Well folks we did it.
I don't know how to fully express how much I loved doing this. I cannot believe how amazing it was. We started strong and hit major cities in a few days, then got down south and slloowweedd down. But it was well worth it. We each fell in love with the south for a different reason. When we went our different ways it was so strange. Living with two other people in close quarters for two weeks is a heck of an experience, and especially driving 3000 miles around the country playing music with your best friends. Nothing compares. We all became such good friends because of music and something like this just makes us all shine. We all learned different things. We all had our own experience. And we all for sure can't wait to do it again. Thank you all so much for reading and sharing this trip with us. We're glad we were able to entertain you!
If you have an idea, run with it! Look where it got us!
Safe travels,
~Ryan
Sunday, January 22, 2012
White Plains, NY
Driving, driving, and more and more driving.
Non-stop through the night put us in perfect timing to get to NY in the early afternoon. We made only a few stops on the way to stretch our legs, but nonetheless we made it. Our manager Doug put us up for the night, and got us a gig at a place called The Bayou. But as soon as we got to his house we all fell asleep for a few hours. We woke up, ate delicious Ziti, and headed to the show! The Bayou was a really cool place. small stage but big names have come through! It looks like the used to have a festival every year and Taj Majal, G Love, Parliament Funk, and more were all there at one point! We played a fun set of all ECC originals, with Rye Whiskey (originally by Pete Seeger, and another version by Dave Matthews) thrown in the mix. Some Cajun food was our payment and boy was it good! Spicy! After the show, Hank left for home, and in my opinion it was so weird! It was the first time in two weeks that it wasn't all of us.
The next day Erik and I set off for New Hampshire. Where we all started.
~Ryan
Non-stop through the night put us in perfect timing to get to NY in the early afternoon. We made only a few stops on the way to stretch our legs, but nonetheless we made it. Our manager Doug put us up for the night, and got us a gig at a place called The Bayou. But as soon as we got to his house we all fell asleep for a few hours. We woke up, ate delicious Ziti, and headed to the show! The Bayou was a really cool place. small stage but big names have come through! It looks like the used to have a festival every year and Taj Majal, G Love, Parliament Funk, and more were all there at one point! We played a fun set of all ECC originals, with Rye Whiskey (originally by Pete Seeger, and another version by Dave Matthews) thrown in the mix. Some Cajun food was our payment and boy was it good! Spicy! After the show, Hank left for home, and in my opinion it was so weird! It was the first time in two weeks that it wasn't all of us.
The next day Erik and I set off for New Hampshire. Where we all started.
~Ryan
Sparta, TN
What a place!
We arrived on a cold, sunny afternoon to meet Erik's cousins, who has never met. That night we were playing a show at the bar they run called My Place. First we got the grand tour of the area. We stopped at the river where everyone hangs out at over the summer, and the stories they had made it seem like a world of fun! Driving trucks up and down and across the river, BBQing in the middle of it, hoo wee! They then took us to High Rock, which is this overlook where you can see 8 counties and we think about 80 miles out. Simply stunning. After a delicious home cooked meal, we headed to the bar to set up. The show began and everyone started having a lot of fun! We made our way through the book of cover songs, playing some good ol' favorites. We had a guest singing up there with us named Randy, who was singing loud, jamming out, and making sure we were on beat! 1, 2, 3, 4!! Some good friends were made that night, all people who really enjoyed our music. Butch Bower even sang "House of the Rising Sun" for us and asked us to play at his 63rd birthday party! Overall is was such a fun night that I'm sure none of us will forget.
As soon as we were packed up and off stage, the 15 hour drive to White Plains, NY began. See you up North!
Views from High Rock
~Ryan
We arrived on a cold, sunny afternoon to meet Erik's cousins, who has never met. That night we were playing a show at the bar they run called My Place. First we got the grand tour of the area. We stopped at the river where everyone hangs out at over the summer, and the stories they had made it seem like a world of fun! Driving trucks up and down and across the river, BBQing in the middle of it, hoo wee! They then took us to High Rock, which is this overlook where you can see 8 counties and we think about 80 miles out. Simply stunning. After a delicious home cooked meal, we headed to the bar to set up. The show began and everyone started having a lot of fun! We made our way through the book of cover songs, playing some good ol' favorites. We had a guest singing up there with us named Randy, who was singing loud, jamming out, and making sure we were on beat! 1, 2, 3, 4!! Some good friends were made that night, all people who really enjoyed our music. Butch Bower even sang "House of the Rising Sun" for us and asked us to play at his 63rd birthday party! Overall is was such a fun night that I'm sure none of us will forget.
As soon as we were packed up and off stage, the 15 hour drive to White Plains, NY began. See you up North!
~Ryan
Friday, January 20, 2012
Nashville!
Hey There Folks!!
major apologies for the lack of posts. We've been so caught up in this trip!
