. I sell 3 CDs. I’m just spent. </p>
<p>I have a handful of folks tell me as I’m loading out how much they enjoyed it and that’s really nice but when I was playing I couldn’t tell that at all! </p>
<p>The music on the overhead has changed to the jukebox and it’s now playing metal, specifically “breaking out of hell” by Airbourne. If this is what the crowd wanted then everything makes more sense. </p>
<p>Turns out there is a hostel for me to stay at tonight but I didn’t know that and didn’t bring a change of clothes or my toothbrush. I thank them but I’m going to drive home now. </p>
<p>As soon as I get out of town I hit up a rest area and my self loathing hits it’s zenith and I buy a bag of Doritos and a Mountain Dew. </p>
<p>Urgh. </p>
<p>Before I start driving I flip through my iPhone for some good music for the ride, I haven’t listened to Wilco in a while so let’s go back to the beginning. “AM” is an awesome album. It gets slagged by folks that want to compare it to Son Volt’s “Trace” but I love “AM”. It’s got a looseness to it and great songs. “Dash 7” is my jam tonight. I love how you can actually hear a really slow freight train rumble by in it. And then I move on to “Being There” and this album is amazing. How good is it? Well, it’s lifting my spirits. It reminds me that their drummer Ken Coomer contacted me about working together but we haven’t been able to make that happen. Maybe I will make that happen in 2017. And I start thinking about writing my book and what approach I’m going with and I’m up out of the doldrums. I’m ready for another day. Thank you Wilco. </p>
<p>OH, and the highway was deserted clear down to Breaker’s Point* - my detour puts me on back roads for about 25 miles through thickly wooded area that for a while I forgot I was in Germany - it felt like driving in the backwoods of New Hampshire, like Rte 153 or maybe some sections of 13. Over 25 miles I saw 3 other cars on the road and they were all together. It was a long bit of driving with pea soup fog for a good part of it where you could only see about 25 feet in front of you! Weather has changed here, the September Summer is gone, it’s now in the low 50’s at night, fall is here. </p>
<p>I’m mostly ready for tomorrow which is good because I have two gigs tomorrow. </p>
<p>Shake it off kid, You got more at bats coming up. </p>
<p>*Bonus points if you get that reference. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 11: </p>
<p>I HAD TO SET AN ALARM!! </p>
<p>I know, right?! The horror. I had to be in Verden by 11 am which meant I had to leave by 10:30. I can already tell that you are not feeling very sympathetic towards my need for an alarm but waking up by 9:30 is difficult when you don’t get to sleep until 4:30 am. </p>
<p>Today is a 2 show day with a short open air concert in Verden and then a 2 hour gig in Brake. I first got nervous about this but then realized they are only 66 miles apart. Piece of cake. </p>
<p>The Verden Open Air is put on by my friend Jeanette who I met back in 2013 and she’s been a good friend to the band and me. (She was also the cinematographer of the TFS “Glad” video where I run through Bremen). There’s a few other bands on the bill and it’s nice to hear live music that isn’t me for a change. </p>
<p>There was like an alternative type band, a jazz band, a pop band, a female singer who sang to a backing track and me. Quite eclectic and honestly, very nice. I chat with one of the guitarists about his telecaster. He mentions that he has the Ritchie Kotzen model pickups and I say “oh, Dimarzios” and he realizes I know some stuff about guitars and the conversation gets easier. Another band had a drummer using a cajon as well as a drum pad and it was actually really cool. I don’t know if I’ve just gotten more open to what can be done with one of those or if they have actually just improved that much. Brandon has one of these Roland drum pad things and what this guy did was pretty cool. The jazz band was fine. Ron Burgundy* would approve.** </p>
<p>I hop up and do my thing and get a pretty decent crowd happening. Nice. I sell some CDs, sign a few autographs and drink some free hot tea. It’s a good day! </p>
<p>Then I head up to Brake, well that’s not true. First I got in a few Facebook discussions about politics. THEN I head to Brake. I am that cartoon where the wife is waiting for the husband to come to bed and he’s at his computer “No! I can’t come to bed - someone on the Internet is WRONG!” I’m going to try to take tomorrow off from arguing.*** </p>
<p>Brake. It’s not pronounced like the English “Break”. It involves rolling the R and elongating the K sound to an almost CH sound. German pronunciation: [ˈbʁaːkə]) and I’m playing Harrier Hof, it’s a very nice pub/restaurant. I’m showed around by the owner and he is keen to have me, tells me to order whatever I want off the menu and shows me the PA. Awesome. </p>
<p>It’s been raining on and off all day, it’s in the high 50’s for temperature and I see that they have goulash! Today keeps getting better. It is a very meaty goulash**** and very good. That’s two goulash’s in two weeks! RATS will be back to play Harrier Hoff in October and they are getting me their goulash recipe! I’m just going to wander the world picking up goulash recipes!***** </p>
<p>Time to play. It’s a pretty intimate room and rocking in here feels…too much. Maybe I can work up to that. The house PA is pretty decent and they run a speaker to the other side of the restaurant so folks in there can hear it as well. Well, actually - they more or less can’t escape it! </p>
<p>It’s a fun night with a very polite German crowd listening intently. I break down the 4th wall and all the solemn-ness with APB. As I’m introducing the song a woman in front of me is giggling and pointing to the guy sitting next to her. I find out his name is Frank and I sing it to him, everyone gets in on the singing along and we’re all friends now. Sell a couple CDs and sign some posters and chat with a woman who was married in Massachusetts and goes to California every other year. She is very nice and knows a bit about the states and everything. Nice! It’s almost time to go but our friend Rebekka and her boyfriend Claus are still here so we have a nice sit down chat. Claus is a journalist who has been covering the recent German elections and I ask him to fill me in on all the goings on. </p>
<p>There’s a lot to it, lots of ins and outs and who-done-it’s but it is really interesting to see where we are as a people. I feel like humanity is standing on the edge of either embracing all fellow man OR building a wall around everything and bury our heads in the sand of isolationism. There’s a lot of imaginary walls that folks are working really hard to build and justify. </p>
<p>Rebekka is also a firefly fan and did the artwork for our Leaves on the Wind Music Project. </p>
<p>Show is good. I try to play mandolin by itself on one of my songs and it turns out it doesn’t actually sound like.a good idea. </p>
<p>Tomorrow I am at Katakomben in Achim which is like 30 minutes away and I don’t have to be there until 6 so no alarm and I picked up raisin bread for toast tomorrow- will be celebrating Bobboism in style! </p>
<p>Oh and first equipment casualty today. Guitar cord died so that needs to be fixed tomorrow as well. I seriously have an incredible knack for breaking things. </p>
<p>Tschusssssss!! </p>
<p>*they had a flute. </p>
<p>**I don’t really enjoy jazz but this was actually quite nice to listen to. </p>
<p>***Unless someone is REALLY wrong! </p>
<p>****Sorry Roman and Ben. - But it was awesome. </p>
<p>*****If I was to open a restaurant it would be goulash, doner, pizza and chicken tikka masala. Actually that sounds like an amazing restaurant!! </p>
<p>GUITAR GEEK WARNING: (on the road edition) </p>
<p>Everything has been working pretty well so far. I brought my Gibson Acoustic J30 (Hummingbird) guitar and it’s a real work horse. There’s a real openness to it’s sound so I am able to play with great dynamics just on it amplified. My two pickup system still working*- sending the piezo bridge pickup to the LRBaggs para DI (thanks Rick!!) and LR Baggs sent me a nice little carry case for it as well. </p>
<p>The Fishman Rare Earth humbucker in the sound hole is feeding a Tech 21 NYC “Liverpool” pedal so it adds a little dirt to the signal when I need it and I can of course blend in some atmospheric what have you with the Line 6 M9 any time it’s needed. </p>
<p>I picked up a really cheap resonator so I don’t have to do a bunch of retuning for a couple of my open tuned slide playing songs. It has been really helpful despite being a bit underwhelming tone-wise** and a real conversation starter for some guitar folks who always ask about it. </p>
<p>The resonator has a mini humbucker pickup and if you use traditional bronze or bronze alloy acoustic strings the sound can be very unbalanced so I found some strings that are nickel wound for acoustic. So that helps. I really wish it had a pickup on the cone or the bridge, it’s just really dark sounding. </p>
<p>I’m continually asked about how many guitars I own and I truthfully don’t know anymore. I think it’s more than 30 but it’s definitely less than 50. I’m not entirely sure where they all are. When I got here to Germany, Ben told me that there was a mandolin at the S&W office so I went and got it and have been using it. It has a red star sticker on it and I know we got it for a RATS tour but I may have given it to Ben. So I don’t think it’s mine anymore. So that means I only own 2 mandolins - 4 tops. This may seem like a lot but I’m still 2 shy of where I should be. I don’t have a single Gibson electric guitar and my 12 string acoustic is not to my liking. I can’t foresee needing any more beyond those two things. </p>
<p>Other things I’m using on this tour is of course my Franklin Strap guitar straps. I’ve been using them exclusively for a bunch of years now and I have also been using a Tapastring Guitar Care strap keeper. This thing is so clever - acoustic guitars have that endpin/jack combo and your strap is always falling off of it and no strap locks work on it - this solves that problem. I’ve been using mine for about 2 years without fault. It slips around the strap and onto the jack and then a small plastic clip holds it in place. Essential if you do any kind of movement while playing. </p>
<p>I’ve included a pic of my traveling tool kit. I don’t have a roadie, I have to be able to fix things on the spot and sometimes finding a music store ain’t that easy while traveling. </p>
<p>*Well, once I replace the broken Mogami Cable. </p>
<p>**“She was underwhelmed if that’s a word” ~ Sloan </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 12: </p>
<p>It’s Sunday so all or most of the shops are closed here. I made a dash to ReWe at 11 pm last night to get some stuff to eat and beat the closing doors to get some good raisin bread for toast and some eggs and what-not. </p>
<p>That might sound boring but I’m staying in a flat here in Bremen (in the Gröpelinger section specifically) and if you don’t plan ahead for a Sunday - you’re food options become very few. </p>
<p>I worked on some guitar stuff today to be ready for tonight when I’m playing at Katakomben in Achim. </p>
<p>Every time we have played at Katakomben we have had a good show, first time was an open air festival type of stage, second and third time were indoors (one of those with an awesome stressechoes double bill) and tonight is my first time here with the new owners. </p>
<p>Michaela is very nice and she suggests that I play outside. I look up at the sky and she can see my doubt so she pulls out her phone and shows me the weather - 3% chance of rain and a low of 50 degrees. She assures me it will be better and she is right. </p>
<p>There’s always that moment of when you’re setting up the gear of “Is anyone going to show up?” It’s part of pretty much any performers psyche. But before I can ponder this too long people are already arriving! </p>
<p>I see some familiar faces and have a great chat with friends Jens and Horst and a few others. Jens is even wearing a Firefly shirt!! We chat about Firefly and some other stuff and I’m ready to play now. </p>
<p>The folks listening are awesome, we get two sing alongs going and it’s just a fantastic night. We get a good “APB” sing along and some ringers in the audience help with the second “A PPPP B”. (You have to hold the second P!) and while playing “Queen of the Party” we all sing “Mama said she’d be alright” together and my night is complete. </p>
<p>We all make plans to see each other again in Verden and Club Moments. I sell some CDs and a tshirt and call it a night. Achim, you deliver again. Thank you all! </p>
<p>Tour Diary 12.5. (Tom Brady Edition) </p>
<p>I hate the number 13 so there will be no tour diary day 13. Today’s is 12.5 in honor of Tom Brady. Why 12.5? It’s a PSI joke. Come on! FREE BRADY - AGAIN!! </p>
<p>Anyway. </p>
<p>It’s Monday all day today which means a meeting at the S&W office and we go over stuff for the coming week. I hang behind to catch up on our itinerary for October as well as borrow a drill to make fixes in a guitar. Aw Yeah. It’s happening in the morning. MAKES HOLES IN TEETH!! Ha!* </p>
<p>I’m driving to Hannover today, playing a record store and Kulturpalast. I’ve heard good things about both so I’m looking forward to it. </p>
<p>Hannover isn’t that far, only about 85 miles. I take my time and listen to some good tunes on the way - which on the ride up included The Stelle Group, Kurt Vile, REM and Phil Cody. Piece of cake until I hit the city and all their construction messes with my gps and I drive a couple extra circles. </p>
<p>25 Music is an awesome record shop with CDs and vinyl and a stage type area by the front door. Benjamin told me to get there early to look around and I’m here about an hour early so perfect used cd shopping time! I score 2 amazing CDs. Roxy Music’s debut album from 1972 and Jim Cuddy’s “the light that guides you home”. These along with Tom Richardsons’s “Pockets” EP. </p>
<p>More about the albums later. </p>
<p>I play the record store and it’s not quite as bad as when Spinal Tap do the in store signing but it’s not really a happening gig either. Some folks listen for a minute - the staff seems to like me. Ah well. On to tonight. </p>
<p>Kulturepalast is a nice venue, small but a cool stage and nice sound system. Tycho Barth is opening up for me and he’s really good. Acoustic playing that I hear some Dave Matthews chord changes and he sings in English and reminds me a little of Sun Kil Moon. His guitar player, Phillipp, is using delay and volume pedal swells, I didn’t catch the bass player’s name but the cajon player is named Be John Winston - I know this because his dad tells everyone that he named him after John Lennon and John Winston KILLs on the cajon. </p>
<p>Watching and listening them I’m thinking “aw shit, I hate going on after really great bands!” </p>
<p>So they finish and I set my stuff up and I dive in and have a pretty great show. There’s probably less than 15 people there but they are so into it and we sing along and when I go into “1, 2, 3” John Winston hops up on the cajon and we ROCK it for the last bunch of songs. He knocks over his cajon, I strum until I break strings - we jump and end the set. So much fun. </p>
<p>I play rockers and quiet songs and it’s great. Sell a couple of CDs and pack up. Nicest compliment of the night is I’m told that my voice is really easy to listen to. I can dig that. </p>
<p>Can’t wait for Tycho to get some stuff recorded. That shit is gonna be great. </p>
<p>Now I’m going to go off here a bit on my cd purchases. </p>
<p>Roxy Music’s debut is so freaking weird. Even today this album would still be completely freaky. Just listen to Remake/Remodel or Virginia Plain. How the hell did this band go on to make “Avalon”??** I love Eno’s contributions to this band, it’s kind of dumbfounding that this band was even allowed to make a second album. I’ve seen videos of Remake/Remodel and man, the early 70’s were such a crazy time to be in the music business - throwing money at art school bands like this. I’m glad they did but this shit would never get made today and the world definitely suffers for the lack of it. </p>
<p>Jim Cuddy’s “the light that guides you home” is a fantastic companion to anyone who is a Blue Rodeo fan and what sold me on it was two things: 1) seeing that it was produced by Colin Cripps and 2) seeing that it had the Cuddy/Kathleen Edwards duet “married again”. Fantastic. Everything this dude does is fantastic. He’s got an annoyingly beautiful voice - like he could sing the phone book and you would be singing along. </p>
<p>Tom Richardson’s “Pockets” EP is like an acoustic “Avalon” album. -I’m thinking he has sex while listening to his own album. I ask him about this and he denies it but that’s what his music sounds like. Rom Tichardson. Tom and I did a cd trade today and it was nice to finally hear what my flat mate sounds like. </p>
<p>Now I’m home in the flat, getting ready for bed. Ben is all hyped up on some Jagermeister he had tonight and while enthusiastically making a point showers me with his water bottle. He and Tom had a good night. Really wish I had a show with one or both of them before the end of this tour. </p>
<p>*Will be covered in a new Guitar Geek update. </p>
<p>**Which is still the best “mood” music for any guy that can’t get his head around a Barry White album. </p>
<p>File under: people are awesome </p>
<p>Played a show a couple of days ago and this guy liked what I was doing but he didn’t have any cash on him. We tried using the Square card reader but my signal wasn’t strong enough and it wouldn’t work so as we’re talking he says “I have a paypal account”. So I tell him I do as well and “here, take the cd - my contact is on there, you can just go to the website and send me $10 for the cd.” </p>
<p>He promises me he will do it and I believe him. </p>
<p>Next day I get a notification of a sale of “Motel Americana” off the website. </p>
<p>Awesome. </p>
<p>Then I get 5 more notifications: sales of “leaves on the wind volume 1”, “new coastline”, “found & lost”, “this is happening ” and “where the road bends”. </p>
<p>I believe with that many purchases you should get at least one for free - you know like if you keep the punch card from the sub shop? So I’m sending him a free “heart like mine” today. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 14: </p>
<p>I set to working on my resonator today. (See GUITAR GEEK WARNING post) and installed a second pickup on it. Just a stick on piezo thing. It sounded pretty ok. Not fantastic but definitely better than I thought it would sound. I had to borrow a drill and make holes and it worked out ok. Now I can send the piezo to the DI and the magnetic pickup to the pedals and what-not. </p>
<p>That was most of what I got done during day light hours today but then I was only awake for a handful of hours before it was time to leave to go to my show. It’s day 14 and I’ve played 18 shows so far. In the 27 days of the first leg of my tour I will have 3 days off. </p>
<p>Something interesting about doing these tour diaries - people have been coming up to me at shows having read them, they already know what’s going on! I have nothing left to say. These diaries may exhaust all my charm. </p>
<p>Anyway - I’m playing the Immanual Church in Bremen tonight. We played here last year with Rufus Coates and it was my favorite show of there’s - it’s a big old gothic church with a Bösendorfer piano, a giant gong and just great natural sound. </p>
<p>Arne is here from S&W and he’s helping set up sound and lights. I like Arne, we’ve developed a good working relationship which roughly translates to “I give him a lot of shit and he mostly puts up with it.” </p>
<p>We have the PA dialed in and it’s room filling. Like loud in here. We turn it down but it’s still a bit much. A few folks come in and I start playing, I’m having a hard time delivering because I see as soon as I play the opening guitar chords two women in front immediately reach for ear plugs. That’s not good at an acoustic gig. So I play one more to see if it can be better and it’s actually hard to sing it because I just know it’s too loud so I unplug. I unplug and walk down in front of the PA and say to the folks that I think this will be better and it is. </p>
<p>I play the rest of the show pretty much in the audience and it’s one of the best shows of the tour. I’m able to tell what the songs about in a very relaxed manner and it’s great. I get a kick out of myself by playing “Nothing needs to be said” and dropping 2 F bombs in a church.* I love it when that song goes over well, it’s one of my favorite songs I’ve written. I dedicate APB to Petra in the front row - they were pretty nervous about singing along but we got it going and I did a cover of “Looking at the world through a windshield” and dedicated it to Arne because of all the driving he’s making me do! We have a good laugh it’s a good night. </p>
<p>Sell and sign some CDs and talking to two nice women and they say “we’ll see you at Club Moments!” And I tell them that I’m not playing Club Moments because I’ve been booked to play a TV station in Chimnitz and they get mad. I say I’m sorry and that I would love to play Club Moments but I got this other gig. They ask if Arne booked me and I say yes and I immediately feel bad because they go over and corner my booking agent about me being booked somewhere else! It’s funny and I’m glad I can’t understand what they are saying although I can kind of get the gist of it but because it’s in German it just sounds a bit more severe. </p>
<p>I get home from my gig and one of my flat mates tells me “the girl I bought weed off of knew you.” And for some reason that made me feel like more of a rock star than it should’ve. </p>
<p>Now I’m drinking some wine and getting ready for my 1 am skype biz meeting with a friend in the states. </p>
<p>All in a day’s work. </p>
<p>*I’m badass you know, I’m nationwide! </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 21: </p>
<p>I just realized that my day numbering was way off. I couldn’t figure it out. I’m writing down Tour Diary Day 15 and I’m thinking “shit, I’ve been here longer than that.” So I did math. My counting got off somewhere along the way - this is day 21. </p>
<p>That makes more sense. </p>
<p>I felt like doing something simple today so I went to the mall. My brain was like “go get something for Tracy for your anniversary and have something to eat at the food court.” I accomplished all of that but while making change at the food court someone walked off with Tracy’s present. It wasn’t anything big or expensive but I was pretty annoyed just the same. So I stewed about it for a few and then went to a different store and bought her something nicer. On top of that the chicken curry I got in the food court wasn’t that great either. </p>
<p>After that I go to the S&W office and pick up Maraike - she is the PR person there and we head up to Syker for the show. Tonight I’m playing in an art museum but it turns out in the past they have had some of their artwork damaged by patrons of the music events so I’ve been moved to the basement. </p>
<p>The basement is actually pretty cool but has so much reverb it’s like playing a tiled room. The ceilings swoop down and around and it’s almost designed for echo. I suggest NOT bringing the PA down here but the woman from the place said it would be better. (Ha!). So I set the whole damn thing up and then when the folks arrive - I don’t use any of the PA. </p>
<p>Maraike and I are served a very traditional German type of meal of bread, grapes, ham, cheese, cheese/yogurt spread and beverages. It’s very tasty and Maraike and I have a really great conversation about where we live and come from, lots of stuff about the venues and this tour. It’s the longest I’ve ever spent with her and I’m glad we had this time to connect. </p>
<p>I feel like I sang ok tonight but with so much echo going on it was hard to tell at times as everything just kind of blurred together. This was also one of the smallest “crowds” I’ve played to and I’m told it’s because there was a big football (read: soccer) match tonight and everyone is watching that. </p>
<p>Doesn’t matter where you play; football is messing with your career. At least it’s not on a tv playing in the corner. That shit is the worst. I love me a football game but I hate performing opposite one. </p>
<p>We have a good show together, it’s way intimate and I tell stories and dedicate songs. I feel really bad because I recognize folks who have seen me play before but I really can’t remember their names and it makes me feel like I’m ungrateful and I’m really not! I play the song “part time cowboy” and mention my boots that I’m wearing and one of the guys says afterward - “those the same boots that fell apart last year?” And I’m gobsmacked! Not only has he seen me play before but he remembers the absolute ridiculousness of my boot dilemma last year! </p>
<p>I’m told there was a reporter there - I don’t know if she’s writing a story about the show or what. In any case - it was a lot of fun. </p>
<p>One thing that I’ve really discovered on this tour is the essence of what my songs are about. I’ve learned a lot about them and about me through playing 2 sets of music almost every day. I may think I write songs about people and characters but there’s a lot of me in there as well and there’s a few little ticks that keep coming up - there’s a line in “1, 2, 3” that goes “We were listening to Westerburg singing ‘hold my life’ the day I asked to you be my wife, time for this one to come alive.” And Tracy is always to my left and it started a long time ago that whenever we’d sing that line we just started looking at each other on stage. I’m here by myself and whenever I sing that line I look over to my left - and I’m hit with a bit of “where’s my Tracy?” And I do it every time I sing the song. I’ve been rehearsing the song “Hold Me” a lot outside of the shows because I really love the song and the big long notes are really hard for me to nail and it intimidates me every time it’s coming up. So I’ve been playing this song more consistently and figured out how to add the piano line in on guitar. And every time I play “Massachusetts” I’m reminded of playing it for my dad just a little over 2 months ago and it gets me every time. It used to just be a song I wrote and now it’s become a part of my memory of him. </p>
<p>Tonight when I’m playing “Dam” and I’m not plugged into any effects so I just start stomping the floor to add a backbeat and with this room it really booms - kind of like last night in the church when I did the same thing only in the church it really felt like the stomping on the floor was resonating through the whole church. </p>
<p>Pack up, time to go home. </p>
<p>Since Maraike rode with me I’m also driving her back and she asks if I can drop her off at the bar where her boyfriend is hanging out and so we stop by the Schwarzer Hermann and have a nice drink and great conversation with her boyfriend and her roommate. It’s a very greatly needed rest at the end of the day. I tell them about my adventures shopping today and about the thing I got Tracy* (Tracy don’t read the footnote!) and Maraike’s roommate thought that was very romantic. I tell them the story in the footnote and it’s very nice. I think Maraike bought my wine but it may have been her boyfriend - either way I say thank you and head home. </p>
<p>I may have only played for a half a dozen people tonight but they all will remember it. </p>
<p>In other news - I am not playing the Club Moments gig on Sunday. I am driving to Dresden for a show on Saturday and to Chimnitz for a show on a TV station on Sunday. Monday will be my first day off in 15 days and I will spend it driving 6 hours. And then Tracy and Ben show up and we start the Riddle & The Stars tour. </p>
<p>OH! And I just got a notice that my song “Hold Me” is a finalist for “Best Song 2016” by The Miews. So I got that going for me, which is nice. http://www.themiews.com/ </p>
<p>*a while back I discovered that if you get some perfume for a trip that you’re taking together - in the future whenever she wears that perfume you both will be reminded of that trip and wherever you were. It started with our honeymoon and now whenever Tracy wears that perfume - we’re transported back to that time and place. We think it’s pretty cool and so I got Tracy some perfume because we’re going to have a couple of days off and we’re going to go to Copenhagen and I wanted that same sort of thing. Ta-da! </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 22: </p>
<p>Today started uneventful, did some laundry and hanging out waiting to go to my show in Bremen and then I get a phone call from S&W - there’s been a change of schedule for tonight - is there any chance I can drive to Düsseldorf to play there instead because one of my tour mates got arrested last night and can’t make that show. </p>
<p>Well, that’s different and new. </p>
<p>Sure, why not. Playing an Irish bar sounds good to me tonight. It’s a few miles there (180) but it sounds like a better gig than the one I had. </p>
<p>I get to the club and as I walk in I can hear The Stone Roses playing over the stereo - that’s cool. I have never heard the Stone Roses playing at a bar - anywhere! </p>
<p>As I’m setting up in the corner a guy comes up and says he heard me on the radio this afternoon and it sounded good so he came to the show. He and I talk for a while and he’s also a guitar player and he is from Düsseldorf but his band is all refugees and they are sponsored by the city of Düsseldorf! He shows me some pics and a little video. Folks from all over, mostly Syria but also Croatia and Pakistan. They all bring their own world instruments into it. He said the cajon player is 17 and the one of the violinists is 63. We swap info and he’s going to send me some video and music to share with everyone. </p>
<p>I’m playing and singing and a few people are digging it and I get some clapping. I take a break and order my dinner for when I stop at 10 pm. Mark the bartender/manager guy is really nice and of all the places I’ve played this seems to have the most people who English is their first language and the outside sitting area has a bunch of Americans hanging out listening. </p>
<p>Second set goes well and as I finish up another guy comes over to me, his name is Misha and he’s from Libya and he really likes it, enjoys my voice and songs and buys 2 CDs. We fist bump and all is good - he even speaks English too! I make my way out with the hat to pick up any stragglers and all the American folks that have been outside listening don’t offer up a nickel for the show. Zero. Nada. I tell them I’ve been the one performing - “We know.” Is the reply. </p>
<p>Can’t even say I’m surprised. </p>
<p>Mark comes over to me as I’m breaking down and brings me my fish & chips. Irish bar in Düsseldorf- damn straight I’m getting fish & chips (and it’s awesome.)He tells me how much people liked it and I eat my dinner and try to piece that information together what I just experienced. I don’t succeed in figuring it out. </p>
<p>Last thing tonight - I drive the 180 miles back to Bremen, just where the autobahn goes down to 70 kph from 120 - I’m slowing down and I see the flash. </p>
<p>Dammit. Speeding ticket. I start to get mad about it and then remember that I’m not in jail - I’ll take a speeding ticket over jail any day. </p>
<p>Goodnight. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 23: </p>
