Our second trip to Hill Country NYC didn’t disappoint. We were treated well, the BBQ is still pretty darn good and we had a really nice crowd. A before show walk around the block allowed my to snap a pic of the nearby flat iron building. It’s always fun for me to get back to NYC for a day or 2. I really appreciate how much time I spent as a young person there, learning my way around. It comes in handy.

We were back on the road the following morning, stopping at the airport to drop off WW so he could fly to a one night gig in Houston and then heading down to DC. Back home to the Mansion. I truly love it here and will refrain from rambling on about it. Let’s just say I feel quite at home. It was Marcus’s first time at the hotel, so we spent some time exploring and watching the amazed look on his face and then the three of us headed out to a pick up gig at Kybecca Wine Bar in Fredericksberg, VA. I don’t think they get a lot of experienced touring artists at Kybecca. Upon entering we were kind of assaulted and a bit put off by head chef and co-owner Kyle’s attitude and list of do’s and don’ts. We were also told that the microphone and stand that were supposed to be there, had walked off. Something it would have been nice to know yesterday! Being Mystiqueros and professionals, we weathered the storm long enough to start playing a few songs and by the end of the 3rd tune we had the place won over. It was a bit stressful at first, but it all worked out and we had a really fine meal there as well.

It’s a treat to be in the same city for a few days, especially one I like as much as DC, and Ray chose a great spot for lunch the next day. Panos Gourmet Empanadas. It reminds my of a Chipoltle or something. You order at the counter and then take your food, but what food it is. we tried as many different types of empanadas as we could manage, but for me the stand out was the Chipoltle Steak. Really well seasoned, tender steak inside a perfectly baked shell. Along with their spicy Aji sauce and a really nice mixed green salad, we were all fat, happy and ready for our show at the new Hill Country BBQ location in DC.

They might still be working a few kinks out in the new DC Hill Country, but all in all it’s a great place. The staff was excellent to work with, the BBQ pretty consistent with NYC and it was packed! Our show was packed with people. It was a really fun night and we let our hair down a bit. The stage doesn’t sound quite as good as the NYC location and I got some complaints about the front of house sound, but the production staff is doing a fine job and with a little support and a couple of adjustments to the stage and the gear, they’ll have a great sounding little room. Our last full band electric show of the summer tour went swimmingly and I’m already looking forward to coming back.

We pulled into Cooperstown still reeling a bit from the beauty of the drive down highway 28 south from the NY Thruway. Lush and green valleys. Picturesque farms, beautiful homes, and a little lake that made me want to stop and jump in. Main street in Cooperstown was packed with families enjoying Father’s Day baseball getaways. Did I mention that we got scheduled to sing at the Hall of Fame Classic that day? We did alright. They had passes the game and lanyards to get us on to the field when we got there.

I got to watch one of my favorite all time ball players take the mound in the first 2 innings. Goose Gossage. When I was 12 he was a big part of the 1978 Yankees World Series winning team. I wanted to pitch just like him. It was really cool to see him out there again. And of course no game is complete without a hotdog, so with dog in hand we watched the first 2 innings and then I headed back to the car to change clothes and get ready for our 5th inning stretch song.

As we stood in the tunnel waiting to go out to the field, hall of fame ball players were passing by and the excitement began to mount in all of us. We took the field at home plate and sang “God Bless America” in all of our Mystiquero 4 part harmonic glory. The crowd went crazy and my heart was beating so fast when we got back into the tunnel I couldn’t stand still and Ray, Mertis and I took off for the nearest bar to celebrate our singing victory.

We all met up for an early dinner, where I had a really fine knockwurst sandwich with bacon and a homemade spicy relish, sow more beers and a recap of the days fun. After a good night’s rest, a visit to the Hall of Fame and a bit of shopping, we headed out to the Ommagang Brewery for our Monday Happy Hour show. What a beautiful place. The first thing we were told upon arriving was that it looked like we were each missing a beer. We were treated very well and played a nice set on the new patio behind the cafe at the Brewery. Surrounded by forested hills the sun went down and I think we all knew we found yet another new home in upstate NY. So now it’s on to Pennsylvania and then up to NYC ……  se ya there

MQ’s at the ballpark:

I was shocked at the crowd for both our sets. The tent was full for the first pretty well full for the second. We were revved up and ready to play. WW, Ray Mertis, Brian Tina and I delivered two real good sets of music, at least they felt good to me, the crowed yelled for encores. I’m pretty certain we made a whole bunch of new fans. Shows like that make the whole trip worth it and I hope to asked back again next year.

