The Stage Door in Mt. Shasta and home!

The last of dates on the tour, the fact that we have an empty place to stay, friends and family in the area, a good venue, and a place to ski makes this a great place to cap off a great Pacific Northwest group of shows. Gentry and I would like to thank everyone who came out and supported us in all of the cities, gave us places to stay, and were so warm and welcoming everywhere we went. See you back out again there soon!

Seattle part 2

The last of our Washington shows was at Dexter and Hayes, owned by a friend of Gentry's. It was a good chance to have a low pressure show where we could stretch out a bit and experiment more in the set. As we left, we vowed not to get lost on our way back to where we were staying, but of course we ended up way off course and I had to stop and take a pic of the arrows in the road, which pretty much sums up driving in the Seattle area...

Accent on Music ('The Barn') in Everett, WA

The best show of the tour, made everything worthwhile–fan wise and $$ wise...Located in what feels like the middle of nowhere, music fans come to this barn converted to a venue from miles around to see touring acts. In fact they recently had one of my favorite acoustic guitarists, Adrian Legg. We'll def. play here again!

Seattle part 1

As Seattle grows and grows, the road and freeway system can't seem to keep up. Getting around the Seattle area will confuse even your navigation system (which we're told wouldn't have helped). The Jewelbox Theater was a fun show, first time I've ever followed a comedy 'Tenacious D' style duet (The Sadberries) funny stuff. 

Ashland, Portland-good shows, now on to Seattle

We had a comical warm up gig on Weds. nite in Ashland at a dance studio, but it was a great chance to work out the kinks for all the dates coming up. We had a small but very appreciative crowd, and made enough for dinner and gas-fine for us. Ashland is as beautiful as I remember it. Then on to Portland which has vastly grown since the last time I was here over 10 years ago. 9 Muses Acoustic pub was a cool venue, and our performance was well received. We've had friends and/or family at these first two shows, and it looks like it'll be that way for the rest as well. On a side note, there's a sleepy opiate-like quality to a lot of the personalities we've encountered so far, an Oregon slowness that makes me think that somewhere today in Portland, several people are just now getting some of my jokes from last night on stage. The weather has been clear and beautiful, and ironically I think most of the rain we'll see will come once we're back in CA for our last gig of the tour!

The road Rig

This answers the "So which gear are you taking out for an acoustic tour?" question. Guitar-wise I've got my trusty Taylor 314CE steel string, and I borrowed a friend's Takamine EAN40C steel string for alternate tunings and as a backup.

On the pedalboard I've got my L.R. Baggs preamp/direct box (makes ay acoustic sound rad), tuner, volume pedal, Boss Phase Shifter, Keely Boost, Line 6 Delay Modeler, and last but not least, Boss Loop Station. We'll see how much use some of these pedals get, but they've been cool in rehearsals so far. Can't forget extra: batteries, strings, and cables (or you'll be sorry!). We're also bringing a small PA, mics and stands for the one or two venues that have less than perfect sound systems. 

Sure you could get away with a single guitar and a cable, but what's the challenge in that...?

Welcome!

Hey everybody, after many requests for photos, music links and updates from my Pacific Northwest tour with Gentry Bronson starting 2/13/08, I've created this blog, which I'll use for other upcoming tours as well. I'll do my best to post photos, links to any live recordings, and stories from the road! 

Here's where we'll be:

2/13-Ashland, OR: Oak St. Studio

2/14-Portland, OR: Nine Muses Acoustic Tavern

2/15-Seattle, WA: Jewelbox Theater

2/16-Everett, WA: Accent on Music

2/17-Seattle, WA: Dexter and Hayes

2/19-Mt. Shasta, CA: The Stage Door

Peace,

Jess