That's a Hell Yeah.

April 3rd & 4th-Lake Norman, NC

***

Wow this was a another point of the tour where we felt extremely spoiled. I had several moments throughout our 2 days at Red's Place on Lake Norman where I thought about how blessed we are to be experiencing this, or participating in that. The drive into Lake Norman was  fascinating. Just like a movie. 

Cute little farmhouses with their perfect pastures and their chickens and cows in the yard with blossoming trees of all colors whirling around in the breeze. 

The backdrop for our show at Red's Place (Red is Blvd Park's mandolin player's father who has a crazy obsession with the terms "Hell Yeah or Hell No" Some people even think his name is "Hell Yeah") was the gorgeous Lake Norman.

lakefront houses, boat docks and lanky east coast pine trees lining the shore. 

Red built his own bar on the property and hosted a huge potluck with us and Blvd Park as the afternoon entertainment. Red's neighbors and friends flocked in with open ears and open arms listening to us as they drank deep and ate homemade mac n cheese, beef stew, pork loin, fried chicken, lasagna and potato salad. This afternoon get together extended late into the night with more music, more food, and more good times. 

Blake and I got the itch to go fishing out on the dock, so we strung up some worms and waited for a bite. After a little while with not even a nibble, we gave up and decided to head back up to the house. We had previously turned off  the lights on the dock so as not to scare the fish, but this meant it was very dark, and being that I have very bad night vision as it is, I had myself a little splash in the lake. 

Peacoat, boots, dress and all, ker-plunk off the dock I went and into the icy cold water. 

I walked the plank into the place where one would park a boat so it was 14ft deep and I had a heck of a time scrambling back up on the dock. Not to mention I lost my breath from the sheer shock and cold of the water. Blake was just ahead of me when he heard my dreadful splash and ran over to my rescue, grabbed me under the arms and heaved me out of the lake all 

dripping wet and reaking of fish. 

(Too bad I couldn't catch one instead of smelling like one) But he was nice enough to tell me that I looked like a mermaid. After a few moments by the fire, Blake and Red's granddaughter's wrapped me up in blankets and towels and then I went inside to change into dry clothes. When it comes to fishing…if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

The Carolinas

March 31st-Charleston, SC 

***

Continuing on into uncharted territory for the Charis, we made our way to South Carolina, Charleston to be exact. At this point in the tour, some of the days seem to blend together. Because of the discount we get from our buddy Patrick for Choice Hotels, we find ourselves checking in and checking out of a Sleep Inn or Comfort Inn several nights in a row sometimes forgetting that we're in a new city everyday. Some cities stand out more than others but 

it's pretty cool to look back at the places you've traveled just in a few days. 

Charleston is one of those cities that we probably won't remember much about the venue, the city, or the show itself. But we will remember the people we met here. Moe and Isabel ventured out to flyer before the show and they came upon a bowling alley where they met a group of kids about our age. They ended up coming to our show at a fun little place called Jimbo's Rock Lounge that was within walking distance of our hotel (Sleep Inn #12) and we had a great time hanging out with our new Charleston friends.  

April 1st-Charlotte, NC

***

The moment we drove into the neighborhood where the venue was located (The Evening Muse) we were in love. 

It was a condensed little pocket of all things artsy. 

Several art galleries lined the streets as well as a vintage clothing store where we got a pair of Charlotte Hornets suspenders for Blake and a black straw top hat for me, and a Yarn Shop! Many of the walls were covered in 20ft tall murals exhibiting the city's love for art, music and community. I've never seen a neighborhood with so many outlets for artists. 

Around 6pm the streets started to fill up for the bi-monthly gallery crawl. This event is similar to the Second Saturday Art Walk in downtown Sacramento, except that it is jam packed into one neighborhood. There were vendors outside and bands playing inside and outside up and down the street. We played at the Evening Muse and it happened to be their 10th anniversary celebration. 

We met a lot of folks who really have a deep appreciation for music 

and it was an honor to be so well-received by them. 

After the show we went to a college party hosted by a kid that Moe met earlier that day. He invited us to come over  and bring our instruments in case we wanted to play a few songs at the party. When we arrived, everyone was very warm and welcoming. Byron played his congas along to the DJ's beats and we accompanied him with our tambourines and egg shakers. 

Thank you Charlotte, NC for showing us a good time. 