<p>I meant to write this when I got home last night but we had a good hangout in the flat amongst fellow touring musicians and then just crashed afterward so I’m now having a hard time remembering what I did yesterday. </p>
<p>Had a gig in Weyhe. Which is not pronounced like you may think. The W is a V sound and the “he” is more of a “ha” sound. Don’t worry if you don’t have it - I was helped a dozen times last night and it’s still not sticking. </p>
<p>I get to town a little early, I kind of wanted to sit and go over some of my tour itinerary for next month so I found a restaurant nearby and for what seems like the first time in a month had a real nice sit down meal - with vegetables and everything! (See pic). This is one of those meals that makes me think of my mom. No, not making fun. We talk about traveling and she’s always afraid of what she’s going to eat when she’s traveling because she doesn’t like anything spicy. “Spicy” to my mom is a catch all term for “flavor I’m not used to”. Tonight’s food is amazing and she would’ve loved it as it’s pork medallions, potatoes and broccoli with gravy. I devour it. As I’m sitting there it gets cold outside. Fall is definitely here. But I love how people are still using the outside tables, as I get chilly I see most of the other folks just grab the wrap or jacket they brought with them and carry on. The beginning of this tour the weather was setting heat records throughout Germany and now it’s hitting low 50’s and high 40’s. (Fahrenheit) </p>
<p>The venue tonight is the Shakespeare Theater Pub and it’s fantastic. Patrick runs the bar, his folks own the theater above, there’s a great stage and beautiful sound and sound man!! Me and Patrick talk about guitars and music - he plays in the theater band as well as has his own band. Telecaster guy but wants a Gretsch. It’s a nice casual hang and a nice change to have some downtime before I start instead of rushing to get somewhere and starting right away. </p>
<p>Sound check takes literally 7 minutes and it sounds great in here. There’s a play going on upstairs and I play when the play ends at 10 pm. At about 9 the room starts filling up and I ask Patrick “Is it intermission?” He says “No, they’re here for you.” </p>
<p>The room fills up and I start at 10. Great response in a pretty loud room. There’s probably about 100 people here and about half are just listening to me and the rest are folks that just came down from the theater above and are just talking. Because of this mix, it’s a hard room to read while I’m thinking to myself - “did that one go over? Should I do a rocker or a quiet song next?” That sort of thing keeps going through my mind. It’s not technically insecurity because I know what I’m doing, it’s more just trying to figure out how to keep their attention for 2 hours that is really difficult. </p>
<p>It’s fun to watch people that are obviously guitar players or performers watch me closely, like when I use my looping pedal and then play e-bow over it - you can see them scrutinize what I’m doing. I’m not doing Whitehorse level looping here but it’s still pretty cool if I do say so myself. And when I use the Porchboard you can see them looking around for where the kick drum sound is coming from. Tonight’s system has sub-woofers so my Porchboard sounds especially good. And when I fade in the octave reverb and long delay over some parts I can see these same folks watching my feet for how I’m doing it. When I do a big slide solo in one song - I get big “WOOS” from the crowd when I finish - it is then I know I’m doing alright. </p>
<p>I don’t say this to brag because I know guitar heroes and I’m no guitar hero but I have a few tricks that I own pretty well and it feels nice when you see people digging it or asking me how I do things. </p>
<p>We get an awesome sing along going and we sing APB for Patrick the bartender but I mistake his name on stage and call him Mark because I’m an idiot. I hate when I mess up things like that. He’s so gracious he doesn’t even tell me I screwed up his name until the end of the night. </p>
<p>I do some more big rockers, well as big as rock can be with a guy and an acoustic and some pedals and I say “danke schön”. They won’t let me leave without doing a few more songs. That’s cool but my voice is starting to go now, I can feel it all scratchy and sore so they let me go after two encores. </p>
<p>There’s these moments that are just strange too where someone says to me after the show “so when does Tracy arrive?” And my brain has to readjust and realize that I put stuff out in the world and shouldn’t be surprised when people know stuff about me. Still catches me off guard. </p>
<p>Starting to get a little worn down I feel. Looking forward to a couple of days off when Tracy gets here. I have Mon/Tues/Weds without a show and then the second leg of the tour starts up. </p>
<p>I had planned to do a bunch of video blog type things but it hasn’t happened, maybe next month when I have someone to hold the camera that will be easier. </p>
<p>Before I fall asleep I start scrolling on FB and I see someone that I know posting obviously racist and very easily disprovable shit online - and it really took the wind out of me. I start typing and then just stop. I just can’t do it today. I’ve sat with and talked to so many amazing people on this tour, I wish people could get out of the small box they live in and see the world for the bigger place it is. More love is needed. </p>
<p>Time to drive to Dresden. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 24: </p>
<p>Woke up late in Bremen. Driving 360 miles the night before probably added to the tired but I’ve gotten used to the bed in the flat and look forward to hitting my head on the pillow. There’s a pretty big spider that hangs out on the second floor window by the stairs, I’ve started having conversations with her. I think it’s a her because of the good sized nest she is protecting. There’s stripes on her legs and for a spider - very pretty. She keeps the mosquitos out and I’m ok with that so we continue our separate but symbiotic existence. So far all the conversation is one sided and usually is about how little she has moved since the last time I saw her. </p>
<p>I have 5 hours to get to my gig which is normally enough time to finish laundry and get there but today’s gig is 5 hours and 300 miles away. Yesterday I was very nearly at the border for The Netherlands/Belgium and today I’m very nearly at the border of the Czech Republic. “Well I’m looking at the world thru a windshield, watching it fly by me on the right.” Is how the song goes and while it was written about a truck driver in the states it seems to fit my touring for the past month as well. </p>
<p>Tonight’s show is at a bar/coffee shop called &Rausch in Dresden. It’s a really nice little shop, they set me up with food and a hostel for the night. They suggest I go without a PA and that’s fine with me. I’ll just belt it out in the corner. </p>
<p>As luck would have it I’m way early for this gig. I thought I had to be here at 6, soundcheck at 6:30 and play at 8. Turns out I have no soundcheck and I start at 9. I eat dinner and sip tea outside while really enjoying the brisk weather. It’s not cold but someone nearby has a fire going and the smell of woodsmoke combined with the chill in the air really reminds me of New England - and it’s nice. Late September and early October is clearly the best time to live in New England - right before the 7 months of winter set in. </p>
<p>The gig is fine but just ok. For a Saturday night this part of town is dead and the venue neglected to put up any of the flyers sent to them promoting the show. So I rock all 7–12 people there - only one of which actually came to see me. He is really nice and is a Springsteen fan, he grew up in East Berlin and saw Springsteen in ’88 along with 180,000 other East Germans (back before the wall fell). He likes my stuff and has been listening to me on line. I get polite applause from the rest of the patrons and I call it a night after 2 sets. </p>
<p>I have some more tea and chocolate torte and talk with the two folks working there, they are very nice and we talk about Germany and USA, traveling and weather. She tells me she’s been to the states and the thing she missed the most about Germany while there was the bread. “I had this bread called ‘Wonder’ and it was terrible, it all just mushed together and fell apart. When I got back I just got some bread and ate it plain - I missed it so much.” We laughed and I said “Yeah, but Germany can’t make a hamburger.” We all laughed and she said there’s one place in Dresden that makes a good burger and she wrote down the address for me. I will try to find it today. Hopefully they are open on Sunday. </p>
<p>As I’m leaving I am given the instructions for the hostel: “there’s a lockbox by the door, the code is ‘1, 2, 3, 4’.” Me, “Really?” Him, “I guess it’s easy to remember.” </p>
<p>Before I go to the hostel i drive thru the city a bit, I’m told it’s really pretty at night and they are correct. So much old gothic-ness to it. </p>
<p>I drive to the hostel and it’s in a…not great part of town. I find a parking space on the street and head in. The lockbox has a note for me and all is fine. I fall asleep doing an itemized inventory of everything in the car assuming it will be gone in the morning, it’s a slightly nerve-racking way to fall asleep.* </p>
<p>*car was not stolen </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 25: </p>
<p>I’m awoken in my hostel 6:30 am by another guest staying in the room. </p>
<p>Oh, did I not mention there were 5 beds in my hostel room? Guy sleeping above me when I got there at midnight(ish) and was fine but then this other guy comes in at 6:30 and starts watching something on his phone - with the volume on! It’s like music videos or something. I shoot him one of those “are you kidding me?” Looks and he turns the sound off but now I’m awake. </p>
<p>Pack my stuff, brush my teeth and get out of there. I’m pretty excited to see that my car is still where I left it and I put in the address for the Marktplatz (market place) and find a Starbucks there so I can chill out and check mail and stuff. </p>
<p>I wander pretty aimlessly for a few hours, I get a hamburger at a place that has been highly recommended for having the best burgers in Dresden* and then I drive to Chemnitz which is only like an hour away. </p>
<p>It is too early for me to check into my hotel but I am exhausted. I didn’t even mention the lumpiness of the bed at the hostel. (It was paid for so I’m done complaining). Across from my hotel is a nice little park and a fountain, I sit down on the bench and listen to two old ladies talking next to me. I’m still trying to pick up more German but it is hard. I’m getting to the point where I can hear the different accents from different areas but the words still just fly by me. As I’m sitting there I fall asleep sitting up for about 30 minutes. I must’ve been tired. </p>
<p>The hotel is really nice, I check in and take a proper nap until it’s time to go do this radio show. </p>
<p>I’m playing on Kwartirnik. Now this is a cool word. It has it’s roots in Soviet times where there were bands that wanted to perform but not everyone was allowed to so they would organize Kwartirniks which translates to “living room concert”. I keep messing up the pronunciation so I have Frank record it into my phone. I’m going to be using this word in the future! </p>
<p>Now technically speaking - it’s a bar but it’s very home-y. There is a stage and comfy chairs scattered about and Frank and his assistant are running cables for the microphones. I ask about using my effects and pedals and they said they prefer not to - even though it’s all being amplified through a PA system. Eh, whatever. I’m good. </p>
<p>I order some tea with honey and the bartender is visibly disappointed in me, he continues with his disappointment with each subsequent cup he pours for me. It’s a nice crowd of people and I’m live on the radio for an hour. Frank interviews me and the question starts in English, I answer it and then he translates the question and the answer into German. It makes the interview twice as long but at least everyone understands it. The first of the two interviews is about the music, the second is all about American politics and how is it possible for Trump to be in the position he is in, what is wrong with Americans? Do I consider myself a good will ambassador coming to Germany? It’s a really interesting line of questioning that I never really prepared for but am happy to answer. </p>
<p>He asks if I was always political and does it come through in my songwriting and honestly it doesn’t really, socio-political if anything but any time I’ve ever written anything vaguely political it came out terrible. And here in Chemnitz you can still feel the effects of the Cold War - it’s a city that still feels like it’s rebuilding - over 90% of it was destroyed in WWII. I was 17 or 18 when the Berlin Wall fell. That was a huge thing in the scheme of global politics and I was in high school completely unaware of what was going on. Retrospectively - Painfully unaware. </p>
<p>The music section of the night goes as well as the interview and we all have fun, we sing along and stomp the stage. The stationary mics are difficult for me because of how much I move around but I think it comes through alright. </p>
<p>The people are really nice and I chat with a few of them; a nice couple from the area that are heading to Wales next week and thought how being in this pub and hearing music in English is getting them ready for it and a nice older gent who I was very nearly understanding - his brother lives in San Jose and works as a park ranger in the forest. He didn’t speak any English and we had a nice chat. Everyone really liked it and I get good compliments and folks ask for my website address so they can look me up. And they ask if the band is coming back thru Chemnitz in October. </p>
<p>That’s really nice. </p>
<p>But two nights in a row without any cd sales or hat money is rough. Thankfully I’m being put up in a hotel but this is brutal. A few ask about cds and I say they are 10 euro and they kind of just put them back and say they will check it out online. </p>
<p>I pack up and Frank helps me carry stuff to the car, he wants to talk politics some more. He is a teacher, teaches English to refugees here in Chemnitz. He wanted to donate money to Bernie Sanders but the website wouldn’t let him since he wasn’t American. He works with a lot of teenage refugees and says their struggle is different, they aren’t old enough to get jobs, most don’t have parents any longer and they are just kind of floating - there’s nothing for them to do in the summer time and nowhere for them to be. They are living this rootless life - they have no family support system and are drifting through the system trying to find something to hold on to. </p>
<p>We talk a bit about how the far right in Germany is making a return and the similarities to the far right in the U.S. (and the far right of Muslim which is ISIS) And how comparing Trump to Hitler isn’t just Godwin’s Law coming into play. Folks are feeling pushed out of the new world because they don’t want to change, they don’t like computers, or fact checking or the fact that advertisers aren’t after them. They want things the way they used to be before homosexuals were out of the closet and before women wanted to be equal and before minorities didn’t bitch about being treated like minorities. </p>
<p>And we get it. Folks don’t like change. Change is hard. </p>
<p>I’m traveling and playing music and trying to sell cds. A lot of the new world doesn’t have any use for cds. I love what I do but is there still a place for it? Am I the musical Brexit? </p>
<p>I get back to the hotel and I watch a documentary on Mikhail Gorbachev. I learn how his policy changes were too much for the system he was in and way to slow for the people of his country. </p>
<p>The times they are a-changing. </p>
<p>*Maybe best in Dresden! But if any of these folks had a 5 guys burger they would freak out. </p>
<p>Tour Diary Day 27: </p>
<p>Picked up Tracy at the airport, cleaned the flat and swapped my small rental car for a bigger one for the rest of the tour. </p>
<p>I said earlier that I wasn’t going to complain about the amount of driving I’ve done and I’m still not going to complain but I am offering a free cd/free download and t-shirt to whoever comes the closest to guessing how many miles (or kilometers) I drove in the past 27 days. </p>
<p>When they told me at Hertz car rental how many miles I went - I was kind of shocked. </p>
<p>You have one day for guessing. Keep the guessing in multiples of 10’s please. I will tell you it was less than 10,000 Kilometers but more than 5,000. </p>
<p>Tracy is sleeping now, I don’t think she got over jet lag from her last trip from Massachusetts to California because two days later she flew to Germany! </p>
<p>New Guitar Geek Warning blog coming up too. </p>
<p>That’s all for today. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to place your guess to win a cd/t-shirt! </p>
<p>Later, </p>
<p>Pic is of my Ford Fiesta rental car that is exceptionally bug splattered. Sorry bugs. </p>
<p>GUITAR GEEK WARNING: </p>
<p>This one is short. A lot of companies make travel guitars and they are usually short scale or crappy versions of a guitar that you don’t really want to play. </p>
<p>My solution was different. I brought my #5 Bobbocaster to Danny Ott, I bought some machine screws and anchors and I had him install the anchors in the neck and then when I take the neck off - it’s not stripping out wood every time an wearing it out. It’s machine screws so I can take the neck on and off as many times as I need to. </p>
<p>Works great. I brought the body with me in my suitcase, Tracy brought the neck with her in her bass bag. Done. </p>
<p>Intonation is set, action is set. It’s ready to go. </p>
<p>Specs on the #5 Bobbocaster guitar: </p>
<p>2 piece Ash Warmoth body, </p>
<p>Late 60’s Fender Telecaster neck (decal had been removed) </p>
<p>Seymour Duncan Alnico II bridge pickup </p>
<p>Fender Wide Range Humbucker in the neck </p>
<p>Custom Wired by Danny Ott to be “Gretsch Wiring” with master volume, master tone and two sub volumes for each pickup. </p>
<p>Strung with 10 gauge Everly Nickel wound strings. </p>
<p>Violá</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/43345182016-08-20T15:31:43-07:002016-08-20T15:31:43-07:00August 20, 2016Come on out today to Costa Mesa!<br><br>760 Newton Way<br><br>VW Camper Vans, Little Miss Sunshine and us!<br><br>We play at 6 pm. Movie at 8 pm.<br><br>See you there!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/42881412016-07-20T23:27:28-07:002016-07-20T23:27:28-07:00July 21, 2016<p>I got a bunch of stuff going right now. OH, wait - BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out and saw us at the OC Fair. That was way fun. It was interesting, Tracy Brandon and I hadn't played a long set in a while and night one had some cobwebs, night two was pretty rocking and by night three we felt like we were on fire!* </p>
<p>First the showy type things: </p>
<p>Thursday, July 21 <br>Bobbo Solo Show <br>The Pint House <br>Fullerton <br>7-9 pm with Allen Morris and Gardners Logic </p>
<p>Friday, July 22 <br>The OC Fair <br>Bobbo Solo Show <br>1 pm </p>
<p>This is me gearing up for my solo tour in Europe. I want to hit the ground running. </p>
<p>I'm almost done making my solo album - mixes are about 97% done today and I'll be making them available if anyone is interested pretty soon. I'm not doing any kickstarter or gofundme stuff. I've done that enough - you all need a break. But what I will be doing is offering a Pre-Sale on the discs if anyone is interested. Doing that sometime this weekend. </p>
<p>Want to hear another track from the album? Well - it's in the free download section. Tell you all about it soon enough. </p>
<p>Other shows: </p>
<p>July 26th - JC Hyke Songwriter Serenade at Matt Dennys in Arcadia <br>July 28th - Private party in H.B. <br>Aug 4th - Outlaws of Folk at Alta Coffee with Michael Ubaldini <br>Aug 6th - Beach Hut Deli with Aireene Espiritu <br>Aug 9th - Songsalive Showcase at Sam Ash <br>Aug 14th - Hermosa Beach Pier <br>Aug 20th - Vintage Surfari Wagons End of Summer Party in Costa Mesa <br>Aug 28th - Big Horn Music Festival, on Mt. Baldy </p>
<p>And then I go to Europe and this is what we have so far: </p>
<p>Solo Tour <br>Sept 3, Street Art Fest - Jack Germany <br>Sept 4, BuS Huchting <br>Sept 5, Dwaze Zaken Musiek <br>Sept 6, Exil Cafe <br>Sept 8, Tillmann Hahn's Gasthaus <br>Sept 9, Schwarzer Hermann <br>Sept 10, Sonnendeck <br>Sept 11, Europafest @ ABBBA-Treff <br>Sept 12, Goldene Krone <br>Sept 14, FrauenstraBe 24 <br>Sept 15, LitfaB Oldenburg <br>Sept 15, Oldenburg eins <br>Sept 17, Music @ Lokalitaten 1951 am Jader AuBendeich <br>Sept 19, KulturPalast Linden <br>Sept 20, Immanuel Gemeinde <br>Sept 21, Syker Vorwerk <br>Sept 22, Heldenbar <br>Sept 23, Shakespeare's Theater-Pub im Weyher Theater <br>Sept 25, Club Moments <br>----- <br>Some of these shows below are The Fallen Stars, some are Riddle & The Stars </p>
<p>Sept 27, Exil Cafe, Chemnitz <br>Sept 29, Kufz Halmer Weg (workshop) <br>Sept 30 Knust Hamburg <br>Oct 1, Sendesaal Bremen, DE <br>Oct 2, Kufz Halmer Weg (public show) <br>Oct 3, Kufz Halmer Weg (workshop) <br>Oct 6, 25 Hours Hotel The Goldman, Frankfurt <br>Oct 7, GroBenkneten House Concert (Irene) <br>Oct 8, Amigo Hayride, Delmonhorst, DE <br>Oct 10, Bertwin's Radio Show <br>Oct 13, Kirche Dueshorn <br>Oct 14, Music Star, Norderstedt, DE <br>Oct 15, Church St. Jurgen Holtrop, GroBefehn, DE <br>Oct 16-18 - Sweden <br>Oct 22, Vienna, Austria </p>
<p>So please let me know if you're going to be any of these places - we would love to see you! </p>
<p>And as always - thanks for hanging out with us. </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon (and sometimes Ben and sometimes Matt) </p>
<p>The Fallen Stars <br>Riddle & The Stars </p>
<p>and now - my brand new Facebook Solo Bobbo page is here!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/42782112016-07-14T00:43:00-07:002016-07-14T00:43:00-07:00July 14, 2016<p>So what the hell has been going on for the past month? No shows, no emails - it's like we abandoned you. </p>
<p>No, that's not it. </p>
<p>We had a real shit month. We went back to visit family in Massachusetts and while we were there - my Dad passed away after a long fight with Lewy Body Dementia and Tracy's aunt passed away after a long fight with cancer. They both passed within 7 days of each other while we were back there and we just canceled stuff and stayed to be with family. The outpouring of love we have received in light of all of this has been truly unbelievable. Thank you. </p>
<p>Here's a pic of me and my Dad. I discovered that half of all the shirts he wore had our name on them. Don't get me started on how amazing he was* </p>
<p>I know everyone understands but I am sorry if you went to go see us with Dave Alvin** at The Coach House or the Sawdust Festival and we weren't there. </p>
<p>Now we are back and we're diving headfirst into some shows and enjoying the healing power of music. We had a great rehearsal with Brandon the other night and it felt so good to rock. </p>
<p>So where can you see us? </p>
<p>How about this weekend at the OC Fair? We are playing Friday, Saturday and Sunday night of opening weekend of the fair. </p>
<p><strong>July 15, 16, 17 (Fri,Sat,Sun) <br>The OC Fair <br>88 Fair Dr <br>Costa Mesa, CA <br>Meadows Stage (right by the main entrance) <br>8-11 PM</strong> </p>
<p>AND - we have 5 pairs of free tickets for this weekend at the OC Fair to give away! If you would like to be the recipient of a pair of these tickets, email me <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com" target="_blank">HERE</a> and we can work out the details. </p>
<p>Is that it? Not by a long shot! </p>
<p>Our alter-ego band Riddle & The Stars has been nominated for "Best Album" and "Best Country/Americana Band" in the LA Music Critic Awards. If you feel motivated enough to give us a shout (as it is fan fueled winning) - you can just visit his page <a contents="HERE" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.lamusiccritic.com/indie_voice_blog/la-music-critic-awards-nominations-announced-for-first-half-of-2016/" target="_blank">HERE</a> and say something nice about us. Thanks! </p>
<p>And - since I am doing a solo tour in Europe in September, I have decided to record a "solo"*** album as well. It's called "Motel Americana"**** and it's almost done. And because I'm really self medicating with music - I've also recorded an EP of driving songs that I think is going to be called "Pacific Coast Skyline"***** and next week I will be launching a "Bobbo-Starter"******. It's just a place where folks can pre-order the cds and help me get them done quicker. It will be way simple and totally DIY. </p>
<p>There will be more stuff next week as we gear up for some fun times. </p>
<p>And if you're in Europe - we have some open dates that we are looking to fill with some house concerts in late September/October. </p>
<p>That is clearly enough for one newsletter. </p>
<p>Really hope to see you all soon and as always, thanks for hanging out with us. </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p>*Quick story: My Dad was a police officer for 32 years, at his wake, his former police chief came up to me and said "Your Dad was the only officer I never received a single complaint about." <br>*Dave Alvin actually sent me a real nice note as well. Real class act he is. <br>***What is "solo" anyway? I mean really. No man is an island. Most men are peninsulas. So my solo album has Tracy, Brandon, Ben, Geo... But it's different in the fact that it's me singing lead on every song and it makes sense when touring so I'm not saying "Well, yes...The Fallen Stars, that's me on there and oh, yeah. Riddle & The Stars, that's me there too..." Now I can say "Here's my album." It makes a lot of touring sense. It's got new songs on there and a couple of re-worked classics. <br>****If you would like to hear something off the new album - here you go: https://soundcloud.com/wanderinstarstudio/nothing-needs-to-be-said-7-13-16 <br>*****I just came up with that name today. It may stick around. <br>******It's not a Kickstarter or a GoFundMe - it's way more DIY than that!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41875642016-05-19T00:43:17-07:002016-05-19T00:43:17-07:00May 19, 2016<p>So we're all sad and tired here in TFS/RATS land* - Ben flew out to France last Friday** and then Tracy and I went and played Whedonopolis in Los Angeles. If you're a fan of Joss Whedon's work*** then you would've had a great time. We had a great time and even got to play 2 sets of our Firefly "Leaves on the Wind Music Project" at their prom night. It was Shiny.**** </p>
<p>Now I have two shows this coming weekend. Why just me? Well, a couple of reasons; 1) I booked a solo show. 2) Tracy needs some recoup/downtime after all the touring and shows. 3) I have a month solo tour booked in Europe in September that I need to prepare for! </p>
<p>I'm really looking forward to this - I've never done anything like this before. New challenges! I'm building a fun solo set to perform. </p>
<p>Saturday, May 21 <br>Beach Hut Deli <br>Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA <br>w/ The Potential Lunatics at 7 pm, Allen Morris at 8 pm and me at 9 pm <br>a great mix of acoustic-y music! </p>
<p>Sunday, May 22 <br>The Pint House <br>136 W Wilshire Ave, Fullerton, CA <br>w/ Paul Hines and Nancy Sanchez <br>5 pm </p>
<p>Free song today is "Heart like mine" from the album of the same name. I'll be playing it on Saturday. If you're listening to the words and you think "but this wiring in my head won't let me get it out" and it makes no sense to you, well that's because you weren't watching the same rerun of the tv show "Just Shoot Me" as I was. In that episode the older, former model meets the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was a teenager - the two get in a fight and the daughter points to her head and says "Oh, and thanks for the faulty wiring!" I thought that was a funny thing to say and there you have it. A window into the amazing and wonderful world of songwriting!***** </p>
<p>Further down the road: </p>
<p>Brix in Sunset Beach on June 4 <br>Day of Music Fullerton on June 21 <br>Sawdust Festival on June 29 <br>Coach House with Dave Alvin on July 1 <br>The OC Fair on July 15, 16, 17 </p>
<p>If anyone reading this knows anything about the Orange International Street Fair - would love to get in on that too. </p>
<p>Thanks for hanging with us and talk to you soon! </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p>*TFS = The Fallen Stars / RATS = Riddle & The Stars <br>**Apparently buying a small RV for our European tour this fall! <br>***Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Avengers... <br>****Shiny is Whedon-speak for "excellent". You probably could've figured that out from context though. <br>*****Ta-Da!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41732672016-05-10T00:23:40-07:002021-10-26T03:26:15-07:00May 10, 2016<p>Weekend tour wrap up. </p>
<p>Thursday night we headed down to Alta to start the weekend off easy with an acoustic show but when we got there the lights were out and they were closed because of a power outage. Bummer. We send messages to hopefully get to everyone in time so they don't come down to a closed coffee shop and decide - it's Cinco de Mayo - let's go get Himalayan food! For real. It was delicious and then we went home and packed to leave. </p>
<p>Before we embarked on our 1300 mile weekend I had some service done on our van - new tires, new axles things, new belts, new motor mount... All told about $2K. So I'm feeling good about the trip. </p>
<p>Our first show is in Virginia City, NV - about an 8 hour drive up mostly mountains. When we crested at about 8,000 feet the light and noise for the anti-freeze stuff starts going off and smoke is coming in through the vents. We hastily pull over in some mountain DPW station and try to figure out what the hell is going on. The long and short is that the heating coil under the dashboard has...gone? Well, it's still there but it's just a place for antifreeze to leak out of and burn off and come through the vents and defrosting ducts. It's fogging up the inside window with an antifreeze type of film so we keep trying to wipe it down and open the windows for the ride. </p>
<p>We get to Virginia City, which is a hell of a climb up the mountain and set up. </p>
<p>Now The Red Dog Saloon is famous, famous for it's place in the 60's psychedelic rock scene. I can't figure out how those folks all tripped out even found this place but it is awesome. Great stage, great PA and usually a pretty full room. Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Turns out there's another show going on in town and most of the folks are going to see this guy, I guess he's more popular than us. Anyway - we get the "afterparty" crowd and even though a thin night - a really great crowd of folks. Talked with most of them and the personal connection is just unbeatable. I already can't wait to go back there. </p>
<p>After the show we hobble down the hill in the van. It's chilly out and the window keeps fogging up. Very gently we roll into Reno* while Tracy and I keep wiping the front window clean so we can see the mountain pass in the dark. Not the scariest ride ever but not a pleasant one either. </p>
