We’re just heading out of Paris and on our way to the House of Blues in Dallas for our first night with Bob Schneider and his band.  I just wanted to give a special thanks to my friends (Brandyn McNeal in particular for letting us crash at his place, lending his car, and opening his living room to become a rehearsal space for two days…) and family who made it out to our show at Buffalo Joe’s Pub.  It was so nice to see everyone—old friends, aunts, and even my grandmother who had never seen me play.  Also, I wanted to say thanks to Sarah at Buffalo Joe’s and all the crew there for being really sweet and accommodating to us last night.  It was really great. Thank you!

Paris was a trip.  It brings back a lot of fond memories.  Even though I’ve been gone for twenty plus years, it still feels like home to me.  I was glad to be able to give the band a tour down Memory Lane and take them to some of the cool spots.  When we got in the first night my mom and her friends were waiting in the restaurant parking with a big welcome sign.  Actually…..they were kinda pushed for time so they made the sign pretty fast and it read:  MELCOME.  So we’ve been saying “melcome” a lot—“you’re melcome”, “melcome if you got ‘em”, etc.  My mom seemed embarrassed at the typo but man…that gave us a good laugh.  I love you, mom.

One morning we went antique browsing downtown, music instrument shopping, and had some lunch at the Hole In The Wall Cafe.  Everywhere we went people would say, “Are ya’ll the band?”  If I could demonstrate how they actually asked us it would be, “Arre yaa’ll thu baaaynd?”  Soon enough, everyone in the group was talkin’ like the townspeople.

Later on in the day, my dad showed up.  I hadn’t seen him in a long, long time.  So that was cool.  He’s pretty intense.  He talks fast, walks fasts, and knows how to joke around.  We rode around in his tiny truck and went and saw my grandmother.  She’s nuts too.  But good nuts.  Both of em.  They’ve both got a thousand different aphorisms that’ll make you laugh.  Later on, my dad wheeled my grandma into his truck and drove her out to the gig.  She was there the whole time and had a ball.  That was one of the first times she’d been outside in two years!  She kept telling me she’ll “never forget this”.  That was pretty cool.  I can’t lie—it made me cry.

Anyway, we’re almost to Dallas.  The road is bumpy.  We can’t find the frisbee.  The sky is cloudy.  We’re ready to jam.

Thanks Paris,

jason