Before I go further, you can check most of the comings and goings of the band at www.maidavalemusic.com, but here are some of my thoughts...

Friday. Nashville.

Up early in the morning, take kids to school with regrettable goodbyes, load-up and take off driving.

Drive and drive and drive.

Sights seen?
• One of the more disturbing personal evangelism billboards (in Alabama, where else?)
• A gentleman’s club (who’d want to a club with all guys?) named, appropriately enough, “The Boobie Bungalow.”

Arrive in Nashville. We are 2 blocks from the Country Music Hall of Fame. Load in our copious amounts of guitars, with amused looks from sound guys and club owners. We are tired, and fighting fatigue after 3 nights of rehearsals, web redesign, listening parties and our “other obligations.”

Sound check, eat, play, talk with friends, avoid tornadoes.


Saturday: Chicago

Drive all day and get to Martyr’s right at sound check. Again a phenomenal room with a great engineer. Crowd shows up early and is engaged. We play a rockin, 12am set complete with punk rock pushing on stage and extended, uncomfortable silences. This my (our) tribe; people listening to good music and enjoying themselves.

We dispense to homes throughout the city; I end up playing guitar until 4:30 am with a good friend. Up early at 7:15am to start the long, long drive home.


Sunday: Trip Home

• Given enough time alone, grown men will surely revert to behaving like 16-year olds, including the following activities:
o Throwing food at each other from moving vehicles
o Using said vehicles as items of fun
o Off-color jokes (with much, much laughter)
o Much discussion about male genitalia (with much, much laughter).

Good trip. Great shows. Great friends. God is good.