April 2nd-Asheville, NC

***

Asheville. Cool town. Cool promoter. Cool venue. Party bus that picks up 40 people at the venue you're playing at to take them to another venue across town during your set and drops them back off at the venue you're playing at for an after party after you're already finished with your set….not so cool. But hey, we still had fun with the handful of people that stayed behind to watch us play, the promoter Vairme was a sweetheart and earlier in the evening 

Blake and I got to eat some good sushi at a Japanese Hippie Restaurant. 

Can't complain about that!

Tree Beards A Plenty

March 30th-Savannah, GA

***

Savannah is like a story book. Beautiful lush land with ancient tree canopies over the streets and the cute little southern houses all lined up with their own stories to tell. Blake appropriately refers to all the Spanish moss hanging from the trees  as "tree beards".

We got to town a little early and had to putz around town before we could check into our hotel. So we went to a huge music store and we bought Tekla a new tambourine with double jingles and raw hide for improved sound quality. I bought a mandolin and she's a beauty. I've been wanting to learn to play for awhile and I almost bought one in San Antonio, but I'm glad I waited because this little Epiphone mandolin is awesome and it already has a built in pick up. Moe has been helping me with some chords and I also downloaded a cool mandolin chord app for my ipod.  It even made it's on-stage debut tonight. I played "Ring of Fire" on the mandolin during our set and Blake played "Tricky Love" with Blvd Park which sounded really good with the banjo. 

We played at the Wormhole and at midnight it was officially 

Brian Ballentine's birthday! Cheers to him! 

Jimmy and Anthony met back up with us after a few days off the tour and they brought a whole gaggle of new friends with them. 

Lights in the Dark.

March 29th-Jacksonville, FL

***

It's officially our last day in Florida and tomorrow it's onward and upward! This afternoon we met up with Blake's mom, Jan. She took us out to a big BBQ Feast at Sonny's. I've never been to a real BBQ place before and let me tell you, this was overwhelming. Smoked ribs, chicken, roast beef, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, mac n cheese, texas toast AND sweet tea! Not to mention the 4 different types of BBQ sauce. Thanks Jan for the gigantic BBQ lunch. It made our tummies full and happy!

Today we played at a place called Brewster's Pit that reminded us of the Boardwalk in Sacramento, except the sound guy was a lot nicer ;) Blake's friend Jeanetta's band Wormzilla, performed as well as her friends' band I-vibes. The bill in general was an eclectic mix of genres but it was a complimentary combination. Wormzilla was an unexpected surprise for me. I've seen Jeanetta perform in an acoustic setting showcasing her amazing voice, but this was a whole different story. Wormzilla was weird, crazy, fun and high energy with Jeanetta cracking me up with her 

flowin' and oo-ing and aww-ing and jack-rabbit "AWWWWW-ing"   

("Jackrabbits in the night be like awww awww awwww!") 

It was great and we had fun even in a big black box that usually hosts metal bands. Sometimes you just gotta bring a little light & color to a dark room. 

My mama always told me to live life in color…and that's what we do :) 

Relax.

March 27th-Astatula, FL

***

Today we drove to the Orlando area to play at Blake's Dad's little get-together in a little town called Astatula, FL. Carol and Jay had everything all set up for us when we got there. Hot dogs on the grill, appetizers on the counter and the furniture all pushed out of the way for a little stage area for us to play. It was a relaxing day spent mingling with Blake's family and their friends. A very special thanks to Carol and Jay for having us!

While Blvd Park stayed in Astatula for the evening, the Musical Charis gang went to Blake's older brother Brian's house in Eustis another little town in Lake County. Brian's girlfriend Toni is a mean pool playing machine so they have a nice table in the living room which got a lot of use and they have a whole room dedicated to crafts! 

All the Abbey boys are so creative! 

Brian built these crazy giant people made out of doors and window frames in his front yard with moveable fingers and arms…it's pretty silly really. He also made us some custom stenciled posters and t shirts to add to our homemade merch collection. We ended the evening with a game of scrabble and Moe learned that you can't use abbreviations and you can't use words that go completely off the board either….

March 28th-Eustis, FL

***

The next day we woke up and retrieved the Blvd Park gang and had a family style meal at the Crazy Gator Restaurant. Blake and I shared the 

Cajun Gator Bites…Tastes just like chicken…no really it does! 

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at Brian's, crafting, catching up on laundry, burning tour dvd's, ripping cd's on my laptop from Brian's extensive music collection, and watching movies (with delivery pizza of course!)

It's nice to have a day off once in awhile ;)

Hard at Play.

