Words from Jon (Archive June 2002)

okay, a lot has happened since last time i checked in ...


our record, looks like up, came out in october ... great response so far ... a lot of nice press, many radio appearances and spins, and a bunch of cool gigs ...


we played up at the lakeside lounge in alphabet city soon after our record release party ... it was our first trip to new york since 9/11 ... skyline looked pretty lonesome ... and you could see the lights shining around ground zero all the way from jersey ... we had our usual share of laughs (bill bought this snack at a korean grocery store before we headed home... i swear, it was a bag of dog biscuits ... yet, he ate the whole thing!)...


but the city (understandably) had a strange vibe ... compressed? ... depressed? ... i dunno ... new york always seems weird to me (though i lived there for 4 years) ... but this was something different ... in november, we went up to reading and played the brass lantern with our label mates, frog holler ... these guys kick ass ... in addition to being a great band with great songs (darren, their frontman, is an ace songwriter), frog holler has been extremely supportive of john train (more on that later!) and we appreciate it ... frog holler is very popular up in reading (and all over the east coast) so the brass lantern was packed ... it was a blast ...


we also popped down to the d.c. area in november to share the stage with my dear friend, peter stone brown ... peter and i became friends years ago over our obsession with all things dylan ... peter is an accomplished songwriter and it was fun to play a show with him ... it was at a place called "jammin' java" ... in a strip mall somewhere in virginia ... bizarre little joint but my mother and sister brought out all their friends and their friends' friends and we ended up selling a bunch of discs ... the new year saw us travel to holland with frog holler ... the rest of this note will concern our adventures over there ...


february 11, 2002: meet the holler at the airport ... somehow get thru security ... my bag is filled with needles and syringes (no, i'm not a rock'n'roll junkie ... though that would be more romantic ... i am, rather, a type 1 diabetic) but i don't get hassled at all ... bill, however, -- the most innocent looking of the bunch -- gets stopped and searched at every point along the way ... must be the vegetables he carries around ... back when he smoked and ate meat, he woulda passed right through ... trip is otherwise uneventful ... steve, josh (bass player with the holler), and i crack up on the airplane trying to remember the words to thorogood's rap in "one bourbon, one scotch, and one beer" ... i try to catch some zzz's but for some reason the stewardess keeps waking me up and telling me that i am not allowed to stretch out in the back of the plane ... so i sit up and listen to mickey newbury's new album ("long road home") for the rest of the ride ...


february 12, 2002: arrive in amsterdam and immediately head to leidendorp where we will be staying our first night ... the hotel is called "ibis" which is apparently the equivalent of a motel six ... bill and i make the mistake of eating in the hotel restaurant ... mike and steve opt on the golden arches ... charitably, i would compare leidendorp to essington or jersey city ... not much going on ... later that night we play our first gig in leiden proper ... strange place called "Q-bus" ... gig goes well (they all did!) ... promoter orders us domino's pizza ... food in holland is, well, let's put it this way: you don't go to holland for its cuisine ... later that night, mike and steve are harassed by english soccer hooligans in the hotel lobby ...


february 13, 2002: head south to venlo ... play an amazing record store there called "sounds" ... i end up spending most of my travelling money ... they've got a fantastic r'n'b section and i am able to track down records by eddie hinton, james carr, and william bell that i haven't been able to get at home (by the way, if you don't have any records by these guys, get some immediately!) ... after the instore we walk around venlo ... cool little town ... i eat a herring sandwich and get offered heroin by an arab ... that night we play at a place called "the gaz station" ... after our set, i wander around the town (helden) looking for a payphone ... not a soul in sight ... that specials' tune "ghost town" is buzzing around my head ... find a phone and call my wife ...


february 14, 2002: more relaxing day ... we don't have to travel ... listen to my new cds in the lounge of our bed and breakfast ... nice place but no (or low) heat ... good thing i've got my dad's old leather jacket ... that night we play in a barn in a town called "heeze" ... mellow but receptive audience ... scrappy from the holler joins us on drums for "worried man blues" ... woody guthrie rolls over in grave ...


