BECAUSE IT'S THERE

Take one middle-aged music freak and mix him with
an up-and-coming rock band and what do you get? With
the sorry state of television these days you might guess "a
new comedy on the fledgling WB network?" That would
probably be a good guess but it's really myself and the Louis-
ville based rock and rollers My Morning Jacket. Over the span
of nine glorious days George "Low Dog" Savage took a week
of vacation and followed them around in the Southeastern
states of the US.

Why would one do something like this? Well, I guess it
all comes down to choices and the fact that I had the ability
to do it now. Someone once asked Peter Buck of
R. E. M. "Why did you play South Carolina?" and he replied,
"I don't know, because it's there?" This was before they
were even playing to 300 people. They had humble
beginnings and often played to 20 people in pizza joints.

YOU NEED PROFESSIONAL HELP!

This was not the first nor the most adventurous
musical trek of my life by far; in '95 I kind of went nuts and
over the course of about six months I saw R. E. M. on their
Monster tour 13 times in 11 different cities. And I *drove*
to all of these towns! The most ridiculous trip had to be the
Pittsburgh show on June 10 when my friend Jason "Easy"
Grant took off one Friday morning after working a graveyard
shift and drove to Cincinnati. We got there about 4 AM,
made it to Pittsburgh the following afternoon, saw the show,
and drove back right after the show just in time for me to go
to work Sunday night at midnight. I doubt if I will do anything
like that ever again; my dad told me "George, you need
professional help". I guess I was trying to make up for lost
concerts because I had never seen R. E. M. and at that point
they were probably #3 all-time for me. They peaked in the
'80s but I still like 'em.

Other bands I have travelled across state lines to see
are Slobberbone, Drive-by Truckers, Son Volt, Wilco and
Jay Farrar solo. There are worse things to do with your
time off, I guess.

OLD SEPT BLUES

Harken back children, to the fall of 2001. Everyone had
Sept 11 on their minds and I guess we were still smack-dab in
the middle of Old Sept Blues. Thank goodness for music, right?
My old friend Jimmy "Radio" McGuckie was in town for a couple of months. He is a truck driver but has three kids in their
teens and was trying to find work here so he could see them
more often. We heard that Centro-matic would be playing
the Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas so we high-tailed it over.
I ran into Scott Danbom. Scott plays fiddle, keyboards,
fills in on bass and sings as well. He's a badass and I
think those who have seen him will mostly agree with this
assertion!

Scott is a former member of Slobberbone, another one
of my favorites from Denton. I was a fan of Slobberbone's
about two years before Centro-matic floated my boat. Brent
Best of Slobberbone has called Centro-matic "my favorite
band" and he has commented on the fact that it's a mind-
blower to be hanging out with his musical heroes. He has
played with them and both Will and Scott have played with
'bone at various times over the past few years. So in a
way I guess Brent influenced me to dig "the fabulous
Centro-matic band" as he has called them. The true
influence was my friend Brad "Ceasar" Tarrant, though.
He gave me Navigational and although it took me six months
to love it, it's still my favorite by them. They are a great band,
end of story.

Back to Sept 29: I am chatting with Scott before the
show. This whole piece will be a digression but I promise
I will get to MMJ in due time. Centro-matic has a song off
the South San Gabriel album called "Destroyer". The
last lines of that song are "a 40 year delinquency turns 41".
As Neil Young once sang "Here we are in the years" and
"Half the time has passed away" and "look at how the time
goes past" and "time fades away". Neil obviously has
something to say about the passing of time. Back in '76,
at age 14, I realized this, too---time passes quickly! And
I wasn't even a Neil fan yet. So since most of my friends
are in their late 30s and early 40s it just so happened that
last year, the year of our Lord 2000 and One, several of
my friends turned 41. Being the nut that I am, I got Scott
to say that last line about turning 41 in my microphone and
dedicate it to Terry "Mr Clem" Humphries. I had done
the same thing with all of the members of Slobberbone
in Duluth, Minnesota on Sept 6. Another old friend, Alan
"Yak" Yeakley turned 41 on that date. The guys in 'bone
probably thought "it's stupid but this is George", and they
all were good sports about it.

So it was around this time that the subject came up
about upcoming shows. Scott told me that their off-shoot
band South San Gabriel would be playing next month in
Austin. SSG is the members of Centro-matic plus a Joe
Butcher, the pedal steel player in the Dallas band Pleasant
Grove. They do the more laid-back and pretty stuff. Some
of their tunes are among my favorites as I write this: especially
The New Brookland and Smelling Medicinal. They are truly
things of beauty.

Scott goes on to say that Brent is playing a solo show
followed by SSG and that they were both opening for one of
his current favorites, My Morning Jacket. Now I had never
heard of MMJ at this point but the thought of seeing Brent
and SSG together was definitely enough incentive to ask
off work and plan on being there. So the arrangements
were made and now all I had to do was wait for October 25,
a date which shall live in infamy! Put away the old
September Blues.

I BELONG TO A RACE OF ROBOTS

As the date approached I really don't remember any
kind of suspense or over-eagerness on my part. I had
seen Brent as a solo artist three or four times and SSG
three times in the summer. I knew what these guys were
capable of and I knew I would love it. As for My Morning
Jacket, I had no idea on what to expect. They could be
the second coming of the Beatles or another Backstreet
Boys clone for all I knew. Luckily, they are much closer
to the former.

I look at the music industry now and I wonder what
is happening to the world. There is so much bad music
that sells millions of copies; do people really like this stuff?
Or do they just look at the charts and see that Britney
Spears and Backstreet Boys and N 'Sync are the top
albums and think "they're number one on the charts so
they must be good?" One can make the argument that
The Beatles were popular, too. But weren't The Beatles
also one of the greatest (*the* greatest, in my humble
opinion) bands of all-time? I guess the bottom line is
that music opinions are subjective just like everything else.
Just because Person A loves something doesn't mean
that Person B will even find it listenable. My old friend
Gary "Gray" DiBello says about consumer and products:
"Garbage in, garbage out!" I was reminded of this
about a year ago when I sorted through all of the pack-
rat crap that I have accumulated over the last 40 years.

AND THAT'S A METAPHOR I HOPED I'D NEVER USE

Brent put on a great show with Scott Danbom's
assistance. Both of these guys are really on top of their
game. Mr Clem shot video and I remember a rather cut-
ting insult between bands about my own ineptitude. Our
friend Lance "LD3" Davis thought it humorous when Mr
Clem told me "as usual, you're on top of your game". I
really don't remember what I did or said but let's just file
it under "Dumbass Strikes Again", a frequent phrase and
happening when Low Dog is involved!

South San Gabriel played next with Brent on guitar.
As usual, they were great. I really loved the stripped down
version of Glacial Slurs; this was also the first time that I had
heard SSG do To Accompany.

I had read a little about My Morning Jacket on Postcard.
I had read that they were fans of classic rock and that Jim
had been raised on different stuff including James Taylor
and a couple of bands that I now forget. They were playing
some during the pre-show warmup from The Who. Its
title escapes me now but he sings about 'the old engine
driver'. It's possibly off of The Who Sell Out or A Quick
One (while he's away). I haven't looked it up yet.

SMOKE COMING FROM RECORDING MACHINES

So Mr Clem, videographer extraordinaire, needs a
break and leaves it up to me to do video. We didn't even
have permission from the band yet...I had no idea who they
were and didn't get a chance to try to ask. I like to know
it's okay beforehand but sometimes you just can't. Luckily,
we learned later that they are okay as long as no selling is
involved. It's these damned bootleggers on ebay that are
giving us tapers a bad name. A good rule of thumb lately
is just to trade to people you know; another good thing is
that several people on Postcard and other internet lists
I am on regularly hound these would-be sellers. There is
a market for some of this stuff because the buyers don't
know that you can usually get it for basically free through
these internet lists.

I got into taping in January of '99. I suppose that
Postcard is the reason. I had collected dozens of mainly
Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt/Wilco tapes but others like Neil
Young and Steve Earle. When I finally got turned onto
Slobberbone and I saw them for the first time in Houston
on September 1998, I drunkenly asked Brent after the
show about taping and he said "tape the shows". They
had been taped by others and I am glad they are cool
with it; many happy musical memories have resulted in
these live tapes. Here is a personal thanks to the bands
that are cool with live taping!

Back to the show: My Morning Jacket came out and
started playing. I had no experience in shooting video;
the only thing I disagree with Mr Clem about video-wise
is that you get a better sound at the back, just like with
audio taping. Mr Clem's point is that you have to give
up some quality sound-wise in order to get some good
shots. So I was shooting from about 25 feet back for
three songs or so. I just didn't want to step in front of
people and hog up the room in front. Luckily, Mr Clem
took over and made a great recording on video.
I knew right away that I would like this band. I had
no idea that they would so quickly become one of my all-
time favorites. Right now I would rank them in my top
10 or 15 all-time bands, maybe higher. I remember
telling Brent "they get a lot of sound, huh" and he explained
"they use a lot of reverb". Whatever it is, it works!
About halfway through their lead singer mentioned that
they had T-shirts and CDs for sale. I knew that I wanted
to buy everything I could get my hands on. I checked
my wallet and I was low on cash, as usual. Brent loaned
me $20 and I was able to get both of their albums after
the show. I remember that as the show went on they
just kept getting better. I was thinking "these guys can
play" and "damn, I love that guy's voice".

By the time they got to the last of the show they were
just rocking like there was no tomorrow. One song that
just stood out as a monster was Lil Billy (I would learn this
through Riny and Ger of Holland, two of their biggest fans
who both have websites on MMJ). I also couldn't figure
out what One Big Holiday was until I asked Riny and/or
Ger. I figured both of these were covers of unknown '70s
songs. I just knew that they were great rock and roll
songs at that point. The show progressed and we got
to hear beautiful solo stuff like Strangulation and X-mas
Curtain. And the full band played such joyous pop ditties
as Lowdown and The Way that He Sings. I was instantly
hooked!

To close out the show Jim did a solo version of Tyrone,
an Erykah Badu cover...man, can this guy sing, I thought!
The band came back out for one last song. Jim sang
the first verse of X-mas Curtain and they went straight into
It's about Twilight Now. Verdict: rock 'n' roll badasses!
This stuff must be the very definition of rock 'n' roll. Jim
closed by singing all of X-mas Curtain. The new musical
discovery experience was on!

After the show, I got both of their albums: 1999's
Tennessee Fire and 2001's At Dawn. I remember
telling Jim "y'all are Awesome!" and shaking his hand.
A guy right next to me looked up at Jim and said "y'all
suck". I knew that he was kidding and he probably had
talked to the band beforehand. At that time, right after
the show ended, I already rated it one of the best rock
and roll shows I had ever seen in my fairly long life!
He was gracious and explained that At Dawn was the
one with the bonus disc. Brent had told me earlier
that if I can just get one to get it because of the extras.
The next few days were a period of jaw-dropping amaze-
ment and musical happiness. I was back down in Austin
for Calexico the following Friday. By now I had recorded
MMJ on cassette for the car and it's basically all I listened
to for weeks. Mr Clem and his wife Wendy "Myrna Lee"
Humphries weren't as enthusiastic but they did like them.
Of course, not many people can top my enthusiasm for
My Morning Jacket, but it's coming, folks. Casey "Son"
Phillips, an old friend of mine in Mississippi for the last
ten years told me in 1991 about Brett Favre "You look
out for Brett Favre". Son had seen him play at
Southern Miss and now ten years later he was right about
Favre, now considered one of the greatest quarterbacks
in the history of the game. I am telling everyone that I
meet that MMJ is going to be huge. And if they aren't
they will still be a great band, end of chapter.

