11/18/89
We played in Durham, New Hampshire last night. Our van broke down so we almost didn’t go, but the Driveways gave us a lift. The Driveways are incredibly nice people and were also fun to talk to. Their drummer Carl is this total goofball maniac guy who writes amazing songs…he did a solo set first. Our set was lethargic, but I kept dedicating songs to Lisa Suckdog. This weird dude interviewed us for the school paper and wouldn’t ask Freda any questions (Jules didn’t participate). Then when she started saying what the fuck is up he said “You don’t like me and you don’t like this club…” All the while we were locked in a room with him. He also started practically frothing at the mouth saying “I always get typos! Always typos with my articles! Well, NO MORE!” Really crazy. We did a new song of mine, Downtime, and I think it went over well. Sounded massive.
12/2
We played last night at CBGB and the night before at the Pyramid Club. CBs was kinda rough. We followed a horrible mainstream guitar wank band that bussed fans in from Philly and opened for these speedfreaks Birdland who stormed offstage after only 1.5 songs. The Pyramid set was tight and we played the disco part of the club so a lot of the people were there to dance and had a hard time doing so to our music. I think we won some fans, though – especially this old black guy in a knit cap and hiking boots who kept grabbing my foot and making a fist and saying “Right on, man!” They had a Velvets cover band (that sucked) and cross-dressing men dancing on the bar. By 4 a.m. I was pretty sick of it so I went to the van and listened to Crescent by the Coltrane Quartet.
Playlist:
Stooges ‘Fun House’
Nirvana ‘Bleach’
Spacemen 3 ‘Sound of Confusion’
Lotsa Coltrane
12/4/89 – Virginia en route to North Carolina
The cold is like a festering wound. It was 12 degrees last night and it is still fucking cold even this far south. We are listening to the book on tape called Vanna Speaks about Vanna White, chock full of amazing lines such as “I’m a real life Barbie Doll, and Pat Sajack is Ken…we’re JUST like Ken and Barbie!” and “I’d like to do a Woody Allen film, that’s my ultimate goal.” People in Philly are amazingly nice and receptive; we also played pretty well. I talked with a guy named Steve from a band called Napalm Sunday or maybe it was Napalm Sundae. I feel the cold in the marrow of my bones and in the pit of my gut! We stayed at Strohm HQ in D.C., they gave us quite a hassle at the door.
“greens and butter beans” – Freda
Driving from Philly we heard Kind Of Blue and I decided that Bill Evans is Godhead, right up there with Coltrane. I think it was Flamenco Sketches specifically that sent shivers down my spine. The Miles Sextet in that phase is like the Best Band ever assembled (save for the Bill Evans Trio with Paul Motian and Scott Lafaro and maybe the pre-Bowie Stooges). Oh and also the Cale-Tucker-Morrison-Reed era of Velvets, but I digress. Reading This Boy’s Life, a memoir by Tobias Wolfe.
12/5/89
The sun is just beginning to set over I85 near the S. Carolina/Georgia border – it hurts my eyes to look up but I keep doing it to take in the beautiful yellow/orange glow cast over everything. North Carolina was relaxing and pleasant. Jay Faires (head of Mammoth) took us out to dinner and we didn’t have to talk business at all. Steve Balcom (Mammoth label manager) showed us some recent press and it made me feel pretty psyched.
Playlist:
Fugazi ‘Margin Walker’
Bill Evans and Jim Hall ‘Intermodulation’
Joni Mitchell ‘Clouds’
12/7/89
Athens GA did not disappoint. Tuesday night we played the 40-Watt. We played an hour and two encores. It felt a little lackluster because Juliana is getting a cold. The staff at the 40-Watt are as nice as any club people I’ve met. The sound guy kept offering Juliana various cold remedies including slugs of brandy (which she declined – she never drinks and in fact none of us are drinking at all on this tour). Wednesday we drove to Sparta to a junk store and I bought some shitkickin’ boots and some hats. Freda got these amazing red cowboy boots, which she’s wearing with pride.
The drive was beautiful – kudzu winding in and out of lush forests and fields with hay bales all stripped bare from the first frost. We watched Wiseblood then I went with Rudu’s (friend Michael Wegner) cousin Ramone to shoot pool an see a Kevin Kinney/Peter Buck/Howe Gelb acoustic set. The next morning we went to the Bluebird Cafe for biscuits and grits and now we are traveling to Atlanta for a show with Giant Sand and Poi Dog Pondering. Rudu was an excellent host once again, offering to pay for everything (including stamps), cooking us meals, etc.
12/16/89
We hit some shitty weather from Atlanta to Chapel Hill that hasn’t let up. After all this I’ve found that I don’t mind winter so much when I’m traveling and not in my routine. It makes everything seem more vital and intense. Sort or like the oppressive heat on our non-air conditioned Lemonheads tour summer of ’88.
Quick rundown: Atlanta was rainy and depressing, Juliana very sick by that time and quite grumpy. Freda and I went to the High Museum for the Art from Berlin exhibit and the McWilliams photography show. The audience at the Cotton Club was polite but reserved, and I threw my back out. It hurt for 3 days! Our friend Walter gave me some codeine because I couldn’t move, and we stayed in his luxurious house in Little 5 Points. Giant Sand was amazing – Howe Gelb is the sweetest dude, and Poi Dog impressed me though I heard most of their set through the dressing room wall since I was flat on my back.
We arrived in Chapel Hill in a blizzard of snow sleet and freezing rain and bitter fucking cold wind. Played Cat’s Cradle to an OK crowd with The Popes, a really fucking happy sounding pop band that makes us sound like early Swans. We then fell into Steve Balcom’s loving arms (not literally) and crashed into a shallow, dreamless sleep. The Raleigh show was kind of rough…Juliana could barely sing and I broke a string. It was a nice few days, though….Steve is the best and very well-loved by everyone he works with in NC.
Charlottesville VA was possibly the best showoff the tour – our record has had heavy airplay on the UVA station and the record store pushed it like mad. Also it helped there was no cover charge. The promoter, Thane, was a wonderful man who treated us incredibly well – fed us, paid in advance, then got us a free hotel room. The club was run by this uptight little bearded guy who paced around muttering complaints and bitching to the sound guy to turn it down. I guess he expected a folk act or some shit. Anyway I’d say only about 2/3 of the people in the full club had any idea who we were, but we played 1 1/2 hours, every song we knew.
D.C. was also nice. We supported Alex Chilton at the 9:30 Club, full and well-received. Our friend from last year Holly Meyers came out, and so did this guy Patrick from Chapel Hill, who stayed with us. It was fun to meet Alex. He wanted to talk about astrology so that was unexpected. The following night we were supposed to play with Bullet Lavolta and Gibson Brothers but BL cancelled. Freda’s brother Zirk came out and so did Phil Morrison from our booking agency. I loaned Jon Spencer my amp and he thanked me about 6 times, but in a way that seemed like one would apologize for throwing a rock through the neighbor’s window, kind of too sincere and staring at the ground.
We’re heading back to Boston now, feeling good about the album (Earwig). Jay says major labels are interested, Warner Brothers and Columbia specifically. I’m hoping for WB because they make great cartoons and also I’ve heard they know how to develop a band. Anyway, maybe that means it’ll be easier to pay the rent in 1990, who knows. I have $100 in my pocket and so do Juliana and Freda, so that beats losing money like we did on the last couple tours.
John P. Strohm 