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[ikefonseca]

NOLA part two

I went back outside and got some fresh air and it brought me back down to a happy functioning level again. The next place we went was to see my friend that worked in the quarter at one of the oldest bars in the area. It’s always great to see friends on the road. We visited with her for a few and made plans to meet up after she got off. Outside of her work a big firework display started going off. This is more of the kind of mushroom trip I was looking for. Bright lights and giant booms filled the night sky, while below the streets were bustling with marching bands, horse drawn carriages and people drinking in the streets of what seems like a movie set it’s so unreal. We walked down to Frenchman to see if we could find some good Jazz. There were all kinds of street art vendors selling paintings, sculptures and homemade clothing. Looking down the street at night, the architecture and the neon signs make it feel like no other place in the states. We heard a band playing some old time jazz in this bar called the Apple Barrel so we stopped to check it out. My friend and her husband came and met us there after she got off work. By then there was this blues band playing and they were pretty damn good. The singer just destroyed that harmonica he was playing. While band was playing at some point I turned around looked outside and it had turned into a monsoon out there. I mean a solid wall off rain. The streets were just filled with water. It was quite a sight actually. We eventually caught a cab and went back to my friends place. We all ran and jumped in this van cab a started driving down the road and I look over and see that I’m sitting next to some 50 year old lady just quietly sitting there starring forward. I asked her, "Do I know you?" She said her names Debbie. Apparently she just jumped in the cab with us. We get back to my friends place and Debbie kept on going. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. We hung out and partied at my friends place til about 4am. What a great night! Alex called a Lyft to come grab us and take us back to the hotel. Which I’m thankful for because our hotel is in the Tremé. Not the safest part of town, especially at this hour on a Saturday night. Alex instantly passed out on the ride home. Just drunken dead weight swaying back and forth with every turn. I shake him up when we get there and now I’m really looking forward to some sleep. As I’m falling asleep I hear Alex go out for a smoke or something. I’m lights out. I woke up randomly at about 7:30 in the morning. I look around and Alex isn’t there. If fact I can tell by the bed that he hadn’t been there all night. My first though was that his drunk ass locked himself out of the room and I was passed out and couldn’t let him in. Or that he fell asleep on the smoking patio. I went and checked the smoking patio and all the common rooms the hotel had and he’s nowhere to be found. Alright now I’m getting a little worried. He was pretty shitfaced last time I saw him and outside of our hotel is not somewhere where you just want to go for a late night stroll. I tried calling but his phone is dead and goes straight to voicemail. Shit, what do I do? And just as I thinking that I hear the door open and stumbly mcstumblerson comes walking in. I asked him, "where were you?" He told me he didn’t know. That he ended up on bourbon street and blacked out some. He said when he came to, some Uber driver ended giving him a ride home because he looked so lost. He seemed surprisingly in good spirits so I guess it was all good. He said, "yep, I only got mugged once!” I rolled back over and said, "what? You got robbed?" He told some guys mugged him in the park for the little bit of cash he had on him. Again, he’s surprisingly chipper. I just told him, "Well I’m glad you’re not dead. Try and get some sleep, check out is in a few hours." Then rolled back over and went back to bed. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

NOLA part one

And so there I was, sitting in a dungeon and I don’t know why but that demon just fucking winked at me. Maybe I should back up a little bit and start from the beginning.

The morning sun woke me up by turning the back of my truck into a prison hot box. We had just finished our last Texas show and were headed to New Orleans. The last two nights were fun but a bust financially which was a little worrisome. We didn’t have a show tonight, we were just stopping through NOLA for the night and to relax. We’ve been playing every night and I think we were both equally looking forward to some down time. Plus, Alex had never been there so we were ready to do it up. It was a cooker of a drive for sure and we had officially reached stinky grimy dirtbag status. Alex had decided to splurge a bit and booked us a cheap hotel room. That meant showers and AC! After we cleaned up and kicked back for a bit we wanted to go explore the French quarter. A few days ago someone had given me a big bag of mushrooms. So naturally we ate a hand full of those before we went for our adventure walk. It was Saturday night and the sun was just starting to go down on Bourbon Street. The sidewalks were filled with fortune tellers and street performers. You had your people that had been drinking all day because of the World Cup, the people had been drinking all day because it was Saturday night and they were on vacation and then the people who had been drinking all day just because there raging alcoholics. Either way, everyone’s having a good time. There’s random parades and breakdancers. People in costumes and folks sporting their titty beads with face paint. It really does feels like a weird drunken circus down there. After we walked around a bit we decided to stop in and grab a beer. We found a place with a little sign followed by a long black narrow alley way. Not much more than shoulder width wide. In the back of the alleyway was this bar called the dungeon. When we walked in, the door guy told us that pictures weren’t allowed inside. It was dark with lots of red lights and some neon lights behind the bar. There was some metal cage contraption at the end of the bar that people could get into. We sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. All of a sudden someone put Rob Zombie on the jukebox and More Human than Human came blaring out of those speakers and instantly those mushrooms I ate earlier kicked in like a light switch. I’m not going to even try and talk because I know I’ll just fuck it up. I get lost starring at the glassware starting to melt on the shelves behind the bar. There was this green devil head that hung above the cash register. I was watching it sway slowly back and forth with the music, and sure a shit that thing winked at me. I saw my night going to a pretty weird place and it was clear to me that I had to get out, like right now...