FROM TEXAS TO INDIANA

A couple of months passed and my MMJ fanhood
grew; what else was it going to do, fade? Not for this
Dog, anyway! Soon after I discovered them I joined their
yahoogroups list and wrote and told everyone about my
experiences in Austin. I think I called it "new to the
experience". Riny and Ger were very helpful with my
requests. I got a couple of shows and the lyrics to
Tennessee Fire from them. I regularly kept up with
tour dates and planned a trip to Indiana in early January.
Jim was scheduled to play a solo show in Blooming-
ton on January 23 and in Nashville on January 24. Or
so I thought: the Nashville show turned out to be the full
band but only as an opening act. I thought "these guys
are still opening for other bands?" That is bound to
be a thing of the past very soon.

I visited my elderly aunts and my very elderly great
aunt in Missouri. Aunt "Dink" (really name Clyda) was
born in Diehlstadt, Missouri in 1905. She is in a nursing
home now in Sikeston, Missouri, where I was born in
1962. We had a good visit; word to the wise: visit your
matriarchs and patriarchs while they here on Earth! To
quote Cat Stevens, "you're only dancing on this Earth for
a short while".

The day arrived and I left Missouri for Indiana. It was
cold and raining but I made it fine with little problems.
Somewhere along the way I remembered that Indiana is
one of two or three states that don't observe Daylight
Savings Time, so I knew I would lose an hour pretty soon.
Luckily, I wasn't pressed for time and unfortunately that is
usually not the case. If I say 8, it's usually 9. I had never
been East of Vincennes in the state of Indiana. It was
dark but I was driving through wooded area. I noticed
a state park and I thought about camping (my tent and
sleeping bag are always in the trunk of my car) but I
figured "it's winter and I'm too old for sub-40 degree
weather". Plus it was going to rain. No thanks.

INDIANA, DANNY'S FAVORITE STATE (NOT!)

I arrived in Bloomington probably around 8:30 or
so. I had gotten some directions from Ger Potze's
excellent website (the first, "unofficial but approved" as
he says). He usually posts links to the clubs and that is
a lot of help. So I had the street address and I got
some directions at a health food store. The venue
was called Bear's. It was either on campus or very
close. I got a motel, a quick shower and some fast
food at Taco Bell. I didn't want to tarry and take a
chance on missing anything.

As it turns out I had plenty of time. The back
part of Bear's has a little room where they show movies
and have live acts. They were showing Ghost World.
I saw the last ten minutes of it. I figured I had some
time to kill so I headed outside. I thought that maybe
I would sit in the car and listen to music or maybe have
a beer. I ended up decided to take a walk around
the back part of Bear's. A car pulled up and I looked
over. I made out a man's face in the car and I thought
"that's Jim". He and a young gal got out and they
started walking inside. Some other people in the
parking lot started talking to him. "Don't be too much
of a trouble-making freak, George", I thought. But
it's usually hopeless with me!

I let them finish talking to him before approach-
ing him. I just remember saying 'hello' and telling him
that I was George from Texas and he may have said
"Low Dog?" but I can't remember. I gave him their
show from Oct 25 and a fairly popular Neil Young show
from May 16, 1974 at New York's Bottom Line. I
remember telling him that my prediction is that My
Morning Jacket will be playing to thousands of fans,
possibly 15,000 within a couple of years. He was
a gracious receipient of much praise. I have never
been on the receiving end of this much praise except
maybe from my parents when I was a child; I now
wonder what it must be like. What does an artist say?
What can they say except for "thanks"? They aren't
going to disagree with you except to maybe downplay
one's exuberance. If they know they are talented
they can just grin and bear it or ask the over-enthused
to please leave them alone for awhile. Various
bands have had to put up with my uber-praise for
extended periods of time. Here is a hearty thanks
to those who have had to deal with me in that setting.
I know it gets old.

THE WAY THAT HE SINGS

Jim took me inside and put me on the guest list
for driving all the way from Texas. The cover was a
ridiculously low $3, but I'd rather it be low than high!
The show began: the first artist was a local guy
named Drekka. This was definitely the first time I
had ever attended a show with a pup tent set up on
the stage! He did some light show effects, too.
Another local band played next. Not too bad, not
too great. In the middle.

Jim got up and started tuning up and testing
out the sound system. I think he moved his amp around
a little bit to lessen some kind of feedback problem he
encountered. Whatever he did, it worked. Drekka
introduced him and plugged a local radio station,
which got a big round of applause.

Within a couple of seconds after Drekka muttered
"Jim James" he was off and strumming. I didn't recognize
the song. It was long, too. He appeared to do three songs
in a row; I recognized the third one as Just Because I Do.
He stopped after it and received some thunderous applause.
Say what you want about Yankees and I was right smack-
dab in the middle of dozens of 'em but I must report that
this was the most quiet and well-behaved crowd I have
been a part of in a long time, possibly ever. At this
point Jim asked the crowd how we were doing, and a
guy in the back yelled something like "Yeh! Come on,
give him a hand!" and hooted and hollered some more.
For once, it wasn't me. But it was a good kind of out-
burst in that it wasn't a couple of I-have-heard-this-is-
the-show-where-the-cool-types-will-be-people who
talk through the entire show. I have solo shows by
Neil Young and Jeff Tweedy where the talkers distracted
the performers and Neil and Jeff weren't shy about telling
the talkers to shut up or get out. "Hey folks, I'll give
you a lot of money if you'll leave" -Neil, Akron, 4/27/99
He continued through the set playing his songs
and a cover of The Eagles' Peaceful, Easy Feeling. He
said he hadn't done it in years but you couldn't tell; he
nailed it! By far the two most chilling songs for me were
The Bear and Bermuda Highway, which was next to last.
He closed with another original, X-mas Curtain. This
show was a thing of beauty.....enough said. I later
learned that the first song was new and that the second
song was INXS' Never Tear Us Apart.

NASHVILLE TONIGHT!

If you have driven on Interstate 40 in the Texas
Panhandle then you have no doubt seen the signs put up
by the city of Tucumcari, New Mexico announcing
"Tucumcari Tonight!". It's an advertising campaign
encouraging folks to drive that far and stay the night in
the motels. As I left in the blustery January wind, I
thought "Nashville Tonight". I was driving through
territory that I had never seen. I must admit that South-
ern Indiana is nice. There is a man-made ski slope
along the road that leads from Bloomington to I-65.
I made a ham sandwich in the parking lot at Wendy's
at the intersection near Columbus. I remember now
that I drove through Nashville, Indiana (Pop 873) that
day. But onto the bigger one.

IT'S ALL THE SAME RESTAURANTS

This was an Interstate drive from here on out.
Interstates are nice if you are harried and hurting for
time. If you have a long time to get somewhere, don't
take the freeway. You are going to see something
new and a whole lot less McDonald's if you do!
One of the major bummers about life in
America today is the corporate-ization of the landscape.
For every mom and pop eatery, they are probably 20
McDonald's. And it's just getting worse. Neil Young
once said about his work, "it's all the same song".
I am not sure what he meant by that but I have a feeling
he was being facetious. As I drive down these inter-
states it's obvious: It's all the same restaurant. Soon
McDonald's and Wal-mart will own everything. And
if they had their way the CEOs would be on our
currency. Let's stay with Lincoln, Washington, Jackson,
Hamiltion, etc, huh?

Radio and I have this ongoing argument about
the word "interstate". He never calls these roads
the "interstate", only the "freeway". He grew up in
California, so it's understandable: most of those roads
he learned about as a child were in California only,
running North and South. So the term "interstate"
didn't really apply there. He also probably just said
it the way his parents did.

FROM COLUMBUS TO NASHVILLE

For once I wasn't in a big hurry. I drove
through Louisville for the first time ever. I thought
"what a lucky town". This is the only town in America
and can boast "Home of My Morning Jacket". Maybe
one day there will be statues of them on the town
square, where the frowns can go to get some action from
the Christmas girl who lives inside their wombs! But
they probably take them for granted just like Denton takes
Slobberbone and Centro-matic for granted. It's human
nature, I suppose.

I arrived in Nashville about 3 PM. My cousin
Susan "Suzgal" Drudge and her husband Mike live
there. Mike is a promoter and has several acts there.
He also played with the bluegrass legends Jim and
Jesse for a while in the early 1990s. I had no idea
where they lived so I just went to downtown to get some
coffee and write out some postcards, a time-killing
venture if you will. I got "aholt" of Suzgal and got
directions. At least 50% of my coworkers say "aholt"
which just drives me nuts. I am reminded of Letterman's
spiel about the word Wimbledon, the granddaddy of
all tennis tournaments. I remember him ranting about
the mispronunciation of Wimbledon and telling the
audience "I'll give you a million damn dollars if you can
show me a "t" in that word. The same applies with
"ahold" for me. A million damn dollars!!!!
I got lost. I ended up on the extreme South-
western side when I needed to be on the Northeastern
side! File under: dumbass strikes again! It won't
be the last time, I assure you. But I found it and we
had a beer. They know that my favorite food is chicken.
Apologies to the vegeterians here; I was raised on it.
My parents tell me one of my first phrases as a kid
was "pass the 'shicken' please". Luckily, neither one
of them told me "I'll give you a million damn dollars if
you show me an 's' in that word, George!" We
headed down to Exit/In and got tickets. We learned
once we were inside that it wasn't Jim James this
night but the whole band.

I thought "great for me, bad for them". They
are bluegrass freaks and pretty much anti-rock. I'll
put it this way: they don't own any Stones, Beatles,
Who, Neil Young. Not that there's anything wrong with
that, as Seinfeld once said. But I figured they would
like a quieter show than what they were about to witness.
We went over to The Station Inn, a bluegrass joint there
in town. They know the owners and Susan has worked
there in the past and still knows the employees. We
killed some time and headed back to Exit/In. There
was quite a crowd there and I am guessing that most
of them were there for MMJ and not the headliner Blue
Dogs. I could be wrong; we didn't stay for Blue Dogs.
I picked up the latest Darla compilation with the Jacket
song "Sooner" on it. I also got the Christmas EP and
I later learned that their fan club president Billie sold
it to me. I asked another gal as we were leaving "are
you Billie?" but I had forgotten to ask the real one as
I made my purchase. She just shook her head.
The guys walked out in *suits*! I never have
remembered to ask them or anyone else why they were
in suits that night. Suzgal said "they dress nice".
Unlike last night, Jim had the hair down. I thought
"lucky guy". But what balding man wouldn't?!?
My cousin said "nice hair" They only got to play
45 minutes or so but put on an impressive set. We
got most of the stuff that I had heard in Austin three
months prior: Lowdown, Picture of You, The Way
that He Sings, The Dark. About halfway through I
had to move away from these two guys right behind
us who just kept trying to talk to each other. It's
an ongoing battle with idiots. As George Miller,
one of my favorite comedians said, "Larry and
Darryl and Darryl are out there, folks!" They closed
with Lil Billy, complete with Johnny and Jim dueling
it out on guitar. When I heard that in Austin I couldn't
really place it but later I realized it sounds sort of
Allmans Brothers-esque, especially when Duane
was alive.

The all-too-short set ended and I spoke to
Jim briefly. They were breaking their stuff down
and Mike had to work the next day so we headed
home. Susan insisted on KrispyKreme donuts
as we left. There was one down the street that
had just closed but the nice lady took our belated
request anyway. Suzgal tipped her well. The
following day I drove the 600 mile trek back to
Texas, another blissful musical roadtrip completed.

