10/26/14 day 19: FRA>JFK>BOS

We did gain an hour for daylight savings and we all manually entered the new time, however, when I woke up at 6:23am I realized it was too light to be so early. Set my phone to automatically detect time zone and it moved forward an hour. We were planning on leaving at 7:30 for Frankfurt airport (3 hr drive). I checked the TV, 723am. I went downstairs and asked the woman at breakfast, 7:23am. SHIT!

Went upstairs and knocked on Peter and Jeff's doors and we sprung into action. Peters door was actually unlocked so I walked in and told him the situation. Jeff at least had his door locked. Safety first kids.

Out the door 30 minutes later at 8am, and arrived (thanks to my lead foot) right on time at 10:45am. In the car, it went from silent reflection to gut busting laughter. These tours are always so much fun and it's great to travel with good friends. We laughed our asses off about funny moments on tour and set our eyes upon the horizon; January tour...

4 hr layovers are no fun, regardless of which airport u r on. At least I was back on American soil and could snack on IPA and chicken wings.

Another tour in the books. Excited for what the future holds. Thanks for reading the blog. Tune in again in January.

10/25/14 day 18: Hildesheim, DE

Slept like a champion last night! Late breakfast at the B&B and on the road by 11:30. Easy drive to Hildesheim; 1.5 hrs and done. We rocked out to Scott Matthews, Jeff Buckley, and my buddy Shane "Grinch Grip" Alexander.

Checked into the hotel and wanders into town. What a cool little city center; loads of pedestrian only walkways with cafés, shops, amazing old buildings, and this...

Last Döner of the tour and probably one of the best I've ever had...

Famous

Had a nice little walkabout. Found a nice coffee and cruised around. Overcast and cold today, but the streets were jammed with tourists and shoppers. Hard to believe it's our last day in Germany. It's always a little bittersweet. Excited for home and friends, but these tours are always magical, soul filling experiences. This tour was a treat in many aspects and was extra special to see Rich and Greg in London. That was a treat. Back at the hotel at 4:45 for a little repose before heading to the gig at 6:15.

Super quick sound check and then off to dinner next door at 7:45. Dinner was amazing. Great last meal together.

Salad, and then some slow cooked beef  with stone mushrooms and potato puff thingys. Delectable.

The club is totally cool; I actually wonder what the building was originally used for it's situated right on a canal, which makes me think storage. At any case, it

was a super vibey basement, cellar space with impeccable sound and righteous hospitality. Achim, the booker was great and Jan the sound guy was also. The set was righteous. Had a great encore in the crowd of Printemps and Bid You amist the candle lit tables. After the set we sold CDs and chatted with locals. Happy to announce we sold out of Worth The Fight!

Another night for the history books! Another tour done. Looking forward to January! Germany we will see you again soon.

10/23/14 day 16: Exeter, UK

Up for breakfast at 9 with the guys around the corner at a cafe. Proper English breakfast; eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, grilled tomato, toast, fries...

Picked up at 10, loaded in the van, and headed west for Exeter. Arrived first at the hotel, and then 45 minutes later, picked up again and taken to Deer Park which is an old English manor at the end of single-car wide serpentine lanes walled in by thick hedgerows making it nearly impossible to see in front or next to you. The party is here and we are rocking the heated tent out behind the manor for an intimate set after the guests finish dinner.

We were taken to a super quaint local pub for dinner. Otter Inn with it's low sagging wooden beam celings, cheeky waitresses and huge inviting hearth. I went local with the menu.

Me "Excuse me, could you bring me some extra sauce, I'd like to dip my cod in it."

Cheeky Waitress: "[blank stare] sure."

Me: "Thanks love... Can I call you love?"

Cheeky Waitress: "You can call me whatever you like."

Cutest ice cream cone on the planet

The party was cool. The tent we played in was decked out with moody chandeliers and we had a proper stage and lighting rig. We played a short set to a captive audience. Felt nice to play with the 5 piece albeit a little challenging for me to relearn my parts in that set up. We had fun though and it was a sufficiently loose, adequately tight set. Nice to play Come Together and Spark again.

Headed back to the hotel around 11:45 and after a quick debrief at the bar with señor Day, I went straight to bed. Another 6:00AM wake up call. Goodnight Exeter. 

10/24/14 day 17: Achim, DE

Getting up at 6am is starting to get in my nerves...

On the road at 630 to Bristol Airport with Jeff and Peter. Had time to grab a coffee to go. KLM wanted to charge me for another seat for my guitar, I politely asked for the supervisor, she was cool and told me to bring the guitar on board. No worries. That's also getting old; I need to find an airline that doesn't hassle me about my axe.

