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Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Somewhere near Philadelphia

From Jon W.
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Day 3 of tour for me. Pretty sure today is Monday? Think I’m officially acquainted with tour world now.

LONG day of travel, but oh well. I think we all could have stayed another week in the Outer Banks, with the hotel being right next to the beach and all. It was nice to start a Monday with a run on the beach. It was also really nice (really very nice and good) that the Baywatch-esque lifeguard trainees—15 very healthy women—started their Monday with a run on the beach as well.

From there though, it was a long day in the car (8+ hours), interrupted by a short radio interview stop for John and Jess. I have to say, it’s a comforting sign (knock on wood) to see how well this group still gets along after 12 days of being stuck in a hot sweaty van together. Their sense of when to speak up and when to stay silent somewhat parallels those same abilities musically, which makes perfect sense, as I’m a firm believer that you can tell a lot about a musician’s personality just by the way the play. That’s a whole other essay though.

Once we arrived in Arlington and got some grub, it was a remarkable re-charge for the whole band. Suddenly everyone was thankfully excited to play again. That seems to be the pattern. It’s amazing how sitting in a van all day doing nothing can be so exhausting, but it’s definitely true. At a certain point every day—usually pretty early—you almost forget the point of WHY you are traveling. Then you arrive at the venue, and it’s like a nice little surprise. “Oh, cool, they have a stage here and everything! We should play some music!”

Arlington was extra cool for me, as I got to see family that I only see a few times a year. My brother and his wife came out, which is saying a lot for them on a Monday night, being the parents of a 2 year old and 6 month old. Not only that, but my Mom and Aunt Donna drove all the way out from Ohio to watch us play. I don’t get nervous for shows, and this show was no different, but there is still an extra incentive to tear the roof off the place when my family is in the audience. Thankfully, the band did. In a very small venue, everyone did an outstanding job adjusting to a smaller, tighter, and necessarily quieter setup. Who would’ve thought—family or not—that a Monday night in Arlington would be one of the best tour stops so far?

Anyhow, just another pleasant reminder of how much love is behind me, and I’m sure the rest of the band can say the same for their own experiences in some way. When you’re driving around in a van nationwide just to play music, I think at some point it’s only natural to question your sanity. It’s nice when family is there not to say, “Really, this is what you’re doing with your life?”, but instead to say, “I’m so proud of you for doing this with your life.”

Posted By John Common at: 11:07 am

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Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Somewhere near Philadelphia

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