BUT SEEIN' YOU FEELS GOOD

So the weeks went by like days as I prepared
for another MMJ freak-out, er "tour". I had been
listening to them almost non-stop with the usuals
thrown in for good measure: Slobberbone, Son Volt,
DBT, Beatles, Neil, many others.

Unlike previous years, I was actually going to try
to attend the South By Southwest Musical Convention/
Exposition in Austin, or whatever it's called. In certain
Austin hangouts it's probably knows as Mr Clem and
Myrna Lee's March Ritual. I used vacation and had time
off last year and even went down to Austin but I didn't
stay for it. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake. To
quote Neil "I've been wrong before and I'll be there again"
(Field of Opportunity, '78)

So probably somewhere in the middle of the wintery
February bleakness, I started trying to figure out when to
take off. It turned out that my coworker Sharon had already
asked off for March 23 so that she could attend a quilt show
in Dallas. She's a big knitter and recently made me a
beautiful forest green afghan. When I realized that this
date would interrupt SXSW, I ended up begging her to
change her day off. She said she would do it if I would bring
her a rock. She has a patio out in the back of her house
and she likes to collect interesting rocks. This was actually
in mid-January because I was supposed to find one during
the Bloomington and Nashville trek. I never did; I just ran
out of time.

So somewhere during the middle of February, while
visiting one or both of the Dutch websites (Riny runs the
official MMJ website, Ger has his own individual website),
I learned of some new MMJ tour dates. So much for SXSW!
Rather than play chambermaid to a drunken Mr Clem, I'm
heading Southeast, I thought! Now all I had to do was wait.
Why would I want to see 40 bands when I could see one of
the best bands over and over for ten days? Mr Clem took
the opposite view but I won out since this is my life and not
his.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

I have often wondered what it would be like to be a
member of a touring band. It certainly must have its ups
and downs. On the one hand, you have the travails and
grind of living on the road and of displacement. On the
other hand, you have the nightly excitement of a new live
performance. Of course, some are bound to better than
others. Long after R. E. M. had stopped extensive touring
(Monster Tour, '95) someone asked Mike Mills about
playing live and he said something like 'it's why you are
in a band...we will always play live in some capacity'.
Take a band like Slobberbone and their endless
road trips. I remember asking them in the summer of
2000 how many times they had played live. Jess Barr
joined the band in either late '97 or early '98, I think.
I think he said that he had played 300-350 live dates up
to that point, so the others (Brent, Tony and Brian) had
obviously played more. Last summer they told me that
they had been to every state in the Lower 48 and had played
all but Nevada. To me, that's amazing. And a lot of
miles.

To me, the worst thing would be being run down...
or even worse...sick; and knowing that you had to play to-
night instead of rest and sleep. As Steve Earle once
said, "There are no sick days in this business!" And the
best thing would probably be the rush of playing live. I
wonder when it becomes so old that all of the cities look
the same. John Lennon was asked what he thought about
American cities in 1964 and he replied, "Some have trees,
some don't!" Always the witty one, that John.

IF A SHOW ISN'T TAPED, DID IT REALLY HAPPEN?

As a taper you get used to different results. You
hope for the best and sometimes it works, sometimes it
doesn't. I am a bit of a contradiction as a taper because
while I am still obsessed with taping live shows, I don't
really have the best equipment and my methods for trans-
ferring it to CD must surely be scoffed at by the best ones.
For over three years I used a Sony MD and a stereo
mike. I only know that the MD is a MZ-R50 model and I
forget the microphone model. Its label has subsequently
worn off. The bad thing about taping with that mike is
that you have to hold it in your hand or put it on a stand,
which is great if you can find a place to put it. If not, you
are stuck holding it. Overzealous and uninformed "security"
at some of these establishments feel it's their duty to bust
tapers. This all goes back to the bootleggers who see
an opportunity to make a quick buck on ebay or a website;
these bastards are giving the tapers a bad name. Brent
of Slobberbone once said it most eloquently: it should
be up to the band, not the venue. Well put, my friend!
So after months of threatening to upgrade my set-up
I broke down and sprang for a new MD and mikes. These
new mikes are called binaural and they fit on one's glasses
or lapel or hat. I think they work best on the frames of the
glasses, so that's another reason to wear them. For taping,
and of course, they help me see! The single greatest
thing that my new MD recorder does that the old one doesn't
is to let the taper adjust the volume level *while* recording.
The mere existence of MDs that don't allow for this is mind-
boggling to me....and I used one for three years!
The new "toys" as Dutch taper extraordinaire Jan de
Bever calls recording equipment, arrived on January 31.
Jan is a huge Slobberbone fan and a very dedicated fan. He
and his friends Michiel and Hans, collectively known as
The Cocktail Trio, do their damnedst to follow Slobberbone
around whenever they tour Europe. They have even taken
boats to England in order to witness the live 'bone show.
Jan once said about taping: "it's an expensive hobby".
And Michiel and I were on the same page when he said
"All live shows should be taped". Most of the tapers I know
are from Postcard. So some of them I don't "know" at all.
We just exchange tapes and advice. I have had the
pleasure of meeting some like Mick, Maggie, and Dan.
I think I even inspired a Slobberbone fan to become a
taper; Chris in the Metroplex got a setup a couple of
years ago but I don't think he is quite as obsessed as me.
Perhaps he has a life?!?

FORGET THE BEEF, WHERE'S THE "TX"?

As the time for the My Morning Jacket tour waned
away I made sure I had plenty of equipment for it. I
stocked up heavily on MDs, probably much the same way
that little animals prepare for a long winter. The
Damnations new album arrived on March 5 and I made the
trek down to Austin for the release party. Mr Clem and
LD3 were there to welcome the new album into the world
of good music and fine taste. If you count yourself as a
lover a good music, go and buy it. The Damnations have
lost the "TX" from their name; I kind of miss it but I under-
stand why. And they don't hold anything against Texas
and I ask them "Why not?!?" Tuck Fexas, as the Okies
say. Actually, it's not a bad state, it's just not everything
it's cracked up to be by the Natives.

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (MARCH 15-24, 2002)

The Beatles had Magical Mystery Tour. Uncle Tupelo
had March 16-20, 1992 (their third album, recorded and
mixed in those five short days). So some ten years after
that phenomenal feat it was time to get down to the business
of enjoying some of the finest live music on the planet at
this point in time.

For reasons unknown to myself, I have a bad job.
The job isn't terrible but the hours are horrendous. Call it
laziness and complacency. My usual time for reporting
on Saturdays and Sundays is 7 AM; this interrupts my
concert-going quite a bit. On some occasions I will go
to these late shows anyway. I wasn't about to miss
My Morning Jacket in Denton, Texas on March 15. Forget
the NCAA tournament....following MMJ around was the
true March Madness.

DENTON, TEXAS - MARCH 15, 2002

I arrived at the Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios
early this night. I had no idea how many people would be
there and I didn't want to get shut out. As it turned out, I
was one of the first ones there. Will of Centro-matic was
already there. I spoke to him for awhile. He had played
sans the band that morning in a church and had driven up
for this show. He told me he took a "disco nap" and was
ready to go now. I never remembered to ask him "What
is a disco nap?" One of the warmup bands was Denton's
own Baptist Generals. Chris Flemens is the leader and
singer; he previously was in a band called Poor Bastard
Sons. It turns out that his parents met in Commerce,
where I live. And I learned on this night that his parents
knew/know Ken Bethea's (Old 97's guitarist) parents and
that they all met in Commerce! To quote John Prine, "it's
a big ol' goofy world"

They hadn't played in a long time but they put on
an excellent show. For the last number Chris got down
in the middle of the audience and sang one. Alejandro
Escovedo has done this before and it makes for an intimate
moment, to be sure. Riny also does Baptist Generals'
website, further adding to that old and very true addage
"It's a small but big ol' goofy world"

I spotted Jim as I was going into the bathroom.
While waiting in line, I told him that I was going to follow
them around. Maybe he had heard it already, I can't
remember. They sometimes read the yahoo list and I
had asked if anyone else on that list was going to make any
of those dates. He said that they were tired but I told
him once they got up there there would be the adrenaline
rush that would probably help them out (as if he needed
me to remind him of that). They warmed up and then
left the stage. As few minutes later they came up on
the stage. Jim was wearing a bright blue cape-looking
robe. It reminded me of a cross between what the
Beatles wore for Sgt Pepper and something worn in
the Middle East by shieks or noblemen. Anyway, it
was perfect for Mr Jim James!

The show started and I thought "here we go,
another kickass blissed-out musical experience on the
horizon". If you haven't seen them live, go and see them.
The chances are good that you have seen them if you
are reading this because this is basically for me, my
friends and the bands I know.

They kicked off the show with One Big Holiday.
This is one of the "anthems" that I erroneously thought was
a cover of some unknown 70s song in Austin five months
earlier. It's a great song; someone on the yahoogroups
list once said that MMJ should never record this in the
studio because they just couldn't duplicate what it sounds
like live. Knowing them, they can do anything they want
to. The excellent set continued with such musical gems
as The Dark, War Begun, Phone Went West, and many
others. This show also marked the first time I had ever
heard Heartbreakin' Man live. What a masterpiece!
The introduction was about a minute and a half long!
This song has always struck me as the perfect song to
begin a debut album. It strikes me as in the same vein
as Led Zeppelin's Good Times, Bad Times or Big Star's
Feel. If you put these albums on for the first time, hear
these opeining songs and react with a shrug of the
shoulders, then you should probably stick to Bing Crosby.
Rock 'n' roll probably isn't going to be your bag.
Another plus for this show was that the sound was
good. I think that the band was happy with what they got.
And if they weren't, they were doing a good job of hiding it.
Another plus for this show was that there were some big
fans of the band in the crowd. I heard several "Jacket!"
several times during the show. Jim closed the show
with excellent renditions of Erykah Badu's Tyrone and
his own Bermuda Highway. To quote Jim James,
"Chills run down my spine"

It was after 2 AM and they were telling everyon
to vacate the premises, so I hurriedly got my stuff togeer
and said goodbye to the band. I got to meet Johnny
and Danny for the first time. I met Tommy in February.
I gave them some movies and discs after the show.
I had taped Dr Strangelove for Jim since two of his favorite
movies are Kubrick films (2001, The Shining) according
to his bio sheet that the fan club sent me. The late and
great Gene Siskel called Dr Strangelove his favorite film;
I would rank it in my top ten. I also had an extra copy of
Let it Be and I dubbed The Graduate for Johnny (listed
as his favorite). I first saw The Graduate in 1975 on NBC
and it's been my favorite movie ever since. I told them
about my plan to follow them around for a week and that
if I bothered them too much to tell me to "f' off!" Danny
told me if they started to bother me too much to do the
same. Johnny said something like "how can we get
sick of you if you keep giving us stuff?" All things being
equal, I realized that the former would be more likely!

THE ROAD TRIP BEGINS....

The weekend was okay. I got three and a half
hours of sleep and worked a ten-hour shift. It's hard on
this old man but it's worth it sometimes. A couple of
linemen that I work with heard about my plan of following
MMJ around. Joe "Tick" Allen asked me why I didn't
follow around someone popular and record them...like
Metallica. I guess I didn't have a good answer. It
shouldn't be noted but it will anyway: "Joe" and "Tick"
are a couple of my oldest nicknames....I got them in the
1970s, before any of the members of My Morning Jacket
were born.

