Hello, here is my tour diary, updated as far as the Sept US tour. It's not too serious, just a wry look at life on the road.
Latest update January 14th 2005.




Old Blind Dogs' West Coast USA tour, September 2004

This has been a much-awaited tour, taking in some of our favourite places where we will meet up with old friends. We are all especially looking forward to going to Hawaii, which we have been boasting endlessly about.

8th of September. Fly to Seattle
Well, I was up at quarter past three in the morning, but as we are going to be sitting on our dowps all day it's not a big problem. First flight is to the lads' capital of Europe - good old Hamsterjam. But we are there too briefly to organise a scouting party. The main flight is a butt-bruising nine and a half hours. Shrek 2 helps to soften the blow, but this excruciating journey to the land of Far Far Away is too close to the bum bone.
Five hours in, I'm reduced to reading the fine print on the sick bag before settling down to embarrass myself doing the USA Todaycrossword. Others not to be mentioned (Jonny) fatally stretch thehospitality of the flight attendants by continually asking for moredrink. Arrive at hotel in Seattle early afternoon and eat vastquantities of free popcorn at the bar. Barmaid clearly unprepared for the capacity of Scotsmen to devour anything gratis. Go to bed far far (away) too early and am wide awake at three in the morning. Unbeknown to me, Nathan - our trusty North Carolinan sound engineer - has missed his flight after emails sending etickets had floundered. Poor Nathan.

9th of September Vancouver
Everyone gets up unfeasibly early due to jet lag. Jonny and Fraser are running on tread mills in the fitness suite at 7am - not a regime that is very likely to continue. We go for brekky to the restaraunt at the top of our airport hotel. It revolves, which is slightly disconcerting for those like us who are trying to gain a foothold in reality on the far side of a different continent.
Then we are off to Canada. We suffer a lengthy delay for officialdom at immigration, which is thankfully smoothed by an officer whose roots are from the fur-coat-and-nae-knickers part of Glasgowknown as Bearsden.
The last time we entered Canada, a notoriously hard border, our passage was lubricated by the fact that the officer was coming to our gig with all his family. So he couldn't very well turn us back, despite our paperwork being somewhat lacking.
Gig is organised by Steve Edge, an old pal of the band and a jovialManchester United fan. He has every right to be jovial, since the reds have just snatched brilliant spud-faced nipper Wayne Rooney from Everton, Aaron's life-long team, ochone.
New tour merch arrives and for the first time ever the OBDs have gotbaseball caps. You know you need one. How will you be able to sleepknowing you don't have one yet? We are all really wiped by the time ofthe gig but we manage to "pull through with great aplomb" a la Janine in Spinal Tap. After the gig we go to a pub in the slightly Soho-ish part of town our hotel is in. It's an Irish bar and downstairs there is a great band doing British pop stuff from the eighties and nineties, stuff like Tainted love and Blur.

10th of September, Olympia
Up and at 'em, still all waking too early but not quite as early as three. Head south again, border crossing not so heavy. Only a little light baseball-cap smuggling.
Olympia has always been a great show, run by diamond geezer Peter Moulton. He has also helped organise a gig for us in Hawaii on the big island where bands don't often go. He'll be out there when we are. The Olympia venue is perfect for us, with comfortable theatreseating and a good space for dancing at the front. Great gig.

11th of September, Wedding near Shelton WA
Although the band originally started out playing at weddings aroundAberdeen (Scotland), it's the first time in ten years that the band have been booked for a hitching. Dina and Dave are a lovely couple who are fans of the band and just thought - "Hell, lets have the Godamm Dogs at our wedding."
I was asked to sing a song at the amazing ceremony, and the boys appeared later for a show after a seriously scrumptious meal.Dina is from a Latvian family and the wedding was held at the Latviancentre way out in the woods. The ceremony was scheduled to be outside,but there had been torrential rain the night before and a forecast of100% LIKELIHOOD OF RAIN on the day. But the weatherforcaster's wordturned out to be as reliable as a politician's and not a single spotfell on the absolutely wonderful ceremony. And so it should be. THANKYE GOD!

12th of September Port Townsend, WA
Pete Townsend springs to mind, but don't let me wander from mychronicleularising task. it's important that I don't swerve from theduteous task of delivering forth to you a true representation of ourpoor plight as we wind our extricabile way towards the deliciouslysilent shires of Hawaii.
A Day Off beckons and I'm sandwiched between a desire to go fishing and a desire to see the sites of the spectacular Olympic Peninsula. The gig, in a new town for us, goes very well and we decamp to a nice bar apres. Kym from LA has come up on a "relocation scouting mission". It's great to see her. There is a wooden boatfestival just finishing as we arrive, with a whole bunch of beautifulold boats. Amongst them there are several vessels that had been used in pirate films, like Pirates of the Caribean. Shiver me timbers.