March 26th-Flagler Beach, FL

***

This is the life! We played on the second floor outside deck of Finn's Beachside Pub with a 

perfect view of the big blue Atlantic Ocean 

for 6 hours! We were scheduled to fill up about 4 hours but apparently Finn's hasn't seen folks dance around and actually pay attention to a live band in over 8months, so they told us to keep rollin. And we had the best time. Flagler Beach is where Blake went to high school, so some of his old friends and his mom came out to see us too. There was an air show going on overhead, and it was spring break so there was all sorts of excitement going on, not to mention the weather was gorgeous and the beach was only about 30 ft from the venue. We felt pretty spoiled 

playing music all day on the beach. 

After a good days' work (play) we went to our lodgings for the evening just down the street about a mile. Blake's cousin Daryll and his wife Theresa invited us all to stay in their beach house (again, feeling spoiled) We played some music, got some grub at Snack Jacks, and took an evening walk on the beach. (Well a couple people took an evening swim...) And after all that, we still got to bed before midnight!

American Honeys

March 25th-Tallahassee, FL

***

Hello Florida. We played our first of 4 Florida shows at Bird's Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack just down the street from Florida State Univeristy. It was a fun little restaurant with a marquee above the stage with "Musical Charis" spelled correctly (surprising) 

Isabel and I indulged in some yummy fresh oysters.

Isabel ate hers raw over ice with lemon and I created my own combination of baked oysters with blue cheese, bacon and jalapenos. I know that sounds a little fishy but I think I may be onto something. It was oh so delicious! Maybe someday I'll be a professional oyster combo inventor and open an oyster shack next to our soul food restaurant/bowling alley/music school.  

We invited a local band called American Honey to play with us. They were adorable. cute. funny. and sweet ladies (and one guy too) Their set up was a ukulele, keyboard and electric guitar with some rockin' female harmonies. Ladies & gent, you rock. As soon as they get some recordings, I'll get their link up on here.

After the show, we packed up and drove another 4 hours to Blake's mom's house in Palm Coast, FL because we had to play at Finn's in Flager Beach the next day at 2pm. We arrived at 330am to a house full of beds all ready for us to crash in. Thanks Jan!

To be continued!

Mississippi vs. Missippi

March 24th-Pascagoula, MS

***

Oh my Mississippi…or should I say "Missippi" just like the locals taught me.

Pascagoula is a small coastal town in the heart of the South. We played at the Celtic Irish Pub (probably the only bar in town because this place was packed). Just about everyone we met said "I was born in the hospital half a block that a way and now I live just half a mile this a way" Besides the occasional ignorant bigot that called the boys fags, or referred to Byrons' ethnicity in a less than nice manner, or the creepy old men and their confusing pick-up lines, "Hey how are your lucky charms?"…[awkward silence] "I bet they're delicious!" [more awkward silence] 

Geez worst pick up line ever….

But besides that I met a girl Erin who shared her experience with me about Hurricane Katrina. 96% of Pascagoula was underwater and most people lost everything they owned with only 2 hours notice for evacuation. She didn't have enough time to pack up anything and when she was finally able to return to her home, she just fell on her knees and sobbed because she had lost literally everything. She had to re-located to Atlanta for 5 years until the economy got back to normal and she was able to move back and get a job in Pascaoula again. Her story  brought back memories of my trip to New Orleans 18 months after the hurricane when the majority of the city was still devastated by the storm. Boats were still wrecked on top of houses, the amusement park was vacant and thrashed, and folks were still living in little FEMA trailers waiting for simple supplies like soap and toilet paper on a daily basis. Talking with Erin was a good reminder of the need to be grateful for everything we have.

In the end, we actually had a pretty good time. A lot of people were very open to our music and even danced around a bit. One guy bought our CD before we even played because he had to get home, but ran in from the parking lot after listening to the first song and told us how much he like it. It was silly. We'll definitely stop in at the Celtic Pub again someday. 

Peace Missippi. 

Hurricanes are Dangerous.

March 23rd-New Orleans, LA

***

Most of us have never been to New Orleans before. Moe and Isabel were really excited to experience the novelty of the French Quarter. Blake has passed through  a couple times before but was never able to spend time down here until today, and Byron was so excited he 

jumped out of our moving vehicle without warning and ran around on his own for a few hours taking it all in. (Don't worry, we found him again later) I've been to New Orleans once before for New Years' Eve 4 years ago when I was on a Hurricane Katrina Relief trip, so I had a couple things I wanted to see for a second time myself. 

Our dear friend Margo scored a hotel room in the French Quarter with a huge balcony just down the street from all the action. 

We got an early start to the evening at Pat O Brian's Dueling Piano Bar with our first round of Hurricanes. 

