Traveling Times Thru the Modern Mind
We are coming down to the end of the line. Two more shows to go and then we head home for Christmas. Last night we played in the town of Chillicothe, Ohio (chilla-coth-ee for those of you playing at home). It is the original capital of Ohio. They somehow lost their status as state capital but regained it a few years later. Nobody seemed to know why Chillicothe lost their capital status or how they got it back and I think they were wondering why I even cared. I didn't mention Columbus in fear of insighting a very calm and polite riot. I played a club called Cardo's and the building was formerly the First National Bank Federal Reserve. Inside of the club are a series of safes. Each safelock door easily weighed 10,000 pounds and you could see the functional locking mechanisms still ready and willing to secure. It felt like being inside of a Rolodex watch. When they eventually closed this Reserve they removed more than 100 million dollars in cash from the basement vault. I'm sure this Union town never even knew they were sitting on top of a gold mine. My voice felt really strong after having a day off. I was trying to persuade the crowd to interact with me and ask some questions but that was outside of their federally reserved nature. They sat and listened intently and clapped at the appropriate moments. The biggest rise came when I screamed the climax of the song "Creep". They came out of their shells with some hooting and hollering. One cool kid in the front row knew every lyric to every song and sang along with me. I got a little freaked out when I glanced over and thought I saw him singing one of my new songs that I knew he had never heard before. I kept looking over at him to see if he really knew the lyric. There he was singing along. I couldn't figure it out. Then finally I saw that he was chewing a wad of gum so big he was just jawing at it. For a moment I thought he was a clairvoyant. All of the drives are fairly short between gigs. This string of shows is really easy breezy and we have been taking our time and stopping at a random restaurant (Glass City BBQ in Lancaster, Ohio) or a dusty resale shop along the slow moving state highways. Feels like we are driving thru middle America in 1957. Along the way we witness tree roots strangling the rusty skeletal frames of Model T's and 57 Chevy's; Rotting wooden porches clinging on to their chip painted farmhouses; Unfarmed fertile soil packing for the hard winter ahead. An impending winter as hard as the times that deserted these ghost towns. There is nothing much left here anymore. But, there has been a bit of a resurgence of sorts. The instigator is the least likely source. GPS... Yes, you heard me correctly, GPS. Global Positioning System. Thanks to this new technology many unknown routes and highways are being utilized by travelers looking for a more direct route or shaving a few precious moments off their total travel time. Dan and I saved 20 minutes by using alternate routes and getting off the predictably bland Interstate Roadways. There is a deserted gas station along one of these old routes with a sign that reads: Regular Leaded $1.019. A Pall Mall Cigarette sign dangles awkwardly from rusty link chains in the window of the single bay auto repair shop. They never sold any bottles of water here, but I'm sure many travelers have filled up gallon tanks of tap water to replenish their thirsty radiators. On a side note, it's interesting to me that in the modern age we complain because gasoline is $3.05 a gallon but we readily and without thought pay $1.25 for 16 ounces of "spring" water. Based on my calculations this means we are in effect willing to pay $10.00 for a gallon of bottled water. So we slice thru these blink and you'll miss em towns and are making our way towards Cambridge, Ohio. Neither Dan nor I have ever been there. Cambridge sounds very academic but I know that is guilt thru association. Nonetheless, I will rock both horses in this town. Dan was particularly quiet while we were adventuring down a dirt road that was listed as "Unknown; Highway Information Unavailable" on the GPS. He cleared his throat and said, "It's fun going down roads that you know you'll never go down again. I said "Yea, that's a lot like life...a road you only go down once". Marty Casey
Feeling Fine; Feeling Good
I haven't been this happy in a long time. I don't quite know if it's the change in the weather (85 degrees in Florida) or a change in the tide inside of me. I feel the performances are more insightful and honest than I have delivered in a long time. It's something about being out on the road that makes me feel at home within myself. I remember my parents telling me that when I was an infant I had difficulty falling asleep. They managed to find a remedy. My Dad would put me in the van, drive around and I would quickly fall asleep. Dad would make a few laps around the block and I would be sleeping like a baby (literally because I WAS a baby. hence the term). When I am mobile I feel sane. My bones are never feeling more settled than when they are in motion while cruising across the pavement at 75 