Letters from the road and beyond

The Honeymoon Phase of Tour---from Montana to "The Mitten"

Mon, 07 May 2012 08:40:00 GMT

May 6, 2012


I started writing this blog about a month ago, and decided this afternoon as we were cruising the interstate up to northern Michigan (aka "the mitten") that I should probably finish it…so here goes:

       I have a strange adoration for this sweet little Motel 6 in Billings, Montana.

       It's one of those remodeled versions with the retro feel.... the "bamboo" floor, the funky colored walls, and the cool towel holders that look like they are straight out of the Jetson's. Something about motels in the beginning of tour that sing sweet freedom to my ears. It's like I'm in the "honeymoon phase" of tour, (we are only on day 4 of a 2 month tour) where everything is fun and exciting and even the stinky motels are charming to me.

      Today Dave and I had the great pleasure of spending some time in one of my favorite cities ever: Missoula, Montana. While we were there, we got some important logistical things taken care of....
1. Got the oil changed in the car
2. Made a post office run and sent off some CDs in the mail (I know, snail mail, people still do that?!?!)
3. Stocked up on some eats for the road at Missoula's fantastic "Good Food Store".

      We picked up a few of the basics, Luna bars, mineolas, herbed popcorn, and we believe it or not also planned ahead (which we rarely do) and bought some of those Thai Kitchen instant microwaveable soups so we could have some hot food for dinner when we arrived in Billings, MT that evening. NOTHING worse than pulling off the interstate and finding a motel, paying for the motel, and then realizing that there is nowhere and nothing to eat within the next 25 miles of your Motel 6 besides a KFC/Taco Bell.

      The honeymoon phase of tour is full of optimistic enthusiasm and sheer jubilance for anything that reminds us that we are on the road again…like the sound of Karen’s voice (our GPS), or the smell of the motel soap, or the stale texture of the cheap motel towels… Your mind is oh-so-fresh at this stage in the game, and you are able to make smart decisions like planning ahead in the morning for dinner that night -----in order to avoid being faced with the doom of the KFCs and Taco Bells that litter the interstates like dead armadillos in Missouri.*

Now as I write this, the honeymoon phase of tour is over; we are more into the “realistic phase”.
We are one month into our, the car smells like banana peels and is covered in crumbs.
Karen’s voice still sounds like a sweet melody every time she tells us
where to turn and how long it will be until we make it to our “home” of the night,
but the motel towels aren’t doing it for me anymore, I’m going to be honest with you.
The motel we stayed in last night however had some soap that was “infused with grapefruit” and that was kind of special.

     There is still that sense of jubilance for Dave and I every time we hit the stage, but I think that the overall excitement for driving for 10 hours is a little bit subdued and becomes more habitual than unusual after you’ve done it for over a month. Occasionally Dave and I have moments when we realize that we are 2,500 miles away from home and that we won’t be home for another month; the cool part about these moments is that the road starts to feel like home after a while, and that these habitual traveling routines and the sound of the spinning tires on the road start to become as/more comforting than your own bed, or your own soft towel waiting to warm you up after a cold shower.

     So far, we have played in Seattle, WA/Portland, OR/Bemidji, MN/Duluth, MN/St. Paul, MN/Eau Claire, WI/Sherman, TX/Dallas, TX/Columbia, MO/ and Ann Arbor, MI. We’ve played in pubs, coffee shops, theatres, college campuses, and we are currently traveling at 70 mph en route to play at a brewery that boasts some of the best, handcrafted beer in northern Michigan. Life could be worse, right? :)

     With 11 shows to go, we have just passed the halfway mark on our tour, and we have spent some time with some truly amazing people along the way. That’s really what keeps us going, this amazing force of the innate goodness of all of human spirits that we encounter along the way. We’ve seen some new faces and some old friends from long ago, all who have regenerated our spirits, provided showers and washing machines so we can wash the crumbs off of our faces and our sweaters, and most importantly provided love and support so we can keep on pushing down this insane road that is the life of a traveling musician. ….