We last left you on the way to Nashville. Once we arrived in the Music City, we were warmly welcomed and exhausted! The next day brought rain, rain, and more rain, so leaving the instruments behind we decided to be tourists for the day! We went to the Frisk Art Museum for a special free day, and then check out Broadway, the classic touristy, dixie swag road. Hank bought himself some nice cowboy boots. We visited Jack's Bar-B-Q, which is the place to stop and eat if you are anywhere near Nashville. The Country Music Hall Of Fame was next, and in my opinion the best part of the day. Hank and I were drooling over the instruments used by some of our favorites like Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, and many more.
More tourist fun happened the next day in even more rain and even a tornado warning. We called it a day a bit earlier. A lovely breakfast at the Loveless Cafe near Franklin, TN, kept us full the entire day.
On to Sparta!!
~Ryan
major apologies for the lack of posts. We've been so caught up in this trip!
We last left you on the way to Nashville. Once we arrived in the Music City, we were warmly welcomed and exhausted! The next day brought rain, rain, and more rain, so leaving the instruments behind we decided to be tourists for the day! We went to the Frisk Art Museum for a special free day, and then check out Broadway, the classic touristy, dixie swag road. Hank bought himself some nice cowboy boots. We visited Jack's Bar-B-Q, which is the place to stop and eat if you are anywhere near Nashville. The Country Music Hall Of Fame was next, and in my opinion the best part of the day. Hank and I were drooling over the instruments used by some of our favorites like Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, and many more.
More tourist fun happened the next day in even more rain and even a tornado warning. We called it a day a bit earlier. A lovely breakfast at the Loveless Cafe near Franklin, TN, kept us full the entire day.
On to Sparta!!
~Ryan
Sunday, January 15, 2012
We'll miss you Asheville!
Hey Folks!
Wow, is there a place that's better than Ashevlle? The answer is no if you were wondering.
We concluded our amazing stay here at Possum Splendor for a house concert, which turned out to be an amazing night! We opened the show and everyone was digging our sound. Mark from To All My Dear Friends followed us with his looping violin/guitar epicness. Check him out if you can! After him was Occupy Beatles, the house Beatles cover band who were awesome as well. Hank and I jumped in on the song "Don't Pass Me By" in a bluegrass style. Loads of fun, solos were passed around between about 6 people. Then it snowed!! It was just a fantastic night. I love this place!
Big shoutout to Mike, Steve, Linda, Fox, Duke, and Mark for making our stay here great!
Off to Nashville!
~Ryan
Wow, is there a place that's better than Ashevlle? The answer is no if you were wondering.
We concluded our amazing stay here at Possum Splendor for a house concert, which turned out to be an amazing night! We opened the show and everyone was digging our sound. Mark from To All My Dear Friends followed us with his looping violin/guitar epicness. Check him out if you can! After him was Occupy Beatles, the house Beatles cover band who were awesome as well. Hank and I jumped in on the song "Don't Pass Me By" in a bluegrass style. Loads of fun, solos were passed around between about 6 people. Then it snowed!! It was just a fantastic night. I love this place!
Big shoutout to Mike, Steve, Linda, Fox, Duke, and Mark for making our stay here great!
Off to Nashville!
~Ryan
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Newspaper
One of the other solid signs leading to our decision to stay in Asheville longer was a newspaper editor that filmed us busking, and later revealed we were going to be in the weekly newspaper/on the corresponding website. Because Asheville is known for its music scene, they have a section in their newspaper titled, "Busk Break" which features busking artists on the streets of the city. Click Here to view the newspaper article!
~Erik
~Erik
Hooooooweeeeee
Asheville! This has by far been the best stop we've made yet. Survey says we'd all love to move here and play music. Where to start with this post.... well the southern hospitality surely exists! Each of our hosts below the mason dixon line has been more generous than one could ever imagine. People on the street, people in shops - all of them have been friendly, and receptive even to travelers. Within an hour of busking in Asheville the signs were clear that we would need to spend more time in this place! Not only did we make out well, a wonderful woman working at the nearby chocolate store came out with 5 hot chocolates (which tasted like pure melted morsels) and claimed, "You guys have been making my day! I've been listening to you for the past hour and its just great! I wanted to make sure you guys stayed warm!" That was incredible...then came sign two: a man named Duke, "Where you fellas from?" (NH/PA). "How long you in town for?" (Not sure, only until tomorrow really). "Aw thats too bad, we've got this thing on Saturday that I'd love it if you played for us. You'd just be working for tips though." (Our long response to that). Sign three: We were invited to play at a party that very same night! All in all Asheville is incredible, but I don't want to kill you with this novel of a post so we'll bring more to ya soon!
