the mighty mystiqueros did 5,000 miles, 15 states, 19 gigs in 22 days in june, and i could have stayed on the road a while longer, i was having such a great time playing for new faces, and making new friends out there. there were so many highlights, and so many cool gigs – the rochester jazz festival & nyc & d.c. & bowman’s in atlanta & the bluebird stand out for me at this moment, but the best part was the folks we got to see & hang & play music with, all along the way. patterson barrett played with us at the 1st gig in houston & the last one in nashville. billy’s old friend lou mondelli played percussion with us in charlotte & made us better, as did mike daly & brian langlinais & danny shirley & jon byrd in nashville. monty russell in ruston, brother jimmy davis in memphis. damn, we’re lucky. and the friends: billy’s colleague bob doyle in atlanta treated us like kings. art bowman hosts a house concert in atlanta that has a sterling reputation with traveling folks like us & we found out why. gary anderson & chris thomas in chattanooga – great gifts & we weren’t ready to leave. homemade kolaches in greenville, s.c. by my friend barry ray. brian deal in charlotte, who’s a texan in spirit. a beautiful dude. and the staff at ommengang brewery. we wanted to live there. at the brewery. dwayne at sportsmen’s taver in buffalo. wish we had a weekly gig there. and then: gary & christy colvin in western new york - hosted us with a party at their home, with bar-b-que & wiffle ball & laundry & friends…what a day! and H & ted at the mansion in d.c….wow. possibly the coolest place i’ve ever hung out. everywhere we went, we had a great time & met great new folks. to be a mystiquero means being on a circus train of cool pickers & poets & great big hearts, and we thank each of you who made our trip so deeply satisfying and so worthwhile. if we saw you up &/or over there, come visit us in texas (when it cools off a bit). and to texas: always good to be home, with our homefolks, and luckenbach on the 4th felt like the last great gig on this beautiful trip……
gracias gracias gracias.
-WW
