EVERYDAYISDAYONE

HELLO!

We have finally arrived at a destination with internet. This is my home, in Madison, WI. I have been having a great time, and I think Doby has too. It’s hard to decide the best way to go about recapping this tour so far, so I’ll just do it in chronological order:

July 2: Omaha, NE
The Goofy Foot Lodge
w/ Sarah Xiong, Midwest Dilemma
The drive to Omaha was short, but HOT. It was 102 in the car, without air conditioning, which would have been fine if my window hadn’t broken during the first half hour. Luckily, the space the air came through was enough to make my head stay dry, otherwise it would have been unbearable. We arrived in Omaha, and checked out the downtown. I had been their previously a couple of times, but Doby had not, so I showed him to my usual stop, Zio’s, and we got a couple of slices of cheese pizza. We headed to the venue and were greeted with an awesome dude Forrest, who I can’t thank enough for giving us the show. The Goofy Foot Lodge was really nice inside, it smelled nice, and had nice couches. Sarah started off the show with a very quiet, relaxing set. Midwest Dilemma, aka Justin, played a nice set to end the evening. The crowd was mixed; a few were very attentive, while most of the rest were there to drink and play pool (which, of course, is fine by me).

At the show, I knew two people already from a prior experience - Clint and Sarah. They came down to Manhattan to see Page France, and they hung out at my house after that show. They just happened to see I was playing in Omaha, so they thankfully stopped by and saved the day. Their friend Paul was also at the show, and I am glad we met him. They offered us a place to stay, and we gladly accepted. Before heading over to their home, and after a quick stop at the gas station, we went to Village Inn* and got a late breakfast. Our waitress was extremely kind, and my hashbrowns were money. Seriously. So we headed back to Clint and Sarah’s house, which unfortunately has been ravaged by bad luck. Not only had their plumbing broke, but their landlord won’t respond to any phone calls. POOR KIDS! At least they have their adorable cats to keep them company through all of that mess. Joker, Stickerjack and Cat Stevens. So cute.

Thank you so much to you guys for letting us stay with you. You are super great people, and I’m glad we got to hang out with you. If you were unaware, Doby accidentally left his merchandise under a chair in your living room…so if you are still there, please please pick it up and mail it to us, and I’m sure you will be rewarded.

July 3: Iowa City, IA
Gabe’s Oasis
w/ Too Many Bands To Name (not a band)
Iowa City is a great city. It’s pretty, it feels like a community, and there are really good restaurants. Gabe’s was having their second to last show ever, and we were added on very late. I was excited for it, and Doby was pretty nervous. When we got there, no one knew when we were playing, where the sound guy was, and all of that, so we walked around more, took a break at the public library, and came back. By this point Abby and her friend Amanda (who just happened to be celebrating her birthday the following day) had arrived, so that was nice. It was awesome to see her again, it had been awhile. So we went back inside, figured out that Doby and I were to do a split set (we switched off songs, for our 15 minute set) - and while we were playing, we were told that we sucked and to go home. Oh well. It was still good to see Abby. After a night of truckstops and almost-karaoke bands, we slept at my Aunt + Uncle’s house in Geneseo, IL. The next day we had an amazing lunch, thanks to Weber Meats and a joint birthday party for my cousins.