Hour layover in Amsterdam, enough time for a sandwich and some internet and then landed in Hamburg at like 3, arrived in Achim at 430. I went full coma nap (eye mask and sound machine) for an hour. Needed it badly. 

Staying at a little B&B a couple clicks outside of town. Very respectable digs.

Arrived at Kulturhaus Achim at 5:45 and met Henning the sound guy and Susanne the booking agent. Really cool club. It's like a small black box theater, good size, great sound system. We sound checked and then went downstairs to the restaurant for dinner. Peter and I had pork chops and Jeff had a baked vegetable dish. It was nice. A little rushed to finish up dinner before the show but otherwise it was a lovely little dinner. Super tasty.

Had about 15 minutes to warm up the voices in the green room before the show. We hit to a good sized crowd of excited Germans. Felt great. The natural acoustics were juicy! The tunes are super tight now and we delivered the goods for sure. Another stellar night in a great new club. Only wish they booked more than once every couple years!!

Debrief at the B&B and then a little Walking Dead in German. Gute Nacht!

10/22/14 day 15: London, UK

Out the door at 630am for the 2 hr drive north to Hamburg airport. Didn't even have time for a brötchen or coffee, sad days. The Sweet Remains (rich, Greg, peter, Jeff, and I) were hired to play a show at a corporate event in Exeter England on Thursday. They flew us all out to London today and are putting us up tonight and tmrw. Anyway, peter, Jeff and I had a long day ahead...

Rainy and dark on the drive. Hit some traffic south of Hamburg but our navigation came through and redirected us right in time. Made it in a little over 2, parked the car, checked in and boarded the plane for Heathrow. It was almost too easy; not a ton of traffic, no long lines... I was sure it was going to be super stressful but it wasn't. Travel gods smiled upon us this morning for sure. They must have appreciated my sacrifice of an old boarding passes, deflated neck pillow, and salted peanuts on my travel shrine at home before I left Phoenix.

First airplane cascading selfie

Made it Heathrow, grabbed our bags, found the tube, got our tickets, made it to St James tube stop near Buckingham Palace. Walked a couple hundred meters and found our hotel. Pretty swanky and slightly old school. Our hotel accommodations on tour are generally very solid, but this is an upgrade for sure. Feels good to be a gangster.

Met Mr. Richard Price in the lobby at 2 and the four of us (Greg went down for a nap) ventured off into an overcast afternoon. First order of business was some food.  We grabbed a late lunch at Buckingham Arms, a pub, around the corner. Peter got his fish & chips, Jeff got his Youngs double chocolate stout, and I crushed down a burger and a London gold. Here's to room temperature beer!

Cheers lads!

And then a nice walk about. Behold, a series of pictures of old buildings...

Westminster Abbey

Look kids, Big Ben...

Parliament...

Just missing Greg in this one.

Buckingham Palace

Red Novelty Boxes

After the walk, I went down hard for a short nap. The bed in my hotel room felt amazing. Got into one of those naps where you wake up and are completely disoriented and think it's next week. Peeled out of bed to meet the guys at 630 for Indian food in Nottinghill. Short tube ride later (insert dirty joke here) and we arrived (again, just the four of us) at an Indian restaurant and proceeded to destroy a table full of tasty Indian treats. We met one of Rich's buddies from Oxford at the restaurant as well and after dinner we all walked to a pub down the street for a pint. We decided to take a bus home so we could see a little more of the surroundings and made it back to the hotel around 10:45. We walked into the lobby and found Greg. The band has been reunited and it feels so good!!

Called it a night before midnight. Tomorrow is a long day and the following day even longer. Night from London my lovelies.

10/21/14 day 14: Lauenau, DE

Up at 930 for breakfast. We said goodbye to our hosts and hopped in the car for the 3.5 hr trip to Lauenau, Germany. It was sad to leave Haarlem having developed a small crush on the city. Reminds me of Freiburg in ways.

It rained the entire day basically. Not great driving conditions but we made it in one piece and checked into our hotel for the evening. I promptly went down for a nap after the drive and met the dudes at 6 to roll over to the club.

Kesselhaus is the brainchild of Thomas Ritter, an accomplished painter and music enthusiast. The space is funky as hell, nice stage and lights and sound surrounded by a multi-level seating. Funky lights and couches and two tops. It's like doing a gig in second hand shop.