[ikefonseca]

Simple thing can be the best things.

"Another club and another crowd, another show in another town. We’ll be gone on the morning but we can carryon tonight"

We left Austin Texas mid morning and made our way to the next show. It was a short drive so we took our time. We found a Starbucks to kick it in and rob the air conditioning and recharge our batteries on our phones. I know that some of you will say what you will about places like Starbucks and Walmart and I totally get it, but when you spend the majority of your year on the road traveling from town to town like I do, you’ll find my name at the top of the support list. The bar we were playing that night was a bit outside of town tucked away in the country. We found a state park close by and decided to spend the afternoon there. We enjoyed our quiet time. Alex read and I was able to catch up with an old friend on the phone. With my friend passing it has really made me more aware of being actively present to friends I have. Even if it’s just a short phone call to say hi. It’s easy to get caught up in your day to day and I don’t ever want that to be a reason to lose touch with someone I care about. If you’re thinking of someone or missing somebody, make the call. It was time to head this bar and see what it was all about. We were hired to play a two hour happy hour set and that’s about all I knew. The first person I saw when we walked into this smokey bar was some 10 year old kid in a cowboy hat running the pool table. Gotta love Texas. They set us up in the far corner opposite end of the bar. It was everything I had expected in some ways and completely different in others. We started playing, thought we’d ease into our set with a few slow ones and gradually pick up the tempo a little. By about the third song in I realized it didn’t make a damn bit of difference, we were the background music. Song after song we played to the back of their heads with no response. Sometimes that’s how it goes but it definitely makes the set feel about twice as long. We really weren’t expecting more that our guarantee and the free dinner at this point. After we got done folks started walking up and telling us how much they enjoyed it and throwing bucks in the bucket. So weird. Maybe the art of clapping just hasn’t made it to that part of the country yet. Who knows. What I do know is since this was an early show we got back on the road just as the sun was going down. We got about another hour or so under us before we pulled over for the night. We had cold beers in the cooler and a tailgate. We stayed up late talking about science stuff, aliens and other weird shit. Sometimes that’s all ya need. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Keep on drinkin’

When I last left you we were on the way to our show just north of Dallas Texas and I had just found out that a friend of mine had passed. We got to the bar a few hours early and it was safe to say that my mind was anywhere but at that venue. We sat down at the bar and the bartender said we were free to set up whenever and that we get 5 free pitchers of beer as well. We drank those about as fast as anyone has drank beer in the history of drinking beer. My head was in a weird place and I didn’t want to think about anything. So we kept on drinkin’. The show it self was a bust crowd wise but we played great and the few that were there ended up buying a bunch merch from us and tipping us well. Also, they bought us a shit ton more beers. This town seemed like a pass through place for truckers and travelers. While Alex was sitting on the the other side of the bar patio talking army with the old vets there I was chatting with this trucker guy who kept the beers rolling. We swapped tales about the places we’ve been and he told me stories about hitching across the country when he was a kid. He ended up getting me stoned and I instantly went to outer space. My whole day came and slammed me in the face like a ton of bricks and I was outta there. I went and passed out in the truck and apparently Alex kept on going. The next morning I definitely woke up feeling a little less than fresh. I was about half way to Austin before I think I was actually awake. Nothing like being super hungover driving in the Texas summer heat in a truck with no AC to teach you a lesson. We got to Austin and found some community pool with free showers. Hallelujah! This was good for us and everyone that had to be around us. After we were all cleaned up we walked the Barton Springs trail and just relaxed in the park for a while. We may or may not have started drinking again. We tacoed up for lunch at this place called the taco joint and they were the best tacos I’ve had in a long while. You kind of just have to get tacos when you’re in Austin. If you don’t, then you’re just doing Austin wrong. We headed to the venue after that. Alex had some friends show up that lived there in town which was nice. The guy who was opening up Brady, was the singer for The Desperos, a band which Alex played a show back home in Portland a few months back. He sounded great. The stage is set outside on this big patio filled with picnic tables and a food truck parked back there. A wooden covered area with a big Texas flag draped across the ceiling of it. Alex and I played a good solid hour set, which was nice after playing two hour plus sets the last couple of nights. After our set Brady the opener invited us back to his house to hang out and crash there. We got back to his and his lady’s place and they had bought a bunch of beers and dinner for us. Just wonderful folks and so glad to have met them. We drank and smoked til god knows when. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep watching Forgetting Sarah Marshal or something. Either way I had a full belly, a hefty buzz and some new friends. That’s a win in my book. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Rest easy.

"It’s time to go. It’s time to go. I guess I better be gettin myself a little further on down the road. Thank you all my friends and I’ll be seeing you again. One more round and then it’s time to go."

These journal posts are usually all about my travels, playing shows and life on the road. A part of that is that no matter where you are at, life still continues to happen.