Thank you to everyone at the Abilene and at the festival. I’ll be carrying that one in my heart for a long time.

As we were leaving Tennessee, we had a late breakfast/early lunch at Cracker Barrel and they offered some granola pancakes that were pretty awesome. The only thing better that morning were Danny Shirley’s stories. That guy is a great story teller. It’s a good thing I ate a big hearty breakfast, cause our drive ended up being a bit longer than expected and by the time we arrived, played our show and got somewhere to eat it was 11 pm. That’s not a good thing for me to do and I was so hungry I could barely read the menu at the sports bar we ended up in. So I ordered a burger. It was some special Carolina thing. Blackened with slaw on it I think. I wasn’t very excited about it to be honest and as my food arrived I watched WW receive his order of a chicken and vegetable stir fry with rice. I was so jealous I almost couldn’t eat! I didn’t even see that on the menu! I got out ordered. I felt like I needed something good for me and I got a burger. It may have been a great burger, but I wouldn’t have known.

With the exception of the fine homemade Kolaches that WW’s buddy Barry Ray made for us, the whole next day I ate salads. Big salads with fish on them. One with ahi tuna and one with salmon. Both really good. I ate the second one, the salmon, in an Irish pub in Winston Salem, NC as I watched WW and friend eat fish and chips. I stole a few fries, but satisfied myself that I was doing the right thing eating a salad. It was pretty good and not at all what I expected in a pub.

Eating in Charlotte was all about home cookin. I got some time to visit with one of my oldest friends and musical mentors, Lou Mondelli. Lou sat in with us at Puckett’s and had me over to the house to visit with the family for a bit and I was treated to sausage and peppers like only my old friends from NJ and NY can make. It was wonderful.

After our run through the Carolina’s, WW and I had a day off to make as many miles as we could between Charlotte and Buffalo. We decided that Pittsburg would be a good place to stop and I used my considerable Priceline skills to get us a really nice hotel for our destination. We decided to stop for lunch just inside of West Virginia and as we were turning into a hilly driveway leading to the Cracker Barrel we figured would offer the most “real” food we’d find, I spied a sign for a Japanese food restaurant right down the road. We made a quick u-turn and sat down in a nice little restaurant that offered WW the curry dish he’d been craving and me one of the best bento box lunched I’ve ever had. The minute my lips touched the miso soup I felt better than I had for days. The Gyoza was perfect. Hot crispy and porky. The highlight of my bento box was the hibachi grilled vegetables and although the chicken was just a little bit dry, the california roll was perfect as was the fired rice. I packed away just about every bit of my food, before I could even take a picture, and it got me all the way to Pittsburg.

Every time I say the word Pittsburg people say “Eat at Primante Brothers!” Well honestly I didn’t think we’d have time. We checked into our hotel at about 9:30 and when I asked the front desk where we could find some food, it turned out that Primante Brothers was the closest place! So we got back in the car and headed over. Since everyone was talking about the sandwiches that this place is famous for, I figured I had to go for it. Corned beef with provolone, tomatoes and french fries on fresh, soft italian bread. That’s right the fries are on the sandwich! It was good. Very good. I was wishing I had ordered pastrami instead because I think it may take a more full flavored meat to stand up to the fries in the sandwich, but all in all in was fine. WW ordered spaghetti with meatballs and it’s good to be back in a part of the world where you can get a goos marinara sauce almost anywhere.

After a big sandwich and a good night sleep it was off to meet up with Brian on the road, pick up Ray and the airport, eat at Joe’s pizza again and play the Sportsman’s Tavern in Buffalo again. It was a great day and overtime I visit the Sportsman’s I love it all the more. And Joe’s too…….

On Monday, we played the very cool Handlebar in Greenville, a city we both kinda fell in love with, on account of it has all manner of pubs, bars & restaurants downtown, a minor league field downtown, and another place where it still rains. Rain, children… I had almost forgot what it felt like.  apparently, it makes trees & flowers grow, and there are lots of those in this area.  We made new friends in Greenville, and were hosted throughout our stay by my old friend Barry Ray, who had homemade kolaches for us Tue morning.  yes, homemade. To get to Greenville from Chattanooga, we passed through the southern section of the Appalachians, a magnificent drive.