For dinner, Thomas' wife cooked us this red pepper/lentil soup with a curry rice dish with raisins, cashews, and peas. It was off the chain!

Had a stellar crowd for the set. Some folks who saw us last April in Bad Wünnenberg came as well. Psyched to share the new tunes with them. The crowd was super attentive and grateful and called for two encores, which we humbly obliged. We had record breaking CD sales and had a ball chatting w folks after the set. Another gem in the rough, this one. Two bad they book two years out. No wonder, Kesselhaus is dope.

Back to the hotel for a quick debrief and then direct to bed. 6am wake up call for road trip to Hamburg airport.

10/20/14 day 13: Haarlem, NL

Woke up at 930 to a very respectable spread. Loads of the same; breads, cheeses, sliced meats, yogurt, granola, etc but some of the croissants of the tour and a small griddle to fry your own egg. Nice touch Holland.

Met Paul our host and promoter at 11. We walked to nearby cafe and devised a game plan for the day. Sitting outside enjoying the intermittent sun, he explained that he had made contact with local radio and arranged an on-air. Around noon, we took the short walk to Haarlem 105 FM and met the DJ and sang a couple tunes live. We did Dance and Love Song. It was awesome!

Two faces for radio...

After the interview, we went to Jopenkerk for lunch. This was the brewery we went to the night before and we were all eager to see how the food would be. We already all loved the beers. Literally the best IPA I've had in a while...

Lunch did not disappoint. I went with Kroketten (sp) which is typical Dutch. Think Twinky-sized, deep fried mash potato and meat thingys with a creamy whole grain mustard on thick cut bread... So. Damn. Good. And what??? French fries?? Never heard of them...

Lunch was just stupid. Jopen Brewery officially blew my mind. Trifecta; beer, food, vibe.

After lunch I was eager for a little nap time, we all rendezvoused in the lobby around 5 and walked the 100 meters to the venue which is in the actual Haarlem train station. On track 3, the old waiting rooms were preserved which are these beautiful wood paneled rooms which are now used for a variety of things. It was so cool and the natural acoustics were warm and delicious. So unique. So beautiful.

This is the room, pre-set up. Actual trains arriving/departing on either side... So stinking cool.

After sound check, Paul and his girl Daphne took us to dinner at this funky little joint across the street. I went with the mixes green salad with warm, local goat cheese and walnuts. It was righteous.

The set was super groovy. Nice little crowd for a Monday. It sounded really amazing to my ears and we all felt loose and had fun with it. Met some super nice folks too.

After the set Paul and Daphne took us out on the town. Paul studied here for three years and had some favorite spots so we cruised around and heard live music, stopped by Jopen Brewery again, and hit up a couple local spots. At the last spot, the bartender made us all try Nobeltje which is this amazing smooth and delicious liquor. Vanilla, herb, something something. Dangerously good. We raises our glasses to a great night and phenominal first weekend in Holland with great new friends. Success!

10/19/14 day 12: Spijkeboor, NL

Good morning from Hollandscheveld!

Up at 915 today which felt nice. Came downstairs and our hostess had put out a modest little spread of snackables including sprinkles for your bread, which wins the "breakfast head-scratcher award."

Short little jaunt to Spijkeboor, which is a very small village about an hr from where we slept. We met Willem (owner) and Jan (promoter) at Cafe t'Keerpunt which is a very vibey cafe/restaurant/bar. We did a short sound check and then were treated to dinner; grilled curry chicken with fried potatoes and salad. All the while we sampled some of the local liquids.

Gentle warrior watch dog whose name I never did catch.

Getting acclimated.

We hit at 8 to a completely packed room. 60+ folks crammed into the cafe and clapped along and tapped their feet to tunes they've never heard before. They even laughed at my jokes. Heard some very nice compliments from lots of gracious thankful folks. You know, I think Holland is ready for more tSR!

The set is getting tighter every night. Really feeling good. Even when we venture slightly off the grid... 

After the set we said our goodbyes and Willem the owner sent us on our way with sandwiches for the road. We had a two and a half hour drive to Haarlem. By the time we reached the hotel, we were all a little fried out but being the young, resilient, adventure seekers that we are, we decided to rally and take advantage of what felt like a night off in a new town.

Jopen Brewery came highly recommended by our promoter/host Paul. We found it on the map and strolled off into the night. The city was basically completely shut down by 11:30. Empty streets save the occasional bicyclist. The weater was windy and brisk and nice and fresh. Felt nice to stretch the legs a bit and feel that cool air.