13th of september, Day off
Not a very nice day, but we elect to drive into the Olympic mountainsnational park. It's a spectacular place, but very wet. We decide tovisit the hot springs which are a hike into the hills. It's rainiing all the way and seems a lot longer than the 2.2 miles signposted. We try to freak each other out with stories about bear attacks. Not much you can do when a 400-pound grizzly decides to have a folk bandsnack. They run faster and climb better than anyone slower than CarlLewis on steroids. Your only chance is to outrun the poor sod you'rewith. We try to decide which one of us would lose in a bear-escaping race.
The hot springs turn out be be somewhat less spectacular than weexpected. A gently steaming, swimming pool-sized, marble-lined jaccuzi it was not. What we found was a series of what could only be described as hot, stinky puddles. Having hoofed through the rain to get there, we felt obliged to have a dip. There's some mighty assumption that any hot water leaching out of the ground must ergo sum be good for you. I have my doubts, as we are probably bathing in a solution of dangerous metals and bear piss. The bears were no doubt laughing at us from behind the trees. And I think I heard Bigfoot let out a guffaw. We later learned that very soon beyond the hot stinky puddles is a more substantial pool that everyone uses except the unguided us - Doh! It's tile-lined and everything (not).
We go an italian restaurant in Port Angeles where we are supposed toget a free meal (folk bands' delight). But we are way too early and the guy who is a friend of Olympia promoter Peter is not there. He appears after we have paid and left - Double Doh!
Back at our B&B we are entertained by a surprising phenomenonorganised by our host Martin, a jovial Cockney. Dark side of Oz. Bysheer and utter coincidence if you start the seminal Pink Floyd Albumat the third roar of the MGM lion, it syncs with the film in an amazing number of ways. Quite spooky.

14th of September, Seattle
We leave sleepy Port Townsend and head for Seattle, travelling the last stretch on a ferry that comes straight up to the downtown wharf, affording a spectacular view of the city. We are well early, so we decamp into the Connor Byrne bar, where the boys used to play back in the golden shower days before I joined. It's raining, which is by no means untypical for Seattle, but is the first time Ive seen a drop of rain in half a dozen visits here.Gig goes extremely well at the Tractor. Unfortunately we are getting up at some ungodly hour to fly to Hawaii via Los Angeles, so apres isgreatly curtailed. But the Olympian newlyweds Dina and Dave are at thegig and present us with a sumptious chocolate thank-you cake. Thesefolks have got style!
It's jammies on and a lot of cramming of suitcases.

15th of September, Travel to Honolulu
This long day begins by getting frisked yet again in an airport, butends floating in the warm, Hawaiian sea by our hotel, which is less than a stone's throw (a pip spit, then) from the beach. Hawaii is a six-hour flight west from The West Coast and seems amazingly serene, sitting amid this huge volume of water. It's the most geographically isolated place in the world. We fly in to Honolulu, which is a suprisingly big city. We see Pearl Harbour, full of big grey navy vessels with guns sticking up everywhere.
The sub-tropical heat hits us as we leave the plane. We are met by the promoter Mark Tarone, a very nice chap who looks as if he would know which end of a surf board to stick in the water. He's a big fan of celtic music, which is great as our Hula medley sucks. Everybody is shattered and retires early, though actually late if you include lagagge.

16th of September, Honolulu
Awake in the most unfamiliar of surroundings with the most familiar yearning for industrial strength coffee. Already hot at breakfast time. As part of the Hawaii package I have to do a solo gig, which I'm not very well prepared for mentally. but though it's a noisy bar I manage to hold it together. I always have voice problems the night after a long flight. The air conditioning dries out the old throat. While I'm slaving over a hot microphone, the others have been sushi-ing themselves and generally having a good time - the bar stewards.

17th of September, Day Off
Well, you can't go to Egypt without seeing the pyramids, or to Forfar without tasting a bridie, and quite frankly you can't go toOahu and not try to catch a wave on a surf board. For this is theWimbledon or Yankee stadium or San Siro of surfing. Or so I kepttelling the rest of the boys who were studiously avoiding having a go.There developed a definite men and boys, sheep and goats, malts andblends phenomenon as the rhythmn section did their have-a-go hero best and the merry melodians totally chickened out. Jonny had already shown himself to be a big fearty, but Rory was a fresh disappointment.