<p>In Reno I find a VW dealer and try to get them to look at the van but appartently on Saturdays they only have folks who do oil changes on hand. So I roll over to Pep Boys and after an hour or two they tell me "this is a 10 hour job (at $115 an hour) and we can't even get the part until Monday. So they pour in some "fix a leak" stuff and I buy two big jugs of antifreeze. But what this means is that we have to drive with the windows cracked open a bit all the time. Can't use the defroster, heater or AC and have to buy a package of Windex wipes to continually wipe the antifreeze mist/fog off the inside of the front windshield. We tape down some paper towels over the vents to try and block as much of this mist from coming out but it still does. </p>
<p>This for the most part - works. </p>
<p>Saturday night we are set to play a house party at our friend Suzi's place. </p>
<p>We love house parties and this one doesn't dissapoint. Playing unplugged (save for the bass) for about 20 people in a small intimate environment - it's the best. We told stories, had a sing-a-long, met really great folks who not only hung out but they listened! One guy even questioned Ben on a lyrical choice saying "didn't you use that line in another song?" And we hadn't even noticed it but there were two lines that are similar! We all drink wine, eat chocolate, hang out and two folks even waltzed while we played. </p>
<p>Best show of the tour so far. Thank you Suzi. </p>
<p>We decide that Sunday we were going to go to Muir Woods since Ben has never seen the giant trees. Sunday is also Mother's Day. The traffic in San Francisco is off the charts. There's actually signs saying that Muir Woods parking is totally full and it's a mile to 2 mile walk from parking to the front gate. So we bag that idea and head to Golden Gate Park - more clusterduck traffic and driving around the city... Sucks. We wanted to show Ben awesomeness of the USA and instead he got to see shitty traffic on all major motorways. </p>
<p>We get to the Hotel Utah. </p>
<p>Now we've played here before and I dig the place but it's getting a little run down. When we walk into the stage area the bartender is in the corner with a mop and there's a steady stream of water coming from the ceiling, down the drapes and there's a pair of electrical power strips that are steaming. Ok, maybe not steaming. SMOKING. She rips them out of the wall and informs us that there's something going on upstairs, they end up having to turn off the water for the whole building and the soundman makes it all work. Amazing. We did't use the bad plugs, water cleaned up, decent sound - and we played for mostly the other bands on the bill and a few folks that came to see us. It's a short 45 minute set which flies by when you're not used to having a set time allotted to you. </p>
<p>I spend the rest of the night going between the stage area listening to the other bands** and going outside to make sure the van has not been broken into yet. Turns out Hotel Utah is in a crappy section of town. In the words of the bartender; "people have to *want* to come here, it doesn't happen accidentally." The parking in the area sucks, they have had lots of car break ins. We are parked directly out front and they warned us not to put anything in their because it will get stolen. Nothing got stolen but I was on the case anyway. </p>
<p>Falling asleep now. </p>
<p>We stay at a motel that Matt found for us and drove home today but not before the check engine light came on as well. Story for another day. </p>
<p>Must sleep. </p>
<p>*thanks for the room Dodie! <br>**which were excellent!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41552772016-04-26T20:12:34-07:002016-04-26T20:12:34-07:00Wednesday, April 27<p>Hey folks! </p>
<p>so we are back east for a couple of show this week and would love to see you .* </p>
<p>We also have our picture disc records in !! If you go to the "store" page of our website you can get them there or from us at a show. </p>
<p>since I am writing this email on my phone I will be brief: </p>
<p>thursday, April 28 <br>Zorbas music hall <br>Market St, Lowell, MA <br>with Kevin Stevenson (from the shoes) and Melvern Taylor and his fabulous meltones. <br>show starts at 8 </p>
<p>friday, April 29 <br>UnchARTed <br>market st, Lowell , MA <br>7 pm show. </p>
<p>Saturday, April 30 <br>the Pasta Loft <br>Milford , NH <br>with Russell Hill. 9 pm. </p>
<p>These me are our only New England area shows for a while </p>
<p>oh and if you're in New England - be sure to pick up a Metronome Magazine as there is a cover story on us! </p>
<p>And here's a link to a new review of our "New Coastline" album: <br>http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/four-genre-breaking-artists-shine-new-sets/ </p>
<p>That's all I have today! </p>
<p>thanks for hanging with us! </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Ben, and Brandon (and Matt and Jimmy) <br>www.thefallenstars.com <br>www.riddleandthestars.com </p>
<p>*I was dreaming when I wrote this so sue me if I go astray <br>unsubscribe</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41467052016-04-20T20:16:22-07:002021-12-29T11:33:31-08:00April 20, 2016<p>Hey! </p>
<p>So the first bit of our shows has started, we've played 4 shows so far I think. We also shot a video (still being edited) and today our new records came in (only a few days after Record Store Day!) and we got a new review in the Desert Star Weekly! </p>
<p>Read the review here or below: </p>
<p>Artist: Riddle & The Stars <br>Title: New Coastline <br>You might like if you enjoy: The Fallen Stars, The Jayhawks, Dawes </p>
<p>Tell me more: An exceptional follow-up ot their 2014 debut collaboration "This Is Happening," <br>the new album from Riddle & The Stars titled "New Coastline" is truly a reason to celebrate the <br>music-making union forged between Australian singer-songwriter Ben Riddle and Huntington Beach, <br>California-based The Fallen Stars (husband-and-wife duo Bobbo and Tracy Byrnes). <br>All three singers are featured via memorable performances, with their blended voices providing an <br>additional winning element across the disc (particularly on the the beautiful Americana nugget "When <br>We Ride"). Riddle brings a distintive singer-songwriter touch to the proceedings, notable on the <br>reflective folk rocker "Running Back To You" and yearning "Tracks." Bobbo Byrnes leads the collective <br>through the rousing root's rocker "I May Never Know" and an affecting take on the John Prine gem <br>"Mexican Home." Tracy Byrnes sings the elegiac "Apples & Knives," and the authentic country-styled <br>"Valentine's Day." <br>Information: thefallenstars.com or riddleandthestars.com </p>
<p>~by Robert Kinsler</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41360412016-04-14T08:35:19-07:002016-04-14T08:35:19-07:00April 14, 2016<p>Hey everybody! </p>
<p>This Saturday - big day! We will be officially releasing "New Coastline" our new cd we did with our friend Ben Riddle from Australia.* And just to keep you up to speed - when we play with Ben we morph from The Fallen Stars to become Riddle & The Stars.** </p>
<p>We have a fun cd release show planned for Saturday night, April 16th at our local residency The Beach Hut Deli. But before that we will be rocking Record Store Day in Orange, CA at Old Towne Vinyl. Did I mention we have a limited edition picture disc coming out that day too? No? I'll get to that. </p>
<p>Saturday, April 16 <br>Record Store Day <br>Old Towne Vinyl <br>447 N. Tustin St.Orange, CA <br>Show starts at 11 am! Linup in order: Phil Cody, Courtney Chambers, Echo Sparks, The Potential Lunatics, Riddle & The Stars. (and possible special guest here) </p>
<p>Saturday, April 16 <br>Riddle & The Stars CD Release Show <br>The Beach Hut Deli <br>19025 Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA <br>8-10 pm. There will be cake. </p>
<p>Now, we're making some new Riddle & The Stars t-shirts and if you would like to buy one this weekend - right now we're taking custom orders: tell us what size and what color you want and we'll make it up and have it ready for you Saturday night. Shirts will be $15. </p>
<p>What's this about a record? That's right - we did a limited edition picture disc (vinyl record) for two songs off of New Coastline. It's pretty awesome and don't worry - when you buy the picture disc, you get the download code for the cd with it as well. We got all your new and old formats covered!*** </p>
<p>What about Sunday? Well, you can rest but we're shooting a music video for the song "Long Way Down". It should be pretty cool. I just have to get my disco ball working again... </p>
<p>That's it for now. Really hope to see you this weekend! </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy, Ben, Brandon (and sometimes Matt) <br>Riddle & The Stars </p>
<p>*Yeah, we kind of released it last year but that was just for our European tour and we sold out of those cds so we added two more songs and remastered it and now it's available everywhere! <br>**Kind of like the shape shifters in Doctor Who. Too geeky? <br>***Hipsters Unite!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41158442016-04-01T00:04:22-07:002016-04-01T00:04:22-07:00April 1, 2016<p>Hey - I'll be quick and keep the footnotes to a minimum today.* </p>
<p>We'll be in Los Angeles, tonight, Friday, April 1.** </p>
<p>Playing an acoustic-ish show with our friend Matt Moran at HolyGround Coffee House. </p>
<p>Here is the event page for the show: <a contents="HERE&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/768259069941901/">HERE </a></p>
<p>If you don't do the facebook thing*** here is the info: </p>
<p><a contents="Friday, April 1st&nbsp;" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" target="_blank">Friday, April 1st </a><br>Holy Ground Coffee and Tea <br>5371 Alhambra Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90032 <br>Matt Moran at 7 pm <br>The Fallen Stars at 8 pm </p>
<p>And the free song for today is of course "<a contents="April Fool" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYMn0dcs7Do">April Fool</a>"****. It's off our first album "found & lost" which came out way back in 1973***** My favorite part in the song is the backwards guitar part after the bridge. I wonder if we could (or should) play this song tomorrow. I will check with Tracy and get back to you. </p>
<p>That is all for now. Our next show will be on Record Store Day at Old Towne Vinyl in Orange and that night at Beach Hut Deli for our cd release of "New Coastline". I'll tell you about that next week. This is enough for now. </p>
<p>Have a great <a contents="April Fool's Day" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ" target="_blank">April Fool's Day</a> and don't believe anyone who tells you Firefly is coming back for a third season. </p>
<p>xo </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p>*Every time I do a footnote I feel like David Foster Wallace. <br>**No joke, no April Fool. We'll really be there. <br>***like Casey and Chris <br>****Does it seem like we have a song for most holidays? <br>*****It seems like that long ago but it was really only 2004.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/41047822016-03-24T22:52:38-07:002016-03-24T22:52:38-07:00March 24, 2016<p>Hey folks - just dropping a line to let you know that we'll be doing a bunch of shows to promote the new Riddle & The Stars album in the U.S. in April/May. We have shows booked but we're looking for some more. If you would like to book us for a house concert or know of a place that would be good for us - please send me a message! </p>
<p>April 16th - Record Store Day, Old Towne Vinyl, Orange CA <br>April 17th - Video Shoot, SoCal <br>April 21st - Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium, Santa Ana, CA <br>April 29th - UnchARTed, Lowell, MA <br>April 30th - Pasta Loft, Milford, NH <br>May 5th - Outlaws of Folk, Newport Beach, CA <br>May 6th - Red Dog Saloon, Virginia City, NV <br>May 8th - Hotel Utah, San Francisco, CA <br>May 10th - JC Hyke Songwriter Serenade, Arcadia, CA</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/40689132016-03-02T01:03:15-08:002016-03-02T01:03:15-08:00March 3, 2016<p>First before I say anything - I just found out that if you click "respond" to these emails it goes to a NoReply thing and I never get them. So if you've ever written back to me and I've never responded - that's the reason. If you want to write to us: bobbo@thefallenstars.com * and there you go. </p>
<p>2 Really fun shows this week, one in L.A. and one in The OC.** </p>
<p><strong>Wednesday, March 2 </strong><br>The Cinema Bar (<a contents="event page here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1678349795769237/">event page here</a>) <br>3967 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA <br>It's OC Americana in LA with Echo Sparks at 9 pm, Alice Wallace at 10 pm and The Fallen Stars at 11 pm. <br>Been a long time since we've played the Cinema and really hoping to make it a regular thing. </p>
<p><strong>Thursday, March 3 </strong><br>Outlaws of Folk Series @ Alta Coffee (<a contents="event page here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/792449860887149/" target="_blank">event page here</a>) <br>506 31st St, Newport Beach, CA <br>This is Michael Ubaldini's night and he's playing as well as Kern Richards. </p>
<p>Lots of fun this week!! That's all we have booked for a while so really hope you can make it out. </p>
<p>Btw - anyone watch the X-Files re-boot? Maddening I tell you!!! I won't spoil it but C'MON!!!! In other news - I hear Oprah likes bread. </p>
<p>See you soon, </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon </p>
<p>*this also works for any member of the band: just put their name and @thefallenstars.com and bazinga! <br>**Don't call it that. <br> </p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/40652292016-02-29T04:48:24-08:002016-02-29T04:48:24-08:00February 29, 2016Really excited to be playing the Cinema Bar in Culver City on Wednesday night with our friends Alice Wallace and Echo Sparks. Hope to see you there. Here's the event page: <p>https://www.facebook.com/events/1678349795769237/</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/40592662016-02-24T22:34:09-08:002017-01-11T05:47:53-08:00February 24, 2016<p>Hey! </p>
<p>So what's happening here? Well we have 1 show this weekend, we just got the new Riddle & The Stars album mastered, Tracy finished a new video for our Firefly music project and... I think that's it for this week. </p>
<p>Saturday, Feb 27 <br>Beach Hut Deli <br>Beach Blvd, Huntington Beach, CA <br>7-10 pm Free <br>w/ Tall as Men </p>
<p>I made a fun flyer that is totally metal.* <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/89ab61540b1965cd9d1255cc11c0fb5ed34bffad/medium/bhd.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>New Riddle & The Stars?? Yes. We did a limited run of cds for our tour last year and sold out of them. We regrouped and added two new songs to it and just got it back from getting mastered. So the cd that's for sale on our website will be updated with the new mixes. If you already purchased this cd and would like the two new songs - let me know and I will send them to you. We will be doing a presale of this cd very soon as well as a songbook/chordbook for all our songs and maybe even a contest. </p>
<p>What else? Well Tracy did the Firefly video for our song "Apples & Knives" It's way cool and very dark. I dig it. If you want to see it -it's here. The song is for the 10th song in our "Leaves on the Wind Music Project" and goes with the Firefly episode 10 "War Stories". We've just started working on songs for the final cd in the series and will probably play our new song "Naked" at our show on Saturday. </p>
<p>I think that's all for today. </p>
<p>Thanks for hanging and hope to see you this weekend. If you're up for something next week - we're at The Cinema Bar in Culver City on Wednesday, March 2 with Alice Wallace and Echo Sparks and Thursday, March 3 at Alta Coffee in Newport Beach with Michael Ubaldini and Kern Richards. </p>
<p>Later!</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/40364522016-02-11T10:12:26-08:002017-01-11T05:47:53-08:00February 11, 2016Hey! Had a great visit with our friend Kaurna Cronin. He's a singer songwriter from Australia that we met on tour last year in Europe. He crashed with us for a couple of days, had a great sing a long at our kitchen table. These are some of the best things of being a musician - the unplanned awesomeness of a kitchen table sing a long. <br><br>This weekend we have a really fun Valentine's Day show with Echo Sparks and Michael Ubaldini. ES had this idea to do a show full of murder ballads for Valentine's Day. Yeah, they're twisted like that. So we've worked up some fun ones. Learned our first Nick Cave song ever and it's going to be a lot of fun. If you can't make the gig - be sure to Periscope in and watch on your phone or computer at www.periscope.tv/thefallenstars <br><br>Dig this pic Colleen from ES did: <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/a90a1827fd4897008684bdf22a3cce440b69c862/medium/murder.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>Then Monday night we'll be in Santa Monica at Bar Lubitsch for a songwriter night. I was going to do it solo but now Tracy's coming with me so it will be Fallen Stars instead of just Bobbo. Here's the awesome flyer Ian at Bar Lubistch did for the night:<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/2b6169adfc982f4847ab85505d40675af6dcb39b/medium/12666494-10207376268717556-2011947108-n.jpg?0" class="size_m justify_center border_" /><br><br>Ian likes the groovy 60's. This room is way cool and it's been a while since we've played in L.A. so hope you can make it out. We're on early at 8 pm. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39879202016-01-13T21:49:03-08:002017-01-11T05:47:52-08:00January 13, 2016Saturday night, Huntington Beach. Cage match between The Fallen Stars and Echo Sparks. Two bands enter, one band leaves.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/6a41867e9d8509fea775412ba048d7961901c98c/medium/echo-stars.jpg?1452744143" class="size_m justify_center border_" />The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39692522016-01-02T01:25:42-08:002016-01-02T01:25:42-08:00Happy New Year! January 3rd show and a Motorhead cover.<p>It's been super mellow here in TFS land. We took some time off for the holidays and re-charging some batteries. </p>
<p>Hope you had a great Holiday Season, hell, we went to bed before midnight on NYE!! It's been that mellow. </p>
<p>But we've been gearing up for a bunch of stuff in 2016. More on that later.* </p>
<p>We have a show this weekend at the Gaslamp in Long Beach. It's a little strange for us as it's being billed as a Line Dancer Country Music Festival. I asked multiple times if they knew what we sounded like and they assured me they did. The headliner for this show is Jamie O'Neal who is straight up country. We have our snappy shirts out so this should be fun. </p>
<p>It's a pricey show but we got a few comp tickets we can leave at will call if you want. (just email me back) </p>
<p><strong>Sunday, January 3rd </strong><br>The Gaslamp <br>Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA <br>Super Early Showtime of 5 pm!! <br><a contents="event page here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/930047500408226/" target="_blank">event page here</a> </p>
<p>I also did a quick video yesterday from our studio in honor of Lemmy from Motörhead. You can <a contents="watch it here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIvfL1USeO8" target="_blank">watch it here</a>. </p>
<p>That's all for now. Seriously, this is currently the only show booked right now!** </p>
<p>Happy Happy Joy Joy! </p>
<p>See you soon. </p>
<p>Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon <br>The Fallen Stars </p>
<p>*Do you know anyone that shoots music videos? If so - message me! <br>**Well, not exactly true...we have a couple booked in Europe but that's a few months out still.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39498782015-12-04T11:08:03-08:002022-02-04T02:00:50-08:00HitFix.com Interview!Tracy and I got interviewed by HitFix.com about our Firefly "Leaves on the Wind Music Project" Dig it here!<br><br>http://www.hitfix.com/videos/the-fallen-stars-talks-leaves-on-the-wind-music-based-on-the-tv-series-fireflyThe Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39377392015-11-27T09:21:15-08:002015-11-27T09:21:41-08:00Black Friday - Cyber Monday SALE!Get some music for cheap this crazy weekend - you don't even have to wait in line!<br><br>Head over to our music page <a contents="here" data-link-label="Music" data-link-type="page" href="/music" target="_blank">here</a> and get 50% off any of our albums. <br><br>That's right 50% off! That's a steal at twice the price!<br><br>Happy Happy Joy Joy.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39064032015-10-31T08:24:49-07:002017-01-11T05:47:51-08:00Best Live Band - The Fallen Stars<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/ae3df80b36105766eec3c397b7edf82c0a7f26c0/medium/img-3500.jpg?1446305046" class="size_m justify_center border_" />The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39058172015-10-29T07:26:38-07:002015-10-29T08:57:28-07:00October 29, 2015Woke up to the news that we won "Best Live Band" in the OC Weekly Best of 2015!<br><br>That's pretty awesome. Thank you to the OC Weekly!<br><br>Now we got that going for us, which is nice. ;)<br><br>http://www.ocweekly.com/bestof/2015/award/best-live-band-2258807/The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39052132015-10-27T15:35:15-07:002015-10-27T15:35:15-07:00October 27, 2015Hey - if you feel like clicking through and watching some of our show last night - the whole show is on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNxDvm9XmOs&feature=youtu.beThe Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39040602015-10-23T03:07:12-07:002017-01-11T05:47:50-08:00October 23, 2015<span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">It's been quiet around here huh? Just because I haven't been in your inbox doesn't mean we haven't been doing nothing.*<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We are taking a bit of a break from live shows over November/December but we have one show next week. Here's the scoop:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Monday, Oct 26</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Americana Mondays at Beatnik Bandito" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206916199294795&set=o.52915154075&type=3&notif_t=page_wall" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Americana Mondays at Beatnik Bandito</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">417 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">with <a contents="Echo Sparks" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.echosparksband.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Echo Sparks</a> and <a contents="Doug Schmude" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.dougschmude.net/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Doug Schmude</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">8ish pm - $5<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Echo Sparks have been putting on these great shows on Monday nights - it's an awesome listening room and just overall a great time. We're excited to be part of it. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We'll be doing this set-up: <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/1a08a3b5fc2ab3112c95c779e5d138246a8311aa/original/tfs-fathers.jpg?1445407243" class="size_l justify_center border_" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We've been rehearsing with Brandon on a stripped down kit and me on a lot of acoustic (and a little bit of electric) and the dynamics that we've been able to get have been really cool. Come hear for yourself!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you can't make it to the show - you can sit at home and watch the whole thing on Periscope Live! <a contents="Go here and log in" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.periscope.tv/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Go here and log in</a> - we'll be doing a lot of Periscoping** in the future. You can find us at twitter.com/thefallenstars for periscope.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">What else is going on? Well we're planning some touring for the spring, going up the West coast, the Southwest and the Northeast. We've also been scheduling our return to Europe for fall of 2016. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We also had a really fun week of going to shows. We saw the Foo Fighters last weekend and got to hang with our buddy Rami Jaffee***backstage and had a crazy rock star moment yesterday when we had backstage passes for Slash after his show.**** and we snapped this pic: You forget what a monster on guitar he is. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/5e09c4cc906633e4bb08f7c4f91312e1be8eeaf3/medium/slash.jpg?1445591908" class="size_m justify_center border_" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">So come on out Monday night and hang with us, we promise a good time and all.***** <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">xo******<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="http://thefallenstars.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a></span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*love the double negative.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**new verb!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***He plays keyboards in the Foos and has also appeared on our last 3 cds. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****Slash's Dad is a fan of us. No really! It's awesome weird. Slash said to us "My Dad really loves your band."<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">*****Slash will not be performing with us. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">******I will stop talking about Slash now. We're just kind of freaked that he knew who we were. Ok done. NOW. </span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/39035972015-10-20T23:38:22-07:002015-10-20T23:38:22-07:00October 21Hello!<br><br>Not much going on this week. <br><br>We have a show Monday, Oct 26 at Beatnik Bandito Music Emporium in Santa Ana with Echo Sparks and Doug Schmude. Should be a lot of fun. <br><br>If you can't make the show - you can always watch it live on your phone or computer on Periscope.tv - just find us; TheFallenStars there and you can see whatever we're broadcasting!<br><br>Fun.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38758632015-09-30T07:47:00-07:002015-09-30T07:47:00-07:00Sept 30, 2015<span class="font_regular"><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Man, we just got back from almost 2 weeks in New England, had a pair of amazing shows there and even had 2 whole days that I would technically call "vacation".* We were on Cape Cod, had some great fried clams (Cream & Cone) and I had my favorite ice cream - Maple Walnut from Sundae School in Dennisport. (I get this ice cream once a year when we go back.) And then I went for about a 10 mile bike ride on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Which would've been awesome had I not broken the lock ring on the rear axle of the bike.**<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">So now we are back in SoCal. Did I mention that we're nominated for 3 different readers poll awards in the <a contents="OC Weekly" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">OC Weekly</a>? Riddle & The Stars is nominated for "Best Indie Band" and The Fallen Stars is nominated for "Best Live Band" and "Best Rock Band". It would be cool to win but it's really nice just to be nominated. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">This coming Saturday will be our last full band show of the year. We need a little break from all the globetrotting and what-not. We're going to work on some new tunes and we even have a couple of online Firefly events that we will be part of - so that's cool. More on that as it develops. </span></span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="font_regular"><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Oct 3</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Father's Pub<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Ponderossa St, Santa Ana, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">w/ The Damngivers<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">8 pm and free!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Again, this is our last full band show of the year, so come on out and rock with us. I'm even going to make a cake to bring. Why? Well, it's my birthday as well*** so I'm bringing a cake to share. It's my mom's recipe.****<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We have lots of stuff we're working on in the coming months that's why we need to concentrate on getting them done. Ovation TV is using our Firefly themed songs to promote their "Firefly Fridays", we are working on writing and recording the last 5 songs for the Firefly series, we're planning a spring tour with Ben Riddle for across the US tour with a stop in Nashville to record with former Uncle Tupelo/Wilco drummer Ken Coomer******, trying to figure out if we are going to Australia or Europe in fall of 2016, working on video ideas for RATS album and talking about shooting a documentary on our cross country tour. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">So that's a lot. </span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">And then there's this - My Aunt Mary Ann is pretty amazing. She has been recognized by the World Health Organization for her work with women around the world and women's issues, lots of incredible stuff but this month she is flying to Kenya to work with Dr. Hillary Mabeya who treats women with obstetric fistula, he started performing surgeries in an abandoned house and now they are building a proper medical center. If you get a second and have a dollar to spare - please think about sending it their way. Help change a persons life on the other side of the world. Here's their <a contents=" website" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.fistulafoundation.org/" target="_blank">website</a> and here's a<a contents=" video" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MXNbFq5WU" target="_blank"> video</a> about what they have done and are doing. It really is amazing. I had no idea this was even a thing, you live your life in your little bubble until someone shows you what a big difference a little help can be. Dr. Mabeya has made it his life's work to treat women with obstetric fistula and in the developing nations this is HUGE. <span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(20, 24, 35); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"> </span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">That's all for now, hope to see you soon.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy and Brandon<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Fallen Stars</span></span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*By "vacation" I mean, we didn't work or do a show.