~Erik
~Erik
Change of plans 1
Baltimore consisted of eating followed by getting rained on. Wahoo. We the reloacted to DC where we figured we would be able to find more success and stay dry in the subways. The outcome however was a little different: We took on more water, made $1, but mate a slew of really cool people and were able to meet up with other friends of ours. All this has been said below, but I wanted to give the full brief considering DC was never on our list. I really loved Baltimore, and DC was eh, but the trip itself was great. DC has beautiful metro stations and all of the monuments spoke for themselves. Everyone seemed to have more of an agenda than New Yorkers (surprised me!), but one cannot help but feel the importance of our country and its government when you're downtown. It was another culture all its own, another learning experience notch in the belt of knowledge.
~Erik
~Erik
Apologies!
Foremost I would like to apologize for our lack of update and connectedness to our blogging community! As we left Baltimore we ended up losing our connection from internet. BUT! we are alive and kicking in Greenville South Carolina, and a few days of blogging are coming you way all at once! First..a back track video from Philly:
~Erik
~Erik
Friday, January 13, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Goodnight DC!
Hey There Folks!!
So today was pretty interesting.
We had first planned to stay near Baltimore and play around the Inner Harbor, after some walking around in a light drizzle and eating a nice footlong sub, we made the game day decision to head to Washington DC. We also decided to drive through the night and see the sun rise in Asheville, NC. Our day in DC was a lot of fun, even though we didn't play very long and we only got $1 from a nice man as we were starting the first song of the day. We have discovered for ourselves that this town isn't the most favorable place for busking. It was a nice relaxing day. We navigated the Metro system, and walked around the beautiful city of Washington DC in the rain. As of right now we are sitting in an amazing little gourmet food and coffee shop relaxing until they close. From there we will leave the city, aim for I-81 South and Hank will take us all the way to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Videos will be up in a few hours from the road! so stay tuned!
~Ryan
So today was pretty interesting.
We had first planned to stay near Baltimore and play around the Inner Harbor, after some walking around in a light drizzle and eating a nice footlong sub, we made the game day decision to head to Washington DC. We also decided to drive through the night and see the sun rise in Asheville, NC. Our day in DC was a lot of fun, even though we didn't play very long and we only got $1 from a nice man as we were starting the first song of the day. We have discovered for ourselves that this town isn't the most favorable place for busking. It was a nice relaxing day. We navigated the Metro system, and walked around the beautiful city of Washington DC in the rain. As of right now we are sitting in an amazing little gourmet food and coffee shop relaxing until they close. From there we will leave the city, aim for I-81 South and Hank will take us all the way to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Videos will be up in a few hours from the road! so stay tuned!
~Ryan
Farewell Philadelphia
I just want to say that Philly was a blast!
A big thank you to my good friends James and Sasha for giving us food and a place to sleep!
See y'all in DC
- Ryan
A big thank you to my good friends James and Sasha for giving us food and a place to sleep!
See y'all in DC
- Ryan
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
See ya NYC, Hello Philly
Philly was great today, much more success than we expected. Our joke was that it lived up its name, "the city of brotherly love." A few highlights included learning how to properly order an authentic Philly Cheese Steak, exploring another fast paced culture, but nothing comes close to the moments. Each day and city has provided at least one memorable moment. Today while playing in the park, a mother pulled up her carriage next to us, allowing the baby to watch. He wasn't wearing a smile to begin with, but he started to get pulled into the music as he looked back from Hank, to Ryan, and back to me. Each time one of us smiled at the small bundle of life, he would stretch an enormous grin across his face that we could only return once again. It was another beautiful moment in life. Tomorrow is Baltimore/DC neither of which I've ever seen! As any trip tends to be - this has been soulfully enriching.
 |
| Lonely Lost Balloons |
Philly Hospitality
That my friends is a big bowl of Mac and cheese! (after 4 people at some already)
Stay tuned for some good videos of our day!
-Ryan
Stay tuned for some good videos of our day!
-Ryan
I (Giant Heart) New York
We got into Manhattan around 2pm yesterday, found a place to park, found a bite to eat, and finally found a place to set up. Our first spot foreshadowed an unpromising NYC, but we thought it may just be poor timing - everyone was at work! We went about the town for a little while; we found the 1% that wasn't too cold to stay, the rest of wall street, and where they were rebuilding the world trade center. We headed back down to the subway for rush hour where me made most of our loot a few new friends. That brought us to about 6:30pm when we called it a night, packed up and moved philly bound. New York was a blast! I'm not sure what the other cities will hold, but if this thing keeps up that way it has we should be sitting pretty (and eating lots of barbecue). Much love and rock steady! See you in philly!
~Erik
~Erik
Meeting New People
We had been busking in the subway for about an hour when we met one of the most memorable characters of the journey thus far. She started by watching before she moved to dancing a little and clapping her hands. At one point she was even singing along! As we finished up a song, we started talking to this woman who wanted to show us what she could play. After her jam, she continued to gather fans and have a good ol' time. Let me tell you - we had a blast right with her, thanks very much subway woman!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)