Jopen did not disappoint. Some of the best beers on the tour so far, and we have tasted a number. They have an IPA that I would put up against any US IPA and their flagship beer was killing! At one point the bartender overheard the guys say how nice the IPA was that I ordered and he walks over with two more, grabs the beers they are drinking and dumps them on the ground and replaces them with IPA... Bold move, my friend. 

Made our way back home but not before finding a late night Döner & fries which we devoured back at the hotel. We are already impressed with Haarlem and Holland in general; our first two shows in Holland have been SRO and nearly completely over sold, the generosity and hospitality has been overwhelming, and we are really enjoying the new views. Keep it coming!

10/18/14 day 11: Echten, NL

Had breakfast at the Hotel Merian in Openheim and was on the road at 11:30am. The buffet had serious potential but it was pretty well picked over at 10:10 when we got there. We had to fight for the remaining scraps of choice sliced meat and shards of fresh vegetables. I say "choice" meat because there was plenty of non-choice meat; blood sausage is a good example... Plenty of blood sausage for all! Anyone? Anyone!?

It was a stinking beautiful day for a drive. I slept hard the first leg and got behind the wheel about 75km from the Dutch border. Once we hit Holland, we noticed a huge decrease in car velocity and frequency. Roads were just less traveled and those on the road weren't driving 160 kmh.

Found the B&B outside of town in Hollandscheveld. A nice old lady greeted us at the door and showed us our rooms. We had just enough time to drop our bags and change our clothes and then it was off to Echten and the Klein Paradiso about 11km away.

We arrived at KP at 5:15pm. The venue is a tiny old church that has been converted into a performance space for the community. It was very vibey set in a small wooded area alongside small houses and grazing pastures.

Peter: " I love Holland this much!"

View of the stage pre-show.

Delia and Sergei run the joint. Rob took care of sound. Delia is an artist (a painter and she writes erotic poetry) who sold her business years ago and has been pursuing a passion for the arts ever since; one of those passions is managing music at Kein Paradiso. She's a sweet woman with mischievous eyes and the energy of a teenager. Sergei does the grunt work; tends bar, cleans up, shoots video. Rob the sound guy, also a musician, rolls up with the PA rocking a Canadian tuxedo and snake skin cowboy boots. Delia whips up some pasta with red sauce and a salad for dinner and then we do a quick sound check. Room sounds vibey. Reverberations of generations.

By 8:07 it was standing room only. 70+ very polite Dutch made their way into the room and found their seats. What can I say, other than the following 2 hrs felt really stinking good. They loved the stories, the harmonies, the tunes... It was a big love fest of epic Dutch proportions capped by a standing ovation encore.

Signed CDs and chatted w folks after the set. People love talking about this style of music and how they are connected to it. Loved it.

After the show, Delia and Sergei were headed to a performance by a local hard rock band and we were invited to tag along which we did.

Stream of Passion band.

You can't see the singer and the other guitar player because they are mid headbang... They were really good. Not my bag, but still really damn good at what they do. We said goodbye to our awesome hosts after two songs and hit the road back to our BB.

So, all in all a killer night full of juicy vibes and headbanging good times. What an amazing first night in Holland!

10/17/14 day 10: Dexheim, DE

Up at 830. I can't seem to make my body sleep later. It's cool because I make breakfast but not cool when one just needs to sleep. Breakfast was even served late today, so I could've slept until 10 and still had 30 glorious minutes to break my fast. Oh well. Got caught up on emails and relaxed. Win win I guess.

On the road at noon. Back south towards Mainz which is not far from Frankfurt. Lovely little drive too. We hooked up with the Rhein and followed it through a string of little towns. Our hotel is Openheim (like the fund) and completely and utterly civilized. Jeff and I decided to go on an adventure walk which took us into the old part of town...

Church in Openheim - parts date back to 1300s.

Every pane has a story

Beware of Dog - circa 1300

After the church we spotted a ruin on the hill above. There was no info as to what it was, but it was super cool and I think it should be the video location for the forthcoming "Crumble" video.

Got back to the hotel in time for a quick shower then we headed over the hill to Dexheim around 5. Weingut Weyell is an old family run farm that now operates a small restaurant/event space and live music venue. It's managed and run by Wolfgang, a real sweet guy who along with his wife and kids and parents run the show. 

The space we played was huge, but still felt cozy. Nice big stage, lights, incredible PA. The stage is located where huge wine containers once stood. I am super bummed I didnt snap a photo, it is a really glorious set up.

