Awesome show this past Saturday night with DANE PAGE and WILL EASTER. I had the pleasure of kicking that show off and then sitting back, enjoying a few D9 Brewers Day Off beers and just taking in some amazing music. Wish I could’ve sat back and listened to myself as I was pretty good too, but we just don’t have the science for that yet. Someday. All in all, a great night for everyone. It’s always inspiring to play music alongside really talented people. I can feel how it pushes me to be the best version of myself as a performer, in a good way. I hope to play with these guys again soon. Thanks to everyone who hung out, listened hard (seriously attentive and wonderful crowd. I can’t tell you how much that means to a performer when everyone is locked in. Raises the experience for everyone involved.) and, shit, you’re supposed to do these in threes. Umm. And bought beer/wine? That works, I guess. Maybe people don’t know but the more you buy drinks, often the more the bands get paid. So, drink up in support of local music! That seems like a win-win if I ever heard one.
Now, this might sound strange, but one of the things I love the most about moving to North Carolina (apart from the obvious of not being in Portland, OR anymore… good riddance) is the rain. I get it. Former Portland, OR resident likes the rain? Isn’t that why people get so depressed out that way? Doesn’t it rain for like eight months out of the year? Why the fuck aren’t you sick of the fucking rain after almost 9 years of that?
Well, let me tell you. For those who don’t know, I was born and raised in the great state of Wisconsin where we had these things called Seasons. I loved them. Even, to a certain extent, winter (though I suppose my having a song called “MIDWEST WINTERS” with the refrain of “Those Midwest Winters will suck your soul away” might refute that statement…). And one of the things I loved was rain storms. The sounds are so soothing. In fact, I have my windows open right now so I can listen to the sound as I write this. I enjoy thunderstorms even more, but I’ll take a good rainy day any day of the week. It also makes me feel more comfortable inside where I can work on my computer and not feel like I should be doing something out and about, which is great for someone who is still learning the music scenes out this way and needs to do tons of research/booking online but normally hates to be on a computer for more than a couple hours. I don’t typically enjoy the out of doors, but I actually had a cup of coffee (super watered-down for those wondering how I drink coffee with Meniere’s Disease. I put in like a spoonful of ground for every three cups. It doesn’t taste as good as it used to but I still get that warm, brown elixir every morning and I don’t have to worry about my ear acting up. Meniere’s, for those who don’t know, is an inner ear disorder that affects hearing, balance, vision and just about everything else when it ramps up. To read my blog about my latest Meniere’s attack, CLICK HERE.) out on my patio this morning just to listen to and take in the rain. It was the first time I’ve been out there in weeks.
The reason Portland rain sucks (and all the Pacific Northwest rain in general) is that it’s so light and constant. It basically sprinkles all day, every day for months on end. I prefer my rain to come hard and then get the fuck out (ha!). The rain was so shitty, half the time my windshield wipers wouldn’t even work on it because the drops were so small and mist-like. So, when you have your six hour drive to the next show and you can barely see and the roads are super twisty-turny because of the damn mountains and the highways aren’t properly sloped so your constantly hydroplaning all over the place and for some reason, even though it rains for eight fucking months a year, no one knows how to drive properly in the rain and they keep almost hitting you and you haven’t had any coffee yet since every time you reach for the cup either some asshole tries to hit you because they’re on the phone instead of driving or you hit yet another mini lake on the freeway and nearly careen into the log-hauling truck you’re passing… I lost the point, but it wasn’t fun. You can’t even use an umbrella because it’s goddamn pointless. That’s actually how you could spot new arrivals: trying to use an umbrella, getting wet anyways and then getting aggravated since the misty-bullshit rain is still blowing onto them. Good times…
And that’s just one of the (seemingly endless) things I hated about Portland, OR. Maybe someday I’ll do a top 5 things but I have more important things to do today so… Listen to DANE PAGE and WILL EASTER, drink any beer that D9 brewing makes (especially the Pinch of Salt Salted Caramel Gose) and I’ll see you next week or at the next show. Bradley out…
(dictated but not read)
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