miles per hour. The bar I played this past Saturday was called Rockstarz in Ft. Myers or as the locals call it Ft. Misery. The club has only been open for 6 weeks and the owner (Allen) really worked hard at getting the word out that I was playing there. He did a solid radio, magazine and flyer advertising campaign. The street teamers were also all over the market selling tickets and popping up posters. The turn-out was great. The set up inside the venue was really intimate (small stage with minimal lighting). The crowd was really interactive and we had so much fun playing off each other. One woman kept coming up during the show and whispering her song requests into my ear as if they were secrets that only I should know. Then she would yell “WILL YOU SIGN MY ASS!!!” really loud across the bar. I told her to whisper all requests in an effort to minimize her absurdity. I must say that this show has been one of my favorites. The place was packed and I appreciate that everyone listened very intently, especially to the new songs. We had such a blast. I have often been asked on this tour how it feels to be touring solo acoustic without the band. It is a cool change of pace. The set-up is so simplistic. Just me, a guitar and a microphone. There is never any rush or stress because it’s just a 2 person crue. Playing with this stripped down feel gives the songs a chance to breath. The lyrics and melodies take center stage over the bombast of a full band. When singing songs like “Hold On” I feel a lot closer to the story behind the song. A lot of the songs in this set-list are extremely personal and letting the fans in on the back-story and why the songs were written is therapeutic for me. I feel that by talking about these difficult times I can finally let them go and make room for new songs and new times. It is also inspiring when someone in the crowd tells you in confidence that a particular song helped them thru a tough time or helped them figure their way out of a mental mess. I can understand that some fans are torn when they see me sitting on a stool with a guitar and no agenda. To me it feels perfect for the moment. I just want to let my voice do the talking. Geeze that sounds obvious. My voice... Do the talking? Sunday afternoon we brought the show to The Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, Florida. The weather was still kicking at 83 degrees and it felt good to be in the heat. Chicago is in the 30’s with icy rain crystallizing the city. Dan and I snuck out of Chicago at the most opportune moment, hours before the first snowfall of the season. We have been blessed with great weather the entire tour. Hopefully it will continue thru Monday. The Hard Rock Show was all-ages and I was excited to have all the kids show up. Their response to songs and the performance is always so genuine. When they like something they really let you know. When I did "Trees" they were on their feet and helping me with the lyrics. When I did a slow lamenting song some of them were rolling around on the ground in utter boredom. They want the upbeat and fun. I like that they don't have time for sad songs. The more up-tempo the better because then they can bounce around the room like they're jumping on pogo sticks. They take the energy of the song and throw it all over the room. I love their free spirit. After the early set I got to hangout with my sister Jenny, my cousin Danny and his wife. It was nice to see some of the family cause it makes you feel right at home while out on the road. My cousin Danny hooked my up with the best meal of the entire trip at his restaurant Snapper's. I stuffed my face with fresh stone crab, and I was so food comatose that I could barely get out of the booth. Then we headed over to see his newest restaurant Mad Fish in St. Pete Beach. Danny and his wife really treated Dan Howard and I like gold and it was GREAT to reconnect with them and meet my cousins cool kids. The drive from Tampa to West Virginia was absolutely brutal. We had no issues with weather and Dan didn’t get any more speeding tickets but the miles driven were just too much. 15 hours in the car and you start to go bananas. Just blank staring at the road ahead and quick stops to eat and fill up the tank. But all that really matters is that we made it safe and sound. We arrived just in time for the sound check at The Monkey Bar in Huntington, West Virginia. On every tour you have your one venue that just isn't up to speed with what is going on. No one at the club expected our arrival. The venue is only open when they have shows and they didn't have any this week. There had been a bit of communication breakdown between the club and promoter. So, the club didn't know there was a show, so no promotion of any sort. Thank our lucky stars that the mc.org, lh.com, sisterhood, Lh Fansclubs, myspace, team Mig, facebook and internet connected West Virginians were on the boards and knew I was playing. I am still floored that fans will drive 7 hours to see a show. I owe it to them to play a show a little closer so they can spend more time at the show than on the road. A special shout out to SUSIE for celebrating her