It was Monday afternoon and Alex and I were feeling pretty refreshed after swimming in this lake just north of Dallas, Texas. I had just pulled out of the parking lot of this park when I got a phone call from one of my best friends who was out in New York City. It was the phone call you never want to answer. Maybe if for some reason you didn’t answer it than maybe it wasn’t real. A close friend of ours back home had been in a motorcycle accident and he wasn’t going to make it. As I’m writing this now, three days later my heart is still sinking. There is a very special part of my life that I hold very close to my heart and John was definitely a huge part of that. We worked together, lived together, camped together, rode motorcycles together and stayed up until the sun told us to go home talking about everything that meant anything to us. There’s so much I could say about a guy that seriously touched so many people from every walk of life in all parts of the world. But I won’t. Instead I’m just going to share a memory that keeps replaying in my head.

It was summer probably about 2009 or so. It’s hard to tell sometimes, those years can start to run together now. Michael, John and I decided to go camping, which was a very regular thing for us at that point. Michael has this old Jetta that I wasn’t sure how that thing still functioned. At this point I think that car only survived for the sole purpose of taking us camping even though at any point this car could have just left you stranded in the middle of nowhere. We didn’t have a lot of money I remember but the little money we did have we definitely spent on beer. We bought three 24 packs of beer for the three of us and some snacks. We got to our favorite camping place mid afternoon. It was on the Mollala river about 45 minuets outside of Portland off of a service road. There was rocks that you could dive off of and if you went during the week you would most likely have the whole place to yourself. We used to take big camping trips there a lot with coworkers and some of the funnest times were had there. After we set up our tents the three of us had a brilliant idea to make this camping trip a little more fun. We told each other that we weren’t allowed to casually drink any of the beers we had bought. The rule was that if we wanted to drink a beer, we had to shotgun it. No exceptions. Let me remind you that we just bought 72 beers. By the time the moon was shining and our fire was out I don’t know if any of us could have successfully told you which way was up and which way was down but we sure were having a damn good time. Out there at night, miles away from everything you could see what seemed like a never ending amount of stars. The three of us laid down in the middle of this old service road starring at the stars. I’d like to say it was because it was late but no, it was the beers, the three of us fell asleep right were we laid. Eventually I woke and shook the guys awake and we damn near had to army crawl back to our tents only about 30 feet away. We were all by our tents getting ready to call it a night and out of nowhere this huge dump truck comes flying down this road hauling ass past out campsite right over the spot in the road where we were all passed out not even 1 minute earlier. The three of us all looked at each other in complete silence for a second as we processed what had just happened. What do you do when you have a eye opening almost near death experience like that? Shotgun a beer of course. After all, those were the rules.

There’s more stories like that than I could even remember and that might be the best part about John. It wasn’t that once we did this or that one time we did that. Johns whole life was an adventure and anyone that had the pleasure of being part of that adventure should feel blessed. I know I do. The last time I saw John was a right before I left on my first cross country tour. At that point we would see each other pretty sporadically. We sat down, had a few beers and caught up. I told him that I was planning to leave and start touring the country. That I was quitting my job, selling most of my belongings and work at a dream that I couldn’t shake. He told me how proud he was of me for taking that jump. I knew he meant it. I knew that out of anyone he would understand that sometimes you just gotta go. That spirit of his will definitely live on through many. It breaks my heart that you are gone John but if your purpose here was to inspire people to live life to its fullest than I’d have to say, mission accomplished buddy. Have a great ride on that next adventure.

[ikefonseca]

Smallville

"A warm cup of coffee and four wheels on the ground. Spent all my money just to make it to this town. If I can make it through today I think I’ll be alright. Without the lows, you don’t get no highs".

I’ve heard tall tales about tours being completely booked, perfectly organized, and hotel accommodations and what not. I couldn’t tell you what that looks like personally but I’ve heard they exist. I’m sure it would be nice but call me crazy, I think some of the truest songwriting comes from the struggle. You know how some people talk about the good ol days like they are some lost period in time? Well I’m going to tell you, right now in this very moment are indeed the good ol days. If you can convince me of something better than traveling around the country doing something you absolutely love to do, please share. We woke up this morning with a short drive ahead of us. Only about 45 minuets down the road to Hutchinson, Kansas. I’ve played there a few times before and really enjoy this small town. Hutchinson has been coined the birthplace of Superman. One weekend a year the town changes the name from Hutchinson to Smallville. This is that weekend. We got to town just before noon and walked the Main Street in their little downtown. Stopping at every antique store and music shop they had. One of my favorites was a really cool vintage toy store. In the back they had a whole miniature town setup with an electric train that you could control. After our stroll we decided to grab some lunch. I looked up a good taco spot but it was closed when we pulled up. Across the street was another Mexican restaurant so we decided to check it out. By far the whitest taco spot I’ve ever come across. This place made Taco Bell look like some LA street tacos. You win some, you lose some. We ended up going bowling after that and god damn that felt good. I actually haven’t been bowling since the last time I was in Kansas. Before I moved to Nashville I was going up to four times a week. Four games later and we still had hours to kill between had to get to our show. We found a park on the edge of town to fill the void. A tailgate, a few cold beers and a sunny day is all you really ever need right? We were the only ones there but shortly after we arrived this super Redneck birthday party showed. Complete with a suped up 80 something Malibu and domestic disputes in the parking lot. I’d call them white trash but I had just got done taking a hobo bath in the restroom so I really didn’t have any ground to stand on at the moment. Well now that we were all "cleaned up" we were off to play a two hour set at a high end Italian restaurant. If they had only seen us an hour before haha. This was a last minute gig that I booked and it ended up working out great. The owner and the staff were amazing. Everyone seemed to enjoy the music. I was super excited to see my friend that lives there in town. Someone we actually met the first time played in Hutchinson. The patio had filled out by a few songs in. There was a big table right front who stayed through the whole set and loved it. We closed with I Saw the Light by Hank Williams and they were all clapping and singing along. After we were done it made a little more sense why. Two of the guys followed us out to the parking lot after our set and tried to spiritually heal us. Apparently they were all part of this Christian camp going on there in town. Nice enough guys but that’s not my thing. This guy put his hand on my back and told me he was sending Jesus through to my body and Jesus was going to dance around my body or something like that. I just kinda told him thanks. It was weird. We had had a weird moment. The patio started shutting down and my friend went on her way. Alex and I found a place to park for the night and ended the night with some big cold beers. We were both pretty tired at this point. We parked in between these two small trees in this parking lot and there was all kinds of chirping going on. I clapped my hands a few times really loud and no shit about 50 bats flew out and all around. One of the cooler things I’ve seen. Today was a good day. We played good. We saw friends. And now I have Jesus dancing around in my body. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Roll the dice on Wichita

