The Great Upstate

I can’t really think of a better way to start a visit to upstate NY than pizza and beer. We met the boys at our friends the Colvin’s house when we all arrived outside of Rochester on Thursday night. I awoke to Mystiqueros sprawled all over the house. What must the neighbors think of the long haired middle aged shirtless guys unloading and repacking mini vans in the driveway! Once we were packed up again we headed into Rochester for a visit with Scott Regan on his radio show “Open Tunings” on WRUR. I’m not sure he quite knew what to think when 6 of us piled into his control room, but we sure had a good time and heard back later from listeners back home in Texas and beyond.

The weather was beautiful and we finally got to play the Abilene Bar outside under the stars. That was the plan the very first time we came up here but it rained. It couldn’t have been more beautiful. The patio was packed with folks and it felt great to

Main Street brodge over the Genesee River, Rochester NY June 2012

have all the boys together rocking out. If I hadn’t managed to trip over a step and fall down on my way out the back gate, the evening would have been perfect…..  don’t worry the only permanent damage done was to my pride

As usual, the Colvin’s treated us to an afternoon of food, beer and fun the next day including the quickly becoming annual wiffle ball game. WW’s team won the day and we headed to Buffalo and the Sportsman’s Tavern. Still and always one of my favorite places. However the pizza joint I always talk about when we play the Sportsman’s was CLOSED! We got saved by No.1 Chinese, right down the street. A little family run hole in the wall with fast fresh tasting food. The interior renovations at the Tavern are pretty much complete and it’s now about twice the size it was when we played out first show here. The crowd in Buffalo is always warm and welcoming and I hope to be coming back here for a long time.

The big surprise of the weekend was The Linda in Albany. Ensconced in an old bank building, the WAMC Performing Arts Center was a new venue and a new city for us and I was hoping that 10 people would show up. We ended up with 50 or so attentive listeners and played a more “songwriter” show that the previous 2 rocking nights. It was sweet and cool. Former Austinite Michael Eck opened the show and we made some new fans and friends. We also got to see the state capital of NY which, after growing up just 4 hours away, I had never seen. Everyone is looking forward to our visit to Cooperstown Baseball heaven and another weekend in Upstate NY comes to a successful end.