Photo by C.J. Gardineer

Michigan, you never let us down.

Weather? Well, that was something. I thought the app on my iPhone was messing with me, but there was indeed a significant environmental difference between Ludington and Paw Paw, with one stage a comfortable 70°, and the next nearly 90° when we kicked into our opening number on consecutive evenings.

As strict adherents to the “No Shorts In Rock N’ Roll(except Angus)” rule, this made Night 2 a real sweat fest, but the crowd rendered possible heat stroke, and sloshing around in our sopping trousers an afterthought, as we got to catch up with some folks we don’t see often enough, and meet a mess of new once-strangers.

Because the guys insist on premium accommodations, we booked rooms at an Econo Lodge that really wowed us with its amenities. Outlets that refused to retain anything you plugged into them, one dead min-fridge, 2 broken coffee makers(both missing the same part..sadly, a part critical to the unit’s sole function), a  variety of unique patterns of discoloration on some of the sheets, one useless key card, and a host of other “blessings”. The AC was kickin’ though, so we had that going for us at least, and there was a brewery in walking distance that had some pretty sweet chicken tacos, and a solid draft selection. It’s the little things, right?

We got 45 minutes each night, supporting The Verve Pipe. I think we held our own, despite falling well outside the confines of the post-Grunge, 90s Alternative genre the headliners are known for. Hell, they played 70s Rock covers (Supertramp & Fleetwood Mac) during THEIR set, so it wasn’t like we got paired with Ministry.

Up next, we make an overdue stop at our favorite Southern Illinois haunt - John Brown’s On The Square. Friday, July 18th, we find out if we’ve still got the legs to slam through 2 straight hours on stage. We’ll be playing a thing or two for the first time ever, and trying to remember a bunch of stuff we’ve done a hundred times or more, just most of it not recently.

“I have the utmost confidence in our recall, and stamina.” - That’s what my therapist has me saying to the mirror, several times daily, as we approach this engagement.

In September, it’s a fest in Huntsvllle, AL, with Brother Cane, and a pair of dates with Styx(Decatur, IL & Evansville, IN). After that, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe we should be thinking about some new music, I don’t know. Right now, it’s all about making the rest of the Summer’s shows the best they can possibly be, but somewhere along the way, I’d imagine those conversations are gonna start happening. They always do.

See you soon, and stay safe out there…the world’s getting weird.

D.

p.s. Be good to one another.