Ireland, Scotland, England. So far...

The past two weeks have been a blur of long van rides, ferries, gigs, hotels,etc. So I'll try to hit the high points and spare you the details. After Paris ( now in the care of our tour manager Mike Allen) we had two days to get to Dublin. One overnight stay in Folkstone and another in Valley. The morning we woke in Valley I enjoyed a morning run along a rocky beach (photo below)(closest thing to running the greenbelt since I left Austin in May).
Many of these nice English and Irish Inns have breakfast in the morning. I did not fair well, Muesli,muesli ,muesli !
On all the Ireland dates we were joined by Dublin band, The Mighty Stef. They were a great band and real nice guys, I wish them the best. So, the longest day ever came after our gig in Galway. We played, packed up and went back to the hotel just to clean up then on the road to Suffolk, England..
Which means we have to catch the ferry in Dublin at Six am. Once on land again it's still another 6 hours to the gig.All in all a 14 hr drive straight to the Maverick festival. Which turned out to be a really great show. Basically it's old castle, old church everywhere you turn. So eventually you get a little numb to it all. But, pictured below is Kilkenny Castle, the only one I did go into. In Winchester we stayed with the promoter Oliver Gray, his wife Birgit and daughter Lucy were very gracious with us as we invaded their home. Oliver does this all the time so they knew what they where getting into. I really enjoyed our time there, so nice to not be in a hotel. Oliver gave me a copy of his book Volume as we left, I'm about half way through it and really enjoying it, thanks Oliver. From Winchester we go to Kendall, van ride,load in,soundcheck,dinner,gig,load out,hotel,repeat. This is the deal.
But, we have the 4th of July off in Glasgow, so, being our tour manager's home town he has arranged a cook out for us at his home. Complete with veggie burgers,veggie kebobs and fruit salad. Thanks Mike and Linda.
Up to this point, the winner of "best in house meal" is The Grey Eagle in Ashille,NC. But Stereo Bar in Glasgow made a strong showing, we'll have to wait to the end of the tour to find out, but as of now it's between these two. Totally Vegan restaurant "Stereo" is street level and "Stereo Bar" the live music venue is below. What a perfect scenario. Next to Newcastle Upon Tyne, rained all day and all night. On to Leicester, where I got in a great long run, all over the town and through Abbey Park (pictured below). York was beautiful, "hey look! Old church, old castle!" though I did get to run atop the Wall of York. Which caused me to wonder about walls in general. They're all over Europe , somebody built a wall to keep somebody else out, they're all really old , didn't work, and are now tourist attractions. So the idea back home that some people have about building walls/fences etc... Is approx. 800 year old thinking and should be laughed at.
We had a travel day to Bristol, Alejandro and Billy took the train to London to do radio promo. Another long run in Bristol, my new,"least favorite running surface" is cobblestone . Lots of good vegan restaurants and organic grocers in Bristol. I must mention Earthbound as my favorite. Very nice, had everything I was looking for. I should have enough supplies to make to Italy. But first, tonight we're in Nottingham. More later.