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**Don't need to know a lot about bikes to know that that's bad. I've never seen or heard of one of these breaking but there I was walking home in the rain. Actually, it was still pretty nice. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***Technically, not until Monday but close enough. And Please no presents.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****</span><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">She never learned how to use the stove but the oven she has down!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">******He contacted me about working together!</span></span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38489702015-09-09T23:33:10-07:002021-10-08T22:07:30-07:00Update on our Lowell, MA showNew venue for our Thursday, Sept 24th show. <br><br>There was a thing at the other venue, a coup perhaps. I don't know the details but our show in Lowell is now at UnchARTed at 103 Market St.<br><br>There website is <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://unchartedstudios.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">here</a> and this is their <a contents="facebook" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/UnchARTed-202386856448988/timeline/" target="_blank">facebook</a>.<br><br>Recap:<br><br>Thusday, Sept 24<br>UnchARTed<br>103 Market St.<br>Lowell, MA<br><br>See you there!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38458442015-09-07T23:55:03-07:002017-01-11T05:47:50-08:00Sept 8, 2015<span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HEY THERE! <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Ok, enough with the all caps. Hope you had an awesome long weekend. We sure did! We drove the 200 miles round trip to play at Fandomverse up in Lancaster and it went so well they have asked us to be a part of Whedonopolis in May!* And then today we went whale watching and saw a blue whale!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/263a8b0a723888ad928660f56f09d20c8bf30f01/medium/img-2808.jpg?1441693006" class="size_m justify_left border_" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px;" /><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">It looked like this.**<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">This is the exciting news this week: </strong></em><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We have made the finals in 3 different categories of the OC Weekly's 2015 Reader's Poll!! It's a popularity contest so I am asking you to stop by their website and give us a vote. It's easy, painless and thank you in advance. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Here's the website: <a contents="http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Here's what we're up for:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Best Indie Band: Riddle & The Stars<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Best Rock Band: The Fallen Stars<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Best Live Band: The Fallen Stars<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thanks for throwing us a vote! Plus you can also vote for your favorite DJ, taco, dive bar... <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We also have 2 shows this week:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Tuesday, Sept 8</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Matt Denny's Ale House<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Arcadia, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We're playing the Songwriter Serenade Birthday Jam with a bunch of other folks. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Details here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153838779799311&set=a.322457694310.147223.608099310&type=1&theater&notif_t=like" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Details here</a>.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Sept 12</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Westin Mission HIlls<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Palm Desert, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">All night, All us, All free.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">What else? Well, then we have two shows in New England. Sadly we're not getting to Vermont*** but we will be playing:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thursday, Sept 24</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Last Safe & Deposit<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Lowell, Ma<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">with our awesome friends The Farewells.****<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Friday, Sept 25</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Pasta Loft<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Milford, NH<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Event Page Here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1608642462721847/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Event Page Here</a>.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Fallen Stars will be opening up for The Gypsy Mechanics. It's the GM's 20th anniversary show celebrating the release of their first cd "Friendliest Place in Town". I was a member of the GM's for about 100 years***** and this will be a special night with 2 returning drummers of Kris and Jimmy and a full night of fun. Also - "Friendliest Place in Town" just made it's way to iTunes for the first time ever and it's got bonus tracks including our earlier demos, all in all $9.99 is pretty cheap for 27 songs. Yes, 27 songs. If you're on Apple Tunes, give it a listen. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">That's all I got for today. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">As always, thanks for hanging with us.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy (and Brandon, Matt and in NH - Jimmy!)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Riddle &amp; The Stars" data-link-label="Riddle and The Stars" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/riddle-and-the-stars" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Riddle & The Stars</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Oh, and our Instagram page is TheFallenStarsBand<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Follow us on Facebook.com/thefallenstars</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Whedonopolis is like the nerd disneyland. Wait, that's ComicCon... Ok, well this is like if ComicCon wasn't all corporate and in San Diego and...<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**Actual picture from today.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***Sorry <a contents="Syd" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.sydstraw.net/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Syd</a>! Next time!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****If you don't know<a contents=" the Farewells " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.thefarewells.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 86, 151);" target="_blank"> the Farewells </a>then you're missing out. Peter and Samantha sing gorgeous songs and play amazing guitar. Request "Lovesick", Peter actually played it at our wedding!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">*****Give or take a zero.</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38422182015-09-03T23:08:57-07:002015-09-03T23:08:57-07:00Best of OC 2015Hey - so check this out. We have made the finals of this year's Best Of list Reader's Poll in the OC Weekly...THREE TIMES!<br><br>That's right:<br><br>Best Indie Band - Riddle & The Stars<br>Best Rock Band - The Fallen Stars<br>Best Live Band - The Fallen Stars<br><br>So that's pretty cool. If anyone feels like padding the ballot box - <a href="http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://readerschoice.ocweekly.com/</a> <br><br>Thanks!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38407892015-09-03T02:09:49-07:002022-01-27T20:53:52-08:00It's Early September and I Really Should Be Back At School, Shows, etc...<span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hey! So what's happening? </span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was thinking of taking one of those pictures like everyone has been posting on facebook about going back to school but then I remembered; I'm not going back to school.* I kind of miss going to college, you know, fall in New England, throwing a frisbee in the quad, snow sledding on the cafeteria trays, being infatuated with the girl with the pony tail driving a Jetta, playing all of "An American Prayer" on the college radio station, almost passing algebra, having a roommate that smoked my toothpaste, finding that girl that snuck into my room and started wearing my clothes, hitchhiking to Burlington Vermont, accidentally setting the toaster in the cafeteria on fire, sleeping through Shakespeare, seeing Pearl Jam for $2.00, and driving 365 miles to visit Tracy at school...**<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">In the spirit of hanging out doing nothing of any importance...We're playing a coffee shop in Newport Beach tonight. We can hang out there late and maybe discuss Picasso's blue period or Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward"*** <em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> "Dude, Picasso was well into his blue period before he discovered cubism, what are you an engineering student?"****</em><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thursday, Sept 3</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Alta Coffee House<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">31st St, Newport Beach, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">7 pm. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">It's Michael Ubaldini's Outlaws of Folk Series. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Then on Saturday we get our geek on in a big way when we play at Fandomverse Expo in Lancaster, CA. We'll be doing a full set of our Firefly songs. (Also known as "<a contents="The Leaves On The Wind Music Project" data-link-label="Browncoats" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/browncoats" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Leaves On The Wind Music Project</a>") I don't really know what to expect from this but we do love the geeks.*****<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Sept 5</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Fandomverse Expo" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://fandomverseexpo.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Fandomverse Expo</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Lancaster, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We play at 9 pm outside on the stage.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">In other news:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We have two shows booked in New England in the next few weeks:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thursday, Sept 24</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Last Safe & Deposit<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Lowell, MA <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">w/ The Farewells<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Friday, Sept 25</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Pasta Loft<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Milford, NH<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">w/ The Gypsy Mechanics (reunion show)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">And tonight while cleaning I found a DVD of us playing in Hollywood at The Gig way back in 2007!! I just posted a song from that show where we cover the Clash song "Stay Free". <a contents="&nbsp;It's here. " data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://youtu.be/UW0sj-3wnqI" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> It's here. </a> Enjoy!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We've also started planning the Riddle & The Stars US tour for May of 2016. I called Ben in Australia but he was in the future by 16 hours. I was very confused. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">That's enough for today. I gave up drinking Diet Coke and am sleepy and cranky******<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Goodnight, hope to see you soon.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo & Tracy, Brandon & Ben & Matt and other folks....<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/shop" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a></span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><a contents="Riddle &amp; The Stars" data-link-label="Riddle and The Stars" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/riddle-and-the-stars" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank"><span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Riddle & The Stars</span></a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Bonus points will be awarded if you knew that the subject of this email was from a Rod Stewart song.</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Rodney Dangerfield's second best movie.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**All true stories except the frisbee throwing - I never did that crap.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***Probably my favorite dystopian novel.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****Actual overheard conversation. I think what made it was the use of "Dude." <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">*****The geeks won't inherit the earth it's theirs already.^<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">^that footnote got hijacked by a Replacements song.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">******I think only one of those is a Disney Dwarf. </span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38275342015-08-21T00:47:03-07:002015-08-21T00:47:03-07:00Article about our So Cal Americana Festival!Great write up we got here: http://www.axs.com/check-out-the-southern-california-americana-festival-at-hogue-barmicha-64155The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38270732015-08-20T15:26:57-07:002017-01-11T05:47:50-08:00Want a free cd?<br>Right now - buy one of our cds on our <a contents="STORE" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="/shop">S</a><a contents="SHOP" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="/shop">HOP</a> page and receive one of <br>these cds with your order. Specify which one you want or just be surprised!<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/0939b6f2eef4a3bb3771b0a9e4646546d1e0ad09/medium/11895978-10153623471268336-4799273282176028589-n.jpg?1440109527" class="size_m justify_left border_" />The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38261952015-08-20T01:47:38-07:002023-12-10T10:32:23-08:00August 20, 2015This weekend - The Second Annual Southern California Americana Festival!!<br><br>Yep. This is the festival I organize. We raise money for Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.<br><br>Saturday, August 22. <br>Hogue Barmichaels<br>Campus Dr. Newport Beach, CA<br>$5 All Ages.<br><br>Here's the lineup:<br><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">2-2:45 </a><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=211259422355805&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/theponderosaaces">The Ponderosa Aces</a><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">3-3:45 </a><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=40917694547&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/alicewallacemusicpage">Alice Wallace</a><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">4-4:45 </a><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=534719976595193&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/GoneWayside">Gone Wayside</a><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">5-5:45 Damngivers<br>6-6:45 Ronnie Burch<br>7-7:45 Echo Sparks <br>8-8:45 </a><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=52915154075&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/thefallenstars">The Fallen Stars</a><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">9-9:45 </a><a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=368901088229&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Ubaldini-The-Starshakers/368901088229">Michael Ubaldini &-The Starshakers</a><br><a contents="2-2:45&nbsp;The Ponderosa Aces3-3:45&nbsp;Alice Wallace4-4:45&nbsp;Gone Wayside5-5:45 Damngivers6-6:45 Ronnie Burch7-7:45 Echo Sparks&nbsp;8-8:45&nbsp;The Fallen Stars9-9:45&nbsp;Michael Ubaldini &amp;-The Starshakers10-10:45 Derek Thomas" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/449684218522485/" target="_blank">10-10:45 Derek Thomas<br><br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/96927621614184351937929595b63e45ab2e7b37/medium/11898730-882666091821499-1943603647372324227-n.jpg?1440060803" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></a>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38059112015-08-06T01:28:10-07:002017-01-11T05:47:49-08:00Some fun pics from our tourThis is from Haus Am Walde. Our second show of the tour.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/a8b8be946b1a046a2b16e53b7240552567e64bdd/medium/image.jpg?1435669298" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Sometimes we drank schnapps.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/47ead3f29dcd290c9bcd3a93538f92cfd87366ad/medium/img-2915.jpg?1438847226" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>And there was a Bosendorfer!! <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/745d9be57194ccaec3318fba6207e9ed72162606/medium/img-2921.jpg?1438847291" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>We never got good at parking this car. And for the record - the GPS in this Ford sucked. We were three weeks in before we realized it was set on "Scenic Route". We're wondering why it had us getting off the Autobahn and driving through these tiny roads (and sometimes non-roads!)<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/1c6e77df8d52eeac86e2ffab2b773846d393ac58/medium/img-2918.jpg?1438847606" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This is Ben making cookies in the middle of the night. He has the McGyver like ability to make food out of next to no ingredients. It's amazing to watch.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/4d36f7b2bf28d05a55b7f3c2bb81bfeef7b8ab5b/medium/img-2867.jpg?1438847822" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>We had our own trailer. That's right. Trailers. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/bcb5fabb906a353a60fcd17b337f8238079b731b/medium/img-2983.jpg?1438847382" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Here's Ross & Jess from Rufus Coates. If you could hear this picture - it would scare you.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/f3d60d9681e089cdc5418f41fee3807366183182/medium/img-2931.jpg?1438847455" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Gummi Bears are now part of my tour rider. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/273f65c0f377c2f9a88587c7030839264db23e67/medium/img-2977.jpg?1438847446" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Lots of people liked us at Breminale. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/9ec48fb42b52fc0b516e0f197db9ffce3ba360dd/medium/img-2986.jpg?1438847460" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>There was a cake-off. Here Ben is sizing up the two entries. Ellie smiles because her cake is awesome. (Not pictured: Mona Li - her cake was excellent even without the bananas!)<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/6d8272b40e1aa4fcfb2982936509fcf29dcb4f19/medium/img-2997.jpg?1438847467" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Tracy, Aireene & Jess. It's too bad we had to fly out the next morning, this night may still be going on somewhere. No one danced on the pole at the Heartbreak Hotel but shots were shared and we promised to see each other again. This means we have to go to Ireland!<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/4a01052a28b2914668f1418322bfabdfd9518e1c/medium/img-3086.jpg?1438847536" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Dave (from ODi) and I fight over the backstage drugs. We're old. Fighting over the Sudafed. #notcoolanymore<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/eb5bd134a9b679f38a5726435a8fd9bd5bd98151/medium/img-2991.jpg?1438848399" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>You'd think with a name like "Burgerhaus" they would be good. BUT NO!! Just more crap hamburgers. Seriously, no one in Germany can make a decent hamburger. Well, maybe Tobi Grimm but I haven't tasted first hand.<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/21ebe707e5739a42899fcaa4f86bbe8744e2b0e0/medium/img-2989.jpg?1438847453" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>I love this picture. Finally eating together. Jess finally got decent schnitzel, John got his potatoes, potatoes, potatoes, Aireene somehow ordered off the children's menu and we were all almost late for the gig.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/55fc19681d7a948d677a0025e0018e67233b8bda/medium/img-3041.jpg?1438848845" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>There is no possible way something like this can be going on WHILE YOU ARE PLAYING - and not get completely distracted by it. Yes, he built that tower out of plastic soda carriers and climbed it while he was building it. Apparently, this is a thing.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/5fc277a9159dff0e587889ef71428ba74009d5a2/medium/img-3027.jpg?1438849037" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>This place was serious about sitting down to pee. Even the guy on the left has his hat on backwards showing just what kind of guy stands up to pee. I didn't have a hat on but I stood. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/d33c2fef4c5ec32fda711e7ccc256d904da4eb55/medium/img-2963.jpg?1438849047" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Sometimes we had help making our setlists: "Play that one, that one, that one...PLAY ALL OF THEM!" Danke.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/f4c25001a9fd42d47030cff4c7cdda4ce2050448/medium/img-2956.jpg?1438847360" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>And Windy came by with his homemade jam for us. Thank you!<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/e067dfadc415d9de6b56174a4ab082a14b422379/medium/img-2964.jpg?1438847538" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>We actually played in this cathedral, it dated back to the year 1028 and was massive. There was like 500 people in here later on. Ben called it a "church". About 6 people corrected me afterward "This is not a church, it's a Cathedral." Me: "I didn't say it - it was Ben!"<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/daaa9b185a4ad81ad821bf32b8794c410d4642c5/medium/img-2870.jpg?1438847821" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Tracy, Ben, Aireene and Heiko. Dinner somewhere.<br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/45978ab15630290d94b215b7d85e1ad727e82b22/medium/img-2942.jpg?1438847307" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>And then there's ice cream.<br><br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/b3c48cd5ea112637a76da53c84665c261b1251e0/medium/img-2940.jpg?1438847299" class="size_m justify_left border_" /><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Over 77 hours spent driving and about 3000 miles. <br><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/d3abeb9c62a4211832850deeb9c66048d5260c06/medium/img-3090.jpg?1438847218" class="size_m justify_left border_" />The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/38006162015-08-02T23:29:28-07:002015-08-02T23:29:28-07:00August 2, 2015There's lots to tell and more to spill but here's the short and sweet:<br><br>"New Coastline" cds that we made for the European tour - yeah, we have sold out of them. More will be made but not for a month or two. The download is still available but we're out of the physical cds.<br><br>Speaking of things we are out of... We are also sold out of "Way Out West" cds. We should have those back in pretty soon and again, download is still available.<br><br>Thanks to everyone for buying our cds - we can now say we "Sold Out". <br><br>Ha!!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37358882015-06-09T19:05:31-07:002017-01-11T05:47:48-08:00What? New Riddle & The Stars cd available?<a contents="" data-link-label="Music: New Coastline" data-link-type="page" href="/music-new-coastline" target="_blank"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/e17419375d79743066dfa7ff9ea9613dd703db3e/medium/rats-new-coastline.jpg?1433840570" class="size_m justify_left border_" /></a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Yep. Just click the pretty picture. Brand new. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37339832015-06-09T02:48:17-07:002015-06-09T02:48:17-07:0022 Rabbits House Concert SeriesWe're playing the 22 Rabbits House Concert Series. <a contents="The invite is here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/22RabbitsHouseConcertSeries?fref=ts" target="_blank">The invite is here</a>. On Thursday, June 11.<br><br>The show is in Irvine, CA and is open to the public but you do need to rsvp on the invite page in order to get the address.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37286552015-06-04T03:32:20-07:002015-06-04T03:32:20-07:00June 3, 2015Got a great review of our new cd "Leaves on the Wind Vol 2: No Power In The 'Verse Can Stop Me"<br><br>Wow, that's a long title. <br><br>Anyway - it's here: <a contents="Nashville Music News" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/past-and-present-riches-celebrated-on-new-collections/" target="_blank">Nashville Music News</a><br><br>I now return you to regularly scheduled programming. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37285692015-06-04T00:43:04-07:002015-07-29T23:08:58-07:00European Tour DatesJune 26<br>Rathausplatz Verden<br>Verden, Germany<br>7 pm<br>http://dm.verden-turnier.de/verden-voltigieren/<br><br>June 27<br>S&W Open Air @ Haus Am Walde <br>Kuhgrabenweg 2 <br>28359 Bremen, Germany<br>The Fallen Stars at 4:30 pm<br>Riddle & The Stars at 6:30 pm<br>http://hausamwalde-bremen.de/kontakt-4.html<br><br>June 28<br>Central Theatre Brake<br>Brake, Germany<br>"Can't Stop The Serenity"<br>Firefly Show!<br>http://www.centraltheaterbrake.de/<br><br>June 30<br>Tonfink<br>GR. Burgstrasse 46<br>Lubeck, Germany<br>http://www.tonfink.de/<br><br>July 2<br>Bramsche Summer Open Air<br>Bremen, Germany<br>www.bramsche.de<br><br>July 3<br>Villa Sponte<br>Osterdeich 59b<br>Bremen, Germany<br>www.vill-sponte.de<br><br>July 4<br>Irene, House Concert<br>Grossenkneten, Germany<br><br>July 5<br>Nix & Meer<br>Everhardt vd Marckstraat 2<br>VN Enschede, The Netherlands<br>www.nixenmeer.n.<br><br>July 6<br>Altes Gynmasium School<br>1:30 pm<br>Bremen, Germany<br><br>July 6<br>Falstaff<br>Schulstrasse 26<br>Bremen, Germany<br>7 pm<br>www.falstaff-bremen.de<br><br>July 7 <br>Radio Weser TV<br>Delmenhorst, Germany<br>3 pm<br>www.radioweser.tv<br><br>July 7 <br>Hafen Casino<br>8 pm<br>Bremen, Germany<br><br>July 8<br>Radio Jade <br>2:30 pm<br>www.radio-jade.de<br><br>July 8<br>Pumpwerk<br>Banter Deich 1<br>Wilhelmshaven, Germany<br>10 pm<br>www.pumpwerk.de<br><br>July 10<br>Wilder Westen Gropelingen<br>(is this a zoo?)<br><br>July 11<br>Dom zu Verden<br>Lugenstein 10-12<br>Verden, Germany<br>www.dommusikenverden.de<br><br>July 12<br>BuS Huchting Cultural Center<br>Amersfoorter Strasse 8<br>Bremen, Germany<br>www.bus-huchting.de<br><br>July 13<br>Kino - Hotel Meyer<br>Markstrasse 19<br>Harsefeld, Germany<br>www.kino-hotel.de<br><br>July 14<br>Immanuel Gemeinde<br>Elisabethstrasse 17-18<br>Bremen, Germany<br>www.kirche-bremen.de<br><br>July 15<br>Nimmerland Video Session<br><br>July 15<br>Gansebachers Brasserie<br>Alte Poststrasse 2b<br>Weyhe, Germany<br><br>July 16<br>House Concert Tanja's<br>Hoyerhagen, Germany<br><br>July 17<br>Kohlmann Schlafkultur<br>Bremervorder Strasse 122<br>Stade, Germany<br><br>July 18 <br>Regatta SV Weser<br>Auf dem Peterswerder 29<br>6 pm<br>www.cafe-weserbogen.de<br><br>July 19<br>Breminale<br>Am Osterdeich<br>Bremen, Germany<br>www.breminale.de<br><br>July 20<br>Altes Gymnasium<br>2 pm<br><br>July 20<br>Golden City<br>Ludwig-Franzius-Platz<br>Bremen, Germany<br>8 pm<br>www.frauke-wilhelm.de<br><br>July 21<br>Altes Gymnasium<br>3 pm<br><br>July 21<br>Weserperle Beach Club<br>Fahrstrasse<br>Loxstedt-Dedesdorf, Germany<br>www.weserperle-dedesdorf.de<br><br>July 22<br>Stechinelli <br>Stechinellistrasse 14<br>8 pm<br>Wieckenberg/Wietze<br>www.stechinelli-carre.de<br><br>July 23<br>Lehmitz<br>Reeperbahn 22 <br>Hamburg, Germany<br><br>July 24<br>Zollhaus Leer<br>Bahnhofsring 4<br>Leer, Germany<br>www.zollhaus-leer.de<br><br>July 25<br>Amigo Hayride<br>Delmenhorst, Germany<br>http://heyevent.com/event/ghgvhxtr6ksbua/the-fallen-stars-amigo-hayride<br><br>July 26<br>Club Moments<br>Bremen, GermanyThe Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37113912015-05-21T02:24:38-07:002015-05-21T02:24:38-07:00May 21, 2015 <div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody> <tr> <td> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" id="content-area"> <tbody> <tr> <td id="header-graphic">This weekend's shows will be our last SoCal shows until August</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Say what? What are we going on sabbatical?* No. Just heading back to Europe on tour so we won't be around these parts much.<br> <br> BUT we will be rocking a bunch this weekend. Would love to see some smiling faces at one of this weekends gigs!<br> <br> What else? We're finishing up recording the new Riddle & The Stars EP to have done in about 2 weeks as well as a new Fallen Stars EP in roughly the same time frame. Really digging how they are coming out and it's a bit of a sonic change as well. It's still us but we just keep exploring new sounds and ideas. Hope you will give it a listen when it's done. Oh, and our live album is almost ready for public consumption as well. <a contents='Dig this live video of "Millsboro"' data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwq1aYjOeqY" target="_blank">Dig this live video of "Millsboro"</a>!<br> <br> This weekends shows**<br> <br> Thursday, May 21<br> Huntington Manor Spring BBQ<br> 19131 Delaware St., Huntington Beach, CA<br> 6-7 pm. Free.<br> <br> Friday, May 22<br> <a contents="The Boulevard Lounge" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.theboulevardoc.com/" target="_blank">The Boulevard Lounge</a><br> 1824 Newport Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA<br> 7-10 pm Free<br> <br> Saturday, May 23<br> Beach Hut Deli<br> Corner of Beach & Garfield, Huntington Beach, CA<br> 8-9 pm - then followed by The Potential Lunatics! <br> <br> Sunday, May 24<br> <a contents="The Wayfarer" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.wayfarercm.com/" target="_blank">The Wayfarer</a><br> 843 W 19th St, Costa Mesa, CA<br> MATINEE SHOW - w/ The Damngivers at 4 pm, TFS at 5 pm and Derek Thomas and Skyline Dr at 6 pm.<br> This show is free but it is 21+<br> <br> That's all I got for now. I'm actually quite exhausted - I purchased the CBS.com 5 day trial and have been watching lots of The Late Show w/ David Letterman. I think I watched 3 episodes today, including the final episode. He was the reason I wanted a tv in my bedroom as a teenager. End of an era for sure.<br> <br> As always; thanks for hanging out with us and hope to see you this weekend!<br> <br> Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon<br> The Fallen Stars<br> <br> <br> *Well, technically we do have a <a contents="house concert on June 7" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/22RabbitsHouseConcertSeries/timeline" target="_blank">house concert on June 7</a> in Irvine but those are pretty low key affairs.<br> **btw - Tracy just got home from a trip and was all "what do you mean we have 4 shows this weekend?" I told her that our fans were demanding it and we had to play. Please show up so as to back up my story.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table></div></div>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/37101262015-05-15T12:51:37-07:002015-05-15T12:51:37-07:00May 15, 2015<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody> <tr> <td> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td>I meant to send this sooner but we've been holed up in the studio trying to finish some new songs and will hopefully have some new music to share very soon.<br> <br> Saturday, May 16<br> <a href="http://zooglelabs.com/campaigns/317649/64223/aHR0cDovL3djNC5uZXQvZG0_aWQ9OTg3Njg2NzMzRTNFQ0VERTlGMTk0NTI1QjQ4MTAwNkQzMzQzRkE0QkNBRjlGRDBC" target="_blank">Sam Ash Music Store </a><br> Cerritos, CA<br> 3 pm - free - all ages<br> <br> Saturday, May 16<br> <a href="http://zooglelabs.com/campaigns/317649/64223/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5oaWxsc2lkZXZpbGxhZ2VtdXNpYy5jb20vZXZlbnQvdGhlLWZhbGxlbi1zdGFycy1ib2Jiby1hbmQtdHJhY3ktYnlybmVzLW1heS0xNnRoLw==" target="_blank">Hillside Village Concerts</a><br> 2357 N. Indiana Ave., Los Angeles, <abbr title="California">CA<br> 7-10 pm<br> Free (donations appreciated)<br> <br> These are both going to be really fun shows and I must say we're really excited forSaturday nights show as it gets us doing one of our favorite things - intimate house concerts. We do a ton of these in Europe and they are so much fun. We just got back from Arizona where we played a house concert for the 4th year in a row and it keeps growing every year - we had 70 people at that one! We did one in Portland in November and we'll be back at Sal's place in August for the 4th year in a row. House concerts are the thing of the future. <br> <br> Plus we have another house concert coming up in June in Irvine. I'm telling you. It's the thing all the cool kids are doing.<br> <br> Ok, got to run. Heading back to the studio to finish up a few songs. Really excited about this stuff! We wrote one recently called "nothing needs to be said" that I'm just really digging. It's one of those story songs that came out of reading too much Raymond Carver*. <br> <br> Later!<br> <br> Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon<br> The Fallen Stars</abbr>
