My Blog

Monday Feb 13, one month OTR

Stacy — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 02:39:46 GMT

Wow, it feels like I have slept so long, probably just 10 hours, but it feels good. We check out of our room and meet Tim for breakfast. We finally say goodbye to our last friend from the trip and Philly and I start the last of our amazing adventure, which really began on Jan 12, when we headed to Portland, OR to meet RRE. Wow, it has been an amazing month. One I hope to repeat, well, maybe not exactly. Our trip through Utah is uneventful, except as always, Phil and I wonder about the sculpture of balls out in the middle of the salt flats. Why is it here? What does it represent? Why would it be out here? Inquiring minds…….. We stop in Wendover for flowers that we intend to leave at Missy’s memorial. I am so thankful that the Butter Boys have let us know where they stopped and set up a spot for us all to see and share. I pick out two lilies, one each from Cassidy & Tatum, in addition to several other flowers. They look beautiful and I look forward to arriving at mile marker 358 on I-80. We travel I-80 to mile marker 357 and make a U-turn onto the east bound direction. I have been listening to the Great American Music Hall show from Feb. 2005, “I’ll Fly Away” finishes as we pull over at the correct mile marker, Phil comments that he doesn’t see anything. I see a snowy hill with lots of footprints, so I head up the hill in my crocs (not good snow shoes) and crest the hill to find the beautiful spot that Missy’s Butter Family have picked out. It is a crystal clear day, the sky so blue, the snow on the mountains, so white. They have chosen a spot fitting for our beautiful Angel Missy. Jen’s wreath is so nice, I love the quote from Helen Keller, very fitting, some shells, a bottle of $2 Chuck and an ornament with Missy’s name on it. We add our flowers and quietly stand together. Gathering strength and love from Missy to share with everyone we come in contact with. I have a feeling I will be stopping by here again. Nevada comes and goes and soon we are in Auburn looking down on the Sacramento Valley below. I am excited about finally getting home, my own bed and my cat, Jolie. If you know her, you know she is naughty and I sure miss that naughty cat. An adventure never to be forgotten, thank you RRE, HTHS, Lisa Brown and my wonderful husband & best friend. Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

Feb 12- On our long journey home

Stacy — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 02:13:56 GMT

Sunday, Feb. 12, on our long journey home. Evan calls at 9:00 to say they are ready to leave and so we get up and take Shanti and her goods over to the boy’s condo, so they can get an early start. They have to be at work and/or school tomorrow. After saying goodbye to the kids we help finish the load out of instruments into the van. The RRE truck has to be towed to Salt Lake City. Chip Reed is taking Carey and John to Salt Lake, where they hope they will be told that there is an easy fix and they will get on their way home. Just in case, however, all of the instruments are going home in the van, which will be mighty crowded, even without Tim and Mike, who are flying home from home and to LA respectively on Monday. We are taking them there and staying there for the night as well. Of course we will stay at the Quality Inn on North Temple Blvd. It is the third time this tour that the band has stayed there. My second time, funny I will have stayed there the first and last nights of my whirlwind adventure. As we finish loading the van, the kids (Shanti, Evan & Sidd) come inside the lobby; their rented SUV isn’t functioning properly so they are going to have to get a new one before they can leave. We say goodbye to Andy, Todd and Johnny (who is lying down on the first leg of the trip, in the van. We have to close the back doors on him. It isn’t going to be a fun ride home for those three.) we won’t see them again until Jamaica, oh darn. After some food and a quick last look in the condo, Tim, Mike, Phil and I pile into the X-Terra and head toward Salt Lake City. We are all pretty beat, so other than music we are a quiet crew. I just realized I failed to mention the awesome ambience crew who really turned a hotel conference room into a wonderful magical place. Way to go Doug & Eric. We arrived at the Quality Inn about 5:00 about the same time as Chip, John & Carey, we decide to meet in an hour and go to the Red Iguana. We all agree that this sounds really good, besides, Phil hasn’t been there yet and has heard all about it. He is stoked to get to eat there. We have a great dinner together and then say our goodbyes, as this is it; we are all headed in different directions tomorrow. Phil and I went to our room to watch the Olympics. He might have watched but I know I saw nothing but the inside of my eyelids. Tomorrow we travel the rest of the way home. Tim called late and said he would meet us for breakfast as his early plane was canceled.

Saturday, Feb. 11, last day of music

Stacy — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:58:08 GMT

Saturday, Feb 11. Wow, so hard to believe today is the last day of music on this wonderful tour. We left to meet Railroad earth in Portland on January 12, can this really be a month with 19 shows, two record store appearances and five radio shows later? Mind boggling for me as I think of it now. Anyway, we do sleep in and then head to Dan and Jenn’s for some pancakes and music. Jim and Janine are there and we visit and eat while Phil and Evan play a few tunes for us. Soon Phil hand’s his guitar to Lara to play as he just hasn’t the energy right then and Lara had to leave her guitar home. As we leave D & J’s we have a family photo op that Mom (me ) is pretty excited about. It turns into snowball and snow angel nonsense with everyone getting cold and snowy. Shanti gets a snowball inside her ever gaping crack. That’s what happens when you have easy access. There is so much wild life to be seen, Elk, Moose, Eagles, this is an amazing place. Lots of cold, cold snow. JC spends much of the weekend stirring the pot between me and Shanti and lots of others as well, he is a trouble maker, for sure. Tonight his name tag says “Hello, I’m Stirring the Pot”. As the beautiful day wears on, Phil helps me prepare some lasagna, Evan & Lara attend a music workshop and Shanti sweats off several pounds in the sauna. Sidd, well, who knows what he was up to. Dan Minard our RRE tour buddy comes by for a visit as does Pjef. It’s so much fun to see everyone. We get a phone call at 4:30, the artists are hungry and lining up for some food. Phil and I get ourselves over to Lisa’s with the cooked lasagna and Phil makes some more KGB. Dinner is a hit and we all make our way to the venue. It’s about 3 degrees below zero as we walk over there. Shanti has already settled into the merch area, so again, I have the freedom to play. And play I do, it’s a wonderful evening which starts out with a 75 minute set from Railroad Earth, then out comes HTHS, soon joined by almost all the musicians from the weekend, including all the RRE guys. This turns into a 3 hour and 35 minute music extravaganza. They play until 2:35, we then load out and go hang out in the “green” room where there is another evening of picking going on, again into the wee hours of the morning. It is unbelievable to me that the music portion of this odyssey is now over. All that remains are goodbyes and long journeys home. This has been an amazing adventure and I am sad that it is over, although the thought of my own bed and seeing my cat are very appealing. So I will say my goodbyes and wend my way home with my mind full of memories made and many more to come. Tomorrow we will leave and drive, Mikey & Tim to Salt Lake City, so they can catch their flights to LA and home respectively. For now, one last full moon lit walk through this very cold night air.