The plan was originally to leave Sunday from work
and camp out "somewhere in Louisiana", to quote Son
Volt's Windfall. At 39 years old, I refuse to camp out if
the forecast is rain! It was indeed going to rain in LA,
at least according to The Weather Channel. Letterman
once made the claim that you know you're getting older
when you watch The Weather Channel. I guess it's
further proof that Low Dog is getting long in the tooth.
So I scrapped those plans and decided to leave early on
Monday. I had thought that New Orleans was 600 miles
from my house; I learned the next day that it's considerably
less, around 520. So that helped.

The drive was uneventful, the way that road trips should
be. Or at least they should be uneventful in the sense of
car trouble and hassles. My uncle Sid once said that a 15
to 20 minute nap will do the body good when one becomes
weary while driving. I ended up needing a nap around
Natchitoches, Louisiana (pronounced nac-uh-tush). I pulled
over at a gas station and Uncle Sid was correct....I was as
right as rain after that.

I hit New Orleans about 5:30. There were the usual
slow-downs for afternoons in cities, but it wasn't too bad.
I had directions to the Hi-Ho Lounge but I got lost. I missed
an exit and I went too far East. I got directions at a Best Buy
and headed back to the city. I was able to find it with little
problems this time. I was a little uneasy in this neighborhood,
being the only white person in sight. I got a motel and had
some time to kill. I called Ceasar and I told him that the area
reminded me of a song by The Clash called Safe European
Home. He sings "I went to the place where every white face
was an invitiation to robbery...and sitting here in my safe
European home don't wanna go back there no more". He
told me to turn off the NWA.

I hadn't been a fan of rap music until about two years
ago. I hadn't even liked "hard country", as Uncle Sid calls
it, until 1990 or so except for Willie and Johnny. So it's just
further proof to "never say never". I started to like some rap
songs when Ceasar made me a mix-tape of some stuff that
he had had since high school....NWA, Ice T, Chemical Brothers, and others. I mainly like the NWA from "Straight Outta Compton". I listened to it a lot on the way to New Orleans.The excellent movie Bulworth had contributed to my fanhood, too. It was around the time that I hit town that I heard these lines from NWA: "I'm sick of the motherfuckin' jacket!" I
can't remember the song but it plays like a trial. They are
getting up on the stand and testifying against the cops and
the way that they are treated. I thought that maybe I could
insert that line in the middle of the MMJ show and go straight
into another song...you know, just to be stupid. I haven't
done it but I am not ruling it out; it would be high on the
ridiculosity chart!

NAWLINS - MARCH 18, 2002

I ended up getting some chicken and gasoline before
the show. I was gearing up for the rock show and I figured
it was time to head down there. The band was already
seated inside the Hi-Ho Lounge. I can't remember the
opening act; I missed it all. I had burned some more stuff
for them Sunday night as I packed: their Denton show, Bill
Hicks, and maybe some Neil. Jim asked me if I had taped
the Bill Hicks. Unfortunately, I never saw him. Mr Clem
saw him at least twice in the late '80s in Austin. Of course,
I had written out my setlist requests and they got these, too!
Jim looked and it and gave it to Johnny. Johnny said "we
can do most of these". I think I wrote at the top of the
paper "Let the Annoying Begin!" At this point I was
calling this "The Nuisance Tour". In Atlanta, it would
change to something "Holy other", as Woody Allen
once said.

Swearing at Motorists put on an energetic set. I
didn't officially meet them until two days later in Tampa but
they are troopers and have a lot going for them. Dave
asked me "So you're their biggest fan, huh?" I think I said
"one of 'em". He encourages the crowd to come up front
and witness a rock show "Dayton Ohio style, ladies and
gentlemen!" Both he and Joseph, who plays drums, are
nice guys.

I set up the camera got my MD operation out. I
was ready to go but I made a questionable trip to the bar;
it was only questionable in hindsight. I ordered my first
beer of the night, an Anchor Steam. Mr Clem introduced
me to this fine brew back in 1999 at SXSW in Austin. I
have looked for it in a lot of places and it's hard to find (kind
of like jobs in Neil Young's Sedan Delivery). So hard to
find an Anchor Steam! As I was paying the guy for it I
heard Jim say "this song is for Joseph and Low Dog".
it was Joseph's birthday and Evelyn is Not Real (and neither
is My Morning Jacket), as I call it, was on the list of songs
I requested before the show. I looked down and realized
I didn't have my tape running. The videotape was also
not running. Life goes on.

I got back over to my spot only to find that another fan
was standing directly in front of my camera! No big deal,
this wasn't going to be a professional job, anyway. They
ended up playing only 35 minutes or so; a DJ came in and
spun some records as they were getting their stuff packed up.
So that was a bummer but the band did put on an energetic
set in spite of the lack of enthusiasts.

Right before their set, they put a blindfold on Joseph
of SAM and gave him a baseball bat. I thought "get outta the
way, everybody, that bat could do some damage to a human
skull!" He knocked the crap out of a pirate pinata and during
MMJ's set Johnny proceeded to kick the holy crap out of it.
I thought "this guy must've played soccer". By the end of
Phone Went West, it was thoroughly destroyed!
As they were packing up, I took Johnny's camera
back to him. He had asked me to snap a few shots and
I did but I doubt if any of them were worth much. At that
point I remembered to ask Jim if he had a title for the
opening song at the Bloomington solo show. Ger has
been calling this one 'I do believe this is physical', on his
website. Jim said "Engine Steam". I said something
like "and you wrote it?", being almost sure that it was one
of his new songs. He confirmed this and I looked at Johnny
and said "I think we have a genius on our hands!"
On the way home, I was thinking "Anchor Steam/
Engine Steam". And I started to wonder about the title.
I was aware that I was probably going to be a nuisance to
these guys. So I wondered if Jim had seen my Anchor
Steam beer and just hurriedly made up that title of Engine
Steam just to get rid of me! I asked him about it later in
Tampa but he said it really was Engine Steam. I had
also asked if it were true that they were cousins. Johnny
said "yeh, we're first cousins" and then paused and said
"We're from Kentucky, everybody's cousins!" So later
I started wondering about that, too. You see, if you know
me then you realize that I am a pretty gullible dude. People
will tell me the most ridiculous stuff and I will just sometimes
say "really?" and believe it. So I have known for some time
that I am a gullible sort.

GAINESVILLE - MARCH 19, 2002

I woke up pretty early as I knew that I had another long
day of driving ahead of me. I think it was around 565 miles
from New Orleans to Gainesville, where they would be play-
ing tonight. I got my "continental breakfast", which consisted
of a doughnut and a very small styrofoam cup of coffee. Hey,
it was free, or included in the cost of the room, so why not?
When I checked out they handed me a message. I had
forgotten to call my friend John "Hats Off To" Harper, who
lives in Tampa, to tell him that I would be visiting his town
shortly. I thought that I had his phone number with me but I
didn't; I had called Yak and left a message asking for Hats Off's
number. Yak called and left it with the hotel desk-person
but it was delivered late. It really didn't matter because I
wouldn't have called him at 2 AM, anyway. I hit the
interstate and went through Slidell, happily on the way to
glorious, sunny F-L-A.

This day was uneventful, too; it was just miles and
miles of interstate travel. I encountered the tunnel at Mobile,
which is always cool. The Battleship is off to the right after
the tunnel. I got gas near Pensacola and I made a sand-
wich in the car to save time. I encountered a small slow-
down near Tallahassee but it wasn't too bad. Near Lake
City you take I-75 South. I hit Gainesville about dusk. It
was perfect for the song so I found "It's about Twilight Now"
and jammed as I drove through G'ville. I didn't have
directions to the venue, but I figured that it would be close
to the campus. I drove throught the downtown area and
went one block off of that main street and found a bar.
I took a pen and paper in to write down the directions but
as it turned out I had just driven past it about six blocks
back! It was by a BP station, "You can't miss it", I was
told by the friendly bartender. I drove back up that way
nd I saw MMJ's van out front. What's the deal with these
white vans of bands that I know and love? My Morning
Jacket, Slobberbone, The Jayhawks....they all drive white
vans! "Not that there's anything wrong with that", to quote
Seinfeld.

I parked the car and walked up to the venue door.
Various members of the band were out front unloading their
stuff. I told them 'hi' and asked them "are y'all ready to
rock?" They were ready. I went about the business of
finding lodging. I had my camping stuff, of course. I knew
that Gainesville was possibly the only stop on this tour that
would possibly allow me a night of camping in the Great
Outdoors. There is a state park about 15 miles South
of town called Paynes Prairie Preserve. I figured I would
go check it out, as I had at least two hours to kill before
MMJ came on. They had told me inside that MMJ was
slated to play second but that it sometimes changes at
this place and that they would possibly be the headliners.
I drove out Highway 441 only to find that the park
was already closed for the night. Highway 441 is a
US highway that goes North and South through Florida
and up into Georgia, North Carolina and who knows where
else? Tom Petty is from Gainesville and he paid tribute
to 441 in the 1976 classic American Girl. Dickey
Betts paid tribute to another US highway...in this case
Highway 41 in Ramblin' Man. I like songs that include
highway numbers because I like to roll down the road.
As Neil sang "Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive!"
So back to Gainesville and I got a motel. I
unloaded my stuff and headed back up to town. I went
back into a packed club. I saw Jim and Danny out front
and said hello to them and the others. I also ran into
Johnny inside and he said that their goals for *this year*
were another album AND a live album! All I can say
is "Right on!" It was my second night of hearing SAM
and now I was really beginning to like it. It was too late
to record, plus I wanted to ask them about it beforehand.
There were some sound problems that they tried
to work out but by the end of the night Tommy thought that
his amp was fried. I found out the next night that it was
a problem with the guitar that they fixed. But on *this*
night it was a rock show and they were *on*. They
seemed to feed off the crowd. The place was packed
and there were many huge fans there. It's what My
Morning Jacket deserves and it's only the beginning of
Things To Come, which apologies to HG Wells. A
couple were right beside me and kind of to the front
and the guy was talking to someone he knew and I over-
heard him tell his friend "Have you heard the albums?
They're fantastic!" When the band kicked into Phone
Went West, they both went nuts and the gal said "It's
our favorite!" So for the most part the crowd was into
it and they made many new fans, I'm sure. That has
to the be case every night for a band of this caliber.
I was immediately hooked on October 25, remember?!?
I was slightly buzzed and I got a few looks that to
me were of the "Who's the geezer?" At 39, I was
surely the oldest person in there; or at least I didn't spot
any others of my tooth-length! As I am wont to do,
I exaggerated the situation in my mind. Here I was
taking pictures from about 20 feet back and nodding my
head to Lowdown and I suddenly thought: if any of these
kids ask "why are you here, geezer?" that I would just
tell them, "I'm Jim James' dad!" But of course none of
them asked that. These kids today! They can't even
ask the right questions and allow me to make a silly joke?!?
There are still fans of great music and that's a good
thing in the case of the music world today. Tommy's
bass problems were really bad by the end of Phone.
Jim told us that they had a different ending planned but
he did a solo version of Bermuda Highway instead.
No complaints from here except for the talkers. Maybe
they were talking the entire show but couldn't be heard.
It's a never-ending battle but it truly sucks during quiet
moments of musical brilliance! I got out of there
and went back to the motel. I remember channel surf-
ing and I came upon a special on the Ryman Auditorium
in Nashville. I learned that on Hank Sr's debut at the
Grand Ole Opry he came back for not one, not two,
but *six* encores! I thought "MMJ needs to take a
lesson from Hank Sr in the encores category" Can
you imagine that these days? It would be great, for
sure. Nuff sed.

