The Starlings:

You know zombies? They have like crazy body temps and feverish eyes and groan a lot. I am like zombie. Heat makes people crazy. Tucson is a toaster oven. but i found some shade and a cream cheesy bagel (gluten/soy/dairy detox awaits me upon return) with basil and toms and cukes. and an iced coffee. Catching up on emails after a few days. Thunderstorms approach, they say, and I am opening my arms to the sky when they arrive!! We blew a tire on I-10 in the desert 80 miles east of Tucson yesterday. We were hearing this fast vibration sound for about 10 minutes and kept thinking, "what a shitty road!" but no, Saunders (the bus) was trying to warn us. We did not heed. The blow-out was loud and a little scary, but the bus never really veered out of control, and Tommy kept his cool. What were we doing the minute the blow-out occurred, you are perhaps wondering? Moe was reading chapter 1 in a book; Aimee was having ill-luck writing a postcard to [...]

Arrived in Moab an hour or so ago, after a long drive from southern Idaho. We're pretty tired today, but doing great. All is well, fun shows, great audiences, meeting wonderful people. Seems like a long time since we've been out on the road, at least in nice weather such as this.
Will hope to write more later, but it's hard to find the time so far. Many ideas running through the head for songs and recording. Only so much can be done in one day. But all is well and we are having a blast.
ciao for now.....

I didn't quite get to the blogging I had intended to as we wrapped up the tour. It was a fantastic adventure, and it ended too soon. Better than not soon enough, so we'll have to look forward to the next escapade as it forms in our gray matter. Kind thanks to folks from California to Texas to Missouri to Iowa for the shows, company, beds, food, and all else. I have many stories and images recorded on paper and in my brain to be used in a future writing project that I'm pondering. Also, thanks to Aimee and Moe and Tom for their awesome company and teamwork to make it such a lovely time. Tom and I had to fly back to Seattle a wee bit early to be with Tom's dad in the hospital. He's doing much better, and Aimee and Moe finished the last show in Iowa City with flair, and are driving the caravan back to Seattle as we speak. Much is on the horizon for us, with a new album scheduled for a release this sprummer. We'll be touring again near and far we hope.

Happy New Year!

The sun is lovely. California sun really does have its own nobility. Even the desolate auto-repair and pawn shops littering this busy thoroughfare have a glinting gift in their reflective windows. It’s Hayward, California, folks, and the weather is guiding our light and fluffy moods. Day 5, and all is swell. I’m even sipping on a semi-delicious coffee, so my GERD seems to be under control (full disclosure: GERD condition over 4 months makes a lot of food and drink off limits. I’ll be mentioning my condition’s status often, methinks). I even had a chocolate beer last night (Guinness)! Yum.

It’s a great life, this touring thing. We are of similar perspective when it comes to many things, the four of us. And though shared commentary on the state of the world spins us into ruminations on carrying capacity, the dense complex framework of metropolitan plumbing, the superstitions that shape our culture, how long the grid can stand our relentless demand (among other quite lovely [...]

Well, we're off again on another tour. No 6-monther this time - how about a nice, easy 3 1/2 weeks? Down the west coast, across the southwest, down to Austin, up through Oklahoma and Missouri, ending in Aimee's and my college town, Iowa City. We're not taking the trusty school bus this time, alas. She's no good with cold winds and winter weather, and we're watching the bucks too. So this time we're a roots band in a caravan, as dubbed by Tubbs. A 1990 gray Dodge Caravan. What a splash we'll make. And joining she and Tom and I will be Moe Provencher on bass/mandolin. Fun times will abound, and such burning questions may be answered. Such as:

- will Millsey's 4-month GERD condition be kicked to the side of the road by the time we hit the Columbia River, thus welcoming an era of chocolate-beer delight with beautiful pints of Guinness?
- will Tubbs show off her glockenspiel talents with her toes?
- will Tommy-Town finish our original xmas tune in time? Will it retain its current title, "No, [...]