(That's as far as I've got so far...)Solo tour of Germany May 2004

Seefeld Mhule, 8th of May 2004
Never let it be said that I was not on the case with my German tour Diary. A return to my ither home in Europe and the land of the continent's greatest football team and finest beers.
Eulogise as I will, it's hard to explain my strong affection for Germany. Perhaps it's the beer - and let's face it, that's plenty reason enough. America, you might have put a man on the moon (see previous conspiracy theories on page 94) but your beer sucks compared to the Gothic beers of Germania. For beer is perhaps the most sacred and practical of all beverages, and Christopher Columbus was still alive when its laws of quality and purity were codified. Perhaps it's the effortless way German people organise everything which makes tours there so attractive. I don't know. But anyway, I'm glad to be back.

Neulingergaziel, 9th of May 2004
Had a major embarrassment after falling asleep parked up at a littleharbour. Snoozed for four hours in a crampy car, which is amazing for me. But woke to find I had left my headlights on and the car battery was dead. Doh! Not a Dry Blackthorn moment.
Panic! Saved by kind couple who stopped and towed me back to life. Thank you, kind Samaritans. I've never wished so much that I'd given someone a free CD. Then a hooring drive, getting deeply lost in the flat landscape and being so late that the promoter had phoned looking for me. And I wonder why I'm losing my hair.

Bremen 10th and 11th of May
Here in mother Germany I am living in a caravan in a beautiful settingand going fishing on a secluded little lake full of fish. So I can have my cake and eat it. Well, it's not the hallowed waters of the silvery Tay, but it's sort of similar.

Heiligenhaus 12th of May 2004
This turned out to be the best show on the tour. Great sound system and excellent engineer made this gig an aural delight for me. Thank you.

St Wendel, 13th of May 2004
Got caught red handed (or rod-handed)poaching on a river just aftercatching a nice fish which I think we call a chub. Being caught poaching is never a particularly pleasant experience, especially in a foreign country. Good gig in a rustic pub, though.

Oberotterbach, 14th of May 2004
A wonderful little music club down on the border with France in serious wine country. I spent a bit of time zipping back and forward across the border following a promising stream. It's weird how all the signs change as you move from one country to another, when nothing else in the landscape does.

Frankenburg, 15th of May 2004
One of the most intact and beautiful mediaeval towns I've ever seen inGermany, Frankenburg has lots of amazing old four-story wooden town houses straight out of a film set. Gig was a bit quiet, but I managed to squeeze in another spot of poaching and actually caught a trout - my first in Germany.

Ekern, 16th of May 2004
A gig in an area famous for horticulture. The venue had its own bakery, and I got to eat some yummy bread.

Berlin, 17th to 20th of May 2004
A very special place. I feel at home here. The countryside around is full of delightful little lakes. The city is a must-see destination for tourists. Before going I was thinking only about the pre-war history of this amazing city. The whole deal with the wall is utterly fascinating and reminds me eerily of Belfast. The scenes of euphoria when the wall came down in 1990 are still talked about.
Mein host Keith Melville amused me greatly by coining the German view of Britain: "It's a bit run down, but they've got a Queen."Very good gig in suburb of the city, and I'm really pleased to know I'll be back here in 2005.

Bremen, 21st of May 2004
A night in the company of Manfred, who is in soccer heaven as Bremen have just won the German League and are facing a minnow next week in the Cup. Reminds me of the heady days of Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen. High old times in Bremen - it's great to be in a place where morale has been so lifted. Everyone has a smile on their face. BREMEN FOR THE CUP!

Altenaffeln, 22nd of May 2004
Last gig of this monster tour in a beautiful area south east of the Ruhr. Venue has a great selection of malts - so no trouble there then. I speak for ages with a native of Skye who buys me a Talisker. It's not a malt I'm terribly familiar with but it went down a treat with a few local pilsners.
Peered over a ton of bridges on the way but didn't get a chance to fish - not a great disappointment as it was a very bright day anyway.

Well, yet again I have had a great time and an education in Germany. The beer is still der best. Germany in May has yet again amazed me with its beauty. I'll be rooting for the Germans in Euro 2004, especially if they are up against Ingerlannd.




Old Blind Dogs Tour of America Spring 04

Well, we're off again on another monster US tour.

