FALL JOURNAL

You might have heard (or maybe not) that during the down time with the band, Dan Vickrey and I decided to make a demo of sorts for our side project Tender Mercies. We just set up in Dan's living room with some open mics, played the songs, and that was that. Our new management (The Collective) heard the demos and flipped out. So, we will be finally heard. I am really proud of the record, and I believe the way that we recorded it comes out in the tracks. I have felt that people using technology in the wrong ways has taken the life out of recorded music for quite some time. There is no substitute for a couple people in a room playing songs together!

Counting Crows played a couple of shows recently. It was fun to get back out there, if only for a few days. I am used to being on the road for my birthday, but on my big day we had a long bus ride which was made even longer by the fire in the back of the bus. Not exactly how I planned it, but that's the road.

When we finally made it to the second gig at the Maryhill Winery the weather turned sour. We walked on stage to crazy winds that made it nearly impossible to play. I was getting a little queasy looking up above at the lights and speakers violently swaying back and forth. As the gig went on the weather cleared. I was pretty amazed at how well we were playing after so much time off. I guess that comes from many years and gigs together, but we were really in the zone. The set ended up being 2 and half hours long, and might have gone longer if not for the curfew. I am still buzzing about this show, and can only hope for a lot more next year!