Spain 2 France 0

We flew from New York to San Sebastian, Spain arriving at 10:30am.
I vowed to stay up all day and go to sleep at a normal time for my new time zone. We checked in and hit the streets looking for lunch which proved tough for me. Tapas bar after tapas bar. Meat, cheese and bread. I did find small market named "Organics" and stocked up enough supplies to carry me through. I spent the rest of the day at the beach and managed stay up (36hrs) at this point til about 9:30.
The next morning I went out for a 5 mile run along the canal and then went back to hotel to get Alejandro, and we went to the beach and stand up paddle boarded for a while. On to the gig, it was at Teatro Eugenia Victoria a beautiful old theatre. The crowd was a bit reserved but we had good show.
Next day, on to Barcelona with our driver Danny. We are immediately greeted by Juan and Marjan (wonderful friends of Alejandro )who take us to lunch at this beautiful restaurant where they prepare a beautiful salad for me (not on the menu, but come think of it there was no menu) several courses were served and it all looked great. The gig in Barcelona was a rock club and it went off like rock show should. Loud, hot and sweaty. After the show I went with everyone for a bit down to La Rambla, the main entertainment district , with late night Cafes. I went for a run to the beach the next morning and a quick swim then off to Madrid. In Madrid we're playing the Dia De la Musica festival and we check in to a really nice hotel downtown. Complimentary breakfast is awesome with fresh fruit and cereals with soy milk. The gig was great and the catering was wonderful, palm tree plates and flatware (compostable) plenty of vegan options . All in all Spain is a really tough place to be a vegan.
But I have to say I loved it there regardless. The people are so nice and beautiful. Great attention is paid to the design of everything , from the ceiling of the airport to the most common dentist office on the corner. Great design. The night that we play, Spain is playing France about a block from our hotel and the air is electric. After Spain wins the town goes nuts and I go to sleep to the sound of car horns and victorious screams. On to Paris.
We get in town with time to check in to the hotel before we have to be at the venue, so I head out to find lunch. Indian food is always a pretty safe bet.
The crew at Lê Divan De Monde was so helpful and the room was cool. We had great show and I walked around Paris for a while as we would be leaving in the morning, spending a grand total of about 19 hrs in Paris . It ain't vacation, contrary to what some may think. It the morning we head toward the U.K. And take the Euro tunnel under the English Channel what a trip that was. Right now I'm writing this from the deck of a ferry which has our sprinter van in the bottom of it in route to Dublin where we play tonight.
More to come. Keep cool Austin.

Last week of first leg of u.s tour

This last week was tough. Don't get me wrong, it ain't roofing houses, but , it can be hard out here.
Sunday was the Big Apple Bar b que Block party in Madison Square Park.
Great show, a light rain shower during "San Antonio Rain" and a big sing along on "Chelsea Hotel 78" just blocks from The Chelsea. It was a barbque scene but backstage catering had portobello wraps and humus with celery. That night was no sleep and a 2am load in to the Fox News building.
We did the Don Imus show (don't ask me). I got a short nap before load in to Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. At Maxwells I always get the " health bowl" salad( pic below). The Ghost Wolves opened the show and we had a great show.
The next morning we had a 9am load in to "30 rock" for The Jimmy Fallon Show. Doing T.V is always a long day and then you're on, 3:30 of rock and roll and then you're back in the van headed toward Philly. No sleep so it goes without saying , no running for a couple of days. In Philly we do WXPN World Cafe Live radio show and have a great curry lentil soup and fruit bowl from a place near the studio called Pic-nic. Back in the van and on to Wilmington , DE. For World Cafe music venue show. A beautiful venue and a good show. After the gig we drive 3hrs to Albany, NY where we have a day off . I got some sleep and a nice 10 mile run through Albany. Played at the Egg performing arts center. Then on to Boston , played at Brighton Music Hall. I received a FedEx package with Fathers Day cards from home (thanks Greta, Isabel, and Nancy). 6 hrs sleep and on to Croton on the Hudson, NY. For the Clearwater Festival. Tomorrow were off to Spain. Now it gets really interesting. Happy Fathers day ! Got in one last run in Queens just now. Now, Off to JFK. Also thanks to Healthy Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY for the fresh juices and getting me through the last couple of days. Great store.

Big Station release day

Mountain Stage (NPR) was fun, shared the stage with Justin Townes Earle, Elizabeth Cook, and others. Catering was institutional. Hotel was right on the river where there is a nice bike/ run path, got few mile in the day we left.
On to NYC for the "Big Station" record release show at the Bowery Ballroom. Got into the city with enough time to head over to Caravan of Dreams for a "Superfood smoothie #1" and a "raw omega salad". The show was great, big crowd, lots of fun.
On to Amagansett, NY.
I found the "1%" they're in Amagansett. I had a nice run on a day off in Farmingville, NY , managed to get in 7 miles without getting run over ( serious lack of sidewalks).
Next we were in Northampton, MA.
I've always had a good time here. Great running trail along the river, and great restaurants.We always head straight to Alejandro's friend Martin's restaurant ( Veracruz Mexican food) .
Our guitar player Billy "Blanco" White had some friends come see us who own a raw food business, Kurt's Cuisine. They brought a box full of food for us. Kale wraps , chia pudding and a few other creations I can't really describe except to say it was all wonderful . Thanks Kurt and Rachel.
Now, back to NYC for barbecue block party of all things. The coming week is a sleepless four days of press and gigs.
But I will mention we'll be on Jimmy Fallon Tuesday night. See ya!

