BARBECUE AND BOTOX
Well there are other things that come to mind when I land in the US but good BBQ is always on my mind, I sought some out within 12 hours of my arrival...I am going to be based out of Tulsa OK for the next 4 weeks, working with Benji Latham on his record.
The night before I left I managed to sneak out and catch about 45 minutes of Radio Birdman's set at the Maroquinerie, which was excellent. Unusual looking group of folks, but that's rockers for ya.
I flew to Tulsa last Thursday, stopping in Chicago for a pretty long layover, which I didn't mind at all; I got caught up on some tedious phone calling that I couldn't do practically from France (Expedia res. that needed changing, bank, usw.) There's a more than decent deli out in the F wing of O'Hare, I had a damn fine tuna salad on wheat toast--they also serve kebab, polish sausage, whatever you can think of that's a 'to go' kind of cuisine. My flight to Tulsa was delayed a bit, so I got there at about 10.30 that night.
Benji picked me up, and we got me settled in to his house, and I met Ms. Benji, Whitney, and the two dogs and the cat. Being the new kid in town, the dogs were eager to make new alliances with potential food givers, so they followed me around for the first day or so...curiously, they have a dog named Abigail, which was my dog's name growing up.
The first two days were rehearsal days, going over the songs for the upcoming recording, with Isaiah the drummer, Benji, and I played bass. As mentioned before, I sought out BBQ the first meal on Friday, and Elmer's ("It Be Bad") delivered the goods. I'm going back for some links ASAP. Hit a pretty good taqueria on Saturday as well.
I got a new phone. My US mobile phone had met an untimely death at the end of August, but I wasn't all that sad to see it go. It was a Motorola phone, one of the small blue and silver quad band ones, and I never liked it all that much. The regular small speaker stopped working just a couple of months after I got it, so the only way I could use it is with a headset or on speaker. Anyway, I got this new device, a Nokia E76, that is Nokia's response to the Blackberry. I haven't been so enamored with a piece of technology since I got my first laptop (which was a Powerbook Duo 210 in 1993--I was writing emails from the tour bus on Eudora as early as 1994). I've been without a fully functional phone for a month, which was a fine vacation, but now it's good to be able to call anyone, anytime. Yes, I have a French mobile too; it's pay as you go and just for Dominique and me to communicate with.
TULSA 9/30
Benji, at my urging, put together a gig for us at a small, incredibly tidy bar called Uncle Bently's (there's no second 'e' in Bently in this case, which I didn't know til we pulled up to it!). Tulsa's bar scene favors cover bands etc. They do indie shows in abandoned warehouses, house parties etc. and there's a few music venues for touring acts--well, one that I could find, Cain's, which is very large; The surviving members of Alice In Chains were playing there this night; The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are coming to it soon. So, Benji had trouble finding a sympathetic venue for us, but this worked out just fine. Benji played 2 sets, for a total of at least 2 hours, with me occasionally joining him on bass; I played in the middle for about an hour, and got up towards the end for a couple of more songs. Hey, we even got paid a little something--and then--
ST. LOUIS 10/1
--I got up 2 hours after I went to bed, and incredibly, Benji was willing to take me to the airport for my 7.30 flight to St. Louis. I had a pretty lame coffee, but was pleased to pick up the Sunday New York Times (to get this in Paris involves a half hour metro ride each way and a 13 euro newsstand price!!). I didn't even sleep on the plane, but watch the dawn erupt over the flat green countryside. I got to St. Louis and somehow my bass turned out to be AWOL. Oh well. I went to the hotel, and they didn't have a record of my reservation. Oh well. It got sorted out, and I went to my room to hide for a while. My bass was located, having arrived on my flight, but somehow having been mislaid on the way to baggage claim.
I was there to play with Big Star, at a free music festival that also featured the Roots and Son Volt. We played at 5pm, which I couldn't have been happier about. It was extremely mellow, the sun was bright (and in my eyes) and the sky was vibrant blue. I pleasantly rediscovered how much I love October. Afterwards, I found some BBQ ribs at the food fair, and watched the Roots for a while. I had dinner with Alex and some other friends, and when I got back to the hotel, eager to hit the wifi, I instead went face down on the bed from 10pm until 8 this morning. I'm going to head back to Tulsa pretty soon. A lot of work ahead--tonight I'll rest and prepare, and tomorrow we dig into it. No doubt drawing strength from some brisket!
Love
KS
St. Louis MO
Currently enjoying: Aretha’s cover of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