</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr>
</tbody></table>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36880802015-05-03T01:11:05-07:002015-05-03T01:11:05-07:00May 3, 2015<span class="font_regular">Arizona is hot and dry.</span>
<p><span class="font_regular">That’s not news to anyone but I always forget how hot and how dry it actually is.</span></p>
<p><span class="font_regular">We hit Quartzsite, just over the Arizona border from California, and stopped to get gas. In case you don’t know - the price of gas drops about $1 a gallon over the Arizona border. We typically stop at the same gas station every trip, you get out and the heat just hits you like a dusty rag.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">Damn. And they put a prison out here. Yes, Blythe, CA is the home of a State prison and it’s just 22 miles from Quartzsite. I get that people are in jail for crimes but putting them in the desert seems extra cruel.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">Anyway.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">To prepare for the Tucson Folk Festival today I have been drinking water. Correction: I have been pounding water, crystal light iced tea, gatorade… Last time we played here I got chapped lips, migraine headaches and was just generally miserable. Being on stage and feeling slightly dehydrated is never good, your voice cracks, your lips are dry - I was playing some harmonica today and if you got no moisture the damn thing just sticks to your lips like the kid in “A Christmas Story”’s tongue to a flagpole.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">So the show went great. It went fast. We got 5 songs in and had planned on 6. That is a short set for us. It’s tough to truly do a representative set in 5 songs. Hell, 6 is only slightly better. (we had a sing along planned!) I looked at the clock and I’d swear we still had 5 minutes to our set. Oh well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">But the crowd was so awesome. I will take 5 song set to an attentive festival crowd over an hour in a bar with the game on at the same time. We got really nice compliments after and sold some cds. Had a guy from the festival say to me; “She [Tracy] started singing and I thought ‘oh, so she’s the singer’ and then you sang the next song and sounded amazing and the two of you together is just the total package! You two are so Pro.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">Pro. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">I struggle with what that really means.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">We came home and settled in for an epic game of trivial pursuit* and listening to some music here. Last week I read a study that said most people over the age of 33 don’t listen to any new music. Today a crowd of folks mostly over 33 listened to a lot of new music. Hours of it. Some of them bought cds. Thank god for people bucking the studies. Here at the inlaws place my father in law put in a mix cd I made him and it had the song titles that I printed up and they had listened to the mix and put a checkmark on the ones they liked and X’s** next to the ones they didn’t like.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">More people bucking the trends. We all grow old but it doesn’t mean we have to stop learning or liking new things.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">They really liked Paul Kelly, Ronnie Fauss, The Mastersons (said it sounded like Tracy!), Ray Wylie Hubbard, Kurt Vile, Kathleen Edwards, Whitehorse, Civil Wars and Jason Isbell.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">That’s a pretty awesome mix cd I must say.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">Tomorrow we’re playing a “block party” here in their retirement community. This is the third year we’ve done this show here and these folks are all coming out to hang out and hear something new to them.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 1em;">That is awesome. Bringing the "new" to the people. You can play the big cities and be just another band or you can go to the small towns and find the people instead of making them have to find you. I guess that’s what makes me feel “pro”.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span class="font_small">*the 1981 original version is woefully out of date!</span></p>
<p><span class="font_small">**On the not liked as much list: Old 97’s, Drive by Truckers, Izzy Stradlin, Billy Pilgrim.</span></p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36728282015-04-23T01:46:21-07:002015-04-23T01:46:21-07:00April 23, 2015Hey!<br><br>So our live recording of our show last week went great! It was so much fun, it actually reminded us a lot of some of the house concerts we've done in Europe, you know folks hanging out and enjoying music and us not competing against a television over our head with the latest game...<br><br>We love a good game as much as the next guy - we just hate competing with a televised sport!<br><br>Anyhoo - <br><br>Want to see/hear one of the songs from the show?<br><br>Here ya go:<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="Gwq1aYjOeqY" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/Gwq1aYjOeqY/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Gwq1aYjOeqY?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>Want to see another one?<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="AY_qITqicQ0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/AY_qITqicQ0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AY_qITqicQ0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br>That's all for now! Talk to you soon!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36661392015-04-19T13:23:57-07:002015-04-19T13:23:57-07:00April 19, 2015We had so much fun recording our live album last night. Can't wait to dive in and mix it all up pretty for you all. <br><br>In the meantime - enjoy this little...we'll call it hi-jinx. <br><br>:)<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="7cjbVXbnkM0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/7cjbVXbnkM0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cjbVXbnkM0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36551872015-04-13T09:55:57-07:002017-01-11T05:47:47-08:00April 13, 2015So it's been a while since we've recorded a live album* and we often** get folks asking us if we have any recordings that are more stripped down, and more like our duo show thing that Tracy and I do. Don't get us wrong, we love the full band sound but we thought it would be really fun to record an intimate show and make that available. And we currently have about 5 other songs just about done in the studio so why not make something out of these two ideas? So we are!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">When I was a little kid I used to play my mothers tape of <em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">An Evening With The Irish Rovers</em> over and over and it was one of the things that made me want to play music, hearing all those people in the same room having so much fun - I wanted to be in <em style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">that</em> sound. So we're going to attempt it this weekend and we'd love for you to join us.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you have any songs that you'd like to hear, please email them to us<a contents=" here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"> here</a>. I'd like to say that we will take all requests at the show but we want it to come out good so we want to be prepared!***<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, April 18th</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Costa Mesa, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="email me" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">email me</a> for the address as it will be at our private studio.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">7-9 pm and there will be food stuffs.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you don't live in SoCal or can't make it out that night - we will be streaming it via Periscope****. Now, I've gotten some crap about Periscope only being an iPhone app. I'm sorry about that. It's the best I can do unless someone knows a better way to let everyone hang out and watch. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span>
<div style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span class="font_xl" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***GEEK ALERT**</strong>*</span></div><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/9a1e92de2d0f7b9e2105c580c5777768d97a19bd/medium/img-2075.jpg?1428914325" class="size_m justify_center border_" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tracy and I went to WonderCon last weekend and had an amazing time meeting folks and talking Firefly and our Firefly inspired music. We talked to the good folks at Whedonopolis and will most likely be doing some events with them in the coming months. <a contents="Can't Stop The Serenity" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Can't Stop The Serenity</a>is using our music in the world wide events and it even got back to us that Nathan Fillion liked Tracy's Serenity inspired costume. (!!)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">AND "Leaves on the Wind Vol 2: No Power In The Verse Can Stop Me" is set to be released very soon. We should also have a new video up very soon for the next song "Open The Door". <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">I think that's all for now. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">And if you're in The Netherlands - please give a listen to http://www.radioloco.nl/ as they have added both The Fallen Stars and Riddle & The Stars to their playlist. Actually, I think you can listen to them anywhere.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Have a great week and talk to you soon!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="http://thefallenstars.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/thefallenstars<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">If you happen to be on Pandora - give a listen to Riddle & The Stars radio. It's a great mix of stuff!</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Almost 7 years! <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**Occasionally.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***Plus we've released about 120 songs over the past 15 year and we really don't know how to play them all!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****You can find us on twitter/periscope at www.twitter.com/thefallenstars</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36468202015-04-08T02:10:01-07:002015-04-08T02:10:01-07:00April 8, 2015So we got this thing happening next week. April 18th to be exact.<br><br>We're recording a live album. If you're in SoCal and would like to be there and be part of it. <a contents="Email me here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com" target="_blank">Email me here</a>.<br><br>It's a kind of secret show location. Limited seating available. <br><br>It will be fun.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36393232015-04-02T22:51:27-07:002015-04-02T22:51:27-07:00April 2, 2015We got the artwork finalized for the latest "Leaves on the Wind" cd today. So those will be available very soon. Excited about that. <br><br>How excited? Well, we'll be at Wonder Con in Anaheim tomorrow performing these songs. I may try and Periscope live online!<br><br>We will also have a new Firefly, Browncoat, Leaves on the Wind Music Project video up soon! The next one is for the song "Open the Door" and it's a really cool song!!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36251632015-03-26T10:11:37-07:002015-03-26T10:11:37-07:00March 26, 2015The Hockey Jerseys have arrived!! <br><br>And they're awesome.<br><br>I will be getting them out in the mail to everyone by tomorrow.<br><br>Woo-Hoo!!!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36089132015-03-18T00:24:34-07:002015-03-18T00:24:34-07:00March 18, 2015 UpdateMan, we had a great rehearsal tonight. I really hope you all come out to our show at Hogue Barmichaels on Thursday, March 19th. <br><br>See the other night at Father's, it was fun and all but it wasn't our best show. I was in my head a little bit, something off and it was frustrating. But we dialed it in tonight and we're ready to bring it Thursday. <br><br>Hogue Barmichaels<br>Campus Dr., Newport Beach, CA<br>All Ages - $5<br><br>Music starts at 9 pm. We start at 10. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/36038472015-03-16T02:23:55-07:002015-03-16T02:23:55-07:00March 16, 2015 UpdateSo last week we thought to ourselves - "Hey, St. Patrick's Day is coming up, we should play our Irish song this weekend." And we dusted it off and started playing it in rehearsal and Brandon came up with a rocking drum part and the song transformed from it's original pretty self into a bit more...we'll just say a little more Pogue-ish. <br><br>Being the lunatics that we are we decided to re-record the song and have it done and ready for St. Patrick's Day. So we finished it last night. <br><br>Here it is for streaming and if you'd like - it is of course available for purchase on our <a contents="Music" data-link-label="Music: Singles and Rarities" data-link-type="page" href="/music-singles-and-rarities" target="_blank">Music</a> page.<br><br>Now does anyone know where to get the <em>gray</em> corned beef? My Mom is wondering.3:21The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/35939142015-03-12T01:38:07-07:002015-03-12T01:38:07-07:00March 12th UpdateHad a great rehearsal tonight. My new Gibson acoustic is really kicking ass, I can't wait to play it live. We dusted off a few older songs and can't wait for this Saturday when it will be our first full band show in almost 3 months!<br><br>In order to play all these songs I'm going to need to bring extra guitars to this gig. That means the Rickenbacker 12 string, Strat, Dobro, Tele, Gretsch, LP and Acoustic. Full on rock and roll ~ TFS style. <br><br>Hope you can make it. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/35852502015-03-09T01:13:00-07:002015-03-09T01:13:00-07:00March 9 UpdateHey folks!<br><br>Just letting you know 2 musical things, ok, maybe 3.<br><br>1) The video for our new Firefly song "Miracle" is done but is currently being blocked by Fox Television. It's amazing, we're promoting their show and they're trying to stop that. Anyway, we've experienced this before and it should be released shortly. Don't want to count chickens but hopefully soon. It's cool. If you'd like to hear the song sans video - it's on our Browncoats page and somewhere in this blog post. <br><br>2) We were in the studio today recording. Started tracks on 2 new songs and 1 older song of ours that we've re-imagined. We're planning on having at least the one done by St. Patrick's Day as it's our Irish song "Pour Me A Whiskey". We were playing it in rehearsal the other day and rocked it up a bit and it sounded like The Fallen Pogues! So much fun.<br><br>3) We're playing at Father's Pub in Santa Ana this coming Saturday March 14th and we had a reactionary rehearsal the other night. A lot of our recent things have been acoustic and quiet... So we turned up the amps and made a good racket! This week's show is going to rock! Hope you can make it.<br><br>Happy Monday! (cue song "Step On")<br> 3:38The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/35685912015-03-02T09:59:25-08:002022-02-05T00:19:56-08:00Some new stuffHey Folks!<br><br>Tracy and I played a couple of shows recently and recorded them. Thought we'd share a couple of tracks in video form.<br><br>Hope you dig!<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="03IZkztOF-U" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/03IZkztOF-U/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/03IZkztOF-U?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe><br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="r-G4sJ2zN8c" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/r-G4sJ2zN8c/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/r-G4sJ2zN8c?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/35183012015-02-09T23:08:33-08:002015-02-09T23:08:33-08:00Tuesday Feb 9, 2015So what's new?<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Well, we had planned a little time off from shows but some good stuff came up and we really miss playing! <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Oh yeah! Our second Firefly CD "Leaves On The Wind Vol 2; No power in the 'verse can stop me"* is done! We'll be getting cds of it real soon, just have to finish up the artwork. So excited to share it. We're also excited that we are going to be doing the <a contents="Sending a Wave" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://sendingawave.wordpress.com/author/wendy65/page/5/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Sending a Wave</a> podcast. They are based in the UK and have been really supportive of us. We've also become a global sponsor for the Can't Stop The Serenity which is a charity that benefits "Equality Now" and half of all our profits from our Leaves On The Wind music project is donated to them. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">How about some rockandroll shows?<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Well, there's a couple of things going on. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">First I'm playing an elementary school in Buena Park today at lunch time. I'm told it's 5th and 6th graders and some teachers. Honestly I'm a little nervous about this. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Then Sunday, Feb 15th we have two shows. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We start the day at Matt Denny's Alehouse for the Greater LA Acoustic Rockin' Americana Musicians Fund Charity Concert. It's an event put on by our friend Peggy in conjunction with Sweet Relief. It's a truly great charity and cause where they help musicians with health issues. We are on first at 3 pm and just playing a short set because...<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Then we drive to San Juan Capistrano and play<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Coach House</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">7 pm - all ages<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">This is going to be a fun show. We're playing with our friends the Gunboat Kings. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We are selling tickets to this show - if you buy tickets at the door they are $15 but on our website they are $7. Buy them from us and they will be waiting for you at Will Call with your name on them. We put together a really fun set for this show that pulls songs from 6 of our 7 cds and a new song that will be on our next one.**<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">And since this week is Valentine's Day - the free song is of course - VALENTINE'S DAY! See how we did that? We're going to have to write some songs about Presidents Day and Labor Day and Mother's Day...<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="To buy tickets to the Coach House show click anywhere on this sentence" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/shop" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">To buy tickets to the Coach House show click anywhere on this sentence</a>. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Hockey Jersey update: we're just talking with the folks who make them trying to match colors so they look great. Should be getting them soon! Thanks for your patience! In the meantime - if you still want to order one, you can until Wednesday. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Alrighty! That's it for now. As always, thanks for hanging out with us and see you soon!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon (and sometimes Matt)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(11, 113, 182); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Fallen Star</a>s<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">*it really is a long title.</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">**holy crap that's a lot of cds!</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/34908332015-01-28T00:05:18-08:002022-08-01T06:53:14-07:00Sally Starr, RIP<img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/213052da65859e8ef36b098e7128f68cc391fb05/small/104168124-135937347375.jpg?1422433064" class="size_s justify_center border_" />Truthfully I didn't know who Sally Starr was until my friend Speedy Gray penned some lyrics for a song we were working on. I immediately was drawn to the name and the words just sang out to me and I turned it into the chorus of a song. More research about her led to an understanding of her legend in the Delaware Valley and how she was the first female top rated DJ, worked in movies and children's shows. <br><br>Her catch phrase "I hope you feel as good as you look 'cause you sure look good to your gal Sal" was so great that we paraphrased it into the bridge of the song "I hope you feel as good as you look, 'cause you sure look good to me."<br><br>The Fallen Stars send love and peace out to Sally's family. The song is about navigating the entertainment industry and looking for help and reaching out to Sally Starr as someone to be the guiding starr as she was for so many people.<br><br>Right now, you can download the song for free. Please enjoy. <br><br><a contents="Article on NJ 105" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://nj1015.com/sally-starr-dies-at-age-90-video/" target="_blank">Article on NJ 105</a> and her <a contents="Wikipedia page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sally_Starr_%28TV_hostess%29" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a>.<br><br>.<iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="_CnEYzuymwM" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/_CnEYzuymwM/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_CnEYzuymwM?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/34702652015-01-16T09:01:16-08:002022-04-15T14:33:25-07:00We made the Music News Nashville!Dig that! Getting nice press for "Way Out West"!<br><br>http://www.musicnewsnashville.com/americana-champions-shone-bright-2014/The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/34554342015-01-07T05:10:27-08:002015-01-07T05:10:27-08:00Have you seen our new hockey jersey?Over on our <a contents="Shop" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="/shop" target="_blank">Shop </a>page - we have a great new Hockey Jersey design! I think it's pretty rad and hopefully you will too.<br><br>We're only offering it for a limited time so if you dig it, please order it now. Orders close on January 17th so I can order them all from the manufacturer.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/34511182015-01-04T03:59:45-08:002023-12-10T08:52:39-08:00New Year thanks, solo shows, Firefly update<span class="font_large" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Morning! <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Hope you all had a wonderful New Year's and Holiday season. It's almost 4 am on Sunday, January 4th and I should be asleep but as usual ~ I'm not.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">2014 was a pretty awesome year for us and I know it's one of those cliched things to say "It's because of our fans" but it really is true. We've toured all around, had a line of people waiting to buy cds at the Tucson Folk Festival. We've never had that before. We were in the European edition of Rolling Stone. Yeah, didn't see that coming. I got recognized in Vienna by a fan - two days before we played there. Performed a 6 week tour of Europe. Had an elementary school learn one of our songs and performed it with them. Performed on German Radio and TV stations. Got to stay with Roman in Vienna and new friends in Berlin and Cologne, Released two albums, one of which made a year end Rock and Roll Truth "best of list" <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://rockwrite.blogspot.com/2014/12/my-favorite-albums-of-2014.html" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">here</a>.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">I know there's more but that's just the first things I'm remembering! <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thank you. Thank you all for being so awesome and inviting us into your lives.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Tracy and I have been hard at work to finish up Volume 2 of our Firefly music project. Disc 2 is tentatively titled "Leaves on the Wind Vol 2; No power in the 'verse can stop me"* We have all the songs written for Volume 2 and all mostly recorded. We just wrote the last one 2 days ago and are pretty jazzed on it. We'll be starting work on the artwork pretty soon and Tracy should have a new video up, possibly in the next week or so. Can't wait to share it all with you!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">I'm doing a pair of solo gigs this week. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Monday, January 5th<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bar Lubitsch<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">7702 Santa Monica Boulevard<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">West Hollywood, CA 90046<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">8 pm<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Tuesday, January 6th<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Alta Coffee<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">506 31st Street,<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Newport Beach, CA 92663<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">8 pm<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Looking forward to playing a few new songs I've been kicking around at some small intimate places.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">I've also started talking to a new venue for this year's Second Annual Southern California Americana Festival. Going to be even better than last year! Oh, and it will be in May.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Also really excited about our Hockey Jersey that we're offering on our website. It's a limited time thing. We are only taking orders until January 15th - so if you want one, you have to get your order in soon! <a contents="click here to go to the page" data-link-label="Shop" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/shop" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">click here to go to the page</a>. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">I have to get some sleep - We're having our Post Holiday Hootenanny Party at our studio tomorrow and I really need to be up early to set that up! If you want to come to that, email me back and I'll send you some directions.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bye for now and as always - thanks for hanging out with us and letting our music be part of your movie soundtrack.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">xo<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">The Fallen Stars</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">*It's a long title but not as long as that one by Fiona Apple.</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/34506592015-01-03T13:01:07-08:002015-01-03T13:01:07-08:00Post Holiday Hootenanny!Hey!<br><br>We're having our post holiday hootenanny tomorrow night at our studio. <a contents="Email me here for directions" data-link-label="" data-link-type="email" href="mailto:bobbo@thefallenstars.com" target="_blank">Email me here for directions</a><br><br>It was originally going to be today (Saturday) but we had to reschedule it to Sunday, Jan 4th. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/33640722014-12-05T02:59:55-08:002014-12-05T02:59:55-08:00Guitar Giveaway Contest Winner!Dave Sandoz from Nevada has won the contest!<br><br>A contest that had way more votes going on than I could have hoped for!!<br><br>Over 1000 people voted and nearly 2000 views on all their Youtube pages! That's just awesome. <br><br>And because we're crazy and unpredictable ~ the second place finisher is also getting a new guitar!<br><br>So congratulations to Brian Matteson for being number 2!