Friday Feb. 10, Jackson Hole

Stacy — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:36:34 GMT

Friday in Jackson dawns magnificently, Shanti even comments on the beauty and majesty of this place. She also comments on how very cold it is and we must agree. Phil and I plan our grocery list and after breakfast we head back into town with Lisa for food and drinks for the rest of the weekend. Several hundred dollars later we are back at Spring Creek and starting to cook. Phil is making two soups, his famous split pea and one of my favorites, Broccoli, potato and cheese. Also included will be a salad and of course, (KGB) killer garlic bread (uh, oh, more of those darn acronyms). While Phil cooks, I go to the venue to get the merch set up. The staff here are very kind and helpful. We keep running into friends, way too many to mention, but you all know who you are. After finishing the merch, I head back to 3161 to help Phil finish up and get some food served. By now the musicians know where the food is and are lining up for some of papa Phil’s yummy food. Phil and I head to the venue about 6:15 to make sure we catch Bo Carper’s set. We are glad that we did, it was a great set. Shanti is doing merch, so I get to dance and play the next two nights. Fun with Phil! After Bo’s set, I help Brenda get her belly dancing clothes on as she will be dancing while her husband, Jason is drumming. She is very nervous, but I assured her she would be well received, and she was. Everyone loved her dancing and she had folks dancing with her. She also joined Jason on stage and did some drumming with him. It was great to see them performing together. Next we were treated to the railroad Earth Review, first, Andy did two original tunes that are as of yet, unnamed , one fast, one slow. Next he was joined for a couple of Shock ‘N’ Awe Mountain Boys tunes by Tim and John, I remember Cuckoo’s Medley. Then Tim picked up his guitar as Grubb and Carey joined the threesome already assembled and they played a couple of tunes, Melodious Thunk and Blue Earth. Both nice. Then they all left and Todd came up for a couple of solo songs, The Girl From North Country, Where Songs Begin, then he started Raindance and the rest of the band joined him and then their set was over and it was time for Honkytrance Homeslice “another bluegrass band gone bad”. Their set was crazy fun and the show ended 12:30ish and we headed to see Dan and Jenn’s to hang out for awhile. After leaving Dan and Jenn’s we headed to get some warm food in 3161 and found a full on picking session going on the continued until 5:20 am. We headed for bed a bit earlier, but not before hearing some great stuff. Music, sweet music, there was music everywhere. It was so cold and so incredibly quiet outside, the moon was almost full and it was so light out. I must say again this is a beautiful place. Tomorrow we don’t have to shop so we can sleep in until the pancake breakfast. Woohoo, sleeping in!

Thursday, Feb. 9-OTR w/RRE

Stacy — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 04:33:57 GMT

Thursday, Feb. 9. Phil and I rise early to meet Lisa Brown in the lobby of the hotel, as we are taking her to Jackson, hopefully to arrive earlier than most. After some confusion as to the correct/best way to go, we head out. It’s a long drive ahead of us. We make several stops to pick up wrist bracelet making supplies for the event, as until now Lisa really hasn’t had time to even think about them. She and I spend most of the drive working on the bracelets and other assorted loose ends related to the upcoming weekend. As we drive through Idaho and then Wyoming, I am blown away by the amount of snow, deep snow in every direction as far as I can see. Unfortunately, Phil’s hurry to get Lisa to Spring Creek Ranch lands him a speeding ticket as we are approaching the Snake River Valley. Fortunately we are in Idaho and the fines are much less than we are used to. We continue on our way through beautiful canyons and tons of snow. We arrive at Spring Creek Ranch in Jackson about 3:30, check-in, drop Lisa off and head back to Jackson for necessary groceries for the weekend. Phil and I will be cooking for all the artists and their wives, spouses, partners, whatever, so we need to get on it if we are going to have food for the evening. We end up spending over $500.00 on food and another $250.00 on drinks and we know we have to go back the next day. WOW. Sidd, Evan, Shanti and Lara show up about dusk, just as we are getting started on the evening’s cooking. I am STOKED to have my entire family here with us this weekend. Yeah family. . Besides the kids, we are running into lots of folks we know and love and are STOKED to see.. This is going to be fun! Phil and I get food done for (BYOB) build your own burritos (Andy told us enough with the acronyms, so I am spelling it out. Phil can’t help it, he works for the government and I can’t help it as it is something my Mother always did. We get some hungry folks fed and make our way to the venue for the evening’s show. It is really cold in Jackson but it is also stunningly beautiful, the view from our “condo” is of the Grand Tetons and they are every bit grand and then some, the sunsets on them and it is stunning. I will say, I have never been this cold in my life, wussy Californian that I am, but I am enjoying it as I know it is only temporary. I forgo the merch set up tonight as the RRE fellas aren’t playing anything formal tonight and it is a very mellow night, many folks have traveled a long way to be here. Phil and I leave early with Todd, to show him where to get some food and to go to bed. We are pooped.

