this is the hotel room that i stayed in when i was in
wichita a couple of weeks ago...it may have been
the nastiest place i've ever slept (and that's sayin
something)....it only cost twenty dollars and when
i'm on the road i'm always trying to save a little
cash...needless to say i slept on top of the blankets

you can watch the video of the woodsongs
show that we taped at www.woodsongs.com
the staff is all volunteer and they were a lot
of fun to hang with...maybe my favorite guy
was larry....he was cool enough to drive me
around lexington and he took some photos
of the taping...i'll post them here when he
sends them to me

garrison starr was great to hang with and so
was her guitar player cary beare...we have
quite a few mutual friends....there might be
something to the whole small world theory
...garrisons songs are really good...i hope that
things go her way...it sounds like she has
some good things happening career wise
...give her website a looky look at
www.garrisonstarr.com

you may be wondering who this guy
is that i keep mentioning named
charles...his full name is charles spivey
and he's helped me out a lot...especially
this last week...he drove me from
nashville to lexington and it made my
life a whole lot easier...he's one of those
rare people that truly loves music
and wants to help folks that he digs
...if you are curious about him you
might want to check out his website
at www.thebourboncowboy.com

i'm back home in indianapolis for a few
days and then i head out to boston to
play at club passim...last week was
like walking through bizarro world...i
could get used to hangin out in
nashville...the show at the station inn
went great...i met lots of new folks
and had the pleasure of having ken
coomer sit in on drums...he played on
my latest record....it would have
made more sense for us to play the
songs that he recorded...but we
decided it would be more fun to
throw him a curveball...he hit it
out...we played "daughter of a truck
drivin man" with him to close the
set....i remember lookin off to the
side and thinkin to myself "wow!!
...that guy looks a lot like steve
earle"....it was him...it's not every
day that steve earle comes to a fellas
show..he said some nice stuff to me
afterwards and then we bitched
about bush for a short while....it
was very nice to say the least

i played a show the next day at
the basement...talk about a great
venue for acoustic music....it's very
small and very dark....the sound
was great and the crowd was into
it...very intimate setting....i was
part of a party put on by eric
babcock of catamount....eric was
the founder of checkered past
and bloodshot records and he's a
very cool guy....it was really nice
of him to let me on the bill...you
can find out more about catamount
at www.catamountco.com

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Dubya
Washington, D.C. 08.05.04

this is from a recent show that i did on nashville public
radio with grey delisle and mark erelli......this was one of
the many highlights of my trip to nashville last week

yuckin it up with mark erelli :)
markerelli.com

grey delisle warming up the room
greydelisle.com

greetings from lexington, kentucky....
i just finished playing a song on wkyt....it's
a local cbs affiliate....it was funny seeing me
next to the lovely faces of daytime tv :)...i am
always such a beautiful man in the morning

i'm getting ready to head over to the kentucky
theater to do the taping of "woodsongs old time
radio hour"....this is a great program....it's not
hard to get excited about being broadcast
over 417 stations around the world...i'm doing
the show with garrison star and i'm looking
forward to meeting her...good times!!!

i'm a little bit behind on tellin y'all about nashville
but i'll do my best to fill you in over the next
few days

i'm still in nashville....i stayed out way too late
last night at the no depression/new west
party at the mercy lounge...lots of folks
came up and said hi...it was nice meeting
people that have been digging my new record
...it was a fun party....i just crawled out of
bed and i feel like someone beat the hell
out of me with a tire tool...did anyone get
the name of that dog that shit in
my mouth last night?

i'm heading downstairs for the free continental
breakfast....hmmmmm

greetings from nashville...i feel like i should
sing a chorus of the jason and the scorchers
classic :)

file this in the "it's a small world" category...i
walked up to the counter at ear ex-tacy
last night to check in and the fella at the counter
said that he saw me play in estes colorado
last year...we have a couple of mutual friends
named tyler and laura who were getting
married in the mountains...i must have met
him there....tyler and laura just moved to
oslo norway...we were chattin about how
we both miss them and stuff...ya never know
who you are gonna run into on the road

charles arranged to let me stay in an
apartment last night...some girl who's name i
don't know let me stay in her place while she
was gone...she has a pet rabbit named rizzy that
kept me company most of the night...in case ya
ever run into a pet rabbit...they love raisins...i
fed that rabbit raisins for half the night

i just settled into the hotel room here
in nashville...but that's a whole different story

go figure...i just saw the fellas from the
silos having dinner at the same restaurant
the we were eating at...who knew?

