So my recent string of shows kicked off in August with a pretty fantastic roadtrip to NOLA (New Orleans, LA for the non-hip *smiles*) to see Death Cab For Cutie. There are a few things what would make an adventure such as this Amazing. The obvious two are NOLA, which I am absolutely in love with, and Death Cab. I mean my last band, So Much Closer, took its name from a Death Cab song. For those that never knew that, here is a video of Transatlanticism where the name came from.
The other reason would be my roadtrip companions. As you would expect, Stephanie was there, but we were joined by Julie and Kelly. I am not quite sure how I ended up on a roadtrip with 3 girls or why none of their significant others seemed to mind. I guess I am “that” guy. I can hear the discussions at home, “But it’s just Eric.” “Oh, well then in that case you have my blessing.” In the end, I’d rather be “that” guy than the guy that you don’t trust your girl around because he is super smarmy, and you never know when he is gonna cross the line.
Five days after the roadtrip, So Much Closer was playing its last show at Old Rock House. It was bitter sweet for sure. I loved So Much Closer, loved the originality of our sound, our diversity, and had a blast gigging with the guys, but sometimes things just have to end.
The next morning I was on a plane to California to see Amos Lee. In truth I was going to see my mom, but Amos and the desire to avoid holiday travel were the catalysts. I had decided early on that I was not going to travel over the holidays this year. Without a doubt it is the worst time to go anywhere, the airports are insane, everyone is on edge, weather is always a factor, and you miss out on two of the most chill weeks at work. Unless you work at the Post Office, UPS, FedEx, or some other delivery service, no one does shit around the holidays. But what do we do? We sacrifice a couple weeks of catch-up and decompression to fight crowds, screaming babies, lost grandparents, longing lovers, and home-bound college kids all trying to get to the tree together, to unwrap shiny new things together. Well not me, not this year. I am going to breathe deep and think fondly of the time I got to spend with my family, while nuking a microwave meal (that is a lie, one of my amazing friends will have me over for dinner).
My love of music definitely comes from my mom, and while our tastes are not exactly alike, we both share an affinity for soulful artists, and there are few that are doing it better than Amos Lee. When I was putting together my mom’s iPod, Amos was the first artist I added. She has been a fan ever since. To be able to take her to a show at Humphrey’s, to get the amazing suite, dinner, and concert package, felt great. After all she did for me growing up, her continued sacrifice to raise two kids by herself, to play mother and father and warden when necessary, to deal with the bullshit of two bad kids (and trust me Twyla and I were not saints), I love that I am in a place now where I can do for her.
In a weird turn of events, Mom ended up coming back to Missouri with me, and since it was LouFest weekend, well she got to live the rockstar life; we’ll call it Rockstar Life Light. I was definitely conscious of not staying out too late, no after parties, etc., but we stayed on the move and had a great time at LouFest. My favorite moments of the festival were QuestLove’s set and Ume’s set.
Since Mom has been back in Cali, I have lost track of the shows I have gone to. I know there was Larkin Poe at the Old Rock House, AUCW at the Firebird, The Features and Robert Cray at Old Rock House, and Controlled Fires at the Luna Lounge, but I think there were more. Let’s just say I have been staying busy, and I have no complaints about that.
Since I haven’t been doing much writing outside of my #MicroPoetry, I wanted to give you a little gem I came across while cleaning out my iTunes. Here is me covering “Home” by Michael Buble. I totally forgot I recorded this. Enjoy!
Home by Buble covered by Eric Ketzer by SoMuchCloser
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