Wednesday, Feb 9, OTR, day 16

Stacy — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 18:00:17 GMT

Wednesday morning comes early and cold, I will be so glad to get out of the snow. I am definitely a warm weather girl, but I can hang. Johnny and Joel drive with us this morning. We stop in Craig for some breakfast at another Village Inn, this one is much different and I think it is way obvious we are not locals, we get lots of glances askance. All we want is some warm food to tide us over. It is a long, quiet drive to park City, I think we are all beat, everyone has been talking about canceling the gig, as we are so far away and it’s going to be a Wednesday night. I am looking forward to seeing my youngest sister, Ashley, who lives in Orem, Utah and plans to come to the show. We are the first to arrive at the venue, besides, Mikey and Kyle (The Psychedelic Cowboy) as they knew the sound system was going to be trouble so they wanted plenty of time to check it out and make the proper adjustments. There was no one at the venue, but they had left a back door open so we went in and checked the place out while Mike & Kyle scratched and shock their heads. Phil and I hung out at the Suede and waited for the arrival of the others, while we marveled at the mirrored post in the middle of the stage. Really a weird set up, especially as Mike told me that the mirror not only reflect images, but also sound. Besides the fact, that the band members will have to look around it to see each other for visual clues during the show. The Green Room was a huge gross mess, so we spent some time cleaning it up so it would be habitable when the bands arrived. We also left another note for the Butter Boys, as they will be here in two days. Kind of weird. The truck had been having troubles, so it was lagging. But it and the van finally show up. We load in, which is another weird scene, with an elevator at one end of the building and the club at the other. We get loaded in and I get set up. Ashley shows up and we decided to have dinner from the middle eastern place down stairs, Phil goes down to pick it up. Did I say, how glad I am that Phil is with me now? After food, the bands start to sound check, Ashley goes to lie down at the hotel and I stretch out on the couch as my stomach is acting up again. Sound check is over and I see that people are coming in, time to get to work, as I step around the corner to my spot, I see a radiant light over at one of the booths and I realize it is a shrine for Missy. I get super STOKED, as I have forgotten that Missy was from Salt lake and some of her friends were here having a raffle to raise money for her God Sons. Woo, hoo, lots of hugs and tears. These are some great folks, and I feel instantly better. Later when the raffle is held, I win a poster, cd and dvd from New Monsoon. Despite the tired band members, the show is rocking, a pretty large crowd for a Wednesday night and the bands really rock it. It is a much better night for merch as well. Phil helps me get my stuff taken down, we load-out and off we go to sleep, so we can get up and leave with Lisa Brown by 8:30 in the morning. She needs to be at Jackson early and we need to get some shopping done for the artists as that is part of Lisa’s gig, she feeds them. Although the actual feeding part will fall to us and we, especially Phil are super stoked! Ashley is a trooper and stays with us. She bought an Elko cd and really seemed to enjoy herself and the music. Tomorrow I get to holler Hallelujah cross another two state lines!

Tuesday, Feb. 7, OTR

Stacy — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:33:14 GMT

Tuesday morning in Steamboat Springs dawns cold and beautiful. We meet up with Tim, Ed and Molly for breakfast at the Village Inn. Turns out ok and we are stoked to be headed for the Hot Springs. It is just seven miles out of town, so we hit the road for a morning of delicious relaxation. We arrive at the springs and get the scoop. It is about 3 or 4 degrees out, very chilly as we buy tickets and then rent towels for our very warm adventure. We venture down to a tepee to change into our bathing suits, burr, and head right into the soothing warm mineral waters. There are several pools with varying degrees of warmth, we seem to prefer the 104-106 range, and we all take plunges into the frozen stream to cool off and get back into the hot waters. We spend about 2 ½ hours relaxing and enjoying the beautiful snow covered ground and the lovely surroundings. Sadly we decided it is time to leave and head back to the realities of getting our shit together and getting some lunch at Freshies and some coffee, resting for a few minutes and then heading to load-in in Steamboat at the club Levelez, which of course was on the third floor of the building with no elevator. Thankfully, they have lots of employees who help make the load-in much easier. We leave a note to the Butter Boys I the green room, as they will be here in three days. Timmy adds to the note, hope they like seeing a note from friends. I am in the room outside and down stairs in the lobby, not too far away from the music and they keep the doors open so I can hear well. Tonight the joint group effort includes a rousing rendition of “I’m Going to Jackson”. We load out and get back to our rooms by 3:00, and there was no visiting after that for us as we knew we had a long ride from Steamboat Springs to park City the next morning and we wanted to crash. See you in Park City. Yeah heading west.

Monday, Feb 6, Still On The Road

Stacy — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:29:15 GMT

We get to sleep late today with late check-out. We are taking Michelle to the Denver Airport on our way (ha, ha,) to Steamboat Springs. After our late check out we met Ben, whom we had met the evening previous, a college chum of Johnny’s. He took us to an awesome place for lunch, Avogadro’s. OM gosh, it was so good, we had warm tempeh sandwich on a soft roll, that was so yummy. I was sorry we couldn’t eat there for dinner, as well. We lingered over lunch there, it was all painted with murals and lots of macrame’ as well. Kind of a blast from the past. We parted ways with Ben and sadly headed for the airport. We are sad to see Michelle leave, but not as sorry as Johnny. We drop her off and head out of the airport only to get a call from Michelle, her flight was booked for the wrong date and her credit card was missing. Johnny called the restaurant, Austins, where we had eaten lunch the day before, and they did have her card. Fortunately, she had another card and was able to adjust her flight, so off we went. The ride to Steamboat Springs was quiet and uneventful, fortunately, the weather was good and we had no travel troubles. We drove into Steamboat Springs just after dark, it was lovely with all the white and lights. We hooked up with the band at the Super 8 motel, and then went looking for dinner. We were all stoked for some Mexican food and we found a place almost immediately, Tequillas. We happily stopped and ordered our food. By the time we got our food, I was having stomach difficulties, I forced myself to eat one bean taco and then I had to stop. My stomach really hurt. Phil and Johnny were less than excited about their dinners, as well. We came back to the hotel, my stomach still very upset, Tim, Ed and Molly came by to laugh and look at a few photos on my computer and discuss plans for the next morning’s trip to Strawberry Hot Springs. About this time I ran into the bathroom with (don’t read if you have a weak stomach or are eating) projectile vomiting. I felt so relieved when I was done, our guests left with promises of an early morning rendezvous’. I got into bed and cuddled up with my wonderful husband, spouse and lover. I am indeed a lucky girl to be sharing my life with him. Hot springs tomorrow morning.