TAMPA - MARCH 20, 2002

Check-out time was 11 and I barely made it up
and out by then. I loaded the car, got a shower, and
headed down 441 again. This would be an easy day,
travel-wise. I think it was around 150 miles, give or
take. I made it into Tampa about 1:30 or so. I had
no idea where Ybor City was. It turns out that it's near
downtown Tampa. I later found out that it was founded
by a Spanish man in 1888 and that he started two cigar
companies there. It's basically what started Tampa as
a town, I think. I can't verify that, though!

I was driving around looking for the New World
Brewery, the site of tonight's show. I asked a couple
of gals in a coffee shop and I got directions. The one
who walked out onto the street to further explain herself
told me that he had been there before. I told her about
my trip and that I was following around an awesome band
called My Morning Jacket. She said "never heard of
'em" and I assured you, "don't worry, you will!" I still
couldn't find it. I asked another girl in a record store
on 8th Street. She got her map out but really couldn't
help. We agreed that it's hard to say "brewery" unless
you really try! It comes out "brury" to this lazy Texan most
of the time! I asked a couple of ladies walking down
the street, but they too were tourists. The mother said that
they had smelled some malt down the street and that
maybe it was there. I finally found a guy in another bar
who knew. It set kind of back off the street but I found it.
There was a guy inside painting and he summoned
another dude from the back; the show would start about
10.

So I went about the process of finding a motel. There
really weren't any nearby that I could see I headed back out
towards 275 but it ended up on I-4. I got out the map
and found 275 via the road to Busch Gardens. I had
passed some motels that were relatively cheap and nice.
This was called Budget Inn but it used to be a Ramada.
I later learned from Kevin that it wasn't in a very good
part of town. I was hit up for money *in* the motel
hallway later that day but that was as bad as it got,
thankfully.

Uncle Sid mentioned how one feels replenished
after a 20 minute nap. Well, my friend Gray says when
we are drinking "drink some, feel good...drink more,
feel better"....all in jest, of course. So I figured:
sleep 20 minutes, feel replenished....sleep two hours,
feel like a new man. So this middle-aged grandfather
got his need nap and went out to get something to eat.
Tick had told me on Sunday that I needed a haircut and
that I had "some wings" up there. I did need one pretty
badly and I proceeded to get one. And it is possibly
the shortest since I got that burr back in '92! The
dude who cut it called it a "wash and wear". I washed
the mousse out of it back at the motel. I did the KFC
thing because it was cheap and quick. I saw an old
episode of Seinfeld that I hadn't seen in years...the
one where they break into George's girlfriend's apart-
ment to try to erase a message he had left earlier. It's
totally ridiculous and hilarious but true if we are to
believe Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld.
I had lost Kevin's number (or maybe I never had
it) but he has a fairly uncommon last name and I found
it and called. Got his machine, left a message. I hadn't
met him before, so I didn't know who to look for; maybe
he can find me by the description I gave of myself, I
thought. I also called Hats Off for about the fourth
time in two days only to get his machine. I later learned
that he was in WV with his wife and that they are moving
back there for good.

James "Larry" Gould lives in Nokomis, FL now.
He was in WPB for a few years but now he opts for the
Gulf Coast. He informed me on Monday that he wasn't
going to be able to make it up there. There were just
too many problems with work at the time. I understand;
I couldn't get off work during the middle of the week with-
out taking vacation, either. Too bad, I think Larry would
have liked them.

I arrived on the parking lot only to step out and see
Mr J James heading out. I hollered at him from across
the lot. In fact, I don't know if he noticed this or not but
I imitated Dr Strangelove and got out and said "Mein
Fuhrer!" and put my arm up in the air only to grab it with
the other one. This is done at the end of the movie of
that character's title. If you have seen it, you know what
I am talking about.

Jim said that he was going to check some email
and that the others were inside. I mosied on in there
and not much was happening yet. I walked down the
street, hair freshly cut and not whipping in the wind since
there is so little left! It was a very nice evening outside.
The wind was blowing and it was humid....definitely
welcomed by me.

I went back to the parking lot and saw the other
members of the band. Dave's van was parked right
'by my car' and they were just waiting for the show to
start. I offered them all a beer but noone wanted one.
I proceeded to down a Diet Coke as I talked to them.
They were polite people and they answered all of my
questions. At no point during the week did I "interview"
any of them with a microphone on. I wish I had in a
way but it may have been too weird for them, so I didn't
ask. I think maybe in Columbia I talked about it and
Johnny said "yeh let's do an interview" but I also think
he was joshin'. At any rate, I didn't find out anything
earth-shattering but then again I that wasn't my mission
and I probably couldn't have, anyway. I do know that
unlike some bands, none of them are poseurs. I
think that they are all down-to-Earth guys and they
definitely have their heads on straight. It must be
hard not to have a big ego with the kind of talent that
this band has; I know it would be for me!

GET THOSE TAPE MACHINES ROLLING!

During the first band's set, I downed a beer.
And it tasted good. As a taper, I have learned that you
can't get too drunk or you are going to regret it later.
Either your body is going to feel bad, your tape is
going to be ruined, or both! So three beers is my
limit when I am taping, especially with these new
binaurals I have. I have covered taping in previous
"chapters" and we truly are a strange breed. I don't
know if I fit the prototype taper because I was a self-
described nerd/freak before I got into taping!
Recently there has been some taper-bashing on
Postcard, and that's cool....to each their own. I
basically started it because of Slobberbone and the
fact that I knew I would be seeing them a lot and that
they were cool with it. And Slobberbone shows were
not all that common on Postcard. And I have long
said that the tapers and traders were/are the coolest
thing about Postcard. And I am not agreeing that
tapers are all nerds, on the contrary the ones I know
are off the charts on the coolness factor; that was
just one Postcarder's anti-tapers assertion!
Other tapers like Maggie, Mick "The Dude"
Spencer, Berkeley Mike, and Dan have traded tips,
ideas, and observations. These cats and this gal
are all DAT tapers and I use the cheaper minidisc
recorder. I agree that DAT is better and I wish I had
gone that way that's all water under the bridge now.
I got my first anti-MD comments from a DAT taper at
the June 11, 1999 Barleyfest while taping Slobberbone
and Damnations. This guy was really cool about letting
me patch into the board but his comment was that
"Minidiscs are $400 and four bits less". I think what he
meant by this was the DATs are 16-bit recording and
MD are 12-bit recordings. I am not a tapehead in the
sense that I even know what this means, but I assume
that you get less "sound" if you use minidisc recorders.
The Dude told me a long time ago "a good tape is a
good tape" and he didn't put much credence into the
16/12 bit statement. As for board vs audience tapes,
Maggie once made the comment that the benefit of
board is that you can just let it record and you can go
off and dance, drink, talk, and have fun. There is a lot
to that; I once believed that soundboard automatically
meant "better". And now I believe that as a rule that
the audience tapes are better...unless you get sand-
wiched between a lot of gabbers.

A lot of it depends on the mix that the board offers.
It was Patterson Hood of Drive-by Truckers and Brent
of Slobberbone that told me they preferred audience.
This was at a little party that Slobberbone threw over at
the Haunted House on Anderson Street in Denton back
in mid-November 1999. I still remember thinking to
myself "is this really happening?" as I was getting taping
advice from two absolute badasses and musical heroes
of mine. Murry of Old 97's once emailed me back about
taping and told me that they were cool with it as long as
it wasn't off the board, which provided "all drums and
bass and no guitars" or something similar. So as a
rule I go with audience tapes now; back to Tampa now!
The first band was playing and Jim was working
the merchandise table. I hadn't talked to him in Gaines-
ville last night so I figured "let the bothering begin". I
remember gushing about his singing, songwriting, the
band's playing. He just smiled, but as I said earlier,
what else can they do except tell you "please go away!"?
I said something like "halfway point of the Nuisance
Tour is tonight so let's get down to business" and I named
off several requests. The night before in G'ville I had start-
ed using the ridiculous line "I have carefully prepared tonight's
setlist", which seemed to amuse him. Of course, after
the tenth time or so that line probably became a little stale.

LET IN THE DARK!

I went back out to the car to get my gear and pretty
soon Chris came out and asked if I could help a gal named
Beverly with her MD recorder. I told him that I would try
and he showed me where she was. She was using a
MD recorder and a mike that was on a stand but she
couldn't get a signal. She told me that she was used to
taping off the board but that the soundman had told her the
mix was vocals only. Someone had loaned her the mike
but neither one of us could get it going.

I had my spare MD player and microphone in my
bag and I set it up. She had all of this sitting on a stool
behind some benches at the very back of the patio. This
was an outdoor venue and the stage was ground level.
It was dark back there, too. Let in the dark! Luckily,
she had a flashlight. At some point, I dropped my mini-
disc recorder and it took me a second to get it to record.
Once the show was complete, I tried in vain to retrieve
her minidisc. This band was Pagan Saints and they
were pretty good. When I heard them on the parking lot,
I thought "I should be taping" and then Chris came out
right after that. It's now a month later and that MD still
won't open. Thankfully, it was my spare.

Beverly introduced herself once I got it going.
The truly hilarious thing is that for awhile she thought that
*I* was in the band! Sorry that isn't the case, but I'm not!
She did figure out that I was "Kevin's friend", which isn't
completely true but we knew each other from Postcard
and we had arranged to try to meet at this show. She
pointed him out and I went over and we met. I also
met his friend Scott, a lurker on Postcard. We had
talked earlier about trying to videotape the show but
neither he nor Scott were into it, and who can blame them?
I set it up on a stand by the stage and let it roll.
Before any of this happened, Swearing at Motorists
put on a great show. I was now becoming familiar with
some of their songs. Dave is a maniac onstage; he really
tries to get the audience to pay attention, move down to
the front and it usually works.

"Editor's" note: everything written before here was written
in late March through April. I hit a stumblin' block and
it's now July 3. My goal is to get this done before MMJ
hits Texas again, in two and a half weeks! Back to Tampa!

I taped SAM for the first time on tour. I got permission
from Dave on the parking lot before their show and he
wanted me to tape, so they were completely cool with it.
At one point he walked into the crowd and told a yapping
gal "this isn't Fort Lauderdale at spring break!" Several
people around her laughed; I think it shocked her. I didn't
find out what he had told her until the Greensboro show but
I knew that he wasn't complimenting her clothing or hair!
They finished up and MMJ got set up. The crowd
was pretty big, especially for a weeknight and for it being
such a late show. Right before they went on, I approached
Jim and gave them the standard BS about playing a long
time. I told him that I had cleared it with the bar and that
they had permission to play until 2:15....you know, the usual
BS! I actually had asked out of curiosity what time the bar
closed; they told me 2 AM, so I figured why not let Jim know
in case he wasn't sure! I don't work for MMJ, of course.
Sudden thought: if you ever need a flunky to laugh at your
jokes and sing your praises, I'm the man! And I already
have a lot of experience at doing this! Jim just kind of
laughed at this and asked me what time it was. I think
they went on about 11:40.

I was standing at the back by the wall, which in
hindsight was not a very good place to tape. Luckily,
by the third song I had moved down into the crowd, near
the back and in the center. This still wasn't a very good
place to tape because it was outdoors and the sound
wasn't bouncing off the walls but out into the open air.
I saw those people from Gainesville again. They had
driven down to Tampa for a little more sweet, sweet music.
I recently heard from the gal and her name is Natalie.
She joined the yahoogroups list. I had given them my
email address but I had never heard from them. It turns
out that she lost it. I think Kevin had written it down for 'em
but the piece of paper was tiny and it disappeared. I
also think I spotted another guy I saw in Gainesville from
the night before. I recognized him because he looks
a lot like a former classmate of mine named Terry
Bagnefski. More nickname digression: John Guidry
called Terry "Bag of Nestea" circa 1973 in fifth grade..
...why I remember that I have no idea. Why I am writing
it here is even more of a mystery!