I don’t know why I enjoy waking up in the back of my truck so much but it’s a great feeling to me. It can sometimes seem like the most peaceful place on earth. Our first show was behind us now and it was time to head west to Kansas. I knew very little about this club or this gig other than I had an email from a few months ago saying that we were confirmed for the date. After that zero contact. I emailed the contact person at least 6 times leading up to the show with no reply. The bar gave me her number and I called and texted twice with no response. The club had no advertising on social media except for a dj later on in the evening. This is not leaving me with an easy feeling but we are in route so what will be will be I suppose. Finally when we were about an hour outside of Wichita I get a one line text from my contact there saying, shooting for 6pm. Ok, it’s not Shakespeare but I’ll take it. I pulled into a rest stop just outside of town so could make a few calls. Our show for tomorrow was another whole ordeal. The short version of that is that I now needed to find a new venue and setup a show on a Saturday with one days notice. Impossible you say? Less than 10 minuets later we are back on road with a show booked for Saturday. I love that after last summer Alex doesn’t even stress about it anymore. I can spend countless hours booking a tour months in advance, making flyers and promoting as much as I can from out of state and still some of our best shows have been booked on the road with little notice. Anyways, back to Wichita. We rolled into town a few hours before show time. I went into the venue to check it out. The place was super big but sectioned off into a bunch of different rooms. There was a bar in the back with a stage that had garage doors that opened up to a patio. I tracked down a manager and introduced myself. Yep. Absolutely no clue there was a show booked for 6pm. In fact no one knew about the show, including a sound guy. The guy was super nice about it and I definitely didn’t blame him. The stage had a nice PA setup but no board. Alex and I pieced together a setup using my PA that I travel with and their speakers. I’m not gonna lie, it sounded really damn good. It’s unfortunate that they didn’t promote it at all. It was a nice space and the staff were all really friendly. It could have been a great night if people had only known about it. We were scheduled for a two hour set and that’s what we did. The folks that did hear us enjoyed it and that makes it alright by me. They also gave us a pretty nice bar tab which destroyed. After we were done playing the venue turned into dance club apparently. That’s our cue to take the money and run. The store across the street is selling 24 packs of delicious refreshing Hamm’s beer. Since I’ve been in Nashville I haven’t found one store that carries my favorite beer. So it’s been a while since I’ve gotten my hands on a case of liquid gold. We found a lot down the road to camp in for night. It started raining pretty good so we just sat in the cab of my truck, slammed a bunch of beers and watched some videos on little 4 inch screen. That may not seem like much to some of you but that’s a pretty damn good night to me. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Springfield, MO.

There was a time when I used to make these big long check lists and double or triple check them before I left on tour. Wondering if I have everything I would need and usually end up taking way more than I would ever use. Those days are long gone. It’s 4:30 in the morning and I’m up about a half an hour before my alarm. Not because I’m too excited to sleep or I’m worrying about if I have everything I need but because we drank about 40 beers last night and as I get older my bladder has replaced my alarm clock. I’m up now so I might as well start getting ready to leave. It doesn’t take long these days. I know exactly what I need to get by. I wake up Alex who is sleeping on a mattress by my front door and tell him let’s do this. A pot of coffee in our cups and we’re on the road. We are headed to Springfield Missouri for our first stop of the tour. It’s a 7 plus hour drive from Nashville and we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time. It was a great drive. It must have rained through the night because the air was fresh and full of life. We drove up through Kentucky and then across the bottom of Missouri. Peaceful country roads. I even found a bag of weed at a gas station along the way. Surprisingly enough, that did not bum me out one bit. We got to Springfield late afternoon and found a place to rest for awhile. After we recharged we headed to the venue. It was this beautiful old bar that’s been around since 1870 I think he said. There was a matinee show going on when we got there and the place was full. Scanning the room I had a feeling that this crowd was not going to stay until 10 pm when we finally take the stage. It’s ok, I’m in great spirits and just excited to play. It’s actually been a minute since my last show. There definitely wasn’t a whole of people when we played but it felt great. The staff were super nice to us. They fed us a great dinner and beers all night long. The owner of the bar invited us back to his place and gave us place to stay for the night too. So thankful and grateful for the amazing people we meet on this journey. All in all it was a great way to start off this tour. I’m so damn happy to be back out again. I definitely needed this. Off to Kansas in the morning! To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Here We Go Again