I am constantly amazed by how amazingly kind and wonderful so many of the people are that we meet along the road.

To all of you who have opened your hearts and opened your doors to us so far, THANK you. Not only do you make this whole music thing possible, but also you no doubt are making the world a better place. I can’t wait to see what kind of adventures these next shows will bring. Hope to see some of you along the way. Until then, rest well, enjoy your soft towels for us, and we will keep you posted on what the next motel’s soap bar smells like.

------------------------------------------------------------------
*When we passed through Missouri last week there were an insane amount of dead armadillos alongside the interstate

'Seed of a Pine' listed as New & Noteworthy by iTunes!

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:10:00 GMT

Dave and I were very excited to wake up this morning and see that our album is listed as 'New & Noteworthy' on iTunes.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our album's success thus far!

Adventures in Songwriting

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:50:00 GMT

I hate when I make promises that I don’t follow through with. About a month ago (or more…but who’s counting?) I promised that you and I would start this fun interactive blog thing, and then I got busy with promoting this new album that Dave and I are releasing (IN TWO WEEKS, AHHHH) and trying to soak up my final lovely days here in this beautiful town of Flagstaff, Arizona. But now, I will do my best, to deliver answers to some of your awesome blog proposals. Today, it felt very appropriate to respond to this inquiry from our friend Bill:

“I always wonder if you are inspired to write a new song by something that happens/happened during the tour. In general, where do you get your inspirations for songs? Is it a meal? a comment someone makes? a moment that captures your mind? And, how do you generate a new melody, new music for a new piece, as opposed to simply falling into a rut and writing the same thing over and over? The whole process of writing songs is fascinating to me.”

Well, Bill, I agree that the songwriting process is indeed a fascinating one. A general answer to you would be that for me, my songwriting has no rhyme or reason to it, no formula that makes sense inside my own head, and in that same vein, there are some days where songwriting feels like my worst enemy. Today was one of those days.

There are a few things that I like to “set up” before attempting to create---the house needs to be clean (dishes especially). I read this awesome Billy Collins poem once that said something along the lines of “clean your house top to bottom before you EVER try to write, because if it’s dirty, your mind will not be clear”. I totally agree with that. Also, I need to have done some sort of physical activity and/or spent some time outside in order to have a clear head, and most of the time, I prefer to have been well-fed prior to a writing session.

Well, today, everything seemed in its right place when I sat down to write; I had a nice, balanced breakfast with some delicious peppermint tea, then went to yoga and got my physical activity covered for the day. Came home, ready to conquer my sweet little journal, and this time the journal conquered me. Should I write a love song? Should I write a song about moving? Something relevant to me/something totally irrelevant to me? Maybe it should be in an alternate tuning on my guitar. So I rapidly change the tuning on my guitar in every which way possible, and go back and forth from standard tuning to alternate tunings for the next 40 minutes or so, stumbling on some cool ideas here or there, but none enough to keep me intrigued for more than three minutes. Usually once I start doing that, it’s all-downhill from there. Instantly I’m acting like a three-year-old who doesn’t want to eat her vegetables on her plate; kicking, screaming, whimpering “I don’t wanna!! I don’t wanna!!” But just like the veggies for the little girl, this process in the end of it all is good for me. It’s all part of growth.

When the writing is good, it feels like sailing on top of a pristine lake. Like a hot knife through butter… the really good butter, not that cheap margarine crap. It transforms into a moment where the guitar, the pencil, the paper, and my voice are all one entity working together to create this one simple thing; a song. The inspiration can come from something as simple as a conversation with a friend about tomatoes, or a visual memory of a desolate canyon--- for me I most often find my “voice” writing about things in nature and their relationship to us…sometimes politics, love, and religion sneak in there, so the contents of these little songs can indeed get