NEW YORK AND THE TEXAS TWO-STEP

 

One of the more interesting Bus Trips on the way to New York from Indianapolis. The whole overnight thing I have done before – never the greatest experience in the world but one of those “have to do it” type situations you find yourself in every now and then. The most interesting part of this trip had nothing to do with the bus – it was more to do with the passengers, in particular the one sitting next to me. Nice enough sort of chap – got talking to him about where he was going etc, then found out that he was in fact a guest of the state on his way in between two minimum security prisons. Hip hip hooray… Not much sleep there unfortunately. Mental note – next time at Greyound Counter, remember to ask for a seat “away from all inmates”.

 

New York is a fantastic city – prob. my favourite in the world outside of Sydney. A big thanks to Krissy for letting me stay, not to forget her flatmate Maggie who also didn’t mind me parking it there for a few days. Very fortunate to have that option as I didn’t really fancy doing the hostel thing this time around with guitars etc.

 

OK so I am here to be a Muso – once again I hit the open mic website and found a few about the place to go down and have a crack at. Don’t get as many songs over here when you play open mics – just a couple unfortunatey. Still worth the experience I guess. One was a cool little bar called C-note, which had its own keyboard. The other I played at “DTUT”, which stands for Down-town-up-town as there are two of them in the city. More like one of those coffee lounge type places with music set up in the back Small PA but pretty damn intimate and might have sounded better with no amplification at all… Good to go and watch other people doing a similar thing – everybody over here seems to have their own website, and most of them are trying to pursue a career in music it seems (at least everyone I met at open mic nights told me a similar story). I like the fact that it seems to be far more accepted here to be having go at being an artist  – appears to be a lot more opportunities as a result. Same thing I noticed in Indianapolis – heaps of Independent stuff happening, which is encouraging. Will def try to get back over to NY and spend a bit of time playing about the place.

 

My days were spent wandering around the city, trying to figure out where I was and making some very shocking attempts to go shopping - still allergic to clothing stores it seems, even in New York City (although I did manage to buy a pair of Jeans, but perhaps I was influenced by the young French girls who sold them to me, … um, yes looking back on it that was definitely a major factor in my decision to purchase the Jeans, which really don’t fit me all the spectacularly…)

 

GIG AT CBGB’s

Little did I know before I got to New York that CBGB’s is actually one of the more famous venues in town. (Internationally renowned in fact). Lucky for me, I had met Liz Koch, an independent radio promoter person (takes songs into the stations to get them to play them..), in Indianapolis. Liz new someone who was putting a night on at CBGB’s and as a result I was able to sneak in on the start of the bill that Thursday night. Just stuck to the guitar as I didn’t fancy my chances of being able to pull off the Indianapolis stunt (ie Buying a keyboard then taking it back for a refund…). New York, I was thinking, was probably not on the same wavelength as Indy… Not too many people, but an enjoyable gig nonetheless. Pretty good response from the people who were there, and I guess that’s all you can ask for. Had a good night out to celebrate this small milestone with Krissy and a few others – ran into another guy I had met in Indianapolis (Singer-songwriter also – Jeremiah Birnbaum – http://www.jeremiahbirnbaum.com) Kris was a little annoyed that I could be on the other side of the world and randomly be running into people I know on the streets of New York, when she said this rarely happened to her. Perhaps she was more perplexed when it happened the following night again (different person) in the back of a convenience store! Fancy that.

 

Anyway, all in all a good stint in the Big Apple, one of many more to come no doubt. Seems to be one of those places I wind up in when I am overseas – this was my 4^th visit. Never loses its charm though.

 

AND FINALLY…
 

Musically speaking, I guess that was the end of the trip. Saturday morning I set off for Dallas Texas to visit none other than the Dorneyshow himself, a mate who has been working for EDS at their international head office. No gigs booked in Texas, and didn’t bother trying to get one. Happy to give it a rest for a few days (knowing that I had three gigs in four nights awaiting for me on my return to Sydney…starting the night I got back!!). Won’t give you the guided tour on this part of the trip, you can do a google search to find out details of the JFK assassination etc. I will say that there were a few highlights though:

- Mr Lang’s (Dorney) “Welcome to Texas” stop for a Pitcher of Beer and a burger at the “Hooters” restaurant on the way to his place when I arrived.

-  (THANKS M.LANG FOR HAVING ME TO STAY AND SHOWING ME THE TEXAN WAY OF LIFE)

- 1^st night out – Saturday at the “Red River”. A massive Country and Western Bar. I literally thought I was walking in to the set of a movie. Circular dancefloor with couples performing the Texas Two-step around a bar in the middle. Also a mechanical bull, live country and western band, pool tables, cowboys, cowgirls, those big cowboy hats etc etc. Funny place – had to be seen to be believed. 

- The recovery meal the next day in “Bone Daddies” – like hooters but better uniforms. Enough said, except mention must be made of “Chicken-Fried steak”. Steak cooked in Chicken Batter with white cream gravy sauce. I didn’t eat it, but I sat with someone who did and it made me sick just looking at it.

- JFK Museum was awesome.

- BBQ Crabs at the Crab Shack - Complete with Bibs so you could make as big a mess of yourself as possible. Fullest I have ever been...

- Texas is a fan of the “Big Store”. Plenty of them to choose from, and they are just Big and Bigger. Don’t think “corner store” is in the Vocabulary.

- Guns available “with valid Texas ID” at most regular sporting stores (also BIG).

- Ribs at the Plano Tavern. Fuller than the  night before at the Crab Shack. Did I mention they like things BIG here??

- Hired a car for two days – on my way to the airport as I was leaving to head back to Sydney, I think my average speed was about 150k as I managed to get myself lost (again) on the many loop roads and freeways heading to nowhere in particular. Fortunately the guy who was checking people on to the plane was understanding of my plight, and the rental car company didn’t ask why there was steam coming from the engine…

 

And that final hurdle safely negotiated, I was on my way back to Sydney after a whirlwind tour of the States. Hope to be back over there in the not too distant future to punch out a few more tunes – hopefully next time the band can come along for the ride.

 

Till next time…