birthday with us at such an "interesting" venue in such an "interesting" town. When we got to this club in West Virginia I had a really bad feeling about the whole scenario. The club was in a really desolate area and the place was really beat up. Most nights of the week there is a strip club on the second floor. This is a pretty seedy environment. When we arrived and there was all of this confusion regarding the show, hotel rooms, dinner and all of the contract issues. I was extremely thankful that Dan Howard took total control and made everything work out perfectly. It was in moments like these that I realize the importance of having someone looking out for you while out on tour. All Dan said was "Don’t worry about anything, I’ll take care of it. Just promise me you’ll have a good show". I want to thank Dan for all the hard work he does for me. He never gets any of the glory and applause of being on stage and he does twice the work. This tour never would have been such a success without Dan making it all run so smooth and always having him watching my back. We have had a lot of laughs over the course of the last week and ½ and he has really helped to make this entire tour so much fun. Today is a drive day to Ohio. We have chosen to take the scenic back roads and really see the state. I know it’s cold but it feels good to be getting back to the Midwest. There has been no feeling of the holidays so far on the tour. When it's 88 degrees and sunny it's hard to start dreaming of a white Christmas. Marty Casey
Devil on My Shoulder
Last night was such a trip. We survived the 9 hour drive and arrived just in time for the soundcheck. The club owner (Troy) was there to greet us, and he was really excited that we were playing. The vibe in this club made us feel really good. When we finished checking the gear, Troy asked us what we wanted to eat: steaks, seafood, Italian, Asian fusion, hot dog stand... I said "hot dog stand, NO…" Asian fusion, umm not in Ocala, I just don’t notice a very big Asian population here and I question the authenticity...A fusion of Asian and what? is also a concern. So it's either steaks or Italian. Schlitzy, the Limo Driver, yea that's right, SCHLITZY! Spoke up and said "Nah, I got it, we’z goin to Bella Luna. I'm from New Yawk and I knows I-talian cuisine. C'mon, jump in the limo I gots ya covered". We arrived at the restaurant, and they had a special "John Travolta" (yea, he lives here) private dining room set-up for us courtesy of Schlitzy. We had a really good pasta dinner, and Dan was happy to get his daily ration of nutrition. We headed back to the club after dinner and got ready for the show. All of the club owners were there and were treating us like royalty. The show was fun, dark, ridiculous, inspired, funny and overall just a blast. I like walking on stage with no plan and just winging it. I don't know what I’m going to play or what I'm going to say. Once the crowd interaction is established, there is a lot of back and forth between me and the crowd. Lots of laughs but when the music starts everyone is intently listening. The perfect yin and yang of intensity and release. After the show we did an 1½ hour meet 'n greet. Fans had driven from all over the state of Florida and flown from different parts of the US of A. You can't imagine the overwhelming feeling when someone tells you they flew cross country to see a 1 hour acoustic show. I'm absolutely blown away. What a life! It was Dan's birthday, and Troy the club owner kept calling Dan the wrong name. He kept referring to him as Dave. So now you know me well enough to guess that I am going to be calling Dan “DAVE” the rest of the tour. He hates I but hasn't tackled me yet so I’ll keep it up till he threatens my life. That's when you know Dan, I mean Dave, has had enough, and it's time to quit it. It's his birthday today and I'm going to make a spectacle of his big day during the show tonight. I know the fans are bringing some cakes and same candles. I want to fire 'em all up and have the crowd sing Happy Birthday. He is loving the fact that he is celebrating in 80 degree weather, but I also know he really misses Nicolette. She's back at home in Chicago in the snowdrifts, and I know Dan really wishes she were here with him to celebrate his birthday. While I'm on the subject, it's time for the Daily Dan Report: Everyone has unique habits and tendencies. I have never spent this much time with Dan and in such close proximity and I'm getting to know what makes him tick. The Zen of Dan. I awoke pretty early today (noon) and Dan was sound asleep. I was working on the computer at the desk in the room and tap tap tapping away which I'm sure was manifesting itself as a semi-automatic machine gun firing into a enemy bunker in Dan's diluted dreams of weaponry, warfare and a subliminal coup de gras in nightmare-ville. I looked over at him at one point and he was lying on his side with his head propped up on his elbow. His eyes were open and he was looking at me. I said "Sorry about the typing Dude, I’m trying to get some work done before we roll out". He didn’t respond. I thought maybe he was pissed I woke him up and was giving me the silent treatment, so I said "Sorry man" as I threw my hands to the side and said "What..................................What?