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/33282212014-11-25T12:58:23-08:002022-03-22T23:51:52-07:00Guitar Giveaway Contest!Hold tight everyone. <br><br>We're getting it all ready to go live. <br><br>Announcement will be soon.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/33228432014-11-24T08:44:39-08:002023-12-10T08:41:56-08:00Woo-Hoo!! Tonight is the deadline!Deadline for our "Win a Guitar from The Fallen Stars" contest!<br><br>We got a few more entries last night. This is soooo cool!<br><br>They will be live tomorrow for voting!<br> The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/33129692014-11-21T02:49:15-08:002014-11-21T02:49:15-08:00First guitar for the giveaway is done!<a contents="See one of the Giveaway Telecasters in action!" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152918867678336&set=vb.749653335&type=2&theater" target="_blank">See one of the Giveaway Telecasters in action!</a>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/33129682014-11-21T02:47:47-08:002014-11-21T02:47:47-08:00Two Quick Things<span class="font_large">Hey!</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Sorry about the two emails in one week. I won't make a habit of it. Just wanted to share with you 2 quick things.</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">1) We have two shows left this year.* Why is this such a big deal? Didn't we play like 150 shows last year? Well, that is true but we've decided to take a few months off from live shows to work on new stuff. We have a new Firefly cd that's almost done and we've started work on a bunch of other stuff and we need to put in the time to make it happen. </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">So what we're planning is no shows until after St. Patrick's Day.**</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">2) Did you see the picture above? That's the neck plate on the guitars that you can win in our contest! Pretty cool huh? If you're not aware - it's the first line of the song "Massachusetts". We've already had a couple of entries and I can't wait to share them with everyone! </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">The contest ends </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_605864342" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Tuesday</span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"> morning! So get those entries in!! </span><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/contest" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" target="_blank">Details are here</a><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">.</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">So two shows: </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_605864343" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday, Nov 22</span></span></strong><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Gallagher's Irish Pub</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Main & Walnut St., Downtown Huntington Beach, CA</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">With The Earwigs! They are on at 9 and we're on at 10. </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">oh, and it's FREE!</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><strong style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_605864344" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday, Dec 5</span></span><br>CD RELEASE PARTY</strong><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Father's Pub </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">13912 Ponderosa St</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Santa Ana, CA</span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">This show will be a lot of fun with free food and cake! </span><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Oh, and I have a new guitar secret weapon thing that I will be unveiling that night. As well as awarding the winners of the Guitar Giveaway Contest. </span>4:37The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/32941002014-11-17T00:02:25-08:002014-11-17T00:02:25-08:00Cd Release show update, guitar contest stuff, shows this week...An email on a Sunday night? Yeah. I know. Weird huh. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">First off - thanks for the interest in our guitar giveaway contest! It's been so cool. Have a couple of entries already and a few others working on them. I am so psyched! What? You don't know what I'm talking about? <a contents="Go here" data-link-label="Contest" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/contest" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Go here</a>. This week I got the parts together to make the two telecasters, er...Bobbocasters we'll be giving away!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Ok and an update on our CD Release show: It will be Friday, Dec 5th at Father's Pub in Santa Ana. (13912 Ponderosa St) It's going to be awesome with Doug Schmude* releasing his cd that night as well and our friend Land of Deborah** opening up the evening. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Now this week we have 2 very different shows:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Tuesday, Nov 18th</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Sam Ash Music <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Beach Blvd, Westminster<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Songsalive Showcase" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/events/394038864084577/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Songsalive Showcase</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">starts at 7:30 and will be a quiet acoustic type of event. Tracy and I are going to play...oh hell! We'll play just about anything if you shout it out!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Nov 22nd</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Gallagher's Pub" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.facebook.com/GallaghersPubHB" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Gallagher's Pub</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Main St, Huntington Beach<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">(technically Walnut St)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We're playing with Michael Ubaldini's band The Earwigs! This is going to be a rock and roll evening. It's been a while since we've played downtown H.B. and this is a place where we have discovered subtly is lost at. So we're gonna rock.***<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Alright, that's all for now, thanks for hanging out with us and see you soon.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy & Brandon<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="Home" data-link-type="page" href="http://bandzoogle.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*You don't know Doug Schmude? www.dougschmude.net really amazing singer/songwriter. I produced his new album and he and I go way back like spinal cords and car seats. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">**You don't know Land of Deborah? www.thelandofdeborah.com - we met her at Taxi Road Rally a few years ago and she just happens to be in town that week. Oh, she's from Vancouver. Awesome!<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***It's like Bryan Adams says "everywhere I go, the kids want to rock."</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/32918452014-11-16T02:35:42-08:002014-11-16T02:35:42-08:00Contest Update and stuffHey! <br><br>So I have been putting together the guitars for the contest. I have two cool tele type guitars. It's been pointed out to me that since I'm putting them together from parts, I can't actually call them "telecasters". They are "Bobbocasters".<br><br>I've also heard some folks who are confused about the contest. To clarify:<br><br>There are 2 contests:<br><br>Contest #1 - you video yourself singing our song "Massachusetts" and put it on Youtube. We share the link here and then there is voting. Winner gets a guitar.<br><br>Contest #2 - you make a video for our song, using our song "Massachusetts" and put it on Youtube. We share the link here and then there is voting. Winner gets a guitar.<br><br>I hope that's more clear.<br><br>I had something else to say, now I forget what it was.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/32678892014-11-05T11:57:03-08:002014-11-05T11:58:07-08:00Guitar Contest Update!We're really excited about all the interest in folks participating in our "Massachusetts" song/win a guitar contest!<br><br>And today - I talked to the good folks over at <a contents="Franklin Guitar Straps" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://franklinstrap.com/" target="_blank">Franklin Guitar Straps</a> and they are providing us with the straps for the winning guitars!<br><br>I know what you're thinking - "guitar straps? I'll just go buy a cheap strap at GC!" You of course can do this but I'm going to tell you that there really is a difference. Yes, we do have a working relationship with Franklin but it's a relationship that grew out of us using the straps and loving them that turned it into something more. We could use ANY strap we want. We'd just have to go buy it. But I met Greg Bennett (owner of Franklin Straps) one day after walking out of the local Sam Ash music store. I had just bought my second Franklin Strap, he said "Do you like those straps? I make them." And we started a conversation right there. <br><br>Since that day - I have their Black Cotton Cinch straps on my acoustic guitars. They are made out of the cotton cinch material used on horse saddles. Soft and strong. We've also got a bunch of their 2" cotton straps, vintage style straps and Tracy uses the Suede with the leather tooled end. <br><br>These are the most comfortable, durable and subdued stylish straps we've found. Added bonus ~ they are made in the USA too. <br><br> The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/32615982014-11-01T07:31:35-07:002014-11-01T07:31:35-07:00Here it is November 1st and we've got a contest for YOU!So we are gearing up for our cd release party in December and we thought we would have a really fun contest.<br><br>How fun? <br><br>Fun enough that you win a guitar!<br><br>That's right. We will be giving away two (2!) telecaster guitars.<br><br>Contest #1<br><br>Record your own version of our song "Massachusetts". (phone video, live performance - whatever you want) Upload it to Youtube and share it with us. We will be making a page on the website for voting. We will have a poll for voting and the one with the most votes wins! <br><br>If you want the lyrics and chords - we will have them up on the site for download.<br><br>Contest #2<br><br>So you're not so handy with a guitar? How about cutting videos together? We'll supply the song ("Massachusetts") and you make a video for it. Upload it to Youtube and we share it on our page and the most votes gets a guitar!<br><br>Simple right? Well, get cracking - You have a month to complete the task. <br><br><br><br>You might ask yourself - what guitars will we be winning? Well, we're huge fans of the Telecaster guitar. AND we're huge fans of making our own guitars. So I'm getting the parts and putting them together, just like my telecasters! Fun right? <br><br>It has also been suggested that we autograph the guitars. I'm a little weird about that. Anytime someone signs a guitar, it makes it worth less, it makes someone afraid to play it because they don't want to ruin it or something. We want these guitars to get played, to rock and not be decoration. That said; if you want it signed we will oblige. The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31820672014-09-11T04:53:45-07:002014-09-11T04:56:08-07:00European Tour Dates Hey, so I've been trying to enter all this info into artistdata and google calendar and it's taking forever. I'm still working on it but here's just the list of where we'll be and when. Please note: a few of the TBA's are likely going to fill in.<br> <p dir="ltr">Tour Schedule 2014 </p>
<p dir="ltr">Saturday, Sept 20 - WUK, Vienna, Austria (Americana Festival)<br>Monday, Sept 22 - Local, Vienna, Austria (Fallen Stars & friends post festival party)<br>Tuesday, Sept 23 - TRAVEL DAY<br>Wednesday, Sept 24 - HEIMA THIRSCH, Cologne, Germany<br>Thursday, Sept 25 - Spatz & Wal, Unna, Germany<br>Friday, Sept 26 - Gramattikoff, Duisburg, Germany<br>Saturday, Sept 27 - TanzTraum, Oldenburg, Germany<br>Sunday, Sept 28 - Mein Haus am See, Berlin, Germany<br>Monday, Sept 29 - An einem Sonntag im August, Berlin, Germany<br>Tuesday, Sept 30 - TBA<br>Wednesday, Oct 1 - TBA<br>Thursday, Oct 2 - House Concert, Großenkneten, Germany<br>Friday, Oct 3 - Youth Club, Mechelen, Belgium<br>Saturday, Oct 4 - Janja’s Musikbar, Cuxhaven, Germany<br>Monday, Oct 6 - Litfass, Bremen, Germany<br>Tuesday, Oct 7 - Radio Weser TV, Delmenhorst, Germany<br>Tuesday, Oct 7 - Hafen Casino, Bremen, Germany<br>Wednesday, Oct 8 - School Workshop, Altes Gymnasium, Bremen, Germany<br>Thursday, Oct 9 - Altes Gymnasium, Bremen, Germany<br>Friday, Oct 10 - Villa Sponte, Bremen, Germany<br>Saturday, Oct 11 - Liekedeeler, Verden, Germany<br>Saturday, Oct 11 - Rathausplatz Verden, Verden, Germany<br>Sunday, Oct 12 - TBA<br>Monday, Oct 13 - Bei Beppo, Oldneburg, Germany<br>Tuesday, Oct 14 - Waterfront Mall, Bremen, Germany<br>Tuesday, Oct 14 - Lox, Bremen, Germany<br>Wednesday, Oct 15 - Feliz, Bremen, Germany<br>Thursday, Oct 16 - Gig - Linden, Hannover, Germany<br>Friday, Oct 17 - Franky’s, Zeven, Germany<br>Saturday, Oct 18 - Rathausplatz Verden, Germany<br>Sunday, Oct 19 - BuS Huchting Cultural Center, Bremen, Germany<br>Sunday, Oct 19 - Katakomben, Achim , Germany<br>Monday, Oct 20 - Oillilo, Bremen, Germany<br>Tuesday, Oct 21 - Theatersaal Universitat, Bremen, Germany<br>Wednesday, Oct 22 - Stachinelli Cultural Center, Wietze, Germany<br>Thursday, Oct 23 - Spatz & Wal, Unna, Germany<br>Friday, Oct 24 - TBA<br>Saturday, Oct 25 - TanzTraum Dance School, Oldenburg, Germany<br>Sunday, Oct 26 - Club Moments, Bremen, Germany<br>Monday, Oct 27 - TRAVEL DAY</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31755012014-09-07T02:53:31-07:002021-02-08T22:53:44-08:00"Strolling down the gallery of memory" ~ Vanity Fair<span class="font_regular">I’ve been avoiding LA. Not because of traffic, not because of distance, not because of a lack of things I want to see, not because of some weird OC is better than LA bullshit but rather because of road construction. </span>
<p>It takes an extra 30 minutes to get home any time I go to LA at night thanks to the 405 being closed and me having to navigate the shitty detour signs. I called Siri a bitch twice tonight on the way home. Doesn’t she know the 405 is closed? Stop sending me back there!</p>
<p>Anyway.</p>
<p>I’ve been missing my favorite Tuesday night jam at Canters, seeing friends and what-not but tonight The Ocean Blue were playing the Troubadour and I had to go. </p>
<p>I used to dj in college. Not a lot but enough that I can say “I was a dj in college”. And I think my time in college radio was at the end of college radio still being “important”. One could argue that it’s still important but in sleepy little towns like Henniker, NH - college radio was like Johnny Carson. </p>
<p>Henniker wasn’t unlike a lot of other colleges, it was very insulated from the outside world. If you had a tv set you only got 1 channel. We’d crash out in the afternoons watching “Tailspin”, wake up with “Hard Copy”, go eat dinner and at night we’d get “GOOD EVENING” from Al Kaprielian giving us the weather. Radio was even worse. The Contoocook River did something to prevent radio and television waves from penetrating the town.</p>
<p>But we had WNEC and everyone on campus tuned in. </p>
<p>We didn’t have cell phones or iPod’s. Sure we had walkman’s and cd players - it wasn’t the 70’s, it was 1991. Shit, the internet wasn't even invented yet! When we invaded Iraq (the first time) everyone freaked out thinking we were going to get drafted. There was a lack of credible information and hearsay was king. Hearsay enough that my first roommate was told that he could get high from smoking toothpaste on unfiltered cigarettes <em><strong>and he tried it.</strong></em> </p>
<p>What I’m saying is we were on the cusp of the technological revolution, we had a foot in the past and one in the future. I spent all of my money on the new Replacements cd because it cost $20 and I had to order it from the cd/headshop in the center of town and when I got it, it said “Promotional Use Only, Not For Sale.” WNEC was converting from records to cds. We wouldn’t have to one-headphone sync up the next record and do fancy crossfades - now we could just press a button. We had a computer lab that had Apple II’s and floppy discs. My roommate Matt had a gigantic computer and tower (no mouse) and all it was was a word processor and when you finished writing you would run a program called "spell check". </p>
<p>I made some new friends at the station, there was Bird (or Lara) and an older girl named Alexis that I would have deep, very serious, very important discussions about Elvis Costello and The Blake Babies. We’d dance to the Trashcan Sinatras, The Sundays, Jesus Jones, School of Fish, Material Issue, The Buddy System, Happy Mondays, EMF and The Ocean Blue. Sometimes we'd do call in shows, there was a Friday night request show and one time we played all of Jim Morrison's "An American Prayer" and I was convinced the FCC would be there first thing in the morning to revoke our broadcasting license. But no, the Contoocook kept our radio signals safely nestled in the shadow of Pat's Peak.</p>
<p>One morning I turnrf on the radio and heard Alexis say “This one is going out to someone special in memory of late night talks and pillow fights” and then “The Angels Want To Wear My Red Shoes” would come on and I knew that song was for me. </p>
<p>And everyone else on campus heard the same thing. We all listened to the same station. </p>
<p>It was Johnny Carson. If you weren’t listening to WNEC, then you weren’t listening to anything. That’s the way it was. </p>
<p>The Samples played our campus. We interviewed them on the radio. After the interview they asked me if I could get them some weed. I told them I was the wrong guy to ask and directed them to the “right” guy. One of them put his hand on my shoulder and said “See? You were the right guy to ask.” `</p>
<p>My buddy Dennis went to college in Ames, Iowa. A big city compared to Henniker and they regularly got great bands playing their town, bands like Scruffy the Cat! Damn. The only band that came to Henniker was the Samples and it was a fucking EVENT! </p>
<p>I left Henniker after my freshman year. It was a great time but I felt it was too expensive for my folks so I figured I could continue on at a state school like UMass Lowell. After I transferred to Lowell I went to their college radio station but couldn’t even get a meeting with the program director, I could intern and put records away but no air time was available. I can clearly remember seeing Nirvana’s “Nevermind” LP on the desk of new releases that September with the program directors notes on what songs could and could not be played along with the following: “More polished than ‘Bleach’ but that’s what a major label does. Teen Spirit should be the hit the Pixies never had.” </p>
<p>No one at UMass Lowell listened to the college station. Most listened to the metal on WAAF or the classic WBOS or WBCN. How could one crappy antennae compete with The Big Mattress and Charles Laquidara? </p>
<p>In my mind college radio had a brief but amazingly powerful run from September 1990 to May 1991. </p>
<p>So tonight I went and saw The Ocean Blue.</p>
<p><em>It wasn’t much but it was all you had<br>The records, they were all scratched<br>You know I really miss U2<br>And maybe The Ocean Blue</em></p>
<p>~The Fallen Stars “Massachusetts”</p>
<p>Yeah I quoted myself right there, I don’t care. Tonight took me back and it was glorious and as I danced to the song “Vanity Fair” I looked over next to me and there was a guy wearing a Trashcan Sinatras t-shirt. </p>
<p>No shit. I bet he remembers 1991 fondly as well.</p>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31726232014-09-05T03:25:35-07:002020-10-19T03:13:25-07:00What the hell is "Way Out West"?!?That's a fair question. <br><br>The short answer is; It's a lyric in the song "Las Vegas". Because when you're in Massachusetts - Las Vegas is technically <em>Way Out West</em>.<br><br>The much longer answer is it's a collection of songs that we've been playing and enjoying, most of which were written by friends of ours. With the exception of "Jolene" and "Folsom Prison" as we in fact are not friends with Dolly Parton or Johnny Cash. But the songs all seem to revolve around this theme of being here as opposed to there. Here being Southern California and there being Massachusetts. It's not a negative towards the east coast at all, it's more what we discovered here.<br><br>So we were doing stuff in the studio and before long we realized that we had about 15 songs mostly done. So we finished them and then I went on Harry Fox and got the clearance rights to put the covers on cd and sell. So I pulled a couple of all nighters and we finished up the mixing and it's off getting made into cds. 11 songs. It's a fun record. <br><br>This is what I mean:<br><br>1) Massachusetts. Probably my favorite song I've ever written. And it's like a love letter back to where we used to be, those younger folks who were dj's in college and sold your old records to finance...what? A car payment? Whatever it is. I just love it. And having my favorite keyboardist, Rami Jaffee, playing on it. Just makes it even more awesomer. <br><br>2) Lovers. One of the first SoCal band that I adored was The Jukebox Junkies and somehow that led me to Five Easy Pieces (I think they had some common band members) and the song "Lovers" is talking about taking your wife up to Hollywood for the night. "We're doing ninety miles an hour on a 100 hundred mile night" That's Tracy and I whenever we go to LA! "Some things can't be taken lightly, we rock and we roll...like Lovers on parole." What an awesome lyric. I tried really hard to find the guys that wrote this song but haven't been able to yet. Our buddy (and East Coast Fallen Star) Al Carey laid down some beautiful pedal steel guitar on this one!<br><br>3) Sight of Me. When Tracy and I first moved to Southern California we were playing in a band with our friends Kalai King and Jeff Bell. We came up with the band name "Hawkeye" because it seemed like a better name than "The Alan Alda's" (true story) and "Sight of Me" was a song Kalai wrote and I remember when we rehearsed it just thinking how amazing a song it was and loving being part of that sound. Plus it has the lyric "Perhaps it's never winter if you never see it snow." C'mon! Right? Fits right in.<br><br>4) 4th of July. So there's an Orange County band known as X. Most everyone here loves them. We were not entirely familiar with X but Tracy and I would often get folks telling us that we reminded them of X. So we checked it out and Holy Crap what a huge compliment that was!! We've also been very fortunate to have opened for Dave Alvin. There was a time when Dave Alvin was the guitar player in X and he wrote this song. Dave is also an Orange County institution. This one felt very natural to us. We just played it and loved it. Bonus on this song is that we got our friend Roman (who lives in Vienna, Austria) to play the pedal steel part on here!<br><br>5) Folsom Prison. I always think of the night we played this song at Ronnie Mack's Barn Dance. Which, if you don't know, was another California Institution that ran for over 25 years. Anyway - we were playing the Barndance and we started playing Folsom and immediately thought to myself "oh, man do we have brass balls to play this in here. This is sacrilege! But when we finished these three guys came up to us and said "We've heard that song hundreds of times but that's the best version we've ever heard." Whew!<br><br>6) Feather Bed. Sometime in 1997 or so my buddy Morgan Keating played me a cd of Phil Cody and at the end of the cd there was a cover of the Clash's "Straight to Hell". It blew me away. Fast forward to 2009-ish and Rami is inviting me to DiPiazza's in Long Beach because he's playing with Phil Cody. We meet, play some shows together, then I start playing shows with Phil and become even more immersed in his catalog. This is a song Phil wrote that really captures my Californian existence. Tracy's harmonies surround mine. She's my feather bed. She keeps me safe. Oh and amazing Danny Ott played dobro all over this thing!! LOVE!<br><br>7) The Lights. Before we left Massachusetts, I was in a band called The Gypsy Mechanics and my buddy Morgan Keating was the singer and main songwriter in that band. I am a huge fan of Westerberg, Springsteen, Strummer but I can honestly say that I stole/learned just as much if not more from a songwriter named Morgan Keating. You can't go home but you can bring home wherever you go. This song about "Browns and grays and snowy days". <br><br>8) Jolene. This one is a recent addition to us playing. We heard the slowed down Dolly Parton song on Youtube and we just dove in. Let's make it dark and heavy! Geo Hennessey adds violin and harmony vocal and just the right amount of Celtic touch to go with my big distorted guitar!<br><br>9) Sally Starr. What started as a goof jam that we were writing with Ben one night (after too much wine) it originally had lyrics like "You can call me Keith, you can call me Mick, you can call me Richard but I'm really not a Dick." We ditched the lyrics but kept the tune. I shared it with some friends because I really liked the guitar tone I was getting and Speedy Gray from the band Like A Rocket heard it and penned a bunch of lyrics. I took the lyrics, cut 'em up, sliced and diced, made a chorus out of it and viola' ~ Sally Starr was born. I had to look up to find out who she was. Pioneering radio DJ and TV personality from the 1950's. I read that her catch phrase was "I hope you feel as good as you look, because you sure look good to your Aunt Sal." I knew I had to get that in there somewhere, so it's paraphrased in the bridge.<br><br>10) Las Vegas. This is an older Gypsy Mechanics song that was written by a guy named Chris Tarmey. I can't find him. I've tried. I don't even know if I'm spelling his name correctly. This is what the original sounded<a contents=" like" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wf3Wbmdmq2Y" target="_blank"> like</a>: Another song that I always identified with. "I dropped out of college, fell off that track." So true. I go a little guitar crazy on this one. <br><br>11) Another Girl, Another Planet. We have this habit of taking nice pretty songs and rocking them up. This is the complete opposite. Tracy and I were trying to figure out what Cosmic American music meant to us and it led us to a punk rock song being played as if it's in outer space. The fact that it actually says it's on another planet - bonus. The 1979 original by The Only Ones has been covered by the Replacements, Blink 182 among others. We didn't stand a chance at out rocking them. So we put it in space, lots of space and added a melancholy to it. <br><br>And there you go.<br><br>Way Out West.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31579092014-08-27T00:27:00-07:002014-08-27T00:27:00-07:00Way Out WestSo I'm in the studio right now. We haven't talked a lot about it but we're almost done with a new cd. It's a bit of a love letter to the west coast...sort of. We've been in California for 14 years now and a number of things have shaped us here. We've had a host of things that have forever shaped not just us as people but also the music we make.<br>There's some new songs on there, there's some borrowed songs, there's some old songs on there ~ all done in with a new spirit. We're calling it "Way Out West" and it touches on a lot of folks and friends we've made. <br><br>I have to get back to work now. I have to have it done by Friday if I have any hope of getting the cds before we leave for Europe. <br><br>All that's left is to sing 3 songs. <br><br>More info to come. Oh, and we're not doing any kickstarter or any of that stuff. We've done that enough this year! But I will be setting up a pre-order page on our website if you're interested.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31363842014-08-14T00:30:35-07:002014-08-16T12:18:49-07:00Update Aug 14Hey, so I got a message from someone today saying "You guys haven't been doing much lately."<br>I took this to mean that I was being lazy. And, I suppose in the way of email correspondence that can be true. <br><br>But here's the thing. We've actually been doing a lot! <br><br>We started recording an EP of songs* and all of a sudden we had like 12 songs tracked for it. And then we wrote a few more...<br><br>AND we're way into the second Leaves on the Wind CD. We just worked out the second to last song for that disc. <br><br>Oh, and we leave a month from tomorrow for a six week tour of Europe. <br><br>AND our Riddle & The Stars album AND Heart Like Mine JUST got released in Europe on August 1st.** and getting nice reviews too! Like this one. We're even getting word that we're going to be in the European Rolling Stone!*** Yep, dual release. I did mention that we're now signed to the German record label Songs & Whispers right? <br><br>So, yeah. We haven't been doing much lately. <br><br>This Saturday is our last SoCal band show until November. And it's a totally fun free one.<br><br>Saturday, August 16<br>Vintage Surfari Wagons "Friends of Summer" party<br>Show Page HereShow Page Here<br>760 Newton Way<br>Costa Mesa, CA<br>6 pm<br><br>We're playing two sets. The first set we will be joined by our friends Matt and Geo on mandolin and violin, respectively, for a stripped down acoustic-y set. Brandon will be all brushes and snare and then the second set he'll hop on back on the kit, I'll put on a telecaster and we'll rock into the evening. Word is they have an awesome Taco Truck coming for the night and a screening of The California Surf Project on the big screen/winnebago. <br><br>Totally fun night. All ages and starts at 6 pm. <br><br>Then next week I'm doing a rare solo show at Sam Ash in Westminster where I'll be playing some of the new songs from our Riddle & The Stars album as well as our upcoming release. <br><br>Thursday, August 21<br>Sam Ash Music Store<br>Beach Blvd<br>Westminster, CA<br>7 pm ~ Free!<br><br>So that's about it I guess. <br><br>Come hang out this week or next. <br><br>OH! And the free song today? You may remember our song "Massachusetts", well - it's been floating around in many different versions. The Riddle & The Stars version got compared to Peter, Paul & Mary.**** But we had been kicking around this version for a while and forgot all about it. Brandon laid down some awesome drums and our buddy Rami played some beautiful B3 organ on it. And I'm pretty sure this is my favorite song we've ever written and I really love this version. <br><br>Ok, that's it for now. <br><br>Have a great rest of your week and if you get a second - stop over and see our Facebook page <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.facebook.com/thefallenstars" target="_blank">here</a>.<br><br><br>Thanks for hanging with us and see you all soon!