Sunday, Feb. 5, Fort Collins

Stacy — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 17:25:51 GMT

Happy Birthday Andy! Michelle, Johnny, Phil and I hit the road for Fort Collins by noon. We left about the same time as everyone else. We had a nice lunch at Austins on College, where we find out the next day that Michelle left her credit card, and then went to check into the Best Western we stayed in about 12 days prior. Crazy, man. Phil and I left Johnny and Michelle there and went to help load-in at the Aggie Theater, just down the street. After we load in, Anne, Phil and I go to the Safeway to get Andy a cake and candle (Barbie) and some Barbie plates and a silly card. We had a great time laughing at all the possibilities of cakes, candles and plates. We took our items back to the green room and got ready for Andy to come down after the sound check. But he had other things to do, so we finally take the cake up to him and sing Happy Birthday. Dinner at a near-by Indian restaurant and we are back at the merch area for the show. The Aggie is a pretty nice venue, but my area is close to the door and it’s a cold night, burrrr. The Stealers won the Super Bowl prior to the start of the show. The crowd slowly trickles in as the evening wears on. We only do about $350.00 in merch tonight. After last night it’s a let down. The show is fun and we enjoy every minute of it. Some kids gave Andy a cool tapestry that they made for his birthday, the band then played Happy Birthday for him. We are loving the collaboration between the two groups, so much. Load out goes pretty fast and we make it to the hotel by 3:30. Here we come Steamboat Springs

Feb. 4, OTR day 13 with RRE

Stacy — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:59:41 GMT

We wake up in Boulder this morning, and I use the word morning I use liberally. We don’t usually get up much before noon. Of course, we don’t often get to bed prior to 4:00 am, so it’s not unreasonable. As we all load our various vehicles, I toss our stuff down to Phil from the second to the first floor. Johnny & Michelle are going to drive to the gig, at the Twist & Shout in Denver, with us. We plan to get something to eat on the way. As we are getting into the car, the maid leans over the rail and asks if the key she just found in our room is ours. Itlooks like Phil’s Toyota, I comment on that and she tosses it down to me. We look at it and realize that Phil left his key and truck with the boys, so it can’t be his. I attempt to toss it back to the maid, but somehow I toss it onto the roof, just above our room. Phil, Michelle and Johnny, who all witnessed this just giggled at me as I sheepishly proclaimed that it had not been my intent to toss it on the roof.. Oh, well, what are you going to do? Off we went in search of a good lunch. Then on to the record store (Twist & Shout) for a 3:00 gig and album signing. The Twist and Shout was such fun. Phil was asked again to introduce the band at the music store gig (He did the same at Tower in SF) he was great! They played so well and to a packed house. Our friends Becky and Bob showed up for the day and were heading back to Sacramento tomorrow. Yeah Hobos! After the gig we drove to Cervantes and did the load-in. It’s a cool club, clean and it doesn’t smell like a frat house basement. As I stand and look around, I think about New Monsoon and HBRSB playing there together on two stages less than two weeks before. The stage is shaped like a “Steal Your Face” and the back drop is painted whimsically. I make a trip to the legendary women’s room that is painted with beautiful illustrations and writings. It is awesome. Definitely make sure you check it out if you are ever there. During load-in Tim asks me if I might have seen Aum’s key in our hotel room…… I couldn’t believe that I had to tell him that I knew exactly where it was: On the roof at our hotel just above room 214. Tim calls Aum and tells him he has good & bad news. He knows where the key is, but that it’s on the roof. I get back to my job of setting up the merch, Tim comes up to me about 30 minutes later and tells me that Aum found the key, but that we had to go bail him out of jail for climbing on the roof of the hotel. My mouth hit the floor, which was just the reaction Tim was looking for, as he was just pulling my leg. Funny Tim. We had dinner down the street at a Soul Food place. It was great, I tried collard greens and fried okra. Interesting. Tonight I am “stationed” near the entrance, but it’s still in the same room, so that’s great. As the doors open there is a steady stream of people for the next two hours. SOLD OUT! The show was kick-ass! Everyone had a great time. Best show of the tour, so far! My favorite was, Warhead Boogie The Wheel Mighty River. Loved the Mississippi ½ Step encore, too. Load-out was late due to the party atmosphere after the show, we had the best merch night this tour doing more than double our last best night. People were STOKED ‘cause RRE Brang it! Made it to the Red Lion Inn by 4:00/4:30, we tried to use their wireless with their “three easy steps”, they forgot to mention the fourth step, which was to charge your credit card $9.95 to use the wireless. Tim told the front desk that charging for wireless was like charging for toilet paper. Good morning, next stop Fort Collins.