Yard bird and the blue ridge parkway

In Nashville we played a (new) old time stage show, Music City Roots. Normally hosted by Jim Lauderdale, tonight Chuck Mead (BR 549) was hosting. It takes place at a roadside B&B known as The Loveless Cafe. Catered dinner was their famous fried chicken, green beans (cooked in bacon), mashed potatoes (butter).
On this day I survived on peanut butter , rice cakes and bananas. I got in a decent run through a neighborhood in Brentwood the next morning and set out for Ashville,NC.
I love Ashville. We arrived in the evening and I immediately started plotting how I was going to run the trails of the blue ridge parkway. I called a outdoors shop I saw, named Black Dome outfitters( I think). They were very helpful in advising me on where to find the trail head and best trails to take. In the morning Chris Searles ( our drummer) got up early with me and drove me a few miles out to the Folk Art Center on the parkway. I caught the Mountain to Sea Trail here and went north . It was pretty steep climbing and started to drizzle rain , at 4.5 miles I turned and headed south, super fast descent. Great 9 mile trail run and Chris picked me back up.
The show was at The Grey Eagle , a great club I had played before. They have a little kitchen and dinner was amazing. I had a vegetable curry with tempeh and a kale salad with green apples and maple vinegrette. We played a solid two hour show ending the night our tour mates Jesse Malin and Derek Cruz on stage with us for a rowdy version of "Rock the Casbah" and "Beast of Burden".
The next stop was Roanoke for a small festival. I really like this town, one street actually. Kirk Avenue holds a great restaurant , Lucky,were we had dinner, a great coffee shop and the Kirk ave Music Hall. Everyone ate weird cheeses, cured meats and fried chicken, but the chef prepared a great vegan dish of veggies and cous cous with spring greens salad for me. (thank you). Off to Morgantown ,WV for Mountain Stage.

Louisville, Lexington , memorial day.

The show in Louisville, KY was great, Headliners club is always fun and I had dinner at Kashmir an Indian restaurant I've been to before. On to Lexington , got in a great 8 mile run at University of Kentucky. I set out from our downtown hotel toward campus when I remembered The Arboretum at UK. A great protected greenway with a running trail. I had run here before.
The show was "Wood Songs"a PBS stage show. Dinner was catered and I lost big time. Bar b que ! Pork, at that.
Also, all of downtown Lexington was closed for Memorial Day. After sound check I walked around til I found " Shorty's"urban market , jackpot!
I scored a bunch of local grown spinach, some hummus, tortilla chips and an apple. Went back to the theatre and did the show, which went fine, and then to my hotel to enjoy my makeshift dinner. Tuesday , and it's an 9 am lobby call and 8 hour drive to Memphis. Living the dream.

Chicago , Milwaukee," running around lake michigan "

We drove into Chicago, dropped our bags at the "2x Tree" and proceeded to Lincoln Hall, a great old theatre venue . Dinner was provided by in house restaurant and had a very standard spinach, hummus wrap.
The show was great we had a local horn section and Susan Voelz on violin.
By the end of the night there way mor people on stage than I would have guessed could fit.
As a trail runner, I really hate running on concrete, but you gotta take what you get out here on the road , and it could (and will be) a lot worse than Chicago's running path at Navy Pier.
If you look for it you'll find many a path in the grass to give yourself a break from the concrete.
In Milwaukee we played at Turner Hall,
A great, old building. I remembered from the last time I was here that the catering is always top notch . I'm posting a picture of the menu, if you enlarge it you should be able to read it.
This morning I went out for another run by the water, very similar to the Chicago running path. I love the Milwuakee Art Museum building.
On to Indianapolis for night off.