Wednesday, Sept. 29. Philadelphia, PA. Castle Gay.

We were all tired out when we got to Philly, but we perked up after we got to eat some spicy noodle soup. Castle Gay puts on a good house show.

We played with The Snow Caps, Charlotte Littlehales, Kate Ferencz and Buffalo Stance. We met Andrew and Yianni from The Snow Caps when they played with their other band, Hermit Thrushes, in Nebraska once. It was good to see them again, and they were very cheerful and hospitable house show hosts. The Snow Caps are a slightly mathy folk band, Charlotte’s a singer songwriter, Kate is a bouncy junk-pop artist with enormous eyes, and Buffalo Stance is the quirky piano project of my friend Jamey Robinson.

Jamey actually carried a small piano down into Castle Gay’s basement for the show, amazing. A ton of people came out to the show. Afterwards Yianni captured a katydid.

Next morning breakfast with beansprouts and kale,

then off to Baltimore!

Before leaving town we visited a very spiritual district of South Philly, home to an Episcopal church advertising bring-your-pet-to-church day, an occult goods store that’s been open since 1917, and this imposing sign.

Tuesday, Sept. 28. New York City, NY. The Living Room.

A taxi backed into us on our way back from the show last night, and this morning there was a guy outside on the street screaming, “You’re fucking ridiculous!” at the top of his lungs into a cell phone, so we’re having a proper visit. :) I love it here.

One major pain in the ass: a piece of the blanket we use to cover up our stuff in the back of the van got caught in latch and now we can’t open the back door to unload our stuff. It sucks.

Today I went down to perform at an elementary school near Coney Island called the Brooklyn School of Inquiry. I played a short set for a bunch of cool kindergartners and first and second graders.

Bryan and I found some pizza after that, it was really weird though, exactly like a chicken Caesar salad on a pizza crust. Then we made our way back and went to play the show at Googie’s Lounge above The Living Room. Bryan had to ride in the back so he could hand the gear out over the seat until we could figure out a better way to pack everything.

We played with Steve Bartolomei again and with P.G. Six. I sang a song with Steve. Pat sounded wonderful. We got to play with Max again, which was great fun. Philip used the strings of the white piano to make some sounds.

After the show, Gary and I had some drinks at the Living Room while Bryan, Philip and our friend David went to watch this Italian band we met the night before play at the Cake Shop. We got lost on the way back to Philip’s. The next day we ate at a diner, spent a bunch of time moving the van, met a nice guy at a music store, got stuck in traffic, and generally walked around. Our two days in New York City were great.

Monday, Sept. 27. Brooklyn, NY. Goodbye Blue Monday.

We started off our time in New York with a fulfilling mountain of bitter greens (with beets at the bottom) at a panini place near Philip's in Astoria. Philip with his panini, and cupcakes:

As often happens, we were too busy to see a whole lot of the city this day, but Bryan and I did manage about a ten minute walk through a tiny corner of Central Park.


The show this night was at Goodbye Blue Monday in Brooklyn, with Mal Madrigal and Guitars. Bryan and Philip did an improv set. I'd say they were Eloine + Philip Gayle but they did come up with a name for their collaboration, BraynPhlip. How serious they were about this name is unclear.


Goodbye Blue Monday is wholly encrusted with all manners of curiosities. They also sell records; Gary was pleased.



Guitars from Brooklyn played first, as a duo, with lots of space and slow harmonies. They looked great on this stage.



Mal Madrigal is Stephen Bartolomei, an old friend from Omaha who lives in Manhattan now, very good to see him again. He has a wonderful voice.


We had the pleasure of playing with upright bassist Max Johnson, who jumped on for both of our New York shows. We all loved playing with him.


The night ended up with Bryan and Philip's collaborative set. Philip made use of the many objects within reach of the stage, including dolls of Ernie, Bert and a small tyrannosaur. This was appropriate as Philip just told us that Sesame Street used to be filmed not far from where he lives now, and that the first Sesame Street episode aired the day he was born. Small world.

Sunday, Sept. 26. Jamaica Plain, MA. Whitehaus.

We got to play a wonderful show at Whitehaus with Glenn Jones, Kath Bloom, and Jaggery. Whitehaus is a big old house in Jamaica Plain, MA, where many people live and put on shows. How many people exactly? I was going to ask, and then I saw this toothbrush holder and decided the answer was "many."

We have old friends at Whitehaus in Jamaica Plain, though this was our first time there: one of the house bands, Peace, Loving played at our old place, Clawfoot House, in Nebraska. It was good to see Kate again. And Whitehaus has a similar energy to those Clawfoot House shows; we felt at home. Someone made butternut squash soup. I liked the magpie-nest chandeliers.

The show got started and everyone piled into the parlor. Glenn Jones played first, gorgeous instrumental pieces for 12-string guitar and banjo. He is amazing.

This was our third show with Kath Bloom, who played next. She was sublime. It was a fitting kind of room for her music, and her band sounded so good.

Gary, Philip and I jumped on for a couple of Kath's songs and everyone had a good time. Kath and Tom played violin and recorder and sang with us for "Your Words" and "Houston" during our set, too. Their harmonies lent the songs an emotional spookiness. The audience was very cool.

Jaggery played last, keyboard, upright bass and violin. Mali's vocal-range gymnastics were impressive.

And someone wrote a live review of the show, with video of Glenn. Our time in Boston was just great. Gary let off a smoke bomb to celebrate.