Tour and Beard Journal (Day 2)
Andy Ingram
Two shows down and both have been good and fun. Last night we played Buzzbin Art + Music Shop in downtown Canton. Buzzbin is what you expect in a dive bar but it is a very welcoming one with a long traditon of hosting some very good bands. We played as part of another complimentary line-up, headlined by Quiet Hollers from Louisville, KY. They were a tour-tested alt-country band who had some very good songs, especially "Liar Song". Across the Viaduct hosted the show with their poppy punkiness. We then stayed at Steven Turner's house who subsequently recorded us in his studio until 4 AM (I bailed at 3). Ian filmed the session. So expect a live video of the unreleased "Pep Talk" soon. Steven made us sound really good.
Now on to what everyone has been waiting for, the Tour Beard Journal. There is a scene in Wes Anderson's debut film "Bottle Rocket" where one of the main characters, Anthony (Luke Wilson), is innocently and alternately touching his face and that of his new, non-English speaking girlfriend Ines. "Sandpaper. Silk. Sandpaper. Silk" is what he was repeating and trying to get her to understand.
My face and beard is in the sandpaper stage. And it's the cheap stuff with enough of a grain to be annoying but not enough to actually get any work done. This is the point in my life where previously I would bail on the mission and shave. I am a man of my word though (sometimes) and I am holding out for eight more days. It occured to me this morning though that this hairied committment may go one of two ways. 1) I may never shave again, basking in new found freedom. Maybe even explore moving to a nudist colony. Or 2) I become one of those "shave everything every other day" kind of men. I hope I land in the middle but this is a very big mission and the outcome and the consequences are unknown at this point. Stay tuned.
Oh, we are on our way to Pittsburgh today. We play a metal show. The Florals are a pop band. Add that up and come to your own conclusion. I may take some bets as to how long it takes for some progressive metal kid to figure out that I don't know how to play scales. I'm not afraid of confrontation (actually yes I very much am).