Thursday 8th of April, Travel day
The journey was exceptionally tedious as we had three flights to get from Edinburgh to Philly. Flying with musical instruments is always stressful as you can never tell whether you will get things damaged or stolen. Aaron had his bass slightly damaged and Fraser's huge new drum case stretches the rules and his nerves to breaking point.
We arrive at Suzi and John's house in Wilmington by ten o'clock and are treated to some excellent Mexican food. Old dogs pal Eileen has come over from Michigan, and it's great to see her.
Nathan, our sound engineer, has driven 600 miles up from Asheville, North Carolina, and Jonny has spent a week having fun in California - so we are all beat.
Unusually, I am the last to retire and that's not late. So, at this stage we are keeping our powder dry.

Friday 9th of April, The Tin Angel, Philadelphia
Opening salvo in Philly after a nice chilled day hanging about at Suzi and John's house.
This is a tough show because it's a very small stage. A bunch of folk insist on speaking very loudly right beside the stage and I have to resort to schoolmistress tactics to shut them up. However, they seem hardwired to chat.
Show goes well although the venue have another show after so we only have time to play one long set. Feel it's a bit of a con for the fans, but we're just pawns in this game of chess. Apres soiree back at Suzi and John's sees the boys somewhat back to drinking strength and Jonny and Aaron were still sawing through reels when I retired at three. Sore heads beckon.

Saturday, 10th of April 2004, Virginia Beach
And it came to pass that the heads were sore. A longish drive through the rural splendour of Southern Delaware. Fruit trees are in blossom. Tiger has pulled back from the abyss in the Masters. We are looking forward to playing on a decent stage. Gig in great library theatre. Goes well. Some folks have driven down from DC - good going.
Apres concert fun with Marsha and Phillip, who is a great beer buff. He has an astonishing collection of bottles. We play a few games of Monkeys, which is Jockney rhyming slang for darts. Work it out. I get beaten by tortoise Aaron after taking a hare-like lead.

Sunday 11th of April 2004, Easter Sunday Day orf
Long journey back up to the Philly area where some very good folks Jean and Gary are throwing us a party. It's a hard life.
Tiger has really blown it in the Masters. Begining to look as if he might really have lost that amazing form he used to have. That Everest of sporting achievements, the Jack Nicklaus record, is starting to look unscalable again.
Listening to Steely Dan on Nathan's Ipod as we swish through rainy southern Delaware. Driving through a very green and pleasant land. Did I mention the blossom?
Aaron is over his dose of the Frodos (an annoying little sh** that clings on to the ring).
Arrive at J and G's and are wowed as usual by their wonderful stone house that Gary built (he's a stone mason - well, you'd have to be to build this baby). The trad Easter feast is not something we have in Scotland, and it rocks. Unfortunately I pass out from over-indulgence but my honour is saved by the rest of the band, who strike up a rousing sesh in the basement, which is like a set from Shakespeare's Macbeth.
There's a possibility of me going fishing the next day if the weather holds up, although the forecast is for cold and rain, which sucks.We watch Big Phil Mickleson snatch the Masters on the final green. His first major and he looked as chuffed as is physically possible. Eyes like saucers. Would you mind peeing into this sample bottle, Mr Mickleson?

Monday 12th of April 2004, Silver Springs Maryland
Weather sucks so only get as far as a few casts out on Jean's lawn and still get pretty wet. I had an early night but was surprised to learn that the boys have had yet another monster nicht back at Suzi and John's. This morning they failed to wake to do a radio phoner - Doh! I spend some time catching up with the Dogs Forum. It's all getting a bit interesting, with even Jonny rising to the bait of a fewfolks unhappy with recent line-up developments. Someone has even written a song about the change, which is actually pretty good.
Weather gets more foul as we gingerly drive south. Weather is worthmentioning as it has been so sh**.
Audience, amazingly, turns up despite the weather, and we have a good show. But after being spoiled rotten by the Green Willow crew and then treated splendidly by the Virginia Beach folks, the band hospitality at this venue is surprisingly lacking.

Kennet Square, PA, 13th April 2004
Back to hospitality central and a great show in familiar surroundings with lots of pals to cheer us along. Apres back at John and Suzi's is fairly full-scale, with Beatle medleys at al. But monster travel day looms and "Pleasures are like poppies spread, you sieze the flower the bloom is shed," as the Bard did say in Tam O'Shanter.