Friday, Feb 3, OTR day 12 with RRE

Stacy — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:58:27 GMT

It’s cold in Breckenridge, lots of snow, they have gotten about 240 inches this year, the most since 1889. Burrrrrr. I am definitely a warm weather girl. I get up and get out of town, on my own for the first time since I left Sacramento. I am on my way to pick up my Philly, Yipee! The drive back to Vail and over the pass and through the Eisenhower Tunnel is intense. Traffic in the other direction is completely stopped. I sure am glad that I am going in the direction that I am headed in, otherwise I would never make it to my Philly in time. I get to the Denver airport about 15 minutes before our appointed meeting time, so I decided to go to the short term parking lot and walk into the terminal, just as I am walking past one of the doors, I hear something unintelligible coming from inside, I turn and look and my sweet boyfriend is racing toward me, hair flying, luggage trailing behind. What an awesome sight!!!!!!! So glad to be by his side again. We have a great ride to Boulder together, and we beat the band to the venue, so we hang out and visit “Mom” a guy who runs the venue and we have known of through Cheese. He’s a great guy, shows us around, then we go back to the car to wait and Phil gets friendly with his guitar which I have been carrying with me for two weeks. He plays the song he wrote me several Christmases ago, “The Girl From Ojai”. Then “Said What You Mean” and then “Harvest Moon”. I am loving every minute of it! Soon, the band arrives from the radio station gig and we get down to the business of load-in. Joel is getting Phil to help with setting up equipment on stage when Phil isn’t helping me. The Fox is a cool venue, but my merch is in the lobby, the good news is the music is piped in and there is a plasma TV right by me, so I can rock it out in the lobby with my Philly. The cool thing is we are by the door, so we see our kind friends arriving, Tara and Andrea show up first, then Pooh and Rachel, Susie & Adam, Gil, Pjef and list goes on and on. We also get some heady kids, who know “somebody” who is going to “Comp” them in. So another guy tries to get me to open the door for him and I asked him why, he says he works for the band, I ask him which band, he says RRE, and I say well, I work for RRE and I don’t know you. He then informs me his name is Kevin Morris, and he is the president of SCI Fidelity records. Ohhh, oops. I decided to let him in….. The show was great, Andrea ran out to the merch table when they started to play “Said What You Mean” so Philly and I could go listen up close and dance together, so cool. Thanks Andrea!!!!! We rocked it out for the rest of the show. Load out and then to the Boulder Outlook Hotel, Timmy and Aum came by for a late night chat. We finally fell into bed about 4:30. Yeah, cuddling with my Philly. Good night

Feb 2, 2006

Stacy — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 22:13:47 GMT

Thursday morning, well, by the time we get going it’’s after 12:00, but who’s keeping track? Mikey and I head off to Breckenridge, Joel has decided to do some skiing in Vail and will join the rest of us later at Sherpa & Yeti’s. Breckenridge is Anne’s home town and I am looking forward to seeing her pad and hanging out for a while. Our first stop in Breckenridge is a local radio station, for a quick interview and a couple of songs. The ride over from vail is snowy and a bit tough, but once again, I am stoked to be in this awesome rented SUV. It handles so well and is fun to drive in four-wheel-drive, which is what I must use the entire time we are in Breckenridge. Both the van and the truck have to chain up to make it over the pass. The radio show goes well and I am stoked to be hooked up to their wireless while we are there. I was able to finally make a couple of posts to my blog. After we finish at the radio station we head to the fabulous (serious lie, here) Sherpa and yeti’s. What a DIVE, we have to load in down two flights of stairs into a stinky dungen. I find my space and get set up as the fellas set up the stage and “dream” of having decent sound. Good Luck. After I am set up, Anne and Erin pick me up for a visit to Anne’s and some girl time, Wendy and Marcie re there too so we hang out, cook, do laundry and stack. Yeah, stack it up! Brad and I head back to the venue and pick up the fellas so they can have some delicious home cooked food and a quick birthday gathering for Erin, she is 29 again this year. Then back to the venue, where I find out that I need to keep the band’s food, drinks and coats, due to the fact that the “green room” is actually a stinking gross closet that no one even can stand in much less sit down, hang out or leave their stuff. Yeah, Mama Merch! The sound quality of the show is less tan stellar, but we still manage to have fun time and it all sounds great to me. I love hearing all this music everyday, and the collaqberation between the two groups just keeps getting better. My favorite moment tonight is when in the third set they bust out an old Zappa tune “The Son of Mr. Grnn Jeans”. WOW. On to load out and on to the hotel, my last night with out my Philly. Once again, Mike and I will be room mates, we go to our room and Mike opens the door only to wake the people who are sleeping in there. Oops, that was weird. We get things sorted out and get a new room, we get ready and fall into our (separate) beds. On to Boulsder tomorrow, but first I get to pick up my Philly at the airport in Denver. Yeah Philly!

Phil's birthday, Feb. 1, OTR w/RRE

Stacy — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 22:42:26 GMT

Morning comes early today, even though we aren’t leaving until 12:00, there still isn’t enough time to, wake up, use the internet, which I haven’t been able to do in days. You may be reading this when I get home at the rate I am going. We head to a local café/bakery for a quick bagel, some coffee and to meet a friend, Marcie who is joining Tim and me on the ride to Vail. Johnny hasn’t been feeling well, so we are pumping him full of Emergen-C, trying to help him feel better. It seems to be working, ‘cause he says he is feeling better. Today is Philly’s birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILLY. I MISS YOU. I LOVE YOU and can’t wait for you to get here. We are going to have so much fun! Tim, Marcie and I head out for the radio gig, which we think is in Vail, but when we are almost to Vail, we see the truck traveling in the opposite direction and we get the call that we have gone 10 miles too far and the radio gig is actually in Edwards. So we back track and make it just in time to help unload the instruments and get them into the studio. This radio gig is a bit different than the others I have attended, as we were actually in the room while the fellas were playing, it was fun as there were several others there with us today, including the Marlins, Brad & Wendy, Marcia and Mills. Did I say Happy Birthday to my hero, Phil, yet? I miss you Philly and can’t wait to feel you hugging me again. Which I just found out, will be Friday instead of Saturday, YEAH. HTHS just sound checked Jilian’s new song, “We’ll Dance When we can”. I love it and it makes think of my Philly. Then the joint sound check includes “Masterpiece”. It sounded great. Hopefully they will play it. This is without a doubt the stinkiest dirtiest bar I have ever been in and it’s still early, later it gets much worse with inside smoking and lots of really schwilly people. Way schwillier than any previous night. Messy drunks, and lots of smokers, not my idea of big fun. The psychedelic Cowboy almost had to pull a bouncer move on one guy who wasn’t able to control himself very well and was messing with me & the merch. I thought tonight’s show was particularly good, “SIC” as Sidd would say, The Hunting Song into 716 was incredible. Several newbies came up to me after that and were blown away. They did play “Masterpiece” in the third set and it was awesome. What a great night of music. I am loving it! Meeting so many kind folks, YEAH, Railroad Earth. Load out with some help goes pretty smoothly, although it has been snowing all evening and there are several fresh inches. Joel is STOKED as he and Billy and Kyle (Psychedelic Cowboy) are planning a morning of skiing tomorrow. We four wheel drive it to “The Roost” our beds for the evening. I talk to Phil with the set list and I am off to lala land. Tomorrow we head to Breckenridge.