………………………” He just stared back and was motionless and then I heard a light snoring sound. He was sound asleep with his head propped up and his eyes open and staring. I walked over and waved a hand in front of his eyes and few feet in front of him, and he was out cold. No response. The devil on my left shoulder whispered in my ear "you should scream and clap really loud and freak him out of his sleep". The angel on the other said "let him sleep". I wanna tell you that if it wasn’t his birthday I would have scared the sh*t out of him, but that is no way to start off your birthday. I'm not that E-vil... I want to assure you that 'm not trying to pick on Dan by including him in these blogs. He's just really interesting, and I know that he doesn't mind being included. Or at least he doesn't know about it yet. Haha (can you actually see the horns pop out of my head). So I thought I had this all figured out by sleeping with one eye open but Dave sleeps with TWO eyes open. I’ll never win... Marty Casey
Day 2: Blog 2
Living High on the Blog: There it was, there it went. I lost my solo acoustic virginity last night, and it felt great. It was a little bit like the real first time. I didn’t really know what I was doing, I made a few mistakes, but in the end I think we both enjoyed the experience. Me and the crowd that is. The songs from Rock Star went over really well (Lithium, WYWH, Mr. Brightside, HMBOMT, Creep & I Alone). I played a few Marty Casey & Lovehammers tunes and a few new tunes (Just Go, Diamonds in the Dirt, My Kind of Wine & Hopes and Fears Collide). I had some beautiful crowd participation dancers for My Kind of Wine and Trees. One girl managed to slide one very c-c-c-cold finger down my buttcrack, and I jumped off my bar stool like I got electrocuted. I had to stop the intro of the song and tell her to keep her fingers where I can see 'em. She said she'd never wash her finger again, and I replied "That’s disgusting"! Those Carolina girls be c-c-c-crazy! I was amazed to find out that a select group of fans are going to be at every show in Florida. That’s a total of 4 shows from Thursday thru Sunday. It's a fun challenge for me to have to keep every show a little different and interesting for those fans seeing multiple shows on this tour. I think that all the shows are unique in that the crowd interaction between songs is always so different. Last night I had my first heckler. She was not cursing me out in any way. She just wanted to ask me a bunch of the most random questions while I was trying to sing. She'd shout out "Who is your president incumbent?" or "You’re in North Carolina!" and I replied "I know" and she said "Yea you are. Believe it!" I was confused and a little flustered. It was a funny interaction, and we were all laughing at her ridiculous-ness. Unfortunately she passed out in the back of the venue about 30 minutes into the set. Down goes heckler... I had an interesting conversation with the fans regarding the Marty Casey & Lovehammers fan community. Since the beginning of the band there has always been an extremely supportive fan base immersed in the music. The fans first start coming to shows to see the performances, and then they meet friends in the audience. They see them at a few shows, and they get more acquainted each time. Then they will start to meet and talk outside of the confines of the live shows and truly become friends. That is where it becomes a fan community. After a matter of time the fans are not only coming to MC&LH shows to see the band, but they are coming to hang out and reconnect with their bonafide friends. I love to see this happen and feel lucky that we are a part of that experience. There is something very organic about it. What had started at live shows has now extended to the internet and new friendships are being made virtually on the boards. Last night it felt great to be a part of the fan community after the show and hang-out with all my friends. Interaction with the fans is becoming as important as the actual performance. I'm a lucky man to have such amazing fans. Thank you... A special shout out today to Katherine that has been helping out the band for years now. It's her birthday today, and I want to let her know how much I appreciate all her help with getting these blogs posted, videos posted, pictures posted and dealing with my daily insanity. She is as talented as she is beautiful and she really makes our life on the road so much easier and keeps all the fans connected. You rock Katherine...Happy Birthday! And now it's time for the DAILY DAN REPORT: I caught Dan doing something really weird today. He bought a fountain drink from the gas station and was standing in line behind me waiting to pay. I told Dan I would pay for his drink. He said "No, that’s ok, I got it". I said "Shut-up dude, I got it". So I grabbed the cup from him, and he was reluctant to release it. I snatched it out of his hands and it was light as a feather. I held it in my hand a shook it slightly back n forth to feel if there was any liquid in the cup. It was completely empty. He had the cup with a lid and a straw poking thru it but it was empty. I just looked at him and shook my head. I placed it on the counter and paid for it. I knew better than to ask him what the heck he was up to. Man is Dan one weird dude! He does make this trip an interesting experience though. Why the heck was he buying an empty cup of nothing and pretending it was a drink? I better start sleeping with one eye open. Marty Casey