<br><br>Bobbo, Tracy, Brandon (and sometimes Ben, Geo & Matt)<br>The Fallen Stars<br>Riddle & The Stars<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>*EP meaning "extended play". It's lingo left over from the last century when discussing records. Typically EP's would have about 5 songs.<br>**And it's on iTunes now as well here: iTunes<br>***This is technically true. <br>****Really?????The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31032042014-07-28T11:28:12-07:002014-07-28T11:28:12-07:00New Review for "This is Happening"!Hey - if you got a second, click over to <a contents="here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://rockwrite.blogspot.com/2014/07/wide-range-of-artists-shine-bright-on.html" target="_blank">here</a>: It's the link to go to our new review by Robert Kinsler.<br><br>Thanks!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31023342014-07-28T03:54:24-07:002014-07-28T03:54:24-07:00tour ridersIt's almost 4 am and I'm just going to bed now. Been up late tonight doing Stageplots and Technical Tour Rider things for our upcoming European Tour. <br><br>I made sure to make it fun to look at; I cut out our faces from pictures and put them on the stageplot. That's sure to make it easier!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/31022902014-07-28T03:00:49-07:002014-07-28T03:00:49-07:00Great weekend, lots of driving.Hey! So Tracy and I did 2 acoustic shows this weekend. <br><br>That doesn't seem like much, just acoustic shows? <br><br>Well, we drove 430 miles, played 6 hours of music and did 8 sets of music!<br><br>Kind of the equivalent of 8 shows in 2 days. <br><br>We're tired now. Tracy is sleeping and tomorrow night we're back in the studio to work on new music. Want to make sure we're ready for our European tour. Can't wait to play the Riddle & The Stars songs again too. Where's Ben? We miss that Aussie weirdo!<br><br>G'niteThe Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/30079652014-06-11T03:07:41-07:002017-01-11T05:47:36-08:00Camp Pendleton, VW Event, Bigs Country Night, New Hampshire showThings are always busy here and we keep truckin on but sometimes you do a gig and it's different. Now, hear me out - we play lots of shows and we love doing them all but when we got asked to play at Camp Pendleton last weekend for their Rodeo Days, well - that was something different. <br><br>I may sound off from time to time from my soapbox but we're all just people. This isn't left/right or red/blue - and these folks were thankful to us for coming and playing their event. Simply amazing, and here we are sandwiched between Memorial Day and Independence Day rocking in the free world. My Mom being a Navy veteran - I told the CO the only Marine joke I knew which was about Marines always needing a ride from the Navy. He laughed. It was a good day. He showed us their new patches they designed for the deployment in Afghanistan. <br><br>Getting to spend the day with these folks and their families was truly an honor. <img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/64676/59451973991bc4375d3639ed40937344b2a925a1/original/photo-4.jpg?1402343781" class="size_l justify_center border_" /><br><br>The picture above - that's from Camp Pendleton. We played on a flat bed Ford*, there was a mechanical bull behind us, two tanks and a giant windmill. And we didn't know how to play Rhinestone Cowboy!<br><br>Coming up we've got some fun stuff going on, a pair of shows in OC and then we head back to New England and a show or two there. (plus a long weekend/vacation)The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/29485732014-05-15T04:27:10-07:002014-05-15T04:27:10-07:00Thursday, May 15Hey!<br><br>Tonight - we're at the Mission Tobacco Lounge in Riverside, CA<br><br>Come on out, it's free and we're on early at 7 pm!<br><br>See you there.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/28312132014-03-31T02:46:32-07:002014-03-31T02:46:32-07:00Fallen Stars and Joe ElyThe Fallen Stars opening up for Joe Ely!<br><br><strong>Sunday, April 13</strong><br>The Coach House<br>Camino Capistrano<br>San Juan Capistrano, CA<br><br><a contents="Tickets available here." data-link-label="store" data-link-type="page" href="/store" target="_blank">Tickets available here.</a>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/27450152014-03-14T02:14:04-07:002014-03-14T02:14:04-07:00FRIDAY UPDATE<span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">We tipped the scale on our Kickstarter campaign this morning.* We spent tonight uploading the music to discmakers so we can make these cds! Really exciting! </span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Shows:</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><strong style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_716366436" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span>, March, 15</strong><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">601 Bar</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">601 S. Raymond Ave, Fullerton, CA</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">w/ Ted Z and the Wranglers</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><strong style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_716366437" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Thursday, March 20</span></span></strong><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">DiPiazzas</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_716366438" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8 pm</span></span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">The free song today is the title track from "This is Happening" album. It's kind of the story of how we came to be playing music with Ben. It's a fun song. I think you'll dig it.</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Oh and I almost forgot - we're booked to open up for Joe Ely at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano next month! It's one of those shows that we have tickets to sell. So if you like Texas singer/songwriters - then you know who Joe Ely is. Hit us up and come down and rock with us. They have asked us to dial back our rock for this show so it will just be Bobbo & Tracy as Joe is performing as an acoustic duo (with dobro player)</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">That's it for today. I have to get back to editing and uploading stuffs.</span><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">See you all soon!!</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/27411382014-03-13T11:33:59-07:002014-03-13T11:33:59-07:002 Awesome pieces of news!1) Our Kickstarter reached it's goal! Woo-Hoo! New Cd coming to everyone very soon.<br><br>2) We just got booked to open up for Joe Ely at the Coach House on Sunday, April 13! Tickets for sale on our store page.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/27243482014-03-11T03:10:39-07:002014-03-11T03:16:04-07:004 Days to go on our Kickstarter!And we only need $560 to reach our goal!<br><br>Want some more incentive? <br><br>Here's "The Sea", another song off the album to listen to. Ben sings the first verse, Bobbo sings the second, Tracy the third. Geo plays some violin and Matt hits the cajon drumkit.<br><br><a contents="The Sea" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://soundcloud.com/riddle-6/the-sea" target="_blank">The Sea</a>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/26906672014-03-05T01:54:55-08:002014-03-05T01:54:55-08:00Just 10 Days to go on our Kickstarter!Hey Folks! We're almost there. 10 short days to go and we only need $800. <br><br>If you got a second, please visit our <a contents="Kickstarter page" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/790452341/riddle-and-the-stars-this-is-happening-lets-make-c" target="_blank">Kickstarter page</a> and I promise I won't do another one for at least two years. <br> The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/26117422014-02-19T19:43:49-08:002014-02-19T19:43:49-08:00We got us a Kickstarter going!Yep. <a contents="&nbsp;It's here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/790452341/riddle-and-the-stars-this-is-happening-lets-make-c#project-faqs" target="_blank"> It's here</a>. <br><br>It's fun and stuff.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/24021212014-01-15T02:59:12-08:002014-05-18T21:03:24-07:00Riddle & The StarsThis is the collaboration between The Fallen Stars and Ben Riddle. <br><br>We met Ben on tour last year in Germany. We ended up playing about 15 or so shows with him and we really hit it off. We started singing and playing with him and he was singing and playing with us. The folks at Songs & Whispers (label/agency) said "We like what you're doing, you should record an album together and we'll put it out and bring you back on tour next year." <br><br>So that's what we did. <br><br>Here's the video for "Cornershop Love" ~ the first song off our album "This is Happening". <br><br>Dig. Yo.<br><br><iframe class="justify_inline" data-video-type="youtube" data-video-id="SRo2yzOcKd0" data-video-thumb-url="http://img.youtube.com/vi/SRo2yzOcKd0/0.jpg" type="text/html" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SRo2yzOcKd0?rel=0&wmode=transparent&enablejsapi=1" frameborder="0" height="200" width="320" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/23002742013-12-28T22:42:51-08:002013-12-28T22:42:51-08:00Making holes in walls and mixing albumsHey!<br><br>So we finished the album we recorded with Ben Riddle. We're calling our musical venture "Riddle & The Stars". Get it? Yes, yes, we are very clever ~ we took his last name and Stars from our name... It was better than Fallen Ben!! Ha, that just occured to me now.<br><br>Anyway. It is all recorded, I finished the mixing this past week at home. At home? Yep. The album we did together was the last thing to be recorded at our studio before we had to leave.* So I set up the desk and speakers and everything and finished mixing it at home. We've been playing little bits for friends and they all say it's the best thing we've done ~ so we are really excited to release it. But it's still going to take a little bit because we are at the point where we're out of money! So we started a Pozible campaign to help with that. We'd love it if you wanted to chip in. <a contents="Here's the link to that campaign" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.pozible.com/project/174637" target="_blank">Here's the link to that campaign</a>: <br><br>And today we moved into our new studio space, it's just a couple walls and concrete floor right now but soon it will be nice. We have the help of my inlaws here and we put a door in today. Putting doors in is hard! <br><br>That's all for today. <br><br>xo<br>~Bobbo<br><br><br><br><br>*Why did we have to leave? Well, our landlord lost his lease. It's a very long and boring story.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/21873672013-12-06T23:00:38-08:002013-12-06T23:00:38-08:00The Engle!So there's this great new thing. Wow, that sounds like an ad for ShamWow!<br><br>Anyhoo - I met these folks last year at the NAMM show and I saw this product called The Engle and I was blown away by it. I had been looking for something like this for a long time. They are super great folks and I'm proud to announce that we are their artist of the month on their site.<br><br><a contents="Check it out here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.theengle.com/#!artists-4/cd01" target="_blank">Check it out here</a>: <br><br>I will have a video up soon of me using it.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/20466522013-11-14T03:35:19-08:002022-01-14T02:53:19-08:00Had a great meeting tonight at 1 am.When dealing with a label that's on the other side of the planet, you have to figure out meeting times way ahead of time! <br><br>The good news is that the deal is going ahead very nicely and we're looking to tour our new stuff there and here. <br><br>Very excited!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/20466432013-11-14T03:32:56-08:002013-11-14T03:32:56-08:00Instruments used on the new stripped down sounding "This is Happening" album (so far):<span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Gibson j45</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Gibson j30</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Martin dcme</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Harmony tenor guitar</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Harmony Nashville hi strung </span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Rickenbacker 4001</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Hondo banjo </span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Gretsch Tennessee rose</span><br><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Fender telecaster. <br>Glockenspiel <br>Kalamazoo mandolin<br>Melodica. <br>Rogue resonator<br>Sho-bud pedal steel. <br>Piano. <br>Casio sk1<br>Korg monotron <br>Cajon kick drum<br>Snahone snare<br>Snare and floor tom<br>2 cymbals.</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/18390172013-10-11T18:32:47-07:002013-10-11T18:32:47-07:00Firefly CD Release this Saturday, New Video, Reviews & a Free song!<span class="font_regular">So we've been super crazy working our new cd here. How crazy? Well, todays email is being written by Tracy*!! She's been doing a lot of updates on the website about it and what she wrote is pretty much everything I need to tell you. I will add that this week we released the final video for the new cd for the song "Big Damn Hero"** and the free song in todays email is in fact that song. Some people would say "Bobbo, you can't give away your brand new song, that goes against marketing 101, you are a bad capitalist!"*** <br><br>Move over and let Tracy take over:<br><br>OCTOBER 10. 2013<br>Wow, the reception for our Leaves on the Wind EP continues to be just been fantastic! Check out this <a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=ix0nKMJp7LApotggavbQY9imvWxZT03sKSUtwQhvdUe-2FUuMA1JPOD08zXh9I8K-2FFSASADYkL7IxbRbqdSy-2BIu2IYPtJlMyQjOEJnoqP0uBw-2FpabGwoNltN7Jq9EPVkRBYUVeOG4Jm8rAFYqfrMgjZA-3D-3D_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqEDVs72HEh25Ev88gbajb2knduOBQ9D8ybdy7SnyqJsTUxuXFSh-2BEuWnyHMoylZnM6V4irIY0qKntH98q1n-2FEXjiGsYK-2FXy8Xr6eeIZWxdQe1etdWrAcY3I5XRMkwiWU6cSRGkveA4ivBRMX-2FCA1k-2FrgIcX26gJd4f4uBya3jx0U" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">great video review from MusicWorthBuying</a> and our review in the <a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=O5a9KRzs-2FpYseC9oE4smkfGyT14NXTWt74pnSe4GZ6-2BVlnCcP42BQsIB-2BKoJ8HZD8INbAPIyfkT38AQqFIukLENlT46RuIJymvwUUYWrPYHAP7qz1p51GSHNqkjxmkry9zCi1sb-2FykDo-2BeTaBoSuhErEPJ1w-2FH9wf8e71tLYbPVvIKhM93hqFGXsJGAuFVwv_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqDedU84xHzF4bg35TVwQBeKusJDS-2FcWp8iyItEZMSwzoHAH5zfZkKE4HRksFRW28j8oHijm13SZkpTiBkcdTM0lrjFdFooNrvyyMwqMfXErqFF-2BeFfw8yrQRUzP1voCn6PHKb2cW5PNt-2FWHoKaCe-2Fv9Ik69Ag9kU7XLO3OPK3oqf" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Desert Star Weekly</a>! <br><br>Big News!!<br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: 0.8em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Because a lot of our regular friends and fans couldn't make it to the CSTS event, we're having a second CD release celebration at </span><a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=ix0nKMJp7LApotggavbQY8V6yNyoZItEa5EokBjcBePv9eNx8p68dgZjZoWdr4KQF5JQ7jC3fP6TtxWx2hZu6WJcm0MpdvN8P7p9xZtTzTw-2FCnOpfo9WzL1p4Nj-2FpHrbxB1vRGyXYzlA9De5SNDRhA-3D-3D_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqEWmF8jUyXsZyuR-2FhBZivp1XcXuvYzqEZRnxIaDqwk2sdaPLFykKFqz3pV3yf2Ac0BUMxe5WUT8Jk9eNACbCd6EmzTe68ATzCakPQnYwGql4rWxeYG1w1nxAPLv7eM3Zh0vPLqfEhT58oGvHyXmEaB5AnvyLHrb2J9ozLub18eIn" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" target="_blank">Comic Book Hideout</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> in Fullerton this <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_207047127" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday, October 12 at 7pm</span></span> and it's absolutely free! We'll be performing some songs and giving away a few free copies, so if you've never seen or heard of Firefly and are wondering what all the fuss is about, this is a great opportunity to check it out. Also, our friend Glynnes owns the store and both she and it are amazing, so you if you like comic books, pinball, superheroes, local art, board games, or just fun quirky stuff, you should come discover this gem of a shop! Here's the details:</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><strong><a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=ix0nKMJp7LApotggavbQY8V6yNyoZItEa5EokBjcBeNY3VS0-2F9SKvTlVUbr9mA-2Bz8-2F2bM67zgdc4cN0aQebqWbY1d0UJZVrtce5Q-2Fmqr0S1BU2ZG5fLiLapUkxs6glddXo5X5AiQUwqrIQlW6lFlfA-3D-3D_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqLd6uhk-2BGvhsVIrQx4SvnMZlaOb16iqQ5idWsmV-2FK-2B95PBO0Xsvu0ljARfY9wjzZZr6U2JY0oLVNyrR1v7oVqI8r0vdRvJyy-2B1DPL7e6OfkiDO1WSur-2BlLF-2BFUlT6JVHfhcsSlISWH6MB-2F0YhOhmD1B7vHK0m9nIGIYyqT-2FZo62F" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Comic Book Hideout</span></a></strong><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">215 W. Commonwealth</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Fullerton, CA 92832</span><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_207047128" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span>, <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_207047129" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">October 12</span></span></span><br style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_207047130" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">7pm-10pm</span></span></span></span><br><br>The Can't Stop the Serenity event/ CD Release party was blast. Through ticket sales (sold out!), auctions, donations and CD sales, the California Browncoats raised over $3000 for Equality Now and we were so proud to be a part of that. We opened the event with a performance of the Firefly theme song, and a few songs from the EP, then watched one of my favorite episodes on the big screen, Out of Gas. After that we performed the rest of the songs on the EP and closed with a rousing rendition of "Hero of Canton" then settled in with a big bucket of popcorn to watch Serenity. A special thank you to Geo, Matt and Matt for making our music really come alive and to Boris for making sure we sounded good! Also, hello to our new Browncoat friends, especially Dawn, Susie, Mike, John and Randy, it was wonderful meeting you all!<br><br>We also gave away 5 free copies online our online followers, so congratulations to our winners: SWLA Browncoats and Danny Bowes on Facebook, @M0LZ4 on Twitter and poetrymafia and dragon-kitty on Tumblr!<br><br><span style="font-size: 1em;">Oh - one last thing! We are finally officially releasing the final song from the EP, </span><a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=ix0nKMJp7LApotggavbQY9imvWxZT03sKSUtwQhvdUfBVSxRr-2Fm9702i6ZXyZFAkB13iEAjxxuXuW4L5ZnCgIdHXIoQiJEJ8BkaeRNiln9DUpk-2Fo1fN2zt40BkN0OHbv-2B1nXjJoKgx-2FfRZIvV9jc8A-3D-3D_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqIJijkTtW9KYqBuDdRZChb3hbQVsT8NmyS55hNdSDMpycM8oHMnQVtIXID4ZkQSMnkRXZGGCWdIBCG44ZbxgTTPbG2jdmGHQ0xzJczSFhHozjxgN0zXuAk-2FrMLPGIe8XqBVV7cxIWkjOtKyGTJ0TaGsfVsilWsuzOHpwAdeK-2BXMA" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92); font-size: 1em;" target="_blank">Big Damn Hero</a></span><span style="font-size: 1em;">! This song is inspired by the episode Safe and focuses on the the immense sense of love and family between siblings Simon and River Tam and how each saves the other in their own way. Enjoy and share!<br><br>~Tracy</span><br><br><br>So that's it for this week. I will have lots more goings on next week. OH, I know what I forgot! We've already started work on Leaves on the Wind Vol 2 and wrote the first song for it this week. We're planning on playing that song as well at the CD Release. It's for the episode "Our Mrs. Reynolds" We're also being joined by Geo (violin) and Matt (mandolin, banjo, guitar****) for this show and of course Chad on a very unique drumset-y type of thing. <br><br>Please join us. There will also be cookies. Here's the <a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=f7XETlJDFJksl8CaymzL9YtIwQz-2BGygbrtDSopwVTqGbVduEXPmTlHfV6gfKMt3G3c5Ko7fTXoyC9TIvvfFTUqDU0UEn28v7DIYQAJt21IkuCLcsxfs6Dbssj1Dhj-2FNWWtNpIsXpaUGZm5imvYkndhYSrdrUGP4194FA0WDx0yRe0KGbH3UkqmpO-2FdEIMjIe_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqE993L0oLwphB0IlKUPGthe746X3PH0irPYRP3-2Bb1oSdZNwwBIEaDdB-2FLas4k0ufE5Ps-2BiWE3VfukO-2Fle7gdi9Kkj-2FU04Lhsfg0BU7RSq4m-2F406-2FZ71S1gSkWNvSvrBDXA4NopsgaDSoQfokbXTodv34om3Zs3UNtS0ZH-2Bbc4H9a" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Facebook event</a> for the night.<br><br>You want info about our record deals? Albums on iTunes? New touring? New Album? All those stories plus we'll also recap the Red Sox ALCS playoff run after these messages. <br><br>xo<br><br>Bobbo, Tracy and Chad (and Geo & Matt this week)<br><a href="http://email.bandzoogle.com/wf/click?upn=4RHHtsoyPQS1A-2BbqqY6IKjWsgZ16yktfp5TnKcBCEx-2Bmd5blf2iY9YjI1UtFFb1GZz3PhRlkk-2FH6Ez1h-2FMpk2GPtsmpgDDVLwTI3s9KVnfHtwloOXHO3g7Fnwy4ddbP687hoI8AC14FGg34gFL4v4A-3D-3D_B9Ejy3WJPuR0rEN-2FWxxVFZwio8khw-2BOC7XBM1DKcgHOCAoIy5Qyp4biAh07irWhYq6gB564qJSglRJQU6J-2FRcKWEAoDkCx3naeQ-2BXihveZXd4ETzyatksVlh1HxPlzxU-2Fw7atrElGDGdcVLrWNEHqHYnpNiW-2BsM4FVmUPyUJ25ptDUHRhmSeFrhJ-2BIvc8x-2Fd1I-2FEwdU1xnBP3AA5ZxfzDVCV6z2chyJgAtMg2P3Nu-2FOABfokzuq3MqB7c8m5TQj6nUkpCUTk6GToZgshhVw8iaf4-2BJpCHzOmNHmYVrJABhDFD-2FoSKVfKeIxdU9HLm-2BGd" style="color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">*I know right!? And apologies on the weird formatting. It's <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_207047131" style="border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">2:23 am</span></span> and I can't figure out why some is big and some is small. <br>**Don't worry, the link is in here.<br>***Yeah, the people who say things like that are usually Tracy. She doesn't usually say the capitalist line but I hear it anyway.<br>****We had rehearsal tonight and after we did the Firefly songs, we ran a bunch of our regular songs with the addition of violin and mandolin/acoustic and it was so awesome! Hope you get to hear it because it was that cool. There were a few times where the hair on my arms stood up, it was that cool.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/17739792013-10-03T04:01:55-07:002013-10-03T04:01:55-07:00Show updates for first week of OctoberThis is just a quick note, no really it is quick. With all this government shut-down stuff, I have to conserve how many characters I use.*<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">We are playing tonight in Newport Beach, Saturday in Carpinteria, Sunday in Pasa Robles and then Morro Bay. It's a busy week.**<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Thursday, Oct 3</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Outlaws of Folk Series*** <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Alta Coffee, 31st St. Newport Beach<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">w/ Michael Ubaldini<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Oct 5****</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Avocado Festival" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://avofest.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Avocado Festival</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Carpinteria, CA <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">1 pm - Seal Stage<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Sunday, Oct 6</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Songwriters at Play at Sculpterra Winery" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://songwritersatplay.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Songwriters at Play at Sculpterra Winery</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Pasa Robles<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">3 pm<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Sunday, Oct 6</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Otter Rock" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.otterrockcafe.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Otter Rock</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Morro Bay, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">6-9 pm<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">All shows are free. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">And next week we will be re-releasing our first two cds and they will be available with bonus tracks and everything. Such awesome good stuff.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Also sending a shout out to my birthday twin Emma from <a contents="The Potential Lunatics" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://thepotentiallunatics.com/home.cfm" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Potential Lunatics</a>. <br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Further down the road:<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><strong style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Saturday, Oct 12</strong><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="Comic Book Hideout" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://www.comicbookhideout.com/" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">Comic Book Hideout</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Fullerton, CA<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">CD RELEASE FOR "LEAVES ON THE WIND VOL 1: STILL FLYING"<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Free and awesome.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">More fun news coming soon.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">xo<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">Bobbo, Tracy, Chad (and a revolving cast of hooligans)<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a contents="The Fallen Stars" data-link-label="home" data-link-type="page" href="http://zooglelabs.com/home" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 1, 92);" target="_blank">The Fallen Stars</a><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8em;">*maybe twitter is better for this.</span><br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="font_small" style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Not even going to make another 'shut-down' joke.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">***This weeks free song is "Outlaws & Angels" because of the Outlaws of Folk series. I am wicked clever.<br style="padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">****also known as "Birth of Bobbo Day".</span>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/17402032013-09-30T01:22:42-07:002013-09-30T01:22:42-07:00New song this week as well as our first two albums!That's right. <br><br>This week we'll be releasing the last song from Vol 1 of the Leaves on the Wind, Still Flying cd. If you already got the cd - then you know it already but we're going to release it to the rest of the world this week.<br><br>AND<br><br>Our first two albums ~ "found & lost" and "Where the Road Bends" both will be re-released on Ninety Three Records with new bonus tracks and stuff and will be available by the end of this week!!<br><br>Woo-Hoo!!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/16812672013-09-23T02:28:59-07:002022-05-18T06:28:54-07:00Review from our CD Release / Can't Stop the Serenity Show<a contents="Review is Here" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://rockwrite.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-fallen-stars-premiere-leaves-on.html" target="_blank">Review is Here</a>.<br><br><br>We just got home from playing the Hotel Cafe. I'm exhausted. It's been a busy week. Good thing tomorrow is Monday. <br><br><br>Oh, wait. <br><br>We have a new song being released this week, a new video and some live video from this weekend. <br><br><br>But I have to sleep now. <br><br>xo<br><br><br><br>~BobboThe Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/16617822013-09-19T15:43:18-07:002022-05-25T23:46:06-07:00If you're signing up for our email...And you get a strange email response - It's not because we don't care. Trust me - we love our fans. But our site host webhome thingy just did a re-org of sorts and I can't get in to change the outgoing message at this time!<br><br>So if it says "It was great meeting you at..." and we never met there. It's cool. Really. Know that we love you and I will fix that as soon as I can.<br><br>thanks!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/16014132013-09-11T18:08:53-07:002013-09-11T18:08:53-07:00Nice write up in the HB Independent today and new song coming next week!Yeah, so we had the nice folks from the HB Independent come into the studio and take some pictures and talk to us and it went really well. <a href="http://www.hbindependent.com/news/tn-hbi-me-0912-the-fallen-stars-firefly-20130911,0,1214024.story" target="_new"> You can read the article here.</a><br><br>
AND - we're releasing song #5 off the "Leaves on the Wind Vol 1: Still Flying" cd next week. This song is called "Big Damn Hero" and is a big rocker. I think you will dig it. <br><br>
That's all for today.<br type="_moz">The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/16014122013-09-11T18:08:53-07:002022-05-26T07:05:01-07:00Nice write up in the HB Independent today and new song coming next week!Yeah, so we had the nice folks from the HB Independent come into the studio and take some pictures and talk to us and it went really well. <a href="http://www.hbindependent.com/news/tn-hbi-me-0912-the-fallen-stars-firefly-20130911,0,1214024.story" target="_new"> You can read the article here.</a><br><br>
AND - we're releasing song #5 off the "Leaves on the Wind Vol 1: Still Flying" cd next week. This song is called "Big Damn Hero" and is a big rocker. I think you will dig it. <br><br>
That's all for today.<br type="_moz">The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/15505722013-09-04T19:49:23-07:002017-02-02T04:46:14-08:00New Record Deal, New Firefly Video, Two shows aaaannd a free song.So record deal. Yep. It's happening. And no, this isn't like the record deal where you get 8 cds for a penny,* this one is kind of real. Ninety Three Records** is re-releasing our first two albums "found & lost" and "where the road bends". Now, I know what you're saying ~ "Bobbo, I already have those albums!" Yeah, that may be the case but these new releases will have bonus, unreleased songs. There's a couple of alternate take songs, a couple of demo versions and a couple that just didn't fit thematically at the time. There's one of them in this email.*** This is our starting point together and we'll see where it leads us. <br><br>
Do you do a cd release for re-releasing your own albums? Hmmm. Must consult the manual on that one.<br><br>
NEW FIREFLY VIDEO!!<br><br>
Tracy has been slaving away at the computer cutting and slicing and nudging and closed captioning our latest Firefly video. It's for the song "Stronger Then Steel" (which you may have heard last week!)<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djS-_2scJpo" target="_new"> You can watch it here</a>. <br><br>
From Tracy: "The video for Stronger Than Steel is ready and this is my favorite one yet! While writing this song I could see the images I wanted to pull from the Shindig episode so clearly - Kaylee with the strawberries, Inara with the sword, the dancing and the chandelier at the ball - it was great to be able to sync them all up to the lyrics the way I've been seeing it in my head!"<br><br>