It’s a Monday night in East Nashville Tennessee. Some band that I’ll never know is playing their hearts out in the corner of the front room. Me? I’m in the kitchen working the last shift at one of the jobs I’ve picked up here since I got here a few months ago. Wow, has I been two and a half months already? That went quick. I getting ready to go on tour in two days. I’ll make a couple passes back through this place I’m calling home these days while on tour, but it’s going to be a little bit before I can settle again. Maybe that’s for the best. Don’t get me wrong, I love this city and I’ve met some really great people I can now call friends, I just miss the road. The last hand full of years it’s really all I’ve known and it’s hard to adjust not doing that. I think I’m getting better at it though. I picked up some work doing concrete and a cooking job at night. I’ll tell you what, I respect the hell out of anyone who chooses to do concrete as a career. I love learning new skills and experiencing new paths but that shit is not for me. The only thing I really liked about it was the early mornings. I’ve always been an early riser. Something about the crispness of the air and watching the sun come up gets me. I also start working at one of my favorite bars here in East Nashville in the kitchen. I enjoy working in kitchens. It’s still fun to me. Maybe because it’s never for super long periods of time. Also I really enjoy everyone I work with and the regulars. It feels like a community and they’ve all be so welcoming. Makes a new kid in town feel pretty good. I’ve recently realized that I’ve gotten in the habit of saying everything’s ok when anyone asks even if it’s not. I guess it’s one of those questions that nobody ever puts that much thought into. Or I don’t want to burden anyone with my troubles. Fact of the matter is that moving 2,000 miles away from my hometown put me in kind of a weird spot mentality that I’ve never felt before. I’ve spent a lot of time by myself touring but I always knew that I was coming home. Sometimes it wouldn’t be for 4 or 5 months at a time but home was always on the horizon. The first couple weeks went by fairly fast. I would get phone calls and such from friends asking how things were. And I would talk regularly with a special someone back home that I had developed feelings for before I left. Soon though, the phone stopped ringing and this woman and I came to terms with reality that it wouldn’t work for many reasons. And that’s when it finally started to feel real. I love traveling and playing music but I’ll be the first one to tell it’s just a way of running. Not that that’s always bad. Sometimes you just gotta hightail your ass outta there. Doesn’t make it wrong, just some people might not understand. There’s a million little things I could be worrying about I feel it’s just best to take it one at a time. That’s about all I can handle anyway. If I try and take on too much at once and I’ll probably just end up screwing it all up. Alex gets out here tomorrow from Portland and I’m super excited to see my buddy. Keeping my fingers crossed that Champ gets out of the shop in time to hit the road. I’m really looking forward to seeing my friends that I’ve made along my travels this summer. Honestly, I don’t know how long I can do this. I’m gonna find out though. It’s funny, I’m sitting here taking about how home used to be the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s seems like those tables have turned. Being on the road playing music has become light that just might save me from going insane. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

I wouldn't change a thing.

A lot has changed this year. Around the world and also inside myself. I'm sitting here thinking about where I was a year ago and the adventure I was about to have. The amazing sunrises and sunsets to be seen. The little towns along the way that turned a trip into a journey. All the wonderful people I would meet and call new friends. The excitement of not knowing and sometimes not caring. The freedom to roll with whatever life throws your way, good or bad, and be able to greet either with a smile. From sleeping on a roll of insulation living out of a basement of a bar in Brooklyn to having a room with an actual bed in the most picturesque town I've ever laid eyes on. From holding baby puppies in Kentucky to holding baby goats in Maine. Taking on new jobs and learning new life long skills. Wheels catching fire in Tennessee and long quiet peaceful drives for what seemed like eternity. Singing my heart out night after night on stages all over this whole country. The conversations with Alex on the tailgate of my truck after a good nights done. Conversations that make friends become brothers. The feeling of making it happen for yourself no matter what it takes. Knowing at the end of the day that you tried as best you could. I'm sitting here thinking about where I was and who I was before all this last year and I can honestly say that I am a better man because of it. Welcoming this next year with open arms.

[ikefonseca]

I'll take the long way home.