Tuesday, Jan 31-OTR

Stacy — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 03:20:40 GMT

Tuesday morning I meet Tim outside our rooms at 9:00, we had decided the previous evening that we would go for an early morning swim in the famous Glenwood Springs hot springs. We had walked past the steaming, huge, out door pools on our way to and from dinner. It looked really awesome. So we decided we must do it. No one else wanted to join us, so off we walked in a light snow storm. Once at the hot springs we paid, I rented a suit and out to the pools we went. It was snowing really hard by this time, big fluffy snowflakes and the steam rising off the water was most surreal, and felt so awesome. The baths were about 104 degrees in one pool, although it was closer to 110 near the source of the water coming into the pool. There was another cooler, lap pool that was 90 degrees. We spent most of our time in the hotter pool. Tim decided to becoame a mystery writer and have muder in the Mist be his first novel, as you can’t see much of anything when you are in the middle of the pool, with all the steam and snaow falling! What a great way to start the day! I CAN’T WAIT TO COME BACK HERE WITH MY Philly. There are also vapor caves that sound super cool, just down the street. Back to reality after some breakfast and we are on our way to Aspen. This trip Mikey is riding with me. We meet at the venue for load-in and then take off immediately for the next radio gig. We make it in time, barely! It’s a fun quick gig, they play three songs and we are back on our way to the venue for sound check and for me to set up merch. Today we meet up with Brad and Wendy and they have Millsy with them, so Todd is a happy camper and so is Erin. Only four more days until my Philly will be joining us, then all will be well with the world, my world, anyway. The Wheeler Opera House is a beautiful venue, unfortunately for me, I am in the bar tonight, but after my awesome seat/spot in Telluride, I really don’t care. The music will be piped into where I am. And I can rage in the bar. I meet many more kind folks, so many cool people, this is fun. Tonight is the second night that I see guys wearing Happy Brigade wristbands. How cool is that. They were still wearing them and loving the Brigade, talking about our great giveaways and yummy pancakes. Yeah Happy Brigade, we’re stoked and we bring it! After I get set up, Anne, “makes me” lay down on her massage table for a quick rub down, oh that was tough, thanks Anne, it felt sooooooo good. The show was good, not too many people, but the ones who were there loved it. We are selling lots of cd’s, but not many shirts. The joint collaboration of the two groups is getting better each day, they are finally getting to practice together. It’s fun to listen to the sound checks as they just keep getting better. We load out and get to the Limelight (Slimelight) and get to bed at about 3:30. I’m not sure how much sleep any of us got as we had X-Game revelers upstairs who stayed up well past 8:00. Tomorrow a radio gig with friends of Bill & Cathy Marlin and then to Vail. See you there.

Monday, Jan 30-OTR w/RRE

Stacy — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 03:19:31 GMT

As I am lying on my couch this morning, watching the light hit the beautiful snow covered mountains, I consider getting up, as we have to be out of the condos by 10:00 am, in comes Todd claiming he has just seen the most beautiful sunrise. I can’t help but believe him as what I am witnessing is so breathtaking. I take this as my cue to get up and start the packing/cleaning/stacking process. By 9:30 I am gently trying to make sure everyone is up, this is pretty early for this crew. Anne has come by and is giving Joel a wonderful massage. I think just about all the fellas have been lucky enough to receive big love from Anne with her massages. She takes good care of them. Yeah, Anne! Skehan and I take the keys to the resort HQ and get us checked out. Back at the condo we get everyone loaded up and hit the road. Todd is STOKED as Erin will be meeting him in Glenwood Springs, She and Brad and Wendy are in Aspen and are coming to pick him up. Since Carey is with Karen and Tim has gone fly fishing with his buddy, Dave, our numbers are low. Skehan and Andy leave in the truck, Joel, Grubb and Todd in the van and me and Mikey in my car and off we go. Mikey encourages me to drive to the far end of town to see where the Bluegrass festival stage is. Wow, what a spot. The view from the stage is unbelievable. We make it back to Montrose and stop at a natural foods store we had stopped at earlier in the week, for lunch. Yummy avocado sandwich!!!!! We both catch up on a phone call or two and continue on our way to Glenwood Springs. I will soon learn about the springs in Glenwood. Once we arrive at the Ramada, we wait for the others, I find out we have wireless in the lobby, so I sit down and try to catch up. The rest of the gang, either naps, or goes for a walk. Once the truck arrives we are all checked in. I am stoked, I get a bed tonight, floors and couches are better than nothing, but I am definitely looking forward to a bed. Erin and Brad show up and wisk Todd away, Wendy decided to stay and soak in the hot tub, can you blame her???? I look forward to seeing them all tomorrow in Aspen, another place I have never been. Tim shows up and although I have been considering eating at the Mexican place next door, he suggests something Italian and I decide to go with him. We later learn that the joint next door, that I almost went to, sucked! Woohoo, an Italian resturant, right out of the 60’s, music, ambiance and all. It felt like a place I would have gone to with my grandparents. After dinner and some inernet, it was off to lala land. See you tomorrow in Aspen

Sunday, Jan 29, OTR

Stacy — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 05:07:16 GMT

It was snowing and much colder when we woke up this morning. We rolled out just in time to make it to the load out at 11:00. The venue had promised six ‘helpers” for load out but they never materialized, so the band did most of the work as the seats were replaced in the Opera House after our two rocking shows. It was great that they took out the seats. Way better for dancing. After finishing up we walked to “Baked in Telluride” for some food. The beauty of the area is continually stunning, and I am constantly looking upward as we walk through town. The bread at BIT was great and I bought some for my next batch of KGB which I planned to have during the day with a broccoli, potato, cheese soup. It was the perfect day for warm food. We ran into Cal and Monica from Aspen and chatted with them as they prepared to head home, promising to see us in two days. What fun it has been to meet so many kind friends. Lots of hugging going on! Since the weather wasn’t the best for cross-country skiing or snow-shoeing (which we had planned to do), most of us just lay around all day doing laundry, eating soup and KGB and watching stupid television. It was quite relaxing. Anne did get up and skied all day with Carey and Karen. Way to go, Anne, You Rock! Tim took off with a friend to stay elsewhere and go fly fishing. It was determined that the HTHS crew would come over for dinner, so Joel and I went shopping and he and Grubb cooked up an awesome Mexican dinner. It was a quiet evening around the table, with a wicked game of spades, won by the team of Mikey & Billy, but not without a valiant fight from Joel & Grubb (the nil/nil boys) and Andy & Kyle (The Psychedelic Cowboy). After the HTHS crew left, Andy, Grubb, Mikey, Joel and I played some Texas Hold’em. I couldn’t get a winning hand for anything. Mikey was the big winner, it was fun, but I was happy to be heading for bed by 10:30ish.