greetings from louisville, kentucky
...i played a hank sr. tribute
at the exit inn last night in nashville....it was a show
put on by billy block...billy is one cool ass mofo....he
really knows how to throw a party and make
everyone there feel like they are the most important
part of the evening...he's also a damn fine drummer
and i was lucky enough to play a couple of songs with
him...it was a nice way to start a hectic week

i had a fellow walk up to me last night...he asked if i
remembered him and i had a hard time placing his
face...he said his name was mark miller and i
immediately remembered him....he was in a band
called the ex husbands back in the nineties...i met
him in 94 or 95 at a party in austin, texas...we
chatted on the phone off and on trying to work out
the logistics of playin a show together but it never
happened....mark is now doing his own thing in
nashville...he must have one hell of a memory
and he's an awful swell guy to hang with

we stayed out way too late chatting at a bar next
to the exit inn....i don't remember what the place
was called but it was nice and quiet...it was a good
place to sit and chat with friends...billy block and
andy moore seem to know more about
indianapolis' jazz heritage than most hoosiers...for
shame

i got up at six am this morning and headed to
louisville...i had to be on air at wfpk at 11am...mike
kenney was cool enough to drive me up here on his
way back to Indy (mike met nick Lowe last night so
his head was in the stars)...I made it with only a
couple of minutes left to spare and the on air
thing went well...My buddy Charles spoof came by
and picked me up and took me over to his place so
that I could chill out for a while...He's the fellow that
set everything up today...Yah gotta love charles he's
good people and he gets stuff done...i'm doing an in
store at a cool indie record store called ear-extacy
at 6pm and then i have to head over to air devils at
9pm and do a show...too much stuff for one day?...no
way...gotta take your swings when ya can

i just found out that the silos are in town tonight but
i'm doubtful that i'll be able to make it...i dig me
some silos

i'll be heading back to nashville in the morning...looks
like a busy weekend for me

worlds largest van gogh goodland, ks...needless to say this is a reproduction

grave of mother jones in mount olive, illinois

about 35 miles east of dodge city i came across a field full of metal sculptures...most of them were bashing the government...the guy seemed to have an equal hatred for bush and clinton....most of the sculptures were made out of old road signs and had moveable parts that spun around like windmills....i think that the name of the town was mullinville, kansas

this is an abandoned cafe in genoa, colorado

i'm gonna do my best to post some photos from
my travels....i'm a sucker for roadside stuff...here
are a few from last weeks trip out west

portrait of the artist as a young kitty

this is the kitty in search of a name...she likes sleeping
in empty cd boxes

deanblossom was fun as usual and the lafayette
brewing company show was wonderful...i hope
to return to the brewing company sometime
soon...the crowd was very polite and attentive
and they were nice enough to laugh at my bad
jokes.....we all need that every now and then

i'm back home for a couple of days but not
for long...i'm getting ready to head over to
a friends house....he's the fella that
played upright bass on my latest record
...he has an annual bluegrass pickin party
that he calls "deanblossom"...it's always a
good time....i'll only be able to stay for a couple of
hours and then i'm gonna have to drive up
to lafayette indiana to play a show...i'm
playing with indie legends "the vulgar
boatmen"...if ya haven't heard them you
should do yourself a favor and check them
out

i'm tired of being in the car but it's part of the
deal when you are a musician....i love traveling
but it gets a little rough sometimes when you
are doing all of the driving by yourself...traveling
four or five hundred miles in one day and then
playing that night wears on a fella...i'm not
complaining or crying...i'm just trying to let
y'all inside my world a little bit....it's not easy
to be completely honest on a public forum
like this but i realize that it might make for
more interesting reading if i open up a bit
....so there

the cat is still without a name

greetings from kansas city....the show at davies last
night was awesome...the crowd was small but the
folks that were there made me feel great....i met
some fellow wobblies and some folks in a cool band
called "gaslight"....the place is the epitome of a rock
and roll bar...i can't wait to go back

i'm getting ready to make the drive to columbia, mo
....i'm playin at the music cafe tonight....it should
be a good time...and then i get to head home for a
couple of days

greetings from wichita, kansas....have you
ever tried garlic salad....if you haven't you
need to....it's like home-made cole slaw with
a ton of garlic in it....there is a root beer
stand here in wichita called the"nu-way"...they
claim to be the only place in the world that
serves it and brother it's worth the trip...there
is a lady that has worked there for 50 years
and i think i'm in love with her :)

i'm waiting to head over to john barleycorns
to play some songs...wichita is a pretty swell
city...i like it much more than dodge city...i'm
getting a little homesick but i do love my
travels...i just miss the folks back home

the folks on tv said that bush got special
favors from his billionaire daddies friends
to stay out of vietnam .....ya think?

greetings from dodge city kansas....i've been on
the road for the last week or so and i've been
having a blast...i played in fairplay colorado
this weekend at the "south park music
festival"...it may have been the most fun that
i've ever had at a festival...fairplay is a tiny town
in the rocky mountains....the people that live there
are some of the most genuinely friendly folks
that you'll ever meet....and they love music....every
musician that i talked to claimed to have had a great
time as well....i can't wait to do it all over again

we met a really cool fella that took us fly fishing
yesterday...we were somewhere near leadville all
nestled between the mountains...we fished a little
pond next to the arkansas river...needless to say
...it was a good day to be us

the cat is still without a name