January 13 seems so long ago now. Much like my brief time back home in Portland in May. Out of the last 200 days I've been on the road for 175 of them. Weeks blur into months, into years for me now. Today is the last day of this tour. We are ending it here in the Detroit area. Alex, who had been on the road with me since May 27 will be flying back home to Oregon. It has been great having him out here with me these last two months. I think he's actually kept me sane. Touring by myself can definitely make me a little crazy and I don't think I can afford to get any crazier. It's nice to have a friend that challenges me musically as well. We both now share the same dream and are both willing to do what it takes to achieve the goals set in front of us. This life definitely isn't for everyone and it can make or break a person pretty fast if you're not prepared for an ever changing road. For him to come out of this run still optimistic brings a little smile to my face. He's taking the quick way home, I however am not. Not that I don't miss my family and friends back home, it's just that my travels aren't over quite just yet. I've decided to head to northern Michigan from here, far away from much of anything and spend a little time with my thoughts and a pen. I've got so many new experiences from my travels that I would like to get onto paper. Whether it ends up being new music, a book or just memories to keep for myself, who knows. So many wonderful people and new friends I've made across this whole country. The things I've gotten to experience through music is so far beyond gratifying. I want to say thank you to anyone who has ever took a chance on me, come out to a show, shared the stage with me, booked me blindly, bought a cd or shirt just because you know it helps us get down the road, gave us a safe place to park for the night, gave us a hot shower, cooked us a meal, told a friend about us, follows along with our travels and supports what I do. Thank you a million times over. Nothing but love for the people in my life. As this tour ends I am excited to see what lies ahead. To my friends and family back home in Oregon, I'll see you in October!

[ikefonseca]

The Journey to Lobster Town

It was about 1 am on Thursday in Portland Maine. We had found a quiet place next to a park where we could fly under the radar and camp for the night. We had just finished playing a two hour set to about 6 people in an empty bar in town. It wasn't the bars fault nor ours either, the streets were a ghost town on this particular Thursday. The only thing making noise were the seagulls that were scavenging the dimly lit streets of downtown. We were grateful that the bar had booked us so last minute and gave us a chance to play. We were just a little disappointed that there was no money to be made, as we were quickly running out. We had also received a message earlier that evening that our show were were hoping to play tomorrow evening had now been canceled. There was a near by swing set about 50 feet away from were the truck was parked. I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I had sat on a swing. Minus our future dilemmas it was actually a very good day. I kept on reminding myself that as a swing back and forth in the middle of the night. Somehow, when that ocean breeze ran across my tired back as I was flying through the air, none of my tomorrows worries mattered anymore and I knew it was going to be ok. At day break we found ourselves motivated once again. It was Friday morning and we had a fresh 24 hours to make it work. We had about 30 dollars left to our name and no show booked. Our plan was to head up to Yarmouth about 15 minutes north of Portland and do a little busking at their big Clam Festival. So we made our way and freshened up at a gas station at the edge of town. We spent the afternoon playing and had made a little money. While Alex was playing I had made a call to the gig that got cancelled and had talked him into booking us for the night. He had explained to me that he had been a little nervous about having us because they've never had live music before and didn't know what to expect. Which was totally understandable. We stopped by there mid afternoon to meet and chat with him. It was a small bar with a patio in front that looked on the main turn around for the parking at the festival. I knew right away that this was going to be a great night. The energy that the owner and staff put out was very welcoming. He told us that if we came back a little early he would treat us to dinner and drinks as well. I just kept thinking to myself that two hours ago we had almost no money and no gig. He told us about a great spot by the water to relax for the rest of the afternoon and I'm so glad we followed his advice. This place was tucked away on an island about 10 minutes from town. It was absolutely beautiful. We joked with each other that we find the best green rooms. A local girl named Ana showed us some hidden spots beneath the seaweed where the crabs and starfish were living. We also met and older couple that were there taking in the view as well. They were asking us about our travels as it was apparently obvious that we were not locals. We told them about our cross country adventures in different cities. We told them we had really been looking forward to coming to Maine because neither of us had been here before. Our goal was to come to Maine and eat lobster. We had been talking about doing just that the whole tour. But since we didn't make any money the night before we couldn't really afford to do lobster. The couple told us that we couldn't come all the way to Maine and not get lobster. That's just unacceptable. The lady reached into her bag and pulled out forty dollars and handed it to us and told us to get a lobster dinner tomorrow. We were both blown away. Did that really just happen? We graciously accepted the offer. I was so taken back by that random act of kindness. There are good people everywhere and I'm so glad we met Dale and his wife on that little beach tucked away from everything. We went back to the bar we were playing at and took them up on that dinner! The bar was called WOODHULL and I'm just going to tell you right now, damn good food. I'm not sure if it was a mixture of their fresh ingredients or the fact that I've been living on the road touring for the better part of 6 months but I was in heaven. I was actually sad when the meal ended. The sun was starting to go down and that means it was time for us to get to work. They had us set up outside under the lights of their new patio. Tables were full and people had actually come out for the live music. What a good feeling. We played for about two hours and had a great time. The owners at WOODHULL Seth and Katie couldn't have treated us better and made us feel so welcomed. We were honored to be their fist live music at their bar. Afterward the owner Seth had some friends there and were celebrating his birthday at midnight. So of course shots were had. We got to talking with a couple at another table and told them about our crazy day we've had. We told them that we were finally going to get our Maine lobster tomorrow! He asked us were we were going to go. I told him that we'd probably just find some place along the way. He shut down that plan immediately. He told us if we wanted the true Maine experience that we'd had to cook them ourselves. So he invited us over to his house for a lobster cook out. So the next morning we went and hand picked our lobsters and went to their house for a cookout. He had also grilled some Red Hotdogs, which is apparently a Maine must do along with some seasoned steak and giant cooler full of beer. We sat down and broke bread with our new friends Chris and Helen and finally, after talking about this moment for months in the hot sweaty pickup truck driving all the way from the other side of the country through all kinds of ups and downs a tour this long can throw your way, we got our Maine lobster.