July 4: Davenport, IA
The Bear Cave
w/ Moist Ladies, 1985, Old Shoes, Bravest Little Jenn
We got to Davenport early, so we checked out Northpark Mall (I believe it was Northpark). My mom used to work there while she was pregnant with me, which explains why I love Chick-Fil-A so much. We decided that their Barnes & Noble in the mall had a good selection of music, which was weird, and then headed over to The Bear Cave. The Bear Cave is also a house, home to friends I met on my Winter Tour, Johnnie and Bambi. Those two people are the nicest, most down to earth, awesome people ever, ever, ever. I am so glad we got to hang out at their lovely home, and talk about corn bread, hot noodle (oh man, hot noodle - you have no idea. you will, you will…), and more. The other bands were very nice as well, it was good to meet them. Please check out those bands, seriously. They are amazing. Nathan from Moist Ladies gave me a hot mix CD, as well as an even hotter Moist Ladies CD which happens to be the best homemade packaging I have ever seen. Imagine a zine as the CD packaging. Oh, and that zine, it’s good. No, it’s awesome. Thank you Nathan (and Ryan, of course, I’m sure he did his fair share of work). One of the most interesting things I have ever seen at a show happened to be at this show, and it was a nice woman named Jenn who had her typewriter with her, and for a small donation, she would type an original poem, just for you. Best idea ever. I gave her a now seemingly small donation of $1, and she gave me a relevant, beautiful poem in return. I totally should have paid way more, and for that I feel bad. But, truly, I wish there were more creative people like that everywhere (I am including myself, I wish I could be as well). The show went well, there were fireworks, amazing salads and foods, and nice times had by I assume everyone. Except for the neighbor, who was not pleased by the explosions coming from next door. The law can wait, lady. The law did wait.

July 5-7: Madison/Deerfield, WI
Cuda Cafe / The Corral Room
w/ Jeremy, A Pop Punk Band I Can’t Remember The Name Of, Danger Stranger (My Brother)
I will summarize these three days with a string of random memories of them:
Family, Construction, Dentist, Downtown, Restaurants, Food, Food, Food, Eating, Food, Brady playing very well, Cuda Cafe being very awesome and nice to us, My Mom being crazy and very sweet, Not hanging out with Shannon enough, seeing friends from high school at, as Doby called it, a seedy bar beneath a steakhouse, playing to said friends and family - only them.
It was a nice, relaxing three days in Madison.

July 8: Belleville, IL
The Ground Floor
w/ The Narrows, The Whiskey Ring
Holy crap. The Ground Floor is amazing. Seriously. The six hour drive felt like nothing, and since we left at seven in the morning, we arrived fairly early. We hung out at the venue with one of the employees, Lauren, and frankly, we were lucky she was there. The town itself, eh, not much to do. But inside of The Ground Floor, it’s like a different city. She was so nice, funny, accommodating, and she recommended an amazing Greek restaurant, which was wonderful. The show itself went well for me, but Doby was frustrated. It was okay though in the end.
A NOTE TO ALL BANDS: YOU NEED TO PLAY THIS VENUE. Think about all of the booking agents and shitty bars that you play, and how much they don’t care about what they are doing. This venue does. Amy (owner) truly, deeply cares about art + music + culture, and it comes out in the shows they put on. Please, support them.

July 9: Springfield, MO
The Belmonte
w/ The Best Band EVER The Corn-Belt Chorus, The Harp and the Lyre
HOLY CRAP!!!!. The Belmonte, no, Springfield, was amazing. We really thought Belleville was awesome, and yes, it was, but, wow!!!! SERIOUSLY. I cannot express enough gratitude to show how thankful I am we played this show. The people we met were instantly friendly, and the show itself, was amazing. Not only did we have the best sound we had all tour, but the crowds actually watched attentively, participated during my songs even, but the other bands that played, HOLY CRAP!!!!. The band that played first is actually just two people, but The Harp and the Lyre play some of the most beautiful folk-y songs this side of Sam Beam’s beard. I couldn’t get over it. And as if that was not enough, The Corn-Belt Chorus played, and destroyed everything. What a set. What a performance. What performers! How do they know their instruments that well? How does Zach right such good songs? How are there not more people here to see them? How is this only their third show, ever?! What the hell do they have in the water in Springfield?
Honestly though, it was the best experience of me playing shows thus far. It beats everything, ever. The people in Springfield made this tour worthwhile, and it already was before we got there. I could go on forever about this if I wanted to, but know that hanging out with Jeremiah, Alli, Taylor, Jesse, and Sarah after was extra good. I hope I didn’t butcher your names. If I did, and you see this, you tell me, right now. I will fix it.

So in general, I am going to stop talking about this tour because it is over, but I had a BLAST, and I cannot wait to get my new band, Olympics, going.

I can’t believe you read all of that.