The CD Release for the Firefly EP Leaves on the Wind Vol. 1: Still Flying is taking place on Saturday, Sept 21 at the Starplex Woodbridge Cinema in Irvine. It's being hosted by <a href="http://www.californiabrowncoats.org/?p=1293" target="_new">The California Browncoats</a> and info is here. It's a benefit for <a href="http://www.equalitynow.org/" target="_new">Equality Now</a> which is dedicated to ending violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. We think the latest song "Stronger Than Steel" ties in well with that mission statement. <br><br>
So we've been rehearsing with our new drummer Chad for our big rock festival show on Saturday, we've been rehearsing with the Leaves on the Wind Band of Matt on cajon, Geo on violin, Matt (different Matt!) on mandolin and Tracy and I for the Firefly release and tonight we have an acoustic duo show. Our heads are just swimming in music!!<br><br>
This weeks shows:<br><br><u><b>Thursday, Sept 5th</b></u><br><a href="http://601oc.com/" target="_new">601 Bar and Grill</a><br>
601 S. Raymond Ave<br>
Fullerton, CA<br>
Also playing: Our friends Heather Stewart, Chris Ferguson and Paul Hines! <br>
8 PM and Free!<br>
and<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/601-bar-and-grill-fullerton" target="_new"> dig this Yelp coupon</a> for food there!<br><br><u><b>Saturday, Sept 7th</b></u><br><a href="http://www.mtbaldyskilifts.com/fallenstars.php" target="_new">Big Horn Music Festival</a><br>
Mt. Baldy, CA <br>
We are on at like 1 pm but it's a big Americana, Roots Rock Festival that is going to be awesome! Plus our friend Alice Wallace is playing too! It's a big camping out and everything type of event.****<br><br>
Down the road:<br><br><u><b>Thurs Oct 3</b></u><br><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Michael-Ubaldinis-Outlaws-of-Folk-Music-Series/154737501238735" target="_new">Outlaws of Folk</a><br>
Alta Coffee<br>
Newport Beach, CA<br><br><b><u>Sat, Oct 5</u></b><br><a href="http://www.avofest.com" target="_new">Avocado Festival</a><br>
Carpinteria, CA<br>
and we are on their compilation album!<br><br>
Then the end of October, our Australian tourmate<a href="http://benriddle.bandcamp.com/" target="_new"> Ben Riddle </a>is coming to SoCal and we're recording an album together! <br><br>
That is all for now. We're planning on sleeping sometime soon, I hope.<br><br>
Thanks for hanging with us.<br><br>
Bobbo, Tracy & Chad<br>
The Fallen Stars<br><br><br>
*I used to love those!<br>
**We got wined and dined! Well, a glass of wine and some tasty mushrooms at Sol Grill. <br>
***It's an alternate take of the song "Lies Like These". This is the only time I can give one of these ones away! I always liked this version and I had forgotten all about it. I think we didn't use it because it was a little too polished sounding. Let me know if you like it. The crazy thing is - I don't even know who is playing piano on it!<br>
****I'm really hoping someone has a big beach ball bouncing around. I love festivals with beach balls.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/14251582013-08-16T17:19:56-07:002017-02-02T03:03:24-08:00New Drummer & 400 Hits in two days!That's right! We're very happy to announce Chad Smith as our new drummer. Now I know a few of you out there are going to say "Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers?!?" <br><br>
Um, no. It's a different Chad Smith. But don't be sad. This Chad is also a really great drummer. He has nice hair and great timing. We just got home from a great reherasal tonight and can't wait for you all to see him/meet him at our Dipiazzas gig next week.<br><br>
And I just found out that our video for "Glad" has reached over 400 plays in just two days! That's pretty damn cool. In case you haven't seen it ~ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH0QjbzyWt8" target="_new">click here</a>.<br><br>
Bedtime.<br><br>
~Bobbo<br type="_moz">The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/14027222013-08-14T01:20:51-07:002013-08-15T02:39:59-07:00Our first *real* video, Firefly stuff, SoCal Shows and more So it's been awhile since I've written. Sorry, we were just so crazy on our tour in Europe and then the 23 hour trip on a train, a bus and 3 airplanes - we've needed some readjusting. BUT there's so much good stuff going on I have to tell you 4 things:<br><br>
1) Our first *real* music video is done and can be seen here.<br>
2) Our Firefly cd release show is going to be at a screening of the Firefly movie in September<br>
3) We have some SoCal shows, one this week and 2 next week.<br>
4) How awesome our tour was, playing outdoor festivals, clubs, house concerts, beach resorts...<br><br>
Now that I got a system - you can follow the number code.<br><br>
1) Our video.<br>
While we were in Germany we met Wolfgang. He is an amazing person and his story should be a book or a movie itself. We met him at our first show and we played a house concert in his garden.* Wolfgang had an idea for a video that has me on a ship and running across Bremen** and Tracy sitting and drinking coffee. We love the video and hope you will too. See it here. <br><br>
2) Firefly CD<br>
Ok, listen up browncoats! The California Browncoats are having a charity screening of "Serenity" along with the episode "Out of Gas" at the Irvine Woodbridge Cinema 5 on Saturday, Sept 21. This will also be the release party of our first Firefly cd.*** While we were on tour we released the 4th song in that series "Stronger than Steel" (which features the amazing violin playing of our good friend Geo Hennessey) and the video for that should be done soon and we're putting the finishing touches on the 5th song "Big Damn Hereos" right now. <br><br><br>
3) Local Shows<br>
Come see us! <br><br>
Thursday, Aug 15th<br>
Sam Ash Music Store<br>
Beach Blvd, Westminster, CA<br>
Free Show - 7pm<br><br>
NEXT FRIDAY<br>
Friday, Aug 23<br>
DiPiazza's<br>
Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach, CA<br>
$5 - 8 pm<br>
Full Rock Band Show****<br><br>
NEXT SATURDAY<br>
Saturday, Aug 24th<br>
Versai Wine Bar<br>
18248 Imperial Hwy<br>
Yorba Linda, CA 92886<br>
6:30-10:30 pm - Free!<br><br>
4) Ok, so yeah. Europe was really amazing to us. We have enough stories to fill a book and in fact Tracy wrote pretty much that on the Songs & Whispers Tour Diary page.<br><br>
See the picture above? It's showing how much fun we had on tour.***** It's from our last show in Bremen at Club Moments. Heiko is far left, he is our booking agent/guy, Julian a local drummer, Ben Riddle our tourmate, Himself, Axel Kruse a local singer/songwriter and then Tracy. We ended with "it's a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll." Yeah, acoustically and yeah it still rocked. Watch it here.<br><br>
So we are getting back into the swing of things here. Still coming down off the high that was this tour. We met so many amazing people and had such a great time sharing our music with them. Rumor has it that there may be a Ben Riddle/Fallen Stars release sometime in the next year and they want us to come back and play festivals next summer. So we have to work on that.<br><br>
In the meantime - I want to throw this out there; We played a bunch of house concerts in Europe and had a blast doing them. If you would like a house concert, email me to discuss and we'll make it happen. They are a ton of fun and very intimate. In fact we are playing one this weekend in SoCal!<br><br>
That is all I can fit in this email. I have so much more to tell.<br><br>
As always - thanks for hanging out with us and see you at a gig real soon.<br><br>
xo<br><br>
Bobbo & Tracy<br>
The Fallen Stars<br><br><br>
*The "Garden Party" as it's now been called. Wolfgang's town has almost 750 people in it. Over 250 people came out to the Garden Party to see us!<br>
**I did my own stunts.<br>
***You remember - songs inspired by the Firefly tv show. <br>
****We will have our new drummer with us at the DiPiazza's show. More about that soon.<br>
*****photo by Stephanie V Diercks - Thanks!!The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/13753152013-08-09T23:50:00-07:002022-04-19T14:00:58-07:00Tracy's Tour Blog & SoCal happeningsHey!<br><br>
So yeah. We're still a bit jetlagged from our 25 hours traveling from Berlin to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Boston, Boston to Los Angeles... It was a day with trains, buses and planes. It's good to sleep in our own bed but we're already missing being on tour.<br><br>
Tracy did a tour diary that has been great fun and...words and stuff. <a href="http://songsandwhisperstourdiary.blogspot.com/" target="_new"> Here's a link to it</a>: <br><br>
And here in SoCal - we're playing at Sam Ash Music store in Westminster on Thursday, Aug 15 at 7 pm. <br><br>
And the cd release for our "Leaves on the Wind" disc one is going to be at a screening of "Serenity" at the Irvine Woodbridge cinema. <a href="http://www.californiabrowncoats.org/?p=1293" target="_new">Details are here</a>.<br><br>
Oh, and <a href="http://youtu.be/KAezCsGq0VU" target="_new">here's a link to us playing APB with a fun sing along in Germany</a>: <br><br>
It's 7 am and I've been awake for 3 hours now. Am really trying to adjust. <br><br>
xo<br>
~Bobbo<br type="_moz"><br>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/12067252013-07-16T20:11:24-07:002021-04-19T02:47:53-07:00Ok, finally got on a computer and can update some stuff.<br><br>
Day 3/4:<br><br>
Rode bikes all over Berlin, well mostly in the PrenzlauerBerg area. Look it up. Seriously. It was like the front line of the cold war in '61. Crazy history. Saw where the church was, the church that sat vacant for 25 years in No-Man's-Land of the Berlin Wall. Did I upload the pics? I think I did.<br><br>
Then went out clubbing to a place called White Trash. If this place were in LA, it would be the best club in LA.<br>
The to Club Bassy where it was country night. Huge disconnect in my brain seeing redneck germans. Bob Wayne was performing and he did about 8 encores. <br><br>
Sleep was good.<br><br><br>
Day ? Update.<br><br>
I don't remember where I left off but it was a couple of days ago. Let's see...<br>
We drove to Osnabrück, Germany, a nice town with a large downtown shopping type area that is a street but only a pedestrian street. We've been advised to do some busking before shows and some good places to do it. So we set up and played for about an hour or so before the show. Most of that time was spent. Talking to the folks who were curious about us. <br><br>
We get to the gig, a place called Big Buttinsky and it's located in a cinema...sorta. It's very nice and has couches and comfy chairs and we meet Ben Riddle, our tourmate, for the first time. He is super nice, laid back, slightly hungover. Turns out the night before his ride back to where he was staying was on the back of a bicycle, so he did like an hour ride clinging to the back of a bike while carrying a guitar and his bag of cd/merch and he was a little sore.<br><br>
We set up to play and the sound is Awesome. I mean really great sound. Tracy plugs into the house bass amp and its a big Ampeg 1/2 stack thing, I am able to get my dual signal thing going pretty well with whatever amp I used (I honestly can't remember the brand) and we make big sound. Tracy has recently taken to using the Porchboard as well (it's a foot activated pedal that sounds like a kick drum) and we add it in a few places and so the two of us playing sounds like 2 vocals, 1 acoustic guitar, 1 electric guitar, 1 bass guitar and 1 kick drum. Make big sound!<br><br>
The folks here are super great and they bring us chinese food for dinner (good food but not photo worthy) and we hang out and rest on the comfy couches for a while.<br><br>
Ben goes on first and he has some really beautiful songs that are instantly singable and you find yourself singing along. We left the porchboard on stage for him and he took to it like a techno dj. I took some video of him and it's on my page somewhere.<br><br>
We go on after and folks seem to be digging it, we tells some stories with the songs and everyone listens intently and we have fun. Its a little tough to read because they are so polite, we kind of have this feeling of "did that go over well?" And when we finish they just keep clapping and the promoter guy asks if we will play an encore. Of course we will! We thank them all and I tell them "over the past 2 and a half years, we've played over 260 shows in 14 different states and 5 different countries ~ this song has kind of become our life." And we rock into our version of "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll" (AC/DC). I get about one line into the song and I see a guy to my left break out in a huge smile and actually hear him shout "YES!" Success.<br><br>
After the show ~ we are all staying at the soundman's flat. This is arranged and he does it for most acts coming through town, but he is also working the reggae jam until 6 am so we rush there and he meets us on his bike (it's like 2:5 miles away) and we crash in a punk rock apartment. Ben and I both have cocoon type sleeping bags that don't zip up and Tracy's bed is in danger of folding her up if she moves to much. But we all sleep well. <br><br>
Next day: Netherlands.<br><br><br>
Day 47 (or thereabouts)<br><br>
Drive from Osnabrück, Germany to Henglow, Netherlands. I have the GPS set to tell me when I go 5 mph over the speed limit. It may be the autobahn but that doesn't mean there aren't speed limits and hidden camera things. The GPS goes off with a "Gong" like from a churchbell. We look around for the church the first dozen times it goes off...<br><br>
We have an afternoon show today. We get there and everyone seems slightly hungover. This observation turns out to be accurate. The previous night was a huge party and Sunday's show has been dubbed "The Henglow Hangover". We play a few of our quieter numbers. Folks are few but really into it. Its now nearing 8 pm and we haven't eaten but they want us to come to another club and play again.<br><br>
We beg to eat first. Ben is fading fast, he hadn't been feeling well all day. So we find a Turkish restaurant, order some iced tea and eat. We strike up a great conversation with the owner. We all agree that we love the people from our countries but not so much what the governments and that the people should really get to know each other and more world problems would be better off.<br><br>
We leave dinner with every intention of heading straight back to Bremen but the folks from the show earlier are now hanging out waiting for us to play some more and they have brought friends!<br><br>
So we set up some chairs and we start going around, Ben does a song, we do a song and so forth. This is now our 3rd show together so we are singing each others songs and playing guitar together. Great fun.<br><br>
Talk with a guy who has been to texas and we talked alt.country for a bit. Said my singing reminded him of Jeff Tweedy. I dig that. We even performed "lies like these" which we haven't done in years! Some guy yelled out "Do you have a boyfriend?" After Tracy finished singing and we all laugh as I raise my hand. <br><br>
We waved goodbye as they filled us up with bottles of water and coke light for the drive. <br><br>
Slept in late, now its time to go play a festival. See ya later.<br><br><br><br>
Day: Tuesday 7/16/13<br><br>
I am sitting in a laundramat doing, well, laundry. I just lost 5 euro in a machine because it was broken. It pays to be able to read signs in foreign languages. Got helped out by a guy who looks a lot like my brother Chad. (The pic below does NOT mean that the washer is sleeping)<br><br>
Yesterday. Whoah.<br><br>
We get to the gig and meet the other folks who are on the Songs & Whispers circuit touring with us. Most of the time @ben riddle is playing with us but sometimes The Monotrol Kid and The Hobos are with us too. We meet the MK and Hobos folks and they are all super nice MK is from Belgium, Hobos from UK (but she has family in Newport Beach that she is visiting over thanksgiving! How crazy). <br><br>
We are hanging out and swapping stories about the shows so far and its so good. All the bands are helping each other, advice for this, you may know this guy, I'll tell so and so to look out for you ~ just great "we're all in this together" feeling. <br><br>
The Hobos were up first, this will technically be there third show TODAY. They were out busking earlier and did 2 sets there. Their drummer is all spread out using a suitcase as a kick drum, a cajon box, a snare and a melodica (among other things) and he keeps the groove tight for these great folk/pop songs. My fav was their cover of Cindy Lauper's "time after time". I think it was the only cover they played but they really made it their own.<br><br>
Ben Riddle was up next and he had everyone singing along with his "free as a bird" tune. This is our 4th show together and I just keep liking his stuff more and more. Another fav is one where he's playing the guitar very percussive, actually slapping the strings and playing footstomp on the off beat. Its very hypnotic. Am really glad we got paired up with him, just a great human being.<br><br>
Then The Monotrol Kid was up. The name comes from the pedal on a forklift. Its a great story but better when Eric tells it. They were bass and guitar like us and he also split his acoustic signal into the pa and a guitar amp via pedals like me. (Great minds me thinks.) <br><br>
We played next and had a great time. Tracy plugged into the MK's ashdown bass amp so that made all the low end sound great. We taught everyone what an APB was and they sang along. Our songs seemingly teach geography of the US unintentionally. And I mentioned how Americana we are yesterday ~ but its really true. We are an American band by birth but our sound is very American as well. I never truly thought about it or heard it more clearly than on this trip. And not in a jingonistic-asshole-toby-keith way but just in a solid this-is-who-we-are way.<br><br>
We ended with a rocking version of "one, two, three" and the slant of the stage and me jumping...I didn't fall but let's just say I didn't stick the landing. (Keri Strugg did better on one leg). Folks bought cds, we talked to lots of folks that really liked it and made new friends and fans. A+ day for sure.<br><br>
Oh and the Axel played! Almost forgot. He's local to the area and was fantastic, at one point a giant jam was going on and there really was a party on stage.<br><br>
Our new friend Wolfgang showed up and brought us a present of his last board game. This guy has designed over 40 board games and won a whole bunch of awards for them as well. (We went back to the flat and had bread, cheese and wine and played it!)<br><br>
We all hung out and chatted and learned about each other. I talked with Axel...(I am totally forgetting their names right now!!! AH!!!) They were born in Berlin in the 60's and I learned a lot about how the Berlin wall coming down felt to someone who lived inside it all their lives. It comes down to this: The wall had been there all their lives, it was all they knew. One day it was there the next it was gone, what the hell is going to happen tomorrow? They were not separated from family and friends ~ it was strange and weird and full of uncertaintinty.<br><br>
Then I had a mushroom pizza from a turkish restaurant and thankfully they did not put tuna on it.<br><br>
Today ~ playing on a TV show and then somewhere else!<br><br><br><br>
Day: yesterday 7/17/13<br><br>
Tracy made eggs and cheese almost omelets with gouda cheese. Me thinks that makes it fancy. We decide its very good.<br><br>
Then we start driving to Radio Wesser TV station. The station is in an old brick building on the second floor. Second floor actually means third floor, there's Ground Floor, First floor, Second floor. Get used to it.<br><br>
The crew are wicked nice and set us up in the green room. Ben is doing his performance first and then us. They like to record each song twice so they can mix the 2 camera shoot twice to make it look like a 4 camera shoot. "German Technology" we are told! We suggest smoke and mirrors. I'm giving away the trade secrets ~ Spoilers! <br><br>
They have cameras set up in the green room so they can record us setting up and getting ready. This consists of Tracy and I on our phones and trying to be real quiet so we don't end up on Ben's performance!<br><br>
Performance goes well, I have no idea how they were getting all the sound thru 2 microphones but they said it sounded good. (Recorded twice ~ 4 microphones??)<br><br>
Then we interview and when they asked us if we had any "hobbies" - I was *this* close to saying I was a choreoanimater. You know the person that makes up dance steps for cartoons. (There will be like one person who gets this obscure sports night reference). The interview goes fine, Tracy and I both talk afterwards about how we totally suck at interviews. Its awkward.<br><br>
Ben does his interview and we do some pick up scenes of us walking in, driving up, etc. It's very Hollywood, Ben is a natural. Tracy says she just feels dumb and I am trying to channel my inner Jason Schwartzman (in the Darjeeling Limited) for being comfortable in awkward environments. <br><br>
Then we drive back to Bremen...<br><br><br><br><br><br>
Day: yesterday (cont) 7/17/13<br><br>
We get to the Hafen Casino which is not in fact a casino. I'm not even sure its a Hafen (whatever the hell a Hafen is) It is in fact an old truck stop with a restaurant and patio area. They serve us up some great food and we sit around while Heiko sets everything up. I do feel guilty about this but he seems to have it all under control and damn this food is tasty. My guilt is balanced out by helping him carry a few boxes. (Heiko is from Songs & Whispers, the touring agecy/folks that put this tour together). This place seems like a strange area of a sort of industrial park and place where some trucks occasionally drive by. <br><br>
As we're sitting there a few people come and sit down on the patio. There's a big open patio, tables and benches and a place for the band to set up and its starting to fill up. Pretty cool, eh? Yes. We see our new fan Werner (from the day before) has made it out to the show. Dig that!<br><br>
Its Ben's turn to go on first and he even has a bunch of folks that saw him play here last year and have come back to see him. Fans are awesome. Ben does a great set, gets an encore and ~ seriously, we're touring with the dude and I can't get his songs out of my head. With our music we kind of hit you over the head, Ben's music just sneaks into your brain. Very good stuff. <br><br>
We start playing and I think its going pretty well, good reponse and we're actually "rocking" a bit. I mean we ain't got no drums but we're still digging in. We get a huge sing-along going for APB and we use Heiko as the protaganist in the song. Big fun. We end our set and after some cheering and clapping - Heiko says "they want more, can you do 3 more songs?" Of course!! I grab my camera and take a quick vid of folks wanting more. (See below). <br><br>
So we give them some more, we end with "truckin song" and a big jump and say thank you but no one is leaving and they are still clapping. There are folks all around the tables, just off the street, this place is over capacity! Awesome. Heiko comes up and says "can you do 3 more?" Yes. Yes we can.<br><br>
We rocked, we rolled. It was a good, good night.The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/11231752013-07-12T23:13:00-07:002022-04-13T10:40:53-07:00Europe Tour, new Firefly song, back in the OC in August<pre>From: "the fallen stars (bobbo)" <thefallenstars>
Reply-to: thefallenstars@thefallenstars.com
</thefallenstars></pre>
<div>
Hey Folks,<br>So I'm writing you from our flat in Berlin, turns out where we are staying is in the former GDR, or East Berlin. If this was 1989 we'd be behind the Berlin Wall!!<br>We've been walking around an seeing the sites = pics and storyline are on our facebook pages and we're trying to get them to sync on our website. links below. This city is a lot like us, breakfast places open at 10 am and everyone goes out starting around 11 pm. Culture shock? Nope. Feels normal!!<br>If you have any friends or family in Germany, Netherlands or Belgium - please send them our way. Our tour schedule is on our website - we're going to be all over. We have something like 26 shows in 24 days. We are so excited for this. <br>We also finished another Firefly song. We had hoped to have Firefly EP #1 done before we left but it didn't happen. It's going to have to wait until August when we get back. If we can figure out how to post it from here we will.<br>Speaking of August:<br>Friday, Aug 23<br>Dipiazza's<br>PCH, Long Beach, CA<br>Saturday, Aug 24 & Aug 29<br>Versai Wine Bar<br>Yorba Linda, CA<br>Please check in with us on Facebook as we will be posting all kinds of fun stuff on there from the old world. <br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/2uxhl2/13375527;http://www.facebook.com/bobbobyrnes">Bobbo facebook</a>: <br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/b3a9yt/13375527;http://leavesonthewindmusic.tumblr.com/">Tracy Tumblr</a><br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/8t6tfm/13375527;http://www.facebook.com/thefallenstars">Fallen Stars Facebook</a><br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/zt5lil/13375527;http://thefallenstarsband.tumblr.com/">Fallen Stars Tumblr</a><br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/i8evf7/13375527;http://instagram.com/thefallenstarsband">Fallen Stars instagram</a><br>Ok, goodnight all!<br>Talk to you soon.<br>xo<br>Bobbo & Tracy<br><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/l/dz20uc/13375527;http://thefallenstars.com/home.cfm">The Fallen Stars</a><br>*we fly out in 5 hours and I really have to get to bed!<br><img src="//thefallenstars.com/common/images/transparent.cfm?token=B89CF092-C6BB-484D-0F79E8134561D396&member_id=13375527&m=434917" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="transparent.cfm?token=B89CF092-C6BB-484D-0F79E8134561D396&member_id=13375527&m=434917" /><a href="http://thefallenstars.com/go/mu.cfm?d=169&c=13375527&m=434917">unsubscribe</a> | <a href="http://thefallenstars.com/?actionInject=mailinglist-update-information&token=A240C030-299A-1031-B6C6-003048348E0&m=434917">update my profile</a>
</div>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/10800862013-07-06T19:50:00-07:002021-06-23T03:03:08-07:00Guitar Geek Type Posting:A number of years ago I met Greg Bennett of Franklin Straps while coming out of a Sam Ash music store. I had just purchased one of his cotton cinch straps for my acoustic. We exchanged pleasantries and he told me how the strap was made of the same material they use to hold saddles on horses. I really loved the strap so I bought 2 more for my other acoustic guitars. <br><br>
A few months back, I found an inexpensive strap also made by Franklin and thought it was pretty cool so I bought a few of them. They all broke in the same spot. I thought this was really strange so I wrote them and company president Greg Bennett called me the next day on the phone to discuss it. He called me. He felt really bad when he saw the ding my guitar suffered in the fall and sent us a couple of replacement straps. Straps that were much nicer than the ones I broke. I boxed up the broken ones and sent them back to the company.<br><br>
Yesterday I got a phone call from him telling me that they have changed the way they make those straps so they won't break and would I like more replacements. <br><br>
I don't know how many companies make guitar straps and the number doesn't even matter to me because as far as I'm concerned there is only one; <a href="http://www.franklinstrap.com/index.htm" target="_new">Franklin Strap</a>.<br>The Fallen Starstag:thefallenstars.com,2005:Post/9646912013-06-18T04:48:08-07:002022-05-24T13:29:48-07:00New Firefly songs, last 2 SoCal shows before European tour and fun stuffs! Hey! <br><br>
I wanted to send this email sooner but the Bruins were engaged in an epic triple overtime game with the Blackhawks that didn't end as it should have.*<br><br>
So we have a new Firefly song up for sharing. We think it's pretty bad ass. (For Firefly Song Info <a href="./browncoats.cfm">Click Here</a>) The new song is called "Nothing" and it’s inspired by the episode “Bushwhacked.” Enjoy! I had a friend tell me that it sounded like Tom Petty in space. That's pretty cool. We had some great help on drums by Brian Matteson and Matt Froehlich on percussion. You want to see the video? <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gfeiq0so69g" target="_new">Click Here</a>.<br><br>
The next two Firefly songs are written and we're just finishing the mixing of them. The next one is totally pretty, with violin and guitar. It sounds like The Fallen Stars gone classical! We got violin help from Geo Hennessey. <br><br>
AND we have two shows this week and they are our last local shows before we go on our European tour. We had planned on having the cd release show for the Firefly album before we left but ̶s̶c̶h̶e̶d̶u̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶c̶h̶ we ran out of time. We're talking to the good folks over at Comic Book Hideout in Fullerton about having the release show there. Our good friend Glynnes own the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ComicBookHideout" target="_new">Comic Book Hideout</a> and has been a long time Fallen Stars fan and supporter - back when she was a dj in college!<br><br>
Comic Book Hideout for all your comic book needs.**<br><br>
Thursday, June 13<br>
Versai Wine Bar<br>
Yorba Linda, CA<br>
6:30-9:30 - acoustic set<br><br>
Friday, June 14<br>
Don The Beachcomber's<br>
Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach (well, Sunset Beach)<br>
9-12<br>
and we have Matt Froehlich joining us on drums.<br><br>
We'll be performing some new songs as well as a few of our Firefly songs. The first Firefly cd should be out in a few weeks. <br><br>
If you are in Europe or know folks that are - please hit up our website for our European Tour dates. <br><br>
And you know what - we always give away a free track with our emails, if you want a free track ~ shoot me an email and I'll send you whatever song you want!<br><br>
If any of you are on Tumblr - this is us and this is our <a href="http://thefallenstarsband.tumblr.com/" target="_new">band blog</a> and our <a href="http://leavesonthewindmusic.tumblr.com/" target="_new">Firefly blog</a>.<br><br>
Someone recently told us that we were creating our own sub-category of music: Geek Americana. I thought that was pretty funny.<br><br>
Really hope to see you this week and if not - stop by and watch/listen to our new song. <br><br>
Thanks, <br><br>
Bobbo, Tracy (and sometimes Matt, Brian or Brandon)<br>
The Fallen Stars<br><a href="http://www.facebook.com/thefallenstars" target="_new">Fallen Stars on Facebook</a><br><br><br><br><br>
*It took 2 deflections to beat Tukka!! Damn.<br>
**we were in there recently and I unintentionally started a great arguement over Spiderman. Logically to me, Spiderman would be filed under "S" ~ EXCEPT that there is "Amazing Spiderman" which is filed under "A", the "Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man" which is under "P", "Web of Spider-Man" is under "W" and so on. I am apparently dumb for thinking all Spider-Man comics go under "S".The Fallen Stars