(Now if you've never had a Hurricane, I warn you, these things may taste just like a snow cone, but they're dangerous! 4oz of 151? Pace yourself now…) We met up with Blvd Park who was busking just around the corner on Bourbon Street raking in the cash from the massive crowd of intrigued tourists. I walked around with a handful of CD's and they sold like hotcakes. Woooeee! We played together for hours having a blast soaking in the location and the energy and the people. We took turns refilling our To-Go cups of Hurricanes from Pat O's just around the corner. 

(Yes they allow to-go booze cups and bottles on the streets…crazy huh?) 

I have memories of serving mimosas at Capitol Garage and seeing my manager running down the street chasing after customers trying to sneak to-go cups of mimosa with them…but in Nawlin's, clearly anything goes!

Thank you for being good to us New Orleans, your city is so bright and fun!

Southern Hospitality

Home sweet home. This place was magical in every way. Great people, great food, great atmosphere. Saint Francisville is a small plantation community 30 minutes north of Baton Rouge, LA. We arrived in this sleepy little town and weren't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be our favorite stop so far. We've even been invited back to stay in the cabins to write our next record.   

Robin's grandchildren Blakely & Sean-David at the Magnolia Cafe

We played at a place called the Magnolia Cafe on the property of a lady named Robin who not only owns the cafe (this place has an amazing screened patio that is larger than the restaurant itself with a stage area and a bar too) but she also owns a series of 1940's style cabins/bungalo's on the property. Each band got their own separate family-style cabin with 2 bedrooms/2 bathrooms with spa, kitchen and 

full size southern-style porch with porch swing to boot! 

The ladies on the porch swing

The front porch of the Musical Charis cabin

And after a home-cooked meal of jumbalaya and chicken, feta, spinach pizza we were feelin' quite spoiled. Robin went around to all the family plantations in town to invite folks out to our show, and it seemed like the whole town was in attendance. We enjoyed their company just as much as they enjoyed our tunes and after our show we were even invited down the street to our new friend Chris' treehouse/fort that he built. 

Now this was no ordinary kiddie tree house. You have to walk down a hidden trail across a wooden bridge and onto the full size deck until you come upon a set of stairs that leads down to the bonfire and back up to the lodging quarters. The treehouse is one of 3 properties that Chris owns in the area. Saint Francisville is a known for it's deep historical roots and even has 

a couple infamous ghosts in town, or so they say. 

On the steps of the treehouse

Plantations have been passed down from generation to generation so the family roots are deep here, and everyone knows each other by name. After a night of music by the bonfire, we walked back to our cabin for a good nights' sleep, dreaming about the months to come when we would play at the Magnolia Cafe every Friday night to make trade for our rent in the family cabin. 

This is one of many beautiful Southern Plantation homes in Saint Francisville

Swamp lands just outside of Baton Rouge

The next morning, we woke up and had breakfast at Robin's sister's restaurant, also on the plantation, and met up with Chris who took us out in his fishing boat along the Bayou Sara. He was an excellent tour guide through the back waterways of the Mississippi river, showing us the unique elements of Bayou life including a beautiful cypress swamp with countless yellow flowers, lilly pads and of course the slender cypress trees that grow right up from the water and up into the clear blue sky. The whole experience was something we'll never forget. 

We were sad to go, but happy to know that we were welcome back anytime. Saint Francisville was a great refresher for us and 

a big dose of Southern Hospitality! 

See you soon Saint Francisville! 

We miss you Brian Jennings! Wish you were here with us!...You'd better be on the next one with us buddy!

The Far East.

Today was officially the farthest east we've toured together in this group!

WE MADE IT! 

It's Monday in Houston and we played at The Mink, a cool little upstairs venue in an artsy fartsy part of town right by the University.  The bar staff informed us that the Monday after SXSW is notoriously the slowest night of the year (uh oh) and we just so happened to be there to enjoy it. And enjoy it we did! Though the streets were quiet and the turnout was minimal, we had a great time with the folks we met, including Adrian Bourgeois' uncle. Their enthusiasm was very nice. Musical Charis played upstairs on the stage and Blvd Park played downstairs in the patio. By the end of their set, everyone in both bands AND in the audience was singing and dancing along like we've been playing together for years. 

Except for Moe...

He was loading out some gear down the stairs, and though he successfully stepped over the missing stair (dangerous and awkward!) he rolled his ankle on the cement landing, nicely set down my keyboard case, and proceeded to fall down in agnoy. 

Oh boy, we heard a big POP and everything. 

