oh man oh man... I've been out of OR for a long time and I just got back this week. Back to fresh crisp freezing air and wonderful fluffy clouds. Aaawwww. When I had left so long ago late july I went on a tour with Andrea Hamilton. Here's a blog I meant to post almost two months ago. ok.
Also, I'm going to try and write more often to you. Try being the key word.
July-August blog:
Hello. I have many things to tell you. I’ve had so much fun on this tour with Andrea. www.myspace.com/andreahamiltonmusic
We have been so blessed.
LOS ANGELS, CA
We kicked off the tour in L.A. my hometown, sort of. We played Zephyr Café and then at Room 5 in Hollywood (which by the way is a sweet place to perform at even though some of my merch was stolen- at least they have my music I guess) we shared the stage with Owen Roberts.
He had a good slide guitarist accompanying him, Greg Peters. He might record slide guitar for my next project!
www.myspace.com/owenroberts
SANTA CRUZ, CA
Oh goodness were we treated to some genuine honest to goodness great music. Travis Oberg has one of those voices that is just so, good and soothing. I always loved listening to him and his guitar next to a campfire. Or regular fire in a house too. Just anywhere next to fire really. So we opened for him at Cava Wine Bar in Capitola CA(just south of santa cruz. If you’re in that area check out that place it’s full of delicious wine. Andrea and I ate our Hawaiian dinner on the beach, surrounded by evil seagulls waiting to attack us for our food! But luckily, a young man, well a 10 yr old boy, chased them all away. That was a close one.
www.myspace.com/saltwatermerchants
I’d have to say one of my favorite nights was when we opened for FUTURE OF FORESTRY. We were sandwhiched in between two great bands. NOBILITY OBLIGED opened the night, followed by us, then FOF closed the night. FOF is amazing live, they play all sorts of crazy instruments like… a couple of my favs, the theramin and the vibraphone! And others. Andrea and I did well too, we made the crowd laugh, I like it when that happens. After the show we had homemade pizza at TJs’ parents’ house(he’s in FOF) so good. Mmm. I had a fajita pizza on wheat dough. They were so hospitable. And fun.
www.myspace.com/futureofforestry
www.myspace.com/nobilityobliged
LAKE DON PEDRO: this was weird
So the last time I was at Lake Don Pedro, it was I don’t know, seven years ago maybe? Well we get there and I find we’re camping at the same exact site! AND I’m wearing the same red & white striped bathing suit top! Yeah. Weird. We came for the weekend to lead music worship for a church for their “hot water weekend” retreat. The water was so warm. But not really. The air, now that was sooo hot so the water felt so good and not that cold. I had a bullast. I rode a wave-runner with my new friend Shoe(that’s his nickname) I held on to him for dear life, he went so fast and it was SO fun even though I was a little scared, but don’t tell anyone. Well I just kept imagining what it’d be like to fly off at 35 mi an hour. Mhmm. Not a very good image to have. I drove too. We sang songs under the stars and there were a trillion billion million of them cause we were in the middle of no where! I saw many shooting stars. I can’t wait to visit all those people again.
Back in Santa Cruz
I played at the ABBY, and this place is decorated like, oh my goodness, you’d have to see it to feel the coolness. Exactly how I’d want to decorate my living room someday. I’m kind of a vagabond right now but hey someday I might have my own living room, and my own true love aaaah. Ick. But aaaah that would be nice. SO, it had antique looking couches, chairs (but not shabby) neat frames hanging from the ceiling, well if you’re in santa cruz just go there! 350 mission street. It was a great show, well there were some technical difficulties with the sound but we figured it out. AND I saw a few friends I don’t ever get to see. Amy and Mel <3 AND! My two good friends with whom I studied with in Italy, Mari Chan and Nikki! Vi voglio bene!
Oh yeah, I speak Italian and I have a song I’ve written in Italian too- occhi blu pronounced: o-key blue
Andrea and I hung out in downtown Santa Cruz for a couple days until our next show in Stockton. My auntie lives there and she fed us like kings and queens, well I guess just queens cause we’re not men. MMMM she made the best zucchini and other things. Buonissimo! Delicioso! Sooo good! Delicious!
We saw Chinese acrobats at the boardwalk and rode a couple rides like this spinny thing(in the video!) and the ferris wheel. That was my doing, but it took forever to get on the ride so we talked to strangers. We also did a lot of internet work at a place called Bad Ass Coffee. Yeah. That’s really the name.