Saturday Jan. 28 OTR w/RRE

Stacy — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:44:01 GMT

Saturday morning is bright and clear what a beautiful place. Everyone is skiing to and fro all through the town. I went shopping early and got busy cooking, breakfast, first and then some veggie lasagna and Phil’s famous KGB, although he really has the magic touch, mine is just a cheap imitation, but it works. Joel, Laura and Grubb went for a half-day ski, it wasn’t cheap, but they enjoyed themselves, lots of fresh powder. After sound check most of the fellas came back for some lasagna and KGB, then off to the SOLD-OUT venue for another night of dancing craziness, merriment and music making. I can’t wait to get back to my perch in the merch area. Best seat/spot in the house. I have fun there with Laura who hangs out and dances with me most of both evenings. She also helped keep me sane as I tried to balance my books, unsuccessfully a couple of times. Then I finally got it right. Tonight I got to meet Lyle and Kelly and John Erickson. Too, quickly is the time we are able to visit but definitely fun to connect with people who love the same people that I love. Lisa B. is always in and out dancing and checking on merch. Both groups do much better tonight on the merch. Jilian plays a new song that really touched my heart. It made me think of Phil, and I look forward to hearing it again, hopefully with Philly by my side. The third set tonight was really fun; I loved the “Big River”. Todd had mentioned that he wanted to play it, the night before, but didn’t have the words. I volunteered to write them out for him and I quickly called Phil and we got them done together so they were able to play it tonight. It sounded great! “The Cookoo” was another highlight in a night of beautiful music. This collaboration is just getting started, can you feel it? We made it back to the condo by 3:00 while it is again lightly snowing. It’s so quiet outside except for that sound of your shoes crunching in the newly fallen snow. Anne soon arrived with the Glenlivit and didn’t leave until close to 6:30, when she walked back to her hotel and claimed that she was going skiing with Karen & Carey at 9:00am. Tomorrow we will find out if she made it. Knowing Anne, she did, I just wonder how much fun she had, and she is, after all, the Scotch Queen.

Friday Jan 27 OTR w/RRE

Stacy — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:40:45 GMT

Friday morning starts with a trip to Wal-Mart to get humidifier for Todd and Mikey’s third set of toiletries on the tour. He has left a set in Memphis and at Fritz’s. Coffee and a pastry and we, Tim, Joel and Mike, are on the road from Montrose to Telluride. This is my first trip to Telluride and I am awed at the majesty of the mountains. I guess we see them all the time in Coors’ commercials, but driving toward them on this beautiful morning was something else, breathtaking. Our ride into town was easy, no snow on the road until we were in town. We went directly to the Sheridan Opera House to meet the van and the truck for load-in. The venue was upstairs, which meant schlepping everything up a metal staircase Scott, Lisa B. and the Nershi’s soon arrived, ready for a great two night stand. The folks at the Opera house were great. Thanks Luke & Mike! Tim and I went to check in and check out the condos. We are staying in two condos at the Riverside. Quite nice. Back to the venue and I have a SWEET spot to sell merch. I am stoked! Once the table is set up and sound has been checked it’s out into the quaint town of Telluride. Karen and Anne have arrived, so Carey, Tim and I join them for dinner down the block. Back to the venue and it’s time for the show. HTHS had a great set, then RRE and then a collaboration of some and then all parts of the two groups. Scott Law lead the group in a rousing rendition of “Lay Down Sally” that was really fun. The place was three quarters full and definitely enjoying the show. I had the pleasure of finally meeting many and Aubrey and the rest of the Flagstaff/Prescott crew. A beautiful, kind group of folks, it was awesome to hang with them. Manny told me that Papa Phil missed me; I assured him that I missed Phil, too. It’s just not quite right without him. I miss you Philly! It has been lightly snowing and when I drive John back to the condo after the show, he wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go to bed, I was so glad I had the four-wheeled drive vehicle. It is so easy to drive. People are stoked about the skiing for tomorrow. I’m going shopping and cooking, and I am stoked about that.

1/26 Day 4, OTR with RRE

Stacy — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 05:07:29 GMT

Today it is cold at 9:00 when I meet Tim for the begining of our drive to Montrose. He has asked if we can leave early and go pick up his power cord that he left at the hotel the previous evening. I am already planning to pick up Joel in denver, so getting an early start sounds good to me. I fill the car up with gas and finally buy a map. With out Phil I am woefully out of it. I can't believe I have traveled all these miles with out one. I like it much better when Phil has it all under control. So ,Tim and I head back dwn 287 to Fort Collins, as we enter town he sees a sign for a breakfast joint with free wireless. Sounds good to us, so we stop, only to end up unable to get on their system. Oh well, we had some food and got some coffee and headed south to Denver. We picked up Joel at Laura's which turns out to be a short walk from the Fillmore. Off we go for a long day on questionable roads under uncertain conditions. Once we started traveling west on hiway 50, the scenery was awesome winding through beautiful canyons. We only had a few minutes of snowy weather when we used the four wheel drive option. we saw a small herd of bighorn sheep, that was way cool. There were tons of deer on the side of the road, especially after dark, so Joel drove carefully, we saw several males with large antlers. man, it was cool. We finally made it to Montrose about 7:30, the van was about 10 minutes behind us and I don't think the truck is here yet. Apparently, they had a minor issue with the truck and had to have it fixed. Luckily, the weather worked in our favor. Grubb, Joel, Tim and I had Indian food for dinner. It was very satisfying. I am full. I plan to call Phil to say goodnight to my best friend and then it's bed for me. telluride, tomorrow!