Tuesday took us up to Winston-Salem, NC, where we played The Garage, a classic live music venue that I had played with Pat Green back in the day as the kids say, back when those kids were still watching the Flintstones.  A fun night there, and my dear old music/seminary/travel compadre Tommy Swinney fixed an NC breakfast, grits, eggs, sausage. We are not losing weight on this trip.  In fact, Billy popped a button on his road-shorts today, at a gas station in West Virginia, as we made our way to Buffalo.

Today, we are joined by our fellow Mystiquadres Brian, Ray, Tina & Mertis, as we begin the 2nd leg of the journey, this time plugged in & ready to make some Rumble across New York, and down to DC.   Adventure!! Romance!! (well, for me anyway since my baby’s here for the weekend) and more local cuisine, and more new friends & old friends. As you might expect, this is fun & its good to be a Mystiquero.

-Big D

The Chatanooga Market

WW and I arrived at WSKZ in Chatanooga with a few minutes to spare for our radio appearance. WW was scheduled to play a songwriter in the round show in the Riverbend Festival that night and the radio show was part of it. We had good time on the air and shared our time with Nashville songwriter, and co-writer of “Trains I Missed”, Nicole Witt. And then we had to hustle into town so I could get ready for my show in the Chatanooga Market with Jimmy Daddy and Walt could go on to a meet and greet lunch show for the festival.

If you’re ever in Chatanooga in the spring or summer, get to the Chatanooga Market on the weekend. Filed with locally grown produce, arts, clothing and other products, the Market is environmentally focused and really cool. I’ve had my eye out for a good road food experience and I figured the Market might be a good place to find one. After getting up early and being on the run, I was pretty hungry when we got set up for our show and the closest booth to me was Good Dog hotdogs. So I went over and just got a simple old beef hotdog with mustard. Hit the spot for me and I jumped up on stage with Jimmy for the first set.

On set break I was hungry again, so I went back and asked the Good Dog folks to make me whatever they liked. I got their version of a Chicago Dog. Hot, cool, spicy and really good. It was the perfect fuel for my second set. WW came by during our last hour and joined Jimmy and I onstage. By the end of the show I was hot and worn out. A short nap at the Chatanooga Choo Choo Hotel, really…. and I was ready to rock again. We had to make our way to the Riverbend festival so we decided to go to the hotel lobby and call a cab. You’d think that that would be easy, but as it turns out the lobby was several hundred yards from our room and not at all easy to find.

We finally made it and called a cab. As we waited and sweated in the shade, we were approached by an interesting looking gentleman with a string tied around his head and a sheriff’s star on his shirt. He said he was from Iowa and stuck there in Chatanooga and that he used to roadie for Stevie Ray Vaughn and that he could sing like Elvis and on and on. It was the best homeless guy show I’ve ever had. He sang us a few lines of an Elvis tune and proclaimed that if he had a Honer blues harp it would be like teaching a man to fish, he could make a life. My favorite line was when he told us he played Mississippi style blues harp, like Arlo Guthrie!(?)

When our cab arrived we hugged and blessed eachothers day as a woman ran to the cab and said that she had call and it was her cab. So we shared put ride. We stopped at the Chatanooga projects to drop off our other traveler and then made it to the entrance of the Riverbend Festival. Of course the entrance is about a quarter mile from where we had to play, so we set off in the full heat of the day to find our stage. We arrived drenched in sweat but didn’t have to wait long to play. I sat in the back and played guitar for Walt and for our friend Liz Rose in the songwriter in the round show. As you might imagine we left the show hungry, hot, tired and wobbly. The only place we could find to eat at 11pm on a Sunday was TGI Fridays and I don’t think I’ve ever liked a Fridays as much as I liked that one. We had dinner and a beer with songwriter Jeff Black and then road in Chtanooga’s only Heavy Metal Cab back to the Chatanooga Choo Choo.

5 shows down and we’re off to South Carolina……..

