These American Times

The show in Lubbock was an unexpected success. After the van died we didn't think we would make it there at all, but thanks to Mr. Wolf we arrived in time, and in high spirits. The show was at a coffee shop called Sugar Browns Cafe. A small little place. From the outside it looked like the kind of place I might avoid. Although Lubbock seems to generally look that way to me. We got our gear set up and waited for show time. By the time we stared, the cafe was full. I thought they must have been there because it was there regular hang, but when we started playing every person in the room was quiet and looking at us and smiling. I was shocked. The longer we played the longer the line got and everyone was started joining in on the energy of the room. The vibe was perfect. We played an acoustic set which I was somewhat dreading, but it was perfect for the room and for my energy.

I've found that it doesn't matter what you're playing or where, but it can never be the same. A musician must seek out the energy of the moment with a focused intensity, and sit in its' pocket. That takes skill and constant effort every second that you play. Another approach may be to create your own energy that is appealing to the audience and invite them into it, but this will never be the same, or as satisfying to the group as the former. This night seemed a perfect example for this.

After the show a friend of a friend there whom we didn't know, lent us his apartment for the night, even though he was out of town. This fell inline with the theme of the day. Strangers reaching out to help us. We hung out with a group of people from the show, laughed and talked, and then headed there for some sleep.

The next morning I began calling every number I could find looking for a vehicle to rent to get us back to Dallas. There was nothing available. Nothing that could tow a trailer and be returned in a different city. David's Dad had offered to drive his Jeep Commander from Houston to dallas for us to use for the rest of the tour, so we just needed to get to it. A friend named Richard offered to drive us and our trailer to Abilene. It only took one call and Bill Spellman volunteered to drive the Jeep to Abilene to meet us.

On the way to Abilene we stopped back through Snyder to clean out the van and put it in a safe place. Mr. Wolf offered to let me leave it in his field until I can figure out what to do with it, so there it sits.

7 hours later we were back in Dallas, with a new and able vehicle ready for the next leg of our Journey. I'm humbled by the events that took place to get us there. I'm humbled by the generosity of everyone we interacted with. Thank you to James Wolf, Richard, Bill, David's Dad, the guy that lent us his apartment, and everyone who made Lubbock such a great night for us.

After a burgers and beer at The Old Monk, and a nights rest at Joel's apartment we were off to Florence, AL.

I had expected that in this digital age keeping up with this blog would be a piece of cake on the road. I was wrong. Finding internet and time to sit and reflect has been nearly impossible. I've been too busy taking in the sites, chasing sleep, hauling gear, and getting to know new people that I haven't had the time or energy to update.

This makes me sad because the heart of this tour was intended to be communication, not only with the people at the shows but with the people who have been interested in what we're doing. Today I have some sleep in me (5 hours or so) and some time to sit, so I'm going to make a few posts and give you an overview of the last week.

I'm grieved to report that we've lost a member of the These American Times family. Our Van bit the dust today in Snyder, TX.

When we pulled into Snyder on our way to Lubbock we started to hear a faint rattle like distant tambourine. We pulled it over, popped the hood and looked curiously at the mess of parts. We looked at each other realizing that none of knew anything about car mechanics and popping the hood was pretty pointless. We decided to give her a rest and continue on. About a mile down the road the tambourine sound grew louder. I looked out of the side mirror and saw billows of white smoke behind us. Not a good thing. We stopped - and didn't start again.

We called a mechanic who towed the van to the shop, took one look and said, "Ya, you're screwed."  They said it needs a new motor which will cost more than I paid for the van to start with, which means that tomorrow we will be dropping it off in the junk yard. We'll take a moment of silence and move on. The van man be done, but we're not. 

I'm deeply sad to leave her behind. I bonded with that van - which was dubbed Van Halen. She tried hard to carry us where we needed to go, and kept us comfortable and cool - for a whole 2 days. She didn't make it far but she died well.

We set out on an adventure and one is unfolding perfectly as if it were planned.

So the van is in Snyder, and we're in Lubbock. We happened to break down in front of the house of James Wolf. A man we didn't know but who turned out to be a saint. He helped us while we tried to figure out what to do, and offered to hook up our trailer to his truck and drive us to Lubbock so we could make our show tonight. Thank you James for the help and good conversation.

We played City Tavern in Dallas, TX. It was an amazing night. The City Tavern is a great pub. If you're in the area you need to visit. You walk in and feel like nothing outside of the pub matters much anymore.

The night was a blissful blur full of laughing, smiling, yelling, drinking, singing, huging, and playing music. Exactly what a show at a bar should be, exactly what we set out on the road to find.

When we got there they told us that we could eat for free, and drink for free as long as we drank Pabst. I was more than fine with that. That's a good bar. The night started out great, but it got increasingly better as it progressed. As the night went on people got happier and started having  more and more fun - maybe it was the beer - but I think it was something more. There was excitement and energy in the air. By the end of my set people were standing up dancing and laughing. On my last song I said "this song is called Texas." and the whole room let out a cheer. The weren't cheering because of the song, cause no one had heard it before, they were cheering because they were having a fantastic time It was a good excuse to let out a yell. The night was already primed for a good howl, we just needed something in common to howl about, and it just took one word, "Texas".