As the set progressed, I realized that they were
once again playing songs that I had requested. In this
case, By My Car and Honest Man. This was the first
time I had heard either one live and I haven't heard them
since then, either. The most beautiful part of By My Car
*has* to be near the end when he sings "oh Los Angeles
ain't that far" the second time. Jim sang it "ain't that
fah-ah-ar" the second time and held it out longer than
on the studio version. Danny is doing some beautiful
stuff on keyboards right there, too. It's just the way that
he sang! I just got chills and what Sport and I have
called "explosive rushes" to it a minute ago as I was
listening for clarification. It is truly a thing of beauty
and just one more example of their greatness and their
versatility; they can rock their asses off and then come
up with gorgeous and quiet stuff like this. Verdict:
geniuses!!!!!!

I had joked with Jim a couple of times earlier
about his comedic comments during a Holland show
that Riny sent me. At one point during that show, he
introduced a song (can't remember but it may have
been Tyrone) as a song "off our 1987 Greatest Hits
album", or something similar. I like ridiculous stuff and
I thought it was funny. So on this night right before
they went into Honest Man he announced it as "a song
off our 1987 debut album 'Biblical Prophecies'"!!!
That's funny, but something that's possibly even funnier
is that a gal right beside me let out a big cheer like
she recognized the album!! Truly hilarious, in my
humble opinion.

The set progresses and they played a long time.
I think it was close to 90 minutes, and all of their shows
should be at least that long. They did PWW (Natalie
and her beau were happy once again) and it was
great, of course. It's almost hard to listen to the album
version now because it seems a little slower and there
isn't as much rock going on. When we treed the
Denton show last month, I wrote to the list and called
what they did at the end of The Way that He Sings
"a cacophony of genuine musical brilliance". The
same thing can be applied to what's happening at the
end of Phone Went West during these live shows; it's
truly amazing.

Jim did three songs to close out the evening and
with a lot of screaming from the crowd the others were
persuaded to come back for an encore. It was during
this version of Bermuda Highway, after shushing some
yappers, that I had a thought. During the end of the
song where he sings "ah, ah-ah-ah-ah, ah ah, ah, ah-
ah-ah" I just thought "this must be what you hear 10,000
angels sing after you die and are entering into Heaven!
It's just such a beautiful piece. I don't really believe this,
of course...but you never know! It would be a good
backup to God's own music or whatever we will hear.
It's probably written about in The Bible somewhere but
I don't know. Jim found the missing two Jackets and
soon they were all in place for the last song; and we got
Lil Billy!!! You talk about some rock going on! This
is one of my favorites and has been since I first heard
it last October. The crowd was very appreciative of
this excellent show. It was probably the best show of
all of those that I saw in March with the possible
exception of the Denton show.

I spoke to Kevin awhile before leaving. He is
friends with Slobberbone and I think he said that he
had seen them six or seven times since last fall. I
know he's seen them in Chicago and he saw them a lot
at SXSW. The fact that Kevin has seen Slobberbone
that much proves that I am not the only travelling music
freak....at least I know I am not alone in my fanaticism!
I thanked the band after downing a beer and said 'bye'.
Bev bought me a beer mid-show and wouldn't even
take the bucks for it....what a gal! That's too nice
and her minidisc is still stuck in my other MD recorder,
now at Radio Shack for possible repair.

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

I learned the next night in Atlanta that SAM actually
stayed at the same motel as me. They had asked
where I was staying and I told them that it was fairly
cheap and pretty nice. I slept well and got up fairly
early, as Atlanta was a good eight or nine hours from
Tampa via the Corolla.

I grabbed a small cup of complimentary coffee but
it didn't last long. Suzgal and Mike had told me that
Cracker Barrel makes good coffee, so I got a Thermos
full of coffee for the road at a CB about 50 miles North
of Tampa. Good stuff, man!

I don't really remember much of this day....just miles
and miles of interstate. I had lived in Georgia as a kid
and have visited several times, so I have been on this
road a lot. In a way, I wish I had time to visit my old
hometowns of Athens and Milledgeville. But as I tell
Easy "gotta get down the road, man!"

The "tour" did take a different name on this day;
I do remember that. I also remember how it happened.
I was near Atlanta and it was probably 5 or 6 PM. I
had taken a break from listening to tapes and found a
radio station. It was a National Public Radio station
and they usually have interesting stories. This story
involved Bono of U2 and his crusade for helping Africa.
He has lobbied President Bush, Prime Minister Blair,
and other world leaders to donate time, effort, and
money to help with the terrible problems that Africa is
dealing with.

The interviewer asked Bono about his role in getting
the President and others to meet with him and to listen
to him. He explained that he was basically being a
"pest", but that Bush had told him "call me" and that he
was just following up on earlier meetings. For some
reason the word "pest" struck a chord with me and what
was happening with My Morning Jacket this week! Gee,
I wonder why!

I had started this week in New Orleans and it was
on this night that I told Jim and the others "Let the
Annoying Begin". I even wrote it at the top of a sheet
of paper on which I had written down my requests. They
had done Evelyn and several others by now. I had
talked about the Nuisance Tour to them previously.
Somehow this morphed into Pest Went East. It's
fairly self-explanatory: I was the pest, and I had gone
East of where I live to follow them. It's obviously a pun
on Phone Went West. I told them this story before the
Atlanta show and I still refer to that March tour as Pest
Went East. As I told Regurgito in Austin last month,
if I 'had a life' I wouldn't be doing this. But I figure "why
not?" I have great memories and some listenable,
if not pristine, recordings of some great shows taped
for posterity!

HOT 'LANTA

For a while in the mid-90s, I figured I might move
to Atlanta. I had always liked Georgia, and surely there
were jobs in that big city. I ended up staying here, for
better or worse. The Allman Brothers Band have a
great instrumental called Hot 'lanta. I am not sure
who gave it that name originally but I am sure it wasn't
TABB.

First things first: find the club. I had the address
but I didn't have directions. I ended up down the wrong
road again but luckily I found the right road on the map
and figured out how to get there. I drove past it and
found it. It was in East Atlanta, which may or may not
be a separate town...probably not. I ended up finding
a motel. I got ready for the show, grabbed a bite.
A cold front had blown through on this night. It was
even colder after the show. I found my way back to
the room where they would play.

Jim wasn't back there but the others were. After
talking to them awhile and telling them about my
renaming of the tour Pest Went East, all but Johnny
headed outside to play a card game that Dave of
SAM had taught them. Johnny is a trooper, I must
say. When I told Ger that I couldn't believe how nice
Jim was, he said he knew that but "they all are, really".
They just better not get the Big Head and pull a fucking
Marah!!!! So I ended up talking to Johnny for at least
another 45 minutes. We even, and I am ashamed to
admit this since it's a pet peeve of mine, talked through
the openers' set. It was a local gal and I can't remember
her name. She was good. I apologize to her, belatedly,
and on an email that I am sure she will never get!!!
I learned some basic stuff about the band: that
Jim had played in a band called Month of Sundays,
that Johnny originally played the violin but that AC/DC
(forgive me if I am wrong on this, JQ) had made him
want to take up guitar. I think Tommy had played in
a band with Johnny before they hooked up with Jim.
Johnny had heard Jim's songs when they got together
and was blown away, etc. As I said, he's a trooper and
he put up with probably more BS from me than any
of the others!! The same was true in Dallas this last
June. Thanks, Johnny Ringo! And thanks to all of you
other Jackets if you can possibly have gotten through
this long missive to this point!!!

I tried to hit someone up for videotaping. Joseph of
SAM said that he wasn't feeling well. I met some dudes
before the show that wanted copies of it but they weren't
about to videotape. Finally I got one of 'em to agree to
do three songs only....he was going to do three songs
so he could "dance" later. I thought, "You're gonna
dance to One Big Holiday? Lowdown?" Maybe the
kids can do it but ol' Low Dog has never been much
of a dancer. "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer!"
as Paul sang in Helter Skelter. Yeh, you only gotta
dance with me!

I met another Postcarder who lives in Atlanta: Jon
Ouzts. He found me right before the show because
his friend spotted my mikes. He agreed to take over
once The Dancer did his three. I must admit that The
Dancer was good and so was Jon.

The show turned out great despite the sound
problems. Their soundguy seemed to have some
problems getting what they wanted and he was a bit
of a smartass when he yelled "you just want everything
turned up, huh?" They played through it, troopers that
they are. Jim closed out the set with some really
great stuff, including the first time that I had ever
heard Death is the Easy Way in a live setting. Chills
ran down my spine! He also played the first verse of
John Prine's Spanish Pipedream. All in all, a good
show despite the problems with the sound. Tommy
came over after the show to see how the recording
was. Jon met him and they chatted a bit; we talked
about the fact that Jim had done Death is the Easy
Way and Tommy dug it, too. I had lost all kinds of stuff
or it was broken by now; my spare MD, my new battery,
my flashlight, and the sock that I used to carry my new
MD in! What a mess. I did find the sock amongst
all of that other stuff; I couldn't help but wonder if the
others told Tommy "your turn to deal with the freak!"
I know that I can be overbearing, and I am trying to
work on it, guys.

THE INTERRUPTION OF THE TOUR (MY DAY OFF)

I have already mentioned my old friend Easy. He
and his wife Lei Ann live in Hendersonville, NC. I had
planned on visiting them during the tour and not going
to the MMJ show in Wilmington. Danny told me later
that some girls drove six hours to the Wilmington show
but most everyone else just talked throughout the entire
show.

It was good to see Easy and Lei Ann again and as
usual, they went all out for the Dog. He cooked steaks
and salmon and baked potatos. Some other people
were supposed to come over for it but they had cancelled
at the last minute.

For some reason, I couldn't sleep. I had taken an
allergy pill before going to bed; I wondered later if maybe
that allergy pill wasn't a No-Doz!? I finally got to sleep
"at dawn"! I got about three or four hours before Easy
ke me up. He is back in the hot-tub business after
being out of it for awhile. He had to install a hot-tub for
a guy who was building a house on a mountainside
somewhere East of Asheville. It took forever to get there.
Once we were there, they worked and I listened to last
night's show on my MD player. It sounded pretty good.
The band was "on" in Atlanta in spite of those sound
problems that I have already mentioned at least twice!
We finally got done (rather, they did!) and we headed
back to H'ville. He tried in vain to get off work and he
was going to be my cameraman. He bitched about the
job that I did with my camcorder during my Sept 2000
trip to South Dakota's Badlands. So here was his
chance to one-up me with the camera. But he couldn't
get off work. Lei Ann was bummed; probably even
more than Easy was.

They made me some coffee and I headed South
towards Columbia, a town that I had never been as of
yet. It was a nice drive down there and just over two
hours of glorious unobstructed freeway. The weather
was nice and I remember that the sunset was great.
The shadows of the 'many tall pines', as Gram Parsons
sang about in Hickory Wind, rolled across the windshield
as I made my merry way to yet another MMJ extravaganza.