House Concerts are quickly becoming some of my favorite shows to play. Always hosted by rabid music lovers, I mean who else would host musicians and a bunch of folks in there house on a regular basis, they provide one of the best environments to do what we do. The Bowman House Concert Series in Atlanta is a perfect example. Nestled in a beautiful neighborhood north east of the city, the Bowman’s house is surrounded by lush greenery and because of the mild temperatures they set us up out on their deck for the show. We had some old friends and fans show up and made some great new friends as well. WW was in fine singer songwriter style and we really hit our groove. House concerts are usually a pot luck affair and one of the dishes we were treated to was an amazing cold rice and vegetable salad out of one of the Moosewood cookbooks. It was fantastic and if I had anyway to carry it with me on the road I’d eat it everyday and be much healthier I’m sure.

We stayed with my good friend Bob Doyle and family who lived a few minutes in the right direction for us and once again the hardest part was leaving. We had to get going early again to make it to Chatanooga for a morning radio appearance. So we said goodbye to our friends and hit the road again.

We’re off. The Mystiquero summer 2001 east coast tour has begun! 18 shows, 22 days and …..  I don’t actually want to know how many miles. WW and I packed the van and headed off to Tomball, TX for our first show at Main Street Crossing. Austin musician Patterson Barrett joined joined WW and I onstage for a one hour live radio broadcast and then another hour of music. Great crowd, great beer selection and a fine way to start our trip.

We stayed with MQ guitar player number uno, Marcus Eldridge and loaded up some of his gear for the trip north. Mertis and Ray will be meeting us in Buffalo / Rochester for our shows up there and in NYC and DC. After a fine meal at Goodson’s Cafe, we headed for Ruston, LA and Monty Russell. Monty Russell is one of my favorite people and an real deal honky tonk singing dude.

We took the scenic route to Ruston and I got to see some beautiful parts of Louisiana that I’ve never seen as well as this thing I heard about called rain. We haven’t seen it in central Texas ion so long I forgot what it looked like! We pulled up to the Sundown Tavern just in time for some catfish and a beer before taking the stage. Although it was hard to tell whether some of the crowd was cheering for us or the NBA finals, there are always some fun music lovers in Ruston. As usual, we were treated to not only late night chicken and biscuits, but a fine breakfast. There’s always great food at the Russell house, including something called breakfast rice. (looks like we liked it huh?)

We head to Memphis today to meet Jimmy Davis for a show and then on to Atlanta. I’m looking forward to being back in Memphis today. So thanks Monty and all the good forks in Ruston. See ya down the road.

I know, I know it’s been awhile. I hope you jumped over to my blog at billsmallmusic.com/blog in February and March to follow my east coast adventure. I think blogging is most fun for me on the road, so get ready, cause another east coast adventure is on the way.

The MQ’s took a much needed slow down towards the first of the year and I took off for 3 weeks of travel and shows. Of course there were shows with fellow MQ’s WW, Jimmy Davis and Brian Langlinais. I love my musical family! Over the last 2 months we’ve played some really fun gigs all around our precious Texas with an ever shifting line up that includes original MQ Marcus Eldridge, Jimmy Davis, John Inmon, Corby Schaub, Kim Deschamps and Brian Langlinais and the always lovely Tina Wilkins. (who has a new record coming out soon!)

Ray and I had the pleasure of playing on tracks for the upcoming release by our young brother Mystiquero Corby Schaub, who spends his non MQ time out on the road with Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses. WW has produced a few projects already this year and we all just had a few beautiful days in the studio with Tina. Spring has been good. We could of used some more rain, but it’s been good.

As summer approaches so does our time to head out of state and expand the tribe a bit. WW and I will be heading out the second week of June playing duo shows, as well as hooking up with Jimmy Davis and Monte Russell, as we play our way thru LA, TN, GA, SC, NC, then up to Buffalo, NY to meet Ray and Marcus for a return appearance at The Sportsman’s and a headlining spot on the americana music stage at The Rochester International Jazz Festival. Then to NYC and Washington DC for shows at both Hill Country BBQ locations and also the Mansion in DC. WW and I will wrap it up with a Bluebird show in Nashville on the way home and before you know it we’ll all be tipping back a cold one at Luckenbach for the Wilkin’s Family “Live Free and Fly” 4th of July Festival. (and listening to tina’s new record!)

I’ll be blogging my way from here to Buffalo and back again, so come June check back regularly!

Until then, see you at the show!

Peace,
-El Guapo