1/25/06 day 3, OTR with RRE

Stacy — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 04:53:24 GMT

My morning began with a "wake-up" call from Carey, I thanked him for the call and said I would meet at the appropriate time. Carey later told me that was the first time he had ever been thanked for a wake-up call. Today's schedule began with an hour radio spot in Fort Collins at KFRC, Colorado State. That was a fun hour of music with an interviewer who was a bit off, but certainly good hearted. Frpm the radio station, Joel, Mikey P. and I hit the road, back up hiway 287 to Laramie, where the band will meet up with Honkytonk Homeslice for the first of their 14 shows together. We make it to town in time to have a quick sandwich at a great little spot that Joel remembered from a previous trip through town. On to the University Union Ballroom for a free show sponsered by the student union. Mikey gets to work immediately as he has spent the entire trip up from Fort Collins worrying about the poor equipment that he had to work with at the University. He did a great job! Joel worked the moniters all night and the sound wqas pretty darn good despite the archaic equipment. We were grated by some delightful students, Coulter, Scott & Abbey, who were all super stoked to have RRE and HTHS there. The nershis, Scott Law and Lisa B. showed up a short time later and things started rolling. Folks were changing strings and tuning their instraments and there was a nice impromptu jam session. A couple of kids wandered by and listened, amazed and stoked. It was great. Sound checks were made, the merch table was set up and we were treated to a nice dinner in the "greenroom" which was two floors down from the venue. No alcohol is allowed on the campus, so I went to a local liquor store and purchased a couple of six packs that I kept under the merch table. I then "served" "lattes" to the band members, in coffee cups,who were thirsty. It was great to see familiar faces, Weartie, Laura, Shelly & Cathy. It was a fun evening, probably about 200 kids, lots of high school students. The highlight for me was during the combined set, they played Old Home Place. Very nice. There were lots of kids who helped with the load out. It was a very cold evening and I was glad to get to the hotel and get warmed up. Burrrrr. I miss my Philly and am looking forward to seeing him for the front range run.

Day 2, OTR with RRE

Stacy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 19:42:16 GMT

WOW, slept until 9:00 am, more sleep in one night than any two nights since Jan. 13 when we met the band in Portland. My voice is a bit stronger today with that extra sleep. We get the word that the van is fixed and Andy and John will be in SLC soon. Woohoo, we can have brunch at the Red Iguana, Grubb, Joel and I are out for some of the best mexican food, ever. I used to eat there 25 years ago when I was a student at BYU. As we are paying our bill, Carey calls and said that the van had arrived and also, Todd had just ordered food to go from the Iguana. We asked our waitress about a phone in order, she said there was only one from Ty. We figured it had to be Todd's as it wsa poblano mole, but we checked with the guy who took the order, he said the name was "Ty Shaper" so we paid for the mole and took it to Todd. We are now off to Fort Collins, today I have the pleasure of sharing my ride with Tim. What an interesting day. He has so much knowledge about so many things. One thing I must impress on anyone who might read this, Tim is currently writing a book about his trip to India in 2000. He was there for the Sacred Music World Festival. It sounds like an incredible experience. He read me a couple of chapters, and all I can say is, BUY IT and READ IT! I can't wait!!! WE arrived in Frt Collins before the rest of the crew and we were lucky enough to be directed to a delicious Thai resturante close to the hotel. Yellow curry, yum! Tomorrow we have a radio station gig at noon and then on the Laramie for the first show with Honkytonk Home Slice.

Day 1, OTR with RRE

Stacy — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 19:20:34 GMT

I drug my ragged butt out of bed when Phil left for work, 6:00 and finished packing the car with help from Evan and got on the road by 8:30. It was a beautiful morning, I couldn't help wondering why the weather couldn't have been as clear and beautfil when we were on our way to Tahoe a week earlier to see RRE. Oh well, Phil is meeting the tow company up there this week to get it towed home. I arrived by 10:30 at the Sands Regency and found various band members in the lobby/cafe area. No Todd, but everyone else was ther. Joel, Grubb and I decided to hit the road, next stop SLC. It was a beautiful and all went well except I almost gave myself an anxiety attack when I thought we might run out of gas. I planned to stop in Winnemucca, which is where Phil and I always stop (in my car) I'm not in my car and we barely made it. Coasted into Winnemucca on fumes. Never thought I would be so happy to be in that town. After gassing up and a quick lunch we were back on the road. We hit Elko in the twilight, stopped for a cup of Joe and wondered aloud who would write a song about this town?! The next part of the drive was from Elko to Wells, I was a passenegr at the time and was able to spend my time reflecting on the lessons that I learned and continue to learn from Missy. It was a beautiful, clear, starlit evening. I felt very peaceful and grateful. Soon we were approaching Bendover (Wendover) which is the Nevada/Utah state line. About 10 or so miles out of town Joel noticed a car on the side of the road , blinkers flashing, "Is that the van?" as we pull over, it is indeed. It has overheated and can't go anywhere. We had some water and a flashlight which were of some help, but we soon realized we were going to need more water as the water we put in came gushing out the back from some hose. While we waited for the truck to catch up, Joel, Grubb, Tim and I went to Bendover for supplies/water/hose/mechanic. We found water, and a drunk mechanic, but no hose. We headed back to the van, there were no exits around so we "authorized" ourselves and used a quick turn out to go to the other side of the freeway. The truck was there. Big hole in a heater hose, so we poured tons of water down it and limped it to Wendover, only stopping twice to put more water in it. Once there we couldn't find our drunk mechanic, so we ate dinner at the Peppermill diner, which was surprisingly good, left Andy and John with the van and the rest of us headed on the SLC where we already had rooms paid for. We had all been Stoked to eat at the Red Iguana, but it was much too late for that. SO we got to SLC and hit the hay.