IN SOUTH CAROLINA THERE ARE MANY TALL PINES

As I said, I had never been to Columbia. I may have
driven around it in '94 when I went down to Charleston,
but I had never been in the town. I had an address and a
phone number for the place. As usual, I got lost when I
hit the city....but at least I didn't lose my band or have to
watch the needle take another man (with apologies to Neil
and The Needle and the Damage Done)!!!!!
I had the map of Columbia in my Rand-McNally atlas.
I soon found myself in the part of town that can be dangerous
at night to out-of-towners who are alone. I got hit up for
bucks at a restaurant and I gave the cat a dollar. He was
drunk but said he wouldn't spend it on alcohol. I told him
"knock yourself out, I do....but remember: alcohol, it only
makes you tired!" I didn't really, but I wish I had! I ate
in the car as I was driving around, getting crumbs all over
the car. I think some of them are still in there, as my car
needs to be cleaned. If only the rest of the girls said they'd
be there to clean my car! (rimshot, please!....and of course,
appy polly loggies to MMJ and their gem By My Car!)
I found a convenience store and looked on the map>
some more. I ended up down the road at a grocery store
and I called the the venue. I got directions but then I
promptly found myself lost AGAIN! I wound up stopping
at a Domino's, figuring these guys will know since they
are always driving around. It turns out it's in a part of town
that is actually called West Columbia, just over a river that
I guess divides these towns. As I said, I guess!
I found the place. It's called The New Brookland. I
have forgotten to ask Will of Centro-matic/South San
Gabriel but he has a song called The New Brookland (it's
an SSG song), and I have wondered if there is any connection
to this joint. I doubt it, but you never know. I talked to the
guy at the door, paid my cover, and went about the
motel-finding process once again. There weren't many
places. For a few seconds I wondered about camping
but then realized it would be late and I didn't want to drive
30 miles after the show. I hadn't stayed in any cheap
motels on this trip; for the most part, those days are behind
me! But I learned that the Jacket was going on first
tonight for some unknown reason. I was later told by the
band that they were the headliners according to their
contract, so I am not sure why they went on first. It's a
good thing I got there in time. Easy and Lei Ann were
telling me that I could hang with them longer and arrive
in Columbia later; for once, I was on time and it's a good
thing. So I paid for the motel (and it was definitely the
worst one I stayed in), got a shower and got some
batteries at the Wal-mart across the street.
I got back down to the club and got a beer. This was
one of the few bars I have ever been to that charges the
same price for each type of beer....Heineken was the
same price as Budweiser. I didn't realize this until I had
bought a Rolling Rock, though. They call it 'extra pale'
on the label for a reason!

I saw Jim and as I had "carefully prepared tonight's
setlist" once again, I went over and hollered at him. He
was relaxed and fresh from the Low Dog Fanhood
Exuberance: I had given him Atlanta "off", opting to bother
the others! So it had been three days since he had had
to deal with me and my ridiculosity!! He told me that they
were going on first. I told him something like "it's one
of the last times this will ever happen" He was gracious
and looked over the requests that I had given him.
They did a soundcheck and went to the back. When
they came out, Jim had on the "robe" again. He had it
on in Tampa, too. But this was the second appearance
of the garment since Pest Went East had started five
days earlier in New Orleans. He had the buffalo head on
the mike stand, too. While warming up, I think he sang
part of Roy Orbison's Cryin'. The setlist was pretty
standard for this tour and for the allotted time period of
about 45 minutes. We got "way", "low", "dark", "one
big", and two or three others. They finished PWW and
Johnny started playing a few bluesy riffs while Jim retrieved
another guitar. Within a couple of minutes I realized
what they were going to do and it was one of my requests:
It's about Twilight Now! What a badass rendition it was,
too!

The sound in the club wasn't great but these guys
were playing like there was no tomorrow. I was right
down front for a change (partially why my tape sounds so
bad) and at one point near the end of the song Jim was
just flailing and flipping his hair back and forth over his
face while Johnny was playing behind his back! Man,
it was cool.

Given the fact that they were opening a show that
they were told they would be headlining, they could have
packed it in and gone through the motions and pouted
about it. But they were up there giving it their all to a
very appreciative crowd. I guaran-damn-tee you that there
were more people there for MMJ than stayed around for
the new The New Brookland headliners The Elves.
At least I think they were called The Elves. The show
ended with Jim jumping backwards off the bass drum.
It was one of the highlights of this tour, for sure. I just
remembered that this band was called Elf Power, not
The Elves. They are from Athens. They were okay,
but obviously no MMJ in my not-so-humble opinion!
SAM went through a great set. Dave and Joseph
really seemed to be having a good time up there. At
one point Dave came down into the crowd and sang to
us. They had some people there who were big fans
because they kept requesting different songs and SAM
were obviously happy about it.

I ended up talking to MMJ quite a bit this night,
for better or for worse! This was also the most inebriated
I had been on this trip; I think I had five beers by the
end of the night. I know that's not stumblin' drunk but
definitely more than I had been drinking during the other
shows.

I mainly remember wearing out Johnny and Danny.
I told them about the nickname Low Dog and I don't think
they believed it at first (I got it from a Native American
Lakota Sioux chief). It's my main nickname but there
are approximately 40 others. I know it's crazy!!! I
asked Jim after Elf Power played about possibly covering
a Neil Young song. He said they're not ever going to
cover Neil until their last show.....and then that's all they'll
play!! I told them that I believe their band can do "no
wrong", and what I used to say about R. E. M. Jim
mentioned that he believed their last masterpiece was
Automatic for the People. At one point Danny thanked
me for following them around and called me a "trooper".
I think I told him that *I* was the one who should be thank-
ing them. After all, I was the receipient of some major
ass-kicking rock and roll shows! He pointed out that I
still had my mikes on. I told him that they were off and
then I made up some story about lying to him and getting
the goods on the him and the fact that he was actually
an undercover gun runner from South America. I later
gave him the nickname Gun Runner and G. R. for short.
These are probably the two most stupid and lame nick-
names but I doubt if any of them are considered that great
by the band!! Sorry guys, until the restraining orders
and straight jackets arrive I am hopelessly warped!!!!
I got a few looks like I got in Gainesville: "who's the
geezer?!?" I do know for a fact that I wasn't the oldest
guy (39) there on this night because the lead singer for
Elf Power had his dad there fetching him drinks!
Right before I left JQ took me out the van and got out
their itenerary booklet and fixed me up for tomorrow's
address. I would later learn that the show was going to
be held at a record store called Gate City Noise.
Their new van was nice and much more reliable than the
other one that they had had trouble with. I bid them
adieu and went back to the motel and crashed.

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 24, 2002
(SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN)

I got up the next morning and took my time. I
needed some supplies so I headed back over to the
Wal-mart across the street; there was a long white rope
encircling the middle part of the store. I had no idea
why until I got up to the cash register. They still have
the "blue laws" in South Carolina. I think that Texas
abolished them in the early 1980s. What I wondered
at this point was "why didn't the clerk in the clothing
section tell me these weren't for sale until 1 PM or
whatever time it was?" She let me into the dressing
room to try on clothes knowing full well that I wouldn't
be able to buy them when I took them up to the cash
register? There's only one thing more dumb: the fact
that I didn't at least ask "what are those white ropes
for?" Oh well. I bought what the state allowed me to
buy that Sunday morning and then I went up to the Capitol.
I was mildly surprised to see the Confederate flag
still flying at the Capitol. They took it down a couple of
years ago due to protests, many of them held by celeb-
rities during highly publicized campaigns. They're still
getting away with flying it in front of the Capitol; they have
just removed it from atop the Capitol building and trans-
planted it to a pole on the front lawn. Personally, I
don't automatically think that flying the Confederate flag
means "I am a racist". But that is the basic public
perception; I believe South Carolina should do what it
wants to do but I know that I am probably in the minority.
I strolled around the Capitol for about an hour. I
did the geek-out tour with the camcorder and narrated what
I was seeing, most likely to the chagrin of some horrified
locals! They had some nice statues out there, but I had
to rant a little bit against the Strom Thurmond statue. I
won't get into politics here but just take that for what you
will. Democrats and Republicans alike can each find
joy in the simple things of life: family, friends, food,
theatre, and of course some sweet musical sounds
created by those beautiful creatures known as My
Morning Crack Hit, er Jacket!!

This morning reminded me of the same early spring
morning during my April 1990 trip to Macon, Georgia.
It was also on a Sunday morning way back then when I
found Duane Allman's grave. A friend of a friend and his
wife had driven from North Carolina once and found it,
so their trip put the seed in my head that I also wanted
to check it out. I had some amazing luck on that trip
in that I not only stayed directly across the cemetery
from it, but the gal who ran the front desk at the motel
also had given me an idea of where to go in order to
find the grave. Weather-wise, both of these mornings
were almost identical; the prototypical beautiful spring
morning with bushes and trees in full bloom. "It was
gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh" (A Clock-
work Orange). When I saw Drive-by Truckers open
for Slobberbone, Jess introduced me to Patterson of
DBT. This was June 11, 1999 and "Buford" of the
Truckers told me that they have now fenced in the graves
of both Duane and Berry Oakley, The Allmans' bass
player who died about a year after Duane in a car wreck.
I haven't been back but I consider myself lucky to have
been there when you could actually get to the grave and
read the headstone. This whole piece is one long
digression; sorry!

THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER
(AND THE PARTY NEVER ENDS)

I hit the freeway, a nice drive on a gorgeous Sunday.
I had a bit of a scare at a Rest Area when my car hestitated
a little bit while starting it. It started after a couple of
seconds and it was fine until later this night. I got to the
next desination, the fine town of Greensboro in Northern
North Carolina.

JQ had given me the address and the phone number
of tonight's venue. It was a record store/skateboard shop!
Dave of SAM had been talking about it last night in West
Columbia. He said that they rolled all of the merchandise
aside and the "kids" filled up the front of the room. It
was much smaller than I imagined when I got there.
When I pulled into town, I headed for downtown. I
had no idea where it was, so I thought maybe there would
be a map of downtown at the Chamber of Commerce.
It turned out that they were open (on a Sunday?) until 2 or 3
PM. A very nice lady gave me a map and directions and
was curious about MMJ, or she at least pretended to be.
I think I told her, "You watch out for the Jacket" or something
similar. I quickly found the place and went in to the store
to get details. There were some kids in there (I hate to call
them kids but as Bill Maher said about ten years ago "I now
have to!"). I spoke with one of the clerks behind the counter,
who turned out to be co-owner.

I told him about how great MMJ were. He had heard
At Dawn but he hadn't ever seen them live. He did mention
that when they were offered the show that they quickly snapped
it up; like the rest of the reading world, he has read a lot of
good reviews about them. The only comment he made was
that they reminded him of "Neil Young and Crazy Horse on
downers". I know that I must've written about this by now
but to me they don't sound much at all like NY and CH. I
think maybe he just read that because I know I have read it
somewhere. But he was a nice guy and I went about the
business of motel-finding once again.

Since I had a little more time to look today, there would
be no cheapness tonight! I quickly found a Super 8 and it
was worth the $55. I called my parents and brother back in
Texas to let them know I was still alive. It's something that
my parents still expect of me at age 40, but I figure it isn't
going to kill me to let them have a little peace of mind.
After speaking to Mom and Steve, I took a nap. I set
the alarm for 6 or so and I got up replenished once again
from the long, long road. I took a shower and got my stuff
together. I hit a fast food joint and was good to go.
Parking was at a premium down there; it was free but
not plentiful. I ended up parking down a couple of blocks
away in the street. I got a cup of coffee from a place right
across the street and watch the darkness come.....let in
the dark! I helped SAM unload some of their drums and
was in the store when a young man asked approached me.
"Are you in one of these bands that are going to play?"
I said "no" and then remembered the imagined "geezer"
incident from Gainesville a few night ago and then blurted
out, "But I am Jim James' dad" and he said "REALLY?!?"
I said "no, not really, just kiddin'" or something. It was
stupid but as I like to say "I am easily amused"
During the time that SAM was setting up, I met the
other co-owner. He was named Andrew and he had lived
in Houston as a kid, so we had that in common (Texas, but
not Houston...actually I think I lived there in the summer of
'63 as a one-year-old). He was a very nice guy and even
gave me his copy of the Split EP, which wasn't even
out yet. This was the only MMJ he had actually heard,
but he liked it a lot. What's not to like, right?
MMJ arrived during SAM's set. They were told that
the show would be later than it actually started. SAM
ended their set and the Jacket started setting up. Of
course, it being the last night of Pest Went East, I had
once again "carefully prepared tonight's setlist".
I remember approaching Jim and giving him this
slip of paper with about 20 songs on it, most of which
I knew didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of being
played. I had written something about my fanhood over
in the margin and as he was looking at the titles I actually
read out loud to him what I had written, basically explaining
that I felt that "they could do no wrong" and "thanks for putting
up with the BS", "keep those fabulous tunes coming, etc."
In hindsight, he must've have been thinking "Doesn't Low
Dog know that I can read?" Anyway, thanks again, Son!
And they didn't disappoint. The only minor problem
was that the sound system just didn't support the band's
needs. When Jim sang too loudly there was a feedback
problem. Or as he said in Atlanta "this next song is called
Feedback Disaster!"