We stayed the night at the Adolphus Hotel, just around the corner - a gorgeous hotel. It looked like it came right out of the 50's. Plush, everything was made of wood and beautiful fabric. We stumbled in around 3:00 AM and crashed hard. Thanks to Lenny for putting us up.

A friend took video of the entire night. You can find a couple of them below, but the rest is on youtube under the tag theseamericantimes.

On our way to Lubbock a new story was waiting. I'll bring you up to speed on that shortly....

Good morning everyone. We're headed out of Dallas on our way to  Lubbock. Thoughts on last night coming soon.... it was a riot.

I'm sitting at the table in my kitchen thinking about what I have left to do before tomorrow. Tomorrow is a big day. Tomorrow is August 13th, 2009. Tomorrow, me and 3 others will begin an adventure. And that's the best way to put it. We are creating a journey that has no real direction or purpose other than our stabs at responsibility. And those are laughable at best. 

When I was 8 or so my best friend and I decided we would build a tunnel under my parent's front yard. A tunnel to where? That thought never entered my mind. For what purpose? That's irrelevant. We were going to build a fucking tunnel.

Tomorrow we will build a tunnel.

Chasing your dreams is like remembering your childhood games and asking adult questions of them. It makes no sense. But I'm convinced that the things really worth pursuing are the ones that make no sense to reason. Being a musician, or an artist of most any discipline, is really about chasing ridiculous dreams. It's about leaping off a cliff with 100 to one odds because you have no other choice. I've been fighting this urge since I left my parents house. So I bought a van, and planned a tour. A 1994 15 passenger van who's likelihood to break down increases with every additional mile it strains to achieve. But I can't help but keep thinking, what better way to travel the country?

This feels like a milestone. I don't know that we'll reach the first city on our list, but even if we don't, I'm still getting in that van and letting out a primal howl like Max.

I hope you will keep up with us on our website, and join in on our adventure. Join us for drinks and good times if you're in the cities we're visiting. Talk on your blogs and in your kitchens about doing things the things that seem inconceivable. These American Times is about hope. Feel that hope with us.

Last night we kicked off the tour at Momo's in Austin, TX. It was one of the best night's I've had in recent memory and I'm proud to have been a part of it. Not only was it one of the best shows I've played personally, but it was one of the best shows I've been to in a long long time. A night full of good people, sucking the marrow out of a Friday night, and a group of musicians performing their art truthfully and whole-heartedly.

Thanks to everyone involved last night. Thanks to Momo's for having the best, staff, sound, drink prices, and patio in town. I can't wait to get back.

A special thanks to Aaron Ivey and Philip Ellis for playing this show with us, and for all their hard work leading up to it.

The Lineup

• Lindsay Rae Spurlock (http://www.myspace.com/lindsayraespurlock)
• Paul Banks (http://www.myspace.com/paulbanks)
• David Ramirez (http://www.myspace.com/davidramirez)
• Matt McCloskey (http://www.listentomatt.com)
• Jarrod Dickenson (http://www.jarroddickenson.com/)

And a video from the night. If you have any media from any of the artists, send it to us!

When we first conceived of this tour I wrote David the following email. It sums up what this thing is all about and it has become our mission statement not only for this tour, but for our music careers as a whole.

David,

Music seems to have lost the charm that I deduce it had in the beginning days of rock n’ roll, the days of our parents' youth. In the beginning, it wasn’t about the music, or the band. It was about a common fight, a common discord, a common man to stick it to, a community of people after the same thing.

And when I say “rock n’ roll,” I mean any music that is meant to move people - to speak truth.

We need to get back to a time when music was about having a good time. We need to go to shows not because of the band playing, but because we know it will be a good time. Live music should be a part of the good time, not the whole. It should be the instigator, the host. The party requires more than that. We as musicians are throwers of parties. We must rally people not around ourselves, but rather around something bigger than ourselves. I want people to come to my show and have a great time, to remember the people there and the party they had before they remember anything I did.

It’s not about the pictures and the records and the branding, the look and clout. It’s about that moment when an artist gets onstage and does something he's never done before and will never duplicate. It’s about the moment when someone in the audience lets go and decides to have a great night. It’s about feeling, and discovering.

“These American Times” is about showing people that a show can be about more than the musician. It’s about revitalizing the live music scene by throwing great parties. It’s about caring less about ourselves and whether or not people like us, and more about whether or not people are enjoying themselves. It’s about sharing this call with other bands, artists, booking agents, club owners, managers and musicians of all kinds around the United States.

I want to bring community and excitement back to music. That’s why rock n’ roll is so great. Because it’s supposed to be about more.

So how do we do this? I don’t know. It starts with getting out there and acting less like musicians and more like people looking for a good time. We need to preach the gospel of rock n’ roll, which has always been about the most important things - the truth.

We’re going to survey the state of the club and venue scene in America and start changing it. We’re going to get people to love music again. Not the shit on the radio, but the stuff that happens in a bar with a group of hacks trying to figure out who they are. Cause that’s where the good juice is. That’s where it always has been. Zeppelin in a high school gym. Tom Petty in a hillbilly field. A bunch of bands in a field near Woodstock, New York.

- Matt