STOCKTON, CA
Pretty Mama and the Not so Hots opened for us, I liked them. A lot of people didn’t show up but I had a good time. The ones that did were cool people. I saw my old friend Sarah (haven’t seen her for 6 years!) we played D2 volleyball in college together. We were the best. Hah☺ No really. Jk jk. But really yeah. We played at the BOILER ROOM, it’s right on the canal and it’s a really cool place, check it out if you live in Stockton CA.
We played in Redding the next night and stayed the night with Andrea’s roommates mother. The next morning she cooked me some farm fresh eggs, the best over-medium eggs I’ve ever had in my life!
PORTLAND, OR
Back home at the CAMELIA LOUNGE felt so good. You live in Porltand? Go there now! A coffee shop by day and a lounge and bar by night. A bunch of fans who have become my friends came out and brought new people! They are so awesome, you know who you are Christa, Jason, Stephen. I also made a new friend Nader, from Saudi Arabia, he gave me dates. I’m talkin’ Saudi Arabian dates, no sugar added, just naturally dried, they are the most amazing dried fruit I’ve ever tasted. Very sweet and so yum! Thanks Nader. Andrea and I hung out with everyone after the show, first at VooDoo Doughnuts on 3rd street in the Pearl and then at Stephens house in NE Portland.
CAMAS, WA
At Twilight Pizza Bistro, seriously one of the best pizza I’ve ever tasted I promise you. If you’re in porltand or Vancouver WA you should go there it’s so worth it. It’s in a cute little place that has live music every Saturday night. And what I love most about this place is that the owners support art, music and pay their musicians to come. They are a breath of fresh air in an industry that wants our talents and art for free. So eat there, it’s delicious.
A friend of Andrea is working at a college nearby and she brought a bunch of awesome people with her. Thanks for coming ya’ll!
www.twlightpizzabistro.com
And we stayed the night with a friend of mine who has a handsome husband and two adorable imaginative children. Well she’s a fox so I’m not surprised her husband is good looking as well. And he makes the best apple sauce chocolate chip cookies ever. She’s actually an amazing photographer, check her out and hire her:
www.shannonsewell.com
CORVALLIS, OR
So now we’ve been in Corvallis since Sunday and it’s been so nice to be home for awhile. Well my home. Andrea loves it too. We rode our bikes the other night to the theater to watch The Dark Knight with Christian Bale. We had been waiting the whole tour for this, and it did not disappoint. It was a little weird though, knowing Heath Ledger is no longer alive. But he did an excellent job portraying the joker. We rode home after midnight, just us two on the streets. We were talking of how we’d never do this in LA! Yeah. Never.
We have a show tomorrow night at Bombs Away Café, then Saturday morning at the farmer’s market, then we head back to Cali to finish the tour. I’m planning on performing at the 3rd street promenade(an outdoor mall) in Santa Monica, CA for all of September and some of October! So I’ll be in LA for quite awhile. I’ll miss OR and my friends here but I’m looking forward to this new adventure. I no longer have a “day job” … so this is it! I’m not sure where my income will come from in the next few months, if I’ll even have one but I feel so peaceful about it because I trust that God will provide for my needs. It’s his time so it’s the perfect time.
phew, that's all.
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We love you, too, Valeri! We stopped our concert series for the time being (I hate this economy) but we are planning on having music every second Saturday of the month. Now that you're back (welcome home, btw) call or write and we'll get you booked into a date.
We went to Corvallis recently for the OSU/WSU game (not much of a game, but the tailgating and endless slew of food and alcohol was swell). Was going to look you up. Asked a few people where a good place was to go hear good, live music in Corvallis and was greated with open mouths and blank stares. Obviously, I was asking the wrong people. I don't know Corvallis at all so we stayed close to campus. Had a great meal at the Big River Grill (at least I think that was the name of the place). Wish we could have seen you perform, but I wasn't really thinking ahead...just excited to get a weekend out and about. Stopped at Willamette Valley Vineyards on our way home for a tasting, and had the best chardonnay I've ever had (Tualatin Estates...unfortunately they don't distribute this one as it's a super small bottling). Didn't know I could like a chard that much.
Now, we're just buckling back down and trying to keep ahead of this rottenly sad economic curve. Hope all is well with you. I didn't know you spoke Italian! Ciao, bella!
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