Boulder, CO – “Putting the Band Back Together” – April 11, 2001

“You’ve Got a friend” is playing in the café I’m writing in.  The soothing chords of dad’s guitar seem to bounce like light off the honey shelacked floor boards.  Hearing either of my parents on the radio always feels like a sign that I’m on the right path somehow.  There are six other people in the cafe this morning and each of them is humming or all out singing along to my dad, unaware of my relation.  How amazing it is to know what an impact my little ol’ daddy and mommy have had on the world.  It’s amazingly heartwrming to know, as he sings “You just call out my name,” that I am one of the few people he’d actually come running for.  The thought is particularly potent and a tear comes to my eye as I type.  I am, indeed, in need of a friend this morning.

In the middle of mixing Shotgun yesterday, I got a call from Kyle saying he never wanted to go on tour again, that he wanted to raise a family, and that he was sorry.  I managed to remain calm and accept the news as something that could be for the best, but by evening I was panicked.  With our May tour only three weeks away, I called Johnathan Shank, our agent, to see if we could postpone it.  This was a big ask.  I know what goes into booking a tour. It’s a nightmare having to juggle routing, negotiate offers and hold available dates. I’ve booked enough gigs to easily want to give up %10 of every show to never have to do it again.  I held the phone and cringed as I relayed the news to Jonathan of Kyle’s departure and the need to find another drummer before our spring dates.

“Give me a second,” Johnathan said, cool as a cucumber.  I held my breath as he shuffled papers on what I imagined to be his very messy desk.  “I had an offer for you to open for Even & Jaron solo for their tour starting on the 15^th but turned it down as it ran into your first week of dates.”

“Who are Even & Jarod?”

“Jaron,” Shank corrected.  “They’re a pair of twin orthodox Jewish brothers — had a couple hits from soundtracks — Runaway Bride and Dawson’s Creek last year, and they have a new song on a John Cusack movie coming out this summer.  You want it as a buffer, and I’ll rebook your spring tour for summer?”

“God damn Jonathan, you’re good.  But, that means starting in four days, right?  What are the logistics?”

“Starts in Seattle. It doesn’t pay well — $100 bucks a gig, you’d barely make enough to cover gas and lodging.  It would mean playing solo and you’d have to drive yourself between gigs.  Evan and Jaron don’t play on Friday nights, they observe the Sabbath and no soundchecks before sundown on Saturdays.  You’d pretty much be playing two shows on the weekends with an occasional midweek gig for a month through May 15th.”

“Man, that sounds totally shity.  Can I bring Soucy?”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Ok, book it and send me deets on the first gig. I’ll see who has couches I can crash on.”

“Done,” said Jonathan and hung up the phone.  What a pro. 

My next call was to Soucy to get him on board and by the end of the night, I’d put our mixing schedule on the fast track and asked the rest of the band to start fishing around for drummers to audition mid-May.  This morning, before I came to this cafe to write, I took my little purple Rav 4 in for a check-up and threw together some set list ideas. 

This could be good, I thought to myself as “You’ve got a Friend,” concluded.  I’m on the right path.  Maybe we’ll find an even better drummer. Maybe we’ll make gas money in CD sales.  Maybe Evan & Jaron’s audience will become our audience.  Maybe Evan and Jaron will hook us up with their soundtrack agents and we can get a song in a movie.  Maybe—uh oh Fire and Rain just came on.  How funny. They must have dad on shuffle. 

Maybe that’s MORE of a sign I’m on the right track!!