[ikefonseca]

Dubuque Iowa

We woke up this morning in a campground just outside of Dubuque Iowa. I know, I've never heard of it either but we wrestled up a show on a Tuesday night here in town and we'll take what we can get to help fill in days on our way to Louisville. We just finished a run of shows in Wisconsin and Minnesota and were mostly excited about the free showers that this campground provided. The morning was just about as pleasant as we could ask for. Hot shower, coffee and a chance to lounge a little. All in all, just about perfect. We had to do a little work on the truck before we headed out. We started to get a pretty good exhaust leak right where the tail pipe connects to the manifold. A job as simple as taking the pipe off and replacing a $3 gasket. When I was wrenching on the nut to break it loose the bolt on the manifold broke clean off. This instantly became a job that I couldn't finish. We had just made a little money but not pay a mechanic kind of money and we were quickly running out of options. I ended up calling the closest shop that was only 7 minutes up the road. I explained to him our situation and that we were in town playing music, hoping we could bring it in as soon as possible. He told me that he himself was a musician and that he could get us right in. We got to the shop and after they tried to get the remaining bit of bolt out it was clear that the only way to get it out was to take the manifold off and drill it out. It was going to run us $100 for labor which was totally understandable. The only thing is that was going to leave us with $5 left for gas. It had to be done and I'm so glad we did it because what happened completely restored my faith in humanity and left both Alex and I without words. After the job was finished the mechanic Adam asked us a little bit about our music and our travels. He asked us how long we were going to be in town and I told him we didn't have to be in Louisville until Friday and that we were trying to pick up some gigs along the way. He said he was going to make a call and see if can't help us out if we wouldn't mind staying an extra day. He called his buddy that owns a bar just up the road a ways on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi only about 10 minutes from where we stood. He lined us up a show for Wednesday night and told us that the bar owner would pay our debt if we came and played. Absolutely! We all went next door and had lunch together and then he took us on a tour of the town. Even stopping by his house and inviting us in. He took us to the bar we are playing at tomorrow night and we met with the owner and he bought us beers. I couldn't thank Adam enough for doing us this solid. He said that he plays in a few bands in town and always wanted to do what we are doing. To just get in a van and travel the country playing music. He really just wants to help us out because of his love of music and for the simple reason that we our chasing our dreams. He invited us to dinner at his house later and offered us a place to crash. Today could have gone a totally different direction and I wouldn't have thought twice about it. Hurdles happen when you're on the road and I've definitely had my fair share, but it didn't happen today. Instead we happened to run into one of the nicest people we've ever met and we are in a better place because of it. Oh also, Champ is now running like he just came off the line in '69! I know I've said this before but I'm going to say it again and again. I feel truly blessed that I can live this life of mine and cross paths with so many wonderful people in this world. Huge thank you to Adam and TJ at A and B Automotive in Dubuque Iowa. Cheers to the open road!

[ikefonseca]

Nevada City and the Hangover Sessions.

We woke up on Thursday morning in Medford and headed to California. It was a gorgeous day and relaxing drive. Our second show was in Nevada City California up in the hills on your way to Reno. The bar we played is a pretty fun place right in the middle of their downtown area. They had an art walk happening that afternoon so Alex and I did a little exploring. When we ended up back at the truck we flipped down the tailgate in the parking lot and finished writing a new song. We took the stage first and I'm not gonna lie, it felt real good. We even got some folks dancing by the second song. I'm definitely glad we booked a few shows before San Francisco to give us a chance to find our stride. Between beers with friends and bar games the night started to get away from us. We had to get up first thing in morning and head to Yuba City and record a new record. So of course we stay out drinking whiskey as late as possible. We eventually got back to the truck and fell asleep immediately. Champ has now become a two bedroom apartment. Alex is staying in the guest room (on the bench seat in the cab) this summer and I still have the master suite (truck bed). This right now, these are the stories that I will tell when I'm old and grey. How one day I looked at that man in the mirror and said I'm worthy of chasing my own dreams, hopped in an old pickup truck with a bag of clothes and a guitar, drove coast to coast and back again singing songs and living this life to its fullest. The next morning we headed down the hill back to Yuba City. My good friend Ryan wanted to record a little something with us in his studio while we were in town. It's safe to say Alex and I were feeling a little rough this morning. We were basically being held together by coffee at this point. I'm glad that touring as much as I do I get to see friends frequently on the road. Always a great time when Ryan and I get together. I get to hang out with my friends AND we get to make a great new record? Ok. After I tracked the guitars for the new song I started to loosen up a little. It might have had a little to do with the handle of Evan Williams we started drinking but yeah, I was definitely feeling a little more relaxed. The songs were sounding great and we were on a roll. We broke for dinner and watched some UFC fights down the street at a wing place. I didn't realize exactly how relaxed I was until stepping out into public. I had been steadily drinking cups of whiskey in a small room with no windows for about 6 hours. After some food and all the water I was back on my feet. When we got back to the studio it had felt like a day had passed. I'm not sure exactly how late we went but we finished up the new tunes for an upcoming record and couldn't be more grateful to Ryan Bridges for giving us an opportunity to make that happen. After we got done recording our songs we let the tape roll and recorded until the wee hours and that whiskey was damn near gone. Who know what else we got on tape that night. Absolutely great day with great friends. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Medford

