Photo credit: Jacob Blickenstaff
Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
We’ve got a Sprinter van with about 250k miles on it. One time the turbo died on the interstate just south of Macon, GA on our way to a gig in Florida. Had to call a cab to pick up the guys in the band and bring them to a rental car place on a nearby military base so they could drive the rest of the way. Meanwhile Page and I waited in the hot summer sun for a tow truck to take the van and us on a 250 mile journey to St. Augustine. It was an old tow truck that almost broke down on the way… That was a long day. We made it to the gig and started on time!
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
It’s pretty difficult to eat cheaply AND healthy on a tour, so you have to alternate between the two or settle for a compromise. It’s always a good idea to load up on good snacks and fruit at a co-op when you have the chance.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I don’t really break strings on my electric guitar, so sometimes I forget to change them! It’s practically free!
Where do you rehearse?
Lately we’ve been rehearsing in Page’s basement where we recorded a lot of the new record. There’s a fireplace, so it’s cozy in the winter and it sounds great.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I don’t remember the very first one, but one of the early songs I wrote was called “Sad Day to Be You” — “Today is a sad day to be you, I’m not sorry that we’re through, You broke my heart, dear, Now we’re apart, dear, and today is a sad day to be you” — it was a classic country weeper.
Describe your first gig.
I had only been playing guitar for a year… I was 19 and singing folk songs in the style of Bob Dylan. Some musicians in town snuck me in to play a show at a bar even though I was under 21. I played right before Spider John Koerner, a local folk music hero, at a small bar in Minneapolis. He had been signed to Elektra back in the 60’s and was a part of the Newport Folk Fest scene and all that. It was my first time getting to see him play, so it was very cool for me.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
The last “real” job I had was doing some carpentry about 10 years ago.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
It went down, then up a little, then down again, but it looks like it might swing up soon. I figure it will keep doing that.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
It always works out.