Great gig tonight in Indianapolis at the Music Mill. I think that's what it's called. Ate dinner from the venue restaurant which was not horrible but ultimately not satisfying. I need some rice and some papaya salad or something. Every night I cram food into my gullet because my palate is so sad. I'm tired of backstage cold cuts on white bread with yellow mustard.
Things I am missing while I am on the road:
1. My bed. Deb from the Weepies, who's in the bunk opposite mine, nearly got kicked in the head this morning by a sleepy Jim Bianco. Accidentally, of course. I put my earplugs in every night, and every morning the earplugs are smushed like little flesh colored turds underneath my pillow. I think I'm pulling them out at night. But now that I'm in the dark bunk cabin, I don't have to wear the blindfold anymore. Also, I miss my little bathroom.
2. Rice. Actually, all ethnic food, but I'm really missing rice. I'm really not a bread person. I always ask people what they would choose for their top three starches. I would choose rice, pasta/noodles, and potatoes. Though now, I might actually say oatmeal instead of potatoes. Oatmeal has been super happy making on this tour, I have to say. And if semolina pasta and rice noodles count as two different things, then they would be my #2 & #3. But rice for sure is number one. And we don't have rice on our backstage rider. Maybe we should.
3. My New York friends. I wish they were all on the tour with me.
4. Privacy. You're in the bus, you're in the green room, you're on the stage...the only time you're alone is in the venue shower, and then there's a line behind you so you better hurry up. Also, washed my hair with the bar soap my best friend Donna gave us in Chicago. Bar soap -- not the same as shampoo.
Things I will miss about the road:
1. Making music and listening to live music every night. Music every night, man. That is the life. Getting to listen to the Weepies every night. I would never get tired of listening to Deb and Steve. I love setting up the little computer interface every night and breaking it all down at the end of the night. I love singing every night -- doesn't matter if there are 10 people or 1000 people in the audience -- it's just great to be singing with friends every night.
2. Seeing new towns every day. Stopping at truck stops in the middle of nowhere. Getting out of the bus and hoofing it around, getting to know the 1 mile radius around the venue and bus very intimately. Looking around for yoga classes every day.
3. Making new friends in every city. One of the greatest things about this tour is that the artists join the tour and leave the tour regularly. Jim Bianco and Tim Jones just joined us, Matt Costa and Charlotte Martin are gone, Miho and I will be vacating our bunks in Cincinnati (on my birthday), so we've gotten to meet lots and lots of people. It's really like rolling summer camp.
I would like to take this opportunity to dispell the groupie myth. I have to say that women really just throw themselves at male musicians; they have absolutely no shame. They sneak backstage, drunk, wearing heels, with full war paint on, giggling and draping themselves sensuously over furniture. In fact, I hear there was a recent conjugal visit by a female fan in the tour bus while we were in the hotel. But male fans -- not so much. Not that I could really hit that, but, you know, I sometimes wonder what it'd be like to have the option.
Best thing heard tonight, as told to Cary Brothers:
FAN: [With an Indiana drawl] Oh my gosh, it's such a great night! I just love the music! And the girl who's singing right now, she's great! I never thought I'd like Japanese music.
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