Isabel came to the rescue with some ice and for now he's hopping around on one foot. Poor Moe. 

Party Dance like no one's watching

JMB Records stickers across the USA!

Econoline Hiccups

First of all, I still find it amusing that Blake, Brian and I spent last summer in Beeville, Texas of all places. It still seems so random and long ago. For three and a half months we were submerged in the small-town Texas culture where size does matter (from the 50 piece chicken mcnugget buckets to the huge chevy trucks) 

cowboy hats and boots are worn for functionality not fashion...

and it's ok to start drinking a budlight or scotch and water at noon. Beeville is a town where you find yourself picking up the local slang and you do it with a slight southern drawl, you actually look forward to the karaoke nights, and 

everybody really does know your name. 

Me, Rosebud, and Isabel

Only in Beeville will you find a a John Deere Kiddie Bike

I'm glad that Blvd Park got to experience Beeville with us.  Thursday night's St. Patty's day show was a hit with the regulars at the 19th Hole. Kelleen and Rosebud the owners of the bar said they'd never heard anything like it before and invited us to play on Friday evening as well which was just as fun. 

Green beer!

After our set, we stayed to sing some karaoke and no one does karaoke like Texas! With green draft beer, karaoke, and a free hotel room, what better way could you spend St. Patrick's day?

Byron dancing at the 19th hole 

Friday was another day off, so we spent the afternoon grilling at the hotel. Kabobs with peppers, onions, mushrooms, and steak…YUM! Blake also threw on some sausages and chicken drumsticks. Tekla got her first experience cooking on a grill and Byron made a great marinade for the chicken. BBQ's are fun! That evening, we went back over to the 19th Hole for a couple games of pool and an impromptu set. 

mmm...shish kabobs! 

Blake, the grill-master

Again, we got to stay in a hotel room for free, thanks to Pete, the owner of Scores (Beeville's Sports Bar) so we got some good zzzz's….

Saturday afternoon, Blake went to pick up lunch for us and called me on the way back

 "The van just broke down…" dun dun dun…

Being a Saturday at 7pm, we couldn't take it to a shop,so our Beeville friend Paul, Byron, Isabel and myself pushed the van across the street to Autozone (next door to the hotel) while Blake steered the thing.

Our little Econoline in front of the AutoZone

 We did some basic troubleshooting but were unable to get her started again, so we unloaded the gear and took it across the street to Scores (Beeville's a pretty small town) to get set up for our show. We ended up meeting two mechanics at the show that night who were in town for work,  and they were staying in the hotel across the street from Scores and our hotel (...a really really small town)

We played for a few hours at Scores and tried our best not to worry about the van…yet….Some ol' cowboy even gave  us a $100 tip and 6 shots of patron to play Wagon Wheel…So we did and it's a new favorite cover of mine :) 

My old co-workers from Scores

Rockin' the Musical Charis shirts

Afterwards our buddies, Paul, Albert and Adam took us and some of the Blvd Parkers to a small get-together just down the street where we hung out and  watched "Scum" (an independent film that Paul directed/produced that won an award for best special effects at the San Antonio Film Festival) 

Hangin' with the Beeville locals

This morning, we met up with Tim and Chris, our new mechanic friends at 10am to start the diagnostic on our beloved Econoline….

After 4 hours and 2 failed attempts she finally purred back to life! 

We couldn't have been more grateful to those two guys who gave up their only day off to help us get back on the road. Their free labor probably saved us close to $700 dollars! So, we piled in and went on a our merry way

…only to break down again just 5 miles outside town. 

We were able to drive back to their hotel and were happy to find out, it was just a timing issue which was easily adjusted. Once again, we hit the road and because of the 3 new parts they replaced, she's running smoother than ever. The breaks, fuel pump, coils, spark plugs and some other parts that I don't know much about are all working great! Let's just hope and pray this was our only breakdown. Yikes!

And here we are, writing to you from a hotel in San Antonio where we got sort of a "celebrity discount" on our room because the ladies at the front desk recognized us from "Great Day San Antonio" And so, after a long couple days, we're resting tonight so we have the energy to play our last Texas show tomorrow in Houston!

If you read this entire novel…I mean, blog, then you're a trooper! And speaking of troopers...

Go Econoline Go! You're the van of our dreams and you can make it all the way! Wooooohooo!!!!

And thank you to Tim and Chris for saving our van, we are truly grateful for your kindness and expertise!

Byron, Tim, Jess, Isabel, Blake(driver's seat), Moe, & Chris

with the recovered Econoline!

"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves."

AMELIA EARHART