No Place Like Home

Home is good. I'm strangely missing California though. San Francisco and LA are amazing cities.

Cisco Adler was cool enough to put me up for a day off during tour, so I stayed in his Malibu pad for a night along with a couple of Swedish girls who were just passing through. My friend Bo Baker and I rode together. Bo is from Memphis and has been in LA successfully acting for almost ten years now. Shwayze, Cisco's new rapping protege, was there as well. We wound up in his studio laying down tracks and having a great time. You can hear a song that came from that session at myspace/ciscoadlerpresents.com.   -The title is MEAN..

Keep your screen saver trimmed and burning...

New Orleans is off the chain!! It was so hot in Tipitina's last night my Peavey amp overheated and shut down in the middle of my guitar solo. Luther was cool enough to pass me his guitar and let me finish. Benjamin shot some footage while we played..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APrm8EzwnX

Colorado

I've already mentioned how amazing the live music scene is in Colorado. The audiences there have a deep sense of what counts in live music, and don't need pop culture to hold their hands. Coloradans, I applaud you! We were very disappointed when the generator froze up on us last night in Snowmass . It was shaping up to be a great show. We will surely be back soon to pick up where we left off. Thanks to all the awesome fans who stood out in the cold with us ..

Here's footage from Boulder..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eoGL59thC0

Memphis's first psychedelic session

Bob Kaminski on Memphis recording in the sixties.. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3oEM-vmzfY

No Coloreds in Boise

The weather has been a mess all over the Northwest. We were stuck on the interstate somewhere in Wyoming, surrounded by a hundred semis on a closed highway. After 8 hours or so the highway patrol came and turned everyone around. It took us almost 48 hours to travel from Chicago to Boise. Once we finally got here, the show was funky. “Love to be a Hippy” was extra slow and nasty. Grace Potter and the Nocturnals co- headlined the bill and put on an amazing show. They sounded great- she has really come into her own as a singer and performer.. Pretty impressive stuff. I like the part of this clip where she spits on the stage..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f8dmnYuvig

NMA backstage in NYC

My camera battery died early in the night, but I still got some footage..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b-CudedAvA

Feature in Drum! magazine

I use more run-on sentences than Mark Twain. Hilarious.. I'm really proud of this article. This is my first attempt at transcribing my drumming and I think it turned out great. I learned a lot from this magazine as a young player, so it feels good to give a little something back.

Tour is like having my ass kicked and loving it

It has been a few days since I checked in so there is plenty to write about. It's like Alvin said- on a need-to-know basis.. We have been busting it all over the Northeast, playing shows and trying to get some rest. Tour is like having my ass kicked and loving it, begging for more after the pain has been dished out. It is a relentless and ruthless beast that is loyal and true, like a dog.

 Playing drums every night for enthusiastic crowds has to be one of the most instantly gratifying things one can do. It is a symbiotic relationship that pushes boundaries while staying in the fold. I go way out on the limb and break it. I fall flat on my face; only to have the audience pick me up, brush me off, and scream for more. It's a beautiful thing..

Here's a revue of our show in NYC. Big thanks to The New York Times for giving some country boys the time of day..

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/arts/music/31miss.html?scp=1&sq=north+mississippi+allstars&st=nyt