Before the set, Wolfgangs parents cooked us dinner; schnitzel, fries, and salad and some of their wine. They don't produce the wine themselves anymore; someone else manages the wine production, they just bottle. The trocken Riesling we had was pretty darn good.

Played to over 90 beautiful, attentive, excitable, appreciative folks. We were stoked. It felt amazing. Double encore, CD signing frenzy and everything. Cup officially filled and overflowed. Nights like these are so vital to the success of the tour. This isn't about money either. This is about feeling like what you means something to other people. After the set we were just doused in praise; the songs, the harmonies, even my German. We cannot wait to come back!!

10/16/14 day 9: Bonn, DE

Up early this morning to sounds of Freiburg waking up; church bells for ten solid minutes, trucks, bicycles clanking down the alley... It was cool and also not so cool if you wanted sleep, as I did.

Decided to take a little walk about and get some fresh air after realizing there was no hope in going back to sleep. Walked past the Muenster, down past the student center, Martinstor and back to the hotel for breakfast at 9:20.

Farmers market at the Münster.

Martinstor (brought to you by Mcdonalds)

Was joined shortly thereafter by the guys for a decent little breakfast spread. All of the standards were there including some really tasty yogurt (it's the little things.)

After spending an hour trying to resolve a rental car issue with Avis on the phone in my room (never using them again) we hit the road north to Bonn. It was smooth sailing basically the entire way and we arrived in Bonn around 4:20 in time to load into the hotel, check the internet and chill for a minute. This time we all had our own room! Hooray!

The club was so close to the hotel we decided to hoof it and give White Lightning a rest for the evening and the beauty of these tours is that everything basically fits on our backs. Instruments and bag of merch, done.

The club, Mausefall (Mouse Trap) is a little basement club in a mostly residential neighborhood. George the owner was pleasant but borderline cantankerous. That is, until he heard the sweet supple harmonies of the Sweet Remizzles! Just like Colt 45, it works everytime!

Show went well. Had a nice little crowd. Even had a mother and daughter make the trip from Cologne for the show. The daughter, Leah, is a budding guitar player and we have had an email correspondence about chords to some of the tSR tunes. Nice of her to show up and bring her mom who was bopping to the tunes all night.

The only thing missing from last night was a late night Döner. It's been days since a good Döner and my body is going into withdrawals. Must. Find. Döner....

10/15/14 day 8: Freiburg, DE

We stayed with Tommy in Baienfurt and in the morning we got to see his wife Simone and their new baby Emil. Had breakfast and coffee and started to strategies for the January 2015/April 2015/Nov 2015 tours. Before we left, we sang Emil "Dance With Me" his favorite song (he's 5 months old and already has good taste.) I still can't believe we are able to tour this much over here. Maybe I'll just move to Berlin in 2016...

Had time for a quick cascading selfie and then we were on our way. Baienfurt is so beautiful and Tommy and Simone are such amazing hosts. Always love spending time with them. And look how stinking cute Emil is!

Short 2.5 hr drive to Freiburg today, my alma mater. Nice drive through orchards swollen with apples and pears. Handmade signs for "Obst" on the side of the road which led us along the north side of the Boden See.  We even briefly had a view of the Alps to the South. 

Once in Freiburg, we headed straight to Hotel Schwarzwälder Hof, which is right downtown in the pedestrian only zone. Great old spot with a view of the Muenster. Peter and I bunked together, and we both agreed it was such a sexy spot we wish we were with someone else to be able to fully enjoy it.

Met our good buddy and Wodan Halle owner Ray at Kybfelsen which is a beautiful old inn/restaurant 10 minutes outside of town at the end of the Strassenbahn 2 line.

Ray books this gig and agreed to help us with a PA. We got everything set and then got down to some tasty, tasty dinner. I had Rahmschnitzel with potatoes and a salad. Unreal. A super surprise was seeing Max Steffens. The last time I saw Max was in Aachen in 1994. He was two years old with a head full of blond curls walking around the house in diapers; the younger brother of my good friend Sebastian. Max is now 22, studying jazz guitar in Freiburg. He is good kid with a big heart. Stoked he made it out.

By the time we hit at 8, the room was totally full; 70-80 people. Pin drop scene, very enthusiastic. Had a crusher set, felt really solid. I am finding we are reaching a new level of vocal nuance which feels and sounds amazing.

After the set we said our goodbyes to Ray and Max and headed back to crash at the hotel. None of us even had steam for a walkabout. We all agreed our next visit in January would be different. Goodnight Freiburg.