Travel day to Little Rock Arkansas, 14th of April 2004
On this day the Fellowship of the (d)Ring(k) have to split up as some fly and others van it to the home city of Oral Officer William Jefferson Clinton. Nathan and Jonny are vanateers facing a 20-hour drive. But the other jetskateers don't have it all their way, as flying involves doing a breakfast TV appearance with a 7am start.
Flights go smoothly and weather in Arkansas is excellent. Presenter Mark takes us out for great Mexican meal.

Little Rock, 15th of April 2004
Early doors at tv studio and we are performing in an empty farmer's market. There's a bizarre little episode when one of the tv crew asks us the name of the song we do, and think it's "Tramps and Hookers" (Tramps and Hawkers, in fact).
Nathan and Jonny appear at about four in the afternoon, after one hell of a drive.
Gig goes well, audience very appreciative. Mark introduces us as "the best Scottish band ever" which is nice, although the Bay City Rollers might have something to say about that, and they certainly sold more records. After the concert we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with Mark's daughter in six-part harmony.

Tulsa 16th of April 2004
Two nights in this Oklahoma city (not Oklahoma City, though) in a very nice hotel right next to a very nice venue. Both nights are very well attended and we make some very good recordings using Nathan's hard disk set-up. Lots of verys there. Apres sees us gravitating towards a bar which happens to have the largest collection of single malts in Oklahoma. You can guess the rest, and the next day is a bit of a write-off. I watch an entire baseball game on tv for the first time ever.
Second night we are more subdued on stage but get some of the tempos bang on a little slower, so Tulsa may be a very important component of our live album. All in all great hospitality, and we hope to be back.

Kansas City, 17th of April 2004
This city is actually in the State of Missouri, confusingly enough. Show is in a very modern church with great auditorium. Church gigs are great, but I do find myself having to censor my intros - as you know, Dogs songs are pretty black.
We were rapidly running out of T shirts and managed to get some made as one of the organisers had a good contact. Thanks.

Cedar Rapids, 18th of April 2004
A return to a town we have played quite regularly. Last time it was in a blizzard. But spring has sprung. Cedar Rapids calls itself the city of five seasons - 4 and time to enjoy them. We thought it was because they counted winter twice.
Venue folks very hospitable and we do a good show. Apres we are approached by a guy who works for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and heoffers to deliver some to our hotel. True to his word, two large boxes of delicious doughnuts are waiting for us at reception in the morning.

Drive to Ohio 19th of April, 2004
Monster, scary, 13-hour drive through storms. Very glad to reach Mansfield and good folks Melanie and Fate.

Bellville Ohio 20th of April
A whole day in one place and a chance to rehearse in the afternoon to get some other songs up to performance - what a luxury. The gig has been sold out for weeks and goes swimmingly.
Apres we get minky stinky and stay up embarrassingly late and Frasercollapses in an old chair in a manoeuvre Buster Keaton woud have been proud of.
Jonny is very excited as back home Aberdeen beat Celtic, ending their 77 home game run without loss (that's Celtic's run, sadly, not Aberdeen's). Big day for the Dons. Jonny not so chipper whenfour days later Aberdeen are thumped by come-lately minnows Livingston.

Toledo, Ohio 21st of April 2004
Small show that attracted an audience from everywhere except Toledo.Eileen comes down from Michigan to support us, having recovered from our extended stay in Delaware. We're working with what's probably the worst PA of the tour. The on-stage monitors were completely out of phase, so it sounded like singing through a chorus pedal. Difficultnight for singing harmonies. Still, it's a good night.

Chicago, 22nd of April 2004
Two gigs with living legend John Renbourn who we last worked with inNorthern Italy. He's in good form at the start of a US tour. We mention that we had bought some fire works and he told us a salutory tale. He had been on tour in the US with his son and late at night when they were tired and emotional his son had let off fireworks in the hotel room. Rockets bouncing round the room. The hotel and the police took a dim view. Legs were spread and deportation threatened. These old timers can still throw up a few surprises.
Both gigs go well but we have a monster day ahead, so it's jammies on.