This was definitely a more laid-back set than most.
They did One Big Holiday but that was about as rockin'
as it got. As they came out to play, I did the geek-out
introduction. I didn't really introduce them but I wish I
had been able to. There was this silence, and there
were only about 30 people in there. I said something like
"the greatest band in the world right now" and they just
all kind of sheepishly grinned or looked down. God only
knows what they were really thinking...maybe "shut the
f' up, freak!"?!? None of that's on tape, unfortunately.
Or maybe it's a good thing.

Jim did three or four songs solo after the band
went offstage. I know for sure that he did From Nash-
ville to Kentucky and I Needed it Most; these were on
the list and the first and only times I heard them on this
tour. I wasn't the only one to ask for FNTK. Some
had asked for it during the full-band set.
As a tape trader of nearly five years, I have
accumulated a wide variety of music. There is a guy in
Austin named John Troutman who sent me a compilation
tape of both his "old-time country" favorites and his
bluegrass favorites. I can't remember who said it
originally but on this bluegrass tape there is a guy who
told a story before he played his song. He talked about
when he was younger and how they used to play all of
these bluegrass songs in the country underneath big
trees and it was free and open to the public. They would
play on Sunday afternoons after church. He went on to
talk about this fella they knew and after two or three hours
of listening to and enjoying their music he would always
say: Come on, do one "good un" before you go!
Well, this stuck with me over the years because I
think it's hilarious and it was the perfect oppurtunity to
steal this line and so I did. Jim was walking off the stage
right after his last song and I asked him to do "one good
un" before he stopped. He looked over at me and he
had this grin on his face. And I believe that he would
have been willing to play one or two more but at that
point the owners thanked us for coming out and it was
over.

After the show, the kids were milling around and
looking through the music for sale. MMJ tore down their
stuff. I had been behind the counter during the show
and a girl came up looking for T-shirts. The others were
busy so I went through their bag of shirts and started
looking for her size. Jim came up and said something
like "you workin' merch now?" I said "sure, I will do
whatever I can to help you" - so it's official now....hey
guys, when you need an employee please consider that
my official application! I can do a lot of stuff: burn your
papers in your empty trashcans, take on your war when
it gets out of hand, laugh at your jokes, praise your
musical dreams, etc. It was around this point that I
said something else and ended it with his new official
Low Dog nickname: Jimmy. He was unfazed but I even
had to mention to him amidst the bartering, "I just called
you 'Jimmy'". He just kind of smiled...what else could he
do, as I have said before, other than walk away or punch
my lights out?!? Poor guy. I mean no harm. Son.
You never were a drawback. Always were an asset.
So PWE was done with. I had considered going
up to West Virginia for Tuesday's show but that would
have meant driving all the way back after the show and
I think I learned my lesson during that freak-out 1995
R. E. M. Pittsburgh trip! I gathered up my stuff and
told them goodbye and left. I wondered on the way out
there was this collective sign of relief and that if they
were making preparations for the Low Dog restraining
order!

When I got to my car, it hesitated a little bit when
I tried to start it. Luckily, it turned over finally but I knew
that I had a problem and that I had about 1,100 miles to
drive over the next two days. I got back to the motel
and listened to some of the new Split EP. I dubbed it
onto cassette on my jambox and listened to it for the
first time. Riny had quoted How Do You Know in an
email to me before I left, so I recognized the part about
"I know because I got that old time feeling". I just
thought "Wow, this is different". So it was kind of like
the ending of something (Pest Went East) and the
beginning of something (new MMJ music).

I stayed up late listening to the new stuff and watching
the Oscars. They were still on when I got home. I should
have gone to sleep earlier but I was really digging the new
stuff and partying a bit.

I got up early and called a repair shop. I got directions
and my car started after a little bit of hesitation. I got out
there and they told me that I had a dying battery. I was
relieved even though it cost me a lot of unnecessary charges.
Total cost for a battery and labor and "diagnostic charges"
was $119! Still, I was happy that it was fixed. Or so
I thought. I took the freeway all day. I drove on I-40 through
such beautiful American cities as Winston-Salem, Asheville,
Knoxville, Cookeville, and Nashville. As I have said, if you
are in a hurry and you need to make up some time. To
quote Neil, "and I was just gettin' up, hit the road before
it's light....tryin' to catch an hour on the sun" (Thrasher, '78,
the year most of our MMJ heroes were born...possibly
all except Johnny Ringo).

I went through Nashville during the dusk hour. I
thought about stopping but I still had some coffee and enough
time to get a few more miles behind me. I also wanted to
camp out. So about an hour or so West of Nashville I
took the road that leads to Nathan Bedford Forrest State
Park, near Camden, Tennessee. The park was 26 miles
North of the interstate. Easy and I had camped there in
the spring of '91. I distinctly remember that he gathered
some shells from the Tennessee River. He also made
a tomahawk out of a stick and some stones there.
We also made our infamous "toast" on this night:
to Dr Yeakley and the GOP! We aren't fans of Pepsi.
It's drinkable but I am a Coke man. Back during the dark
days of the Reagan Administration, Ol' Ron took out all of
the Coke machines at the White House and replaced them
with Pepsi machines. Easy is an RC man, but had bought
a two liter bottle of Pepsi for some reason. As a present
for Alan, we took pictures of ourselves downing Pepsi
at the campsite in the dark. Silly, stupid stuff that is hard
to appreciate unless you were there.

So anyway....I made it up to NBF again only to
find that the park was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays!
It was a Monday, unfortunately. So I had driven all that
way for no reason. I went down to the boat ramp at the
River and just took it all in. It was dark and a cool night
but it was just a neat scene. This is a huge river, at least
at this point. It's almost Mississipian in its vastness and
width. I decided not to tarry and got back in the car and
drove back down to the interstate. I hit another park
along the interstate but it's state-wide; apparently they're
having a state budget crisis and can't keep the parks open
all of the time.

I found a motel along the interstate near Wilders-
ville. I checked in and checked out the tube selections.
Not much was on; I think I watched the Weather Channel.
Remember...as Letterman says, you know you're getting
older when you start watching the Weather Channel! I
listened to some live MMJ, too an Aleve, and drifted off
to peaceful sleep.

A cold front had blown in during the night. I was
suddenly glad I wasn't in a tent shivering like a San
Franciscan at old Candlestick on a gone-by August night!
I loaded up the car and locked up the room. You may
have guessed by now but my car wouldn't start! It
wouldn't turn over at all. "Ain't that a bitch?!?!?" -Drive-
by Truckers, '99

Being alone and stranded on the road isn't a fun
thing. I would much rather have been just about anywhere.
But one of my mottos about life is that "it can always be
worse" and another is "it's all a part of life's rich pageant"
(stolen as the war begun from R. E. M., who had stolen
it earlier from one of the Pink Panther movies). So I
went about the business of trying to get help. The motel
clerk wasn't any help. This was a very small town, just
a few business along the freeway. The tire shop owner
didn't arrive until 8:30 or 9 "if he made it at all that day".
I went next door to a gas station. I asked for help from
a group of men who were drinking coffee and probably
telling lies to each other. They said that they were all
truckers and couldn't help me. I saw one of them getting
into his car later, but that's okay; they didn't owe me anything.
About an hour and a half later there was no sign of
the tire shop owner, the only "mechanic" in town. I just
started asking people in the gas station "can you give me
a jump?" Within four or five tries, a couple of guys wearing
UT jackets said they would come over there. One of them
had a truck and some jumper cables. They got me going
and wouldn't even take a nickel for their efforts. I tried in
vain to give them a $5 calling card, one of my few Earthly
possessions. But they wouldn't hear of it.

Needless to say, but I will anyway, the road home
was filled with a bit of apprehension. I knew for damn sure
that I couldn't kill the engine. So around Little Rock I was
filling up my tank with the engine running. I think that's
the first time that happened. Thanks to the Good Lord,
I made it home in one piece. I got my car into the shop the
next day and the problem wasn't the battery at all. My
mechanic called it the connectors in my starter, whatever
they are. As my friend Gray says, "I'm about as mechanical
as a toothbrush" I did listen to a lot of good music, of course.
I remember hearing MMJ's "Weeks go by like Days", which
I only have from a live show but let me tell you, it's Great!
I am hoping that someday they'll do it again or that Jim will
reach back into the 1987 Greatest Hits archives and pull it
back out and lay it on us. During my pre-show rant/test-
imonial in Tampa, I was telling Jim how much I loved WGBLD.
I still think it's one of their best songs and it probably always
will be near the top of the list. But as I have said before,
these guys don't have any bad songs, so it's hard to choose!
I had listened to it three times in a row in the car on the way
to Ybor City. He said that maybe he needed to re-learn
it and do it again. No arguments from here, man!
So tell me Jimmy...when it comes to WGBLD and the re-
working/relearning/replaying of this song: how long can
one man wait? Forever? I think not!

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

So it's now July 15, 2002. Musically on this date in
1983, I saw my first Neil Young show. Tomorrow will be my
14th MMJ show in under nine months and I am betting that the
best is yet to come. They are opening for a guy named Ben
Kweller and BK is from Greenville, Texas. I work in Green-
ville, where Ben's dad is a doctor. I really don't know much
about BK but he's friends of the Old 97's and that he was in
a band called Radish in the mid-90s. JQ said that he is
so popular now that he's selling out places like Trees, which
holds about 500-600 people. I am not going to diss BK
here because I really don't know how 'bad' he is. I bought his
album in March just because he has a song called Commerce,
TX; Commerce is my hometown.

I really don't know how to end this thing so I will just
make this last paragraph a thank-you note to the band.
To the Jacket: best of luck, may God bless you all in your
musical endeavors. I know that when Linda McCartney died
that Paul was talking about their relationship and he summed
it all up by saying "I think we just fancied each other". The
"each other" doesn't really apply here but I really fancy MMJ!
They have been good sports and God bless 'em; they have
another dose of the Dog tomorrow, Wednesday and Friday!
So God grant them the patience to put up with my BS again!
My cousin asked me yesterday when they were going to be
on Letterman; I have said it before and I will say it again.
These cats are so talented that I really believe they'll 'make
it big'; who knows how big? JQ said "we just want to pay
our bills!!" I think they have a plan and are following through
with it. Sometimes it's a matter of getting the right pieces
together in the right system and I believe they are well on their
way to carving out their niche in the musical world. And I will
close now by stealing the Fan Club slogan: Own the Jacket.
Wear the Jacket. Love the Jacket.