Here we go again. My time home went so quick and it's already time to leave. Leaving always messes with me a little, no matter how excited I am to go. This time will be a little different though. I'll have my friend and band mate with me on this journey. I left Thursday morning and picked up Alex at his house. Alex plays mandolin and harmonica with me and I'm super excited that he's coming with this tour. This is his first long run and his energy is getting me feeling like it's mine as well. Spirits are high and it's time to blow town. Champ is purring and ready to take that coast to coast journey again. It was a beautiful drive all the way down to Medford. My friend left us her keys and let us stay at her place while we were passing through. She's the best. We took advantage of the few hours of down time we had before the show and regrouped a little. Meaning, drinking some cold beers that had been on ice the whole way down. We got to the club right as it was opening. Medford is a fun place to play but it's never really crazy busy. I like playing Johnny B's in Medford because the owners are absolutely great people that just love live music. They do their best to help out traveling bands as often as possible. There's a lot places out there that could give two shits about you or your music and some that just straight up try and rip you off. So it's always refreshing to feel welcome and no matter what size the crowd, it's always a fun night. The opening band was a three piece blues rock band from Northern California. They did great. Local News played second and they killed it. I've played with them before and I was super impressed by how much they have grown as a band. I played a set and then Alex closed it down with a solo set. The owner even joined Alex with his standup bass he keeps in the his office. Everyone that came had a great time. I'd say it was a pretty good start to this journey. When we got back to the house we talked a bit over some cold beers to about what we can work on and how we can improve our set. To me this was one of the best parts of the day. To have someone with me to bounce ideas with. To be able to share the experience with a friend. How do we do better tomorrow? How do we make this the best show we can? Well, we're gonna find out. To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Here we go again.

As quick as a flash. That's what these last four weeks home have felt like. It felt like just a few days ago that I was speeding home down the Gorge counting down the minutes until I was finally off the road. Burnt out and exhausted. Now it's 1:30 in the morning and in 7 hours I will leave to do it all again. Each trip seems longer than the last with each homecoming getting shorter and shorter. I absolutely value my time home spent with my family and my friends. I also know that both encourage me to continue this adventure. The departure used to scare me to death. Nerves? I've definitely still got em but now I almost look forward to those nerves. I think it's because I know that I'm getting ready to challenge myself. I really do love this life of mine and the people I choose to keep in it. Champ is all rested up and ready to lead the way. I want to say thank you to everyone. Especially to my family. My father, mother and brother Ruben. They are the most important people in my life. To my friends here at home in Portland it was great to see you. I will miss you and see you in the fall. Have a great summer. To all my friends across the map, get those dancing shoes ready because I'm coming for ya! To be continued...

[ikefonseca]

Party for one

Sometimes life hits you in waves. At least that's how I like to think of it. It doesn't matter if they're big or small. It's just some days you know how to ride them better than others. I left Lexington early in the morning and I think it was the combination of little sleep and the drinks from the night before but it had quickly become apparent that my body and mind were not ready to start the day yet. I drove down the road about an hour before pulling over and hitting the reset button. It was only about 9 am and I was in zero hurry to be anywhere. Those extra couple of hours were a life saver. When I woke again it was pouring down rain so I decided to spend the late morning into the early afternoon bundled up in my bed watching a movie. When I finally got going again I stopped in this small town. It only had one main road that I could see. I had talked to the owners of the bed and breakfast here about playing this evening but never got a definite answer from them and now they had become impossible to get a hold of. Oh well, on to the next town. Now my day was wide open, so I just kept on driving. I was slowing making my way south to Nashville but had time on my side. I hit up some more small towns along the way to break up the drive. This one town I stopped at in Kentucky was made up of about 8 antique stores and one restaurant. I spent a good part of my afternoon checking out all the hidden treasures these stores had to offer. Antique stores have become one of my favorite things. You never know what you're going to find. It's interesting to see the difference between shops across the country. These stores were full of great finds. I felt like having myself a good sit down meal after and checked out the only restaurant in this small town. Now I actually have no problem eating alone but I do find funny how hostesses react occasionally when they ask how many in your party and you say one. She looked at me blankly and just replied "oh" and then rechecked her chart. Now mind you this is a very open family style restaurant and it's a Friday night but not crowed. She said ok I think I've got something for you follow me. She then lead to this tiny table way in the back far away from everything else that was going on. It was secluded, only viewable from the swinging door to the kitchen. I don't know why I thought it was so funny but I did. Every time a worker would come out of the kitchen they would unintentionally give me this weird look as if they were shocked to see someone finally sitting in this section. I do believe that my server also forgot a few times that I was back there. Funny shit. After dinner I ended up in Bowling Green Kentucky. I decided to keep solo date night rolling and treat myself to a movie. I went and saw the new CHIPS movie at the local theater in town. Pretty funny and had a great time. It was getting late after it let out and I found a safe place to park for the night. So let's see here...slept in bundled up in bed, went antique shopping, went out to dinner and then to the theatre for a movie. I might be the best girlfriend I've ever had. Haha. To be continued...