Annapolis, MD – “We’re not in Virginia anymore” – Ram’s Head – July 25, 2001

Stretch me out, I’m your rubber band, state to state, don’t know where I am.” -Split Decisions

“Who put these states so close together?” I ask defensively.

“U.S.A!” Retorts Soucy in a well-deserved condescending tone, “they’re all close together.”

“How am I supposed to know where we are when every 1/2 hour we pass through another state?” I am, of course, trying to justify having (for the second year in a row) miss-referenced the location we were playing:

“Man, sure is hot here in Virginia!” I’d exclaimed after the first song at Ram’s Head.

“Maryland!” corrected the audience, wondering, perhaps, how I could possibly have managed to make the same mistake two years running. I tried to play it off like I’d made the mistake on purpose, but my blushing (no doubt) gave me away, and I ended up stammering, chewing on my tongue, and floundering in a sea of apology and misplaced righteousness.

The show, was great otherwise. We had a fantastic opener, a guy named Frank Morey. He had a raspy Tom Waits-ish kinda voice and an awesome drummer, Scott, backing him up with a vaudevillian drum kit. We met the two before the show. They were from Lowell MA. We asked where they were staying out here in ‘Virginia’ (haha). They explained that they never get hotel rooms on the road.

“How does that work?” I asked out of curiosity.

“We just stay out at the bars until someone takes us home.”

“Hu,” I considered their strategy. “Maybe we should do that,” I suggested to the guys.

“Uh, no sweetheart.” Said Kenny patting me on the shoulder.

When signing CDs, an attractive crew from Baltimore told me they’d recently adopted a stray cat and named it after me. It made me feel honored until I started wondering if it was because I looked like a stray person and then I dashed into the back room and shaved my armpits in the sink. But honestly, I’ve always wanted a cat and I think having one named after me is second to owning one. Besides, I was a bit jealous after Chris Soucy got a cat named after him somewhere back in Pennsylvania, long before I got my name on a pet’s leash tag. Long live Sally the ally cat!!!