february 15, 2002: i am designated as the wake-up call guy ... i wander into what i believe to be one of the frog holler rooms ... in an obnoxious (is there any other kind?) english accent, i say "time to get up little frog holler boys" ... much to my horror, it turns out that i have entered the wrong room which i realize as the proprietor and his wife peek up over their sheets to look at me and my erroneously delivered wake-up call ... i quickly retreat ... breakfast is somewhat strained ... we head up to amsterdam for our gig at maloe melo ... we get their early to play at record store called "plaatboef" ... another cool place ... and they let us each pick a cd for free in return for our playing ... i get a prefab sprout record that is unavailable in the u.s. ... not a good choice, it turns out ... after our gig, bill, steve and i head down to the red light district ... i get too close to one hooker's window and she comes out to hawk her wares ... bill and steve giggle like school girls as i beat a nervous retreat ... later that night i sleep under my dad's leather jacket on the floor of jan from lazy sunday dream, a dutch alt.country band of great notoreity ... jan is a fantastic host with a great cd collection ... but he doesn't have much heat ... i wake up at 4am and warm myself over the space heater in the main room ... steve wakes up and looks at me rubbing my hands and shivering ...


february 16, 2002: we head to the northern corner of holland to play a town called "assen" ... no joke ... stay in a weird ski lodge type hotel ... at the gig that night, i am approached by a drunk dutch woman ... her tongue is wine stained and slurring its words ... she points to a soldier who, according to her, "took her virginity" and then never called back ... "i was in love with him," she adds ... she asks me if i have "an american girlfriend" and i show her my left hand which includes a wedding ring on the appropriate finger ... she doesn't get it and thinks i am holding out my five fingers to somehow indicate that i have five girlfriends ... "you must be strong ... five girlfriends ... so much work" ... to which i reply,"and that's only counting the ones i keep inside" ... this is enough to frighten her away and she soon starts jack jawing steve ... i am relieved and head back to the hotel ... bill proves to be quite the porn jockey and we drift off to sleep listening to the subtle moans of a woman with a pitch fork ...


february 17, 2002: head all the way south for our last gig ... another unusual venue called jan van cep's country home ... they have a trading post on location ... i buy brandon a little leather bracelet ... that night we head back to the ibis in leidendorp


february 18, 2002: homeward bound ... bill again is hassled in the airport ... a band called "piebald" is on our flight ... they look exhausted ... we look amused ... the trip was a ball ... thanks so much to frog holler for having us along ... they are a riot and a great bunch of guys ...


since our return, we've played a bunch of live radio things including a spot with the legendary vin scelsa on WFUV in NYC ... matt cappy (just off the road with jill scott) joined us for that gig and will also be joining us for our premiere at the BOTTOMLINE in greenwich village on june 22 ... the show is sponsered by 'FUV ... though we can't seem to get arrested in our hometown of philadelphia, we seem to be reaching radio waves all over the country ... soon we hope to visit your hometown ...


savin' it for ireland,

jon

june '02

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Images and tour dates from the Netherlands tour with Frog Holler
February 2002

Netherlands Shows February 2002

2002.02.12: Q-bus, Uiterstegracht 142 Leiden52

2002.02.13: februari: The Gaz Station, Raadhuisplein 7, Helden-Panningen.

2002.02.13: Afternoon instore Sounds, Parade 66, Venlo

2002.02.14: februari: Poppodium Heezel/De Hooizolder, Kapelstraat 36 Heeze.

2002.02.15: Maloe Melo, Lijnbaansgracht163, Amsterdam. Phone: 0031-20-4204592 Afternoon Instore: Plaatboef Rozengracht 40, Amsterdam

2002.02.16: Cafe De Witte Bal, Singelpassage 1, Assen.

2002.02.17: Country Home 'Jan van de Cep', Hoofdstraat 11, Amstenrade.