Carbondale, 23rd of April 2004
Wow dude - a major day in the the history of the obds. Starts with killer early start and six-hour drive to very south of Illinois through torrential rain. The little outdoor festival is nearly washed away and the promoter looks to be on a shirt-loser. We have a difficult sound check and do a half hour unplugged set in the soggy outdoor festival site. Then retire to the hotel.
It's right beside a Steak and Shake, the executive fast food chain that Nathan has turned us on to. Their fries are a work of art and design worthy of Leonardo. Anyway, as we were chilling watching some pap on the telly, tornado warnings began to interrupt the programmes. Carbondale was right in the path of a major front which was developing rotation. Oo er, missus. We figured that we would be safer at the gig than on the top floor of the flimsy motel. So we went to the venue. I was temporarily calmed by a local who said there was no problem unless the tornado siren went off. Ten minutes later - woooooooooooooooooooooo - the siren sounded.
Lightning was flashing all around and torrential rain began to fall. But after the wash-out there was no way the the promoters were going to stop the show. So we played right through a tornado warning. Most of the audience were oblivious to the whole unfolding situation as they had been in the venue for a couple of hours watching the support band. when we got on stage we quickly realised that the support band, a collection of twenty or so young Irish style musicians (all very good) had rearranged our settings on the desk, so we started with a nightmare that took most of the first half to resolve. This made it the hardest gig on the tour so far - as well as the scariest.
But the folks were all very nice and we felt bad about going back to the hotel and not the session at a nearby pub. But we had a long drive and an afternoon show in Memphis the next day. Incidentally, the tornado failed to materialise - or touch down, as they say. Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough. Seriously, though, eight people were killed by a tornado north of us during that bad spell of weather as we drove from Cedar Rapids to Ohio. Wewere close to that, oblivious to warnings on the radio.

Memphis, 24th of April 2004
An early start again for an afternoon show down in the land of the King. The show is organised by Robert Campbell, who always addresses Rory as 'kinsman'.
We're playing in an art gallery auditorium. Hospitality is first rate and after a very good show the band are taken for a great meal. We are staying down town in Memphis and have the next day off, so we elect to stay in this historic town.
Our day off sees us sightseeing down on Beale street, the home of the Blues. It boasts a vibrant night scene which includes BB King's club. The boys go for a big night out, but I'm very tired and chicken out. Just as well, as someone has to hold it together for the next day in Alabama.

Florence Alabama, 26th of April 2004
A return for me to a great venue, the Florence Art Center, where I played on my October/November solo tour. The boys are all a bit wiped, so I do all the driving. Scooter Muse is the promoterand is working hard at building an audience for Celtic music in northern Alabama. He's coming to Scotland in August, so I'll get a chance to repay some hospitality on home turf.
The show goes well. But the boys have an early night aftertheir big one in Memphis. I'm last to go to bed, which is highly unusual.

Montgomery Alabama, 27th of April 2004
A gig for the Alabama Highland Games Society in another city where I played on my recent solo tour. The venue is an old high school hall, and the concert goes well. Apres is a bit weak as Montgomery closes spectacularly early and the only place to eat is IHOP or a very noisy sports bar with a dozen huge tellies broadcasting different gamesof baseball, basketball and ice hockey. As IHOP has no booze, the Sports bar is an automatic choice. Organisers of the concert vow to have a cookout at someone's home next time, which sounds great.

Carterville Georgia, 28th of April 2004
Georgia is an undeveloped area for the Dogs and we find ourselvesplaying at an Irish Bar with a bijou stage area. The promoter has underestimated the PA gear we need and is sent to the local music shop to get a sixteen-channel desk. A brand new digital desk appears,never been out the box. Nathan stuns us all by setting it all up in about ten minutes, without needing to look at the instructions - and he's never even used this complicated piece of kit before. Mucho respect.
There are a few real enthusiasts for the band in the audience, and it's great to see them. Otherwise the crowd is a bit noisy. But the promoters are very hospitable and we stay in a lovely house out in the forest. Jonny, Rory and Aaron take the notion to play a few tunes and stay up late sawing through hundreds of tunes. I'm trying to sleep. It's not easy when you know the tunes, and what's coming next.

Asheville, April 29th 2004
Nathan's home town, and a gig we have been looking forward to for a while. We're playing as part of a great concert series in the Diane Wortham Theatre, which is a very good auditorium, and we have a good concert. Unfortunately we have to leave very early the next day to drive and fly to Minneapolis. But we go for a few drinks at Nathan's watering hole, Jack of the Wood. There's a great local bluegrass band playing, all working round one mic in the traditional style. We wonder if the dogs could do this?
We meet up with Mark Peffinger, the promoter from Little Rock who has just moved to Asheville. He has been doing a lecture tour (he's a neurologist) and has been tangling with tornadoes like us. In fact he's a trained tornado spotter and tells me a lot more about them. Rotating wallclouds are the cause.

Minneapolis, 30th April 2004
A big travel day. We drive to Charlotte and fly to the nothern state of Minnesota. Well, what can you