Day 0, Blog #1
Departure Date: Maiden Voyage So Low Acoustic Tour December 4th, 2007 This morning I opened my eyes inches into the electric red of the digital alarm clock on my nightstand. My face lying so close I had to let my eyes focus for a moment to read the time. It was 11:04 pm. First thought: Wow, I had a really long nights sleep. Second thought: What time am I supposed to pick-up Dan. Third thought: Oh sh*t! I was supposed to be at his house at 10:00 am. I laughed and thought what a way to start of the day, one hour late... I called Dan and from the crackling voice on the other end of the line is seems he to is in no rush because I woke him up. It's going to be an interesting tour. You have two of the most lacksidasical people embarking out on tour together. This should be called “The World Can Wait Tour”. From the relaxed vibe when we were planning the tour and getting everything together it has been such a chill vibe. I like it because there is no stress. The details are written on the tour advance sheets in regards to what time and where and everything else will be flying off the cuff. The cool thing about touring with Dan Howard is that he is the type of guy that will sit and drive and not say a word for hours. It's great because I can read, write blogs and sleep without interruption. Some travel companions are nervous people and always need to be talking talking talking. They'll talk about personal stuff you never wanted to know including personal hygiene, relationship details, the state of the economy, Hollywood’s latest fiascos, etc, etc, etc. Not Dan though, he's got his eyes drilled to the road in front of him and hasn't said a single word all day. So after cruise controlling thru an entire $60 tank of gas I get a scary feeling. Why hasn’t Dan said a word? Is he mad about something? Is he sick of driving? This guy doesn't even blink. Now I’m getting freaked out. What the hell is he thinking about? Is he mentally rehearsing the step by step process of constructing a silencer for a Colt 45 handgun? Is he going over his checklist of order of operations when a car submerges into a body of water: 1) Be calm and remove seat belt 2) Wait for the car to fill up with water completely 3) kick out rear window with heels of feet 4) swim to safety. Maybe Dan knows the coordinates of a secret nuclear missile silo in central Florida and is figuring out how to take a detour so we can "check it out". Man, four plus hours now and not a single word. I’m getting freaked out, what is he thinking? Why won’t he speak. COME ON SAY SOMETHING! Let me know what crazy business is going on in your head. It's building to a frenzy in my head and now I am staring directly at him and he never takes his eyes off the road. I'm thinking: What! What! What are you thinking! I'm staring so close and so hard as if I am actually going to be able to look into his ear and see the thoughts on his aural movie screen. At that moment he turns his head to the right, staring right back at me and he says... "Isn’t it weird that both Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were on the Mickey Mouse Club together?" My fear subsides and I burst out in a shout of laughter so loud that Dan winces from the pure volume. A burst of relief that my tour manager for the next two weeks is more concerned with the affairs of the Mickey Mouse Club than the 3 deadliest death grips in the manual of mortal combat. We are headed to Plum Crazy Too in Kernersville, North Carolina just minutes from Greensboro. We've got many hours to go and are in no rush to arrive. The inspired feeling in the air is that this tour is going to be a crazy adventure. In the coming blogs I will keep it geographically simplex and shout out the actual town of the performance and the closest major metropolitan city you may have heard of. This way you can track our logistical progress if you wish. I will also try to keep the blogs coming daily and throw in some video blogs as well. The underlying mission statement of this mini-tour is to keep all the fans in tune to the experience even if you can’t make it out to a show. I'll try my best to keep the information delivered interesting and self-deprecating as usual. Day 1 here we come, Marty Casey Ps: Dan’s birthday is this Friday so if someone could bring a cake or cupcake or cookie or McDonalds Fruit Pie and a candle of some sort we could sing to him at the show. If I bring it then it will no longer be a surprise. But now that I mentioned it I might have to have Dan pull over and stop at McDonalds for a fruit pie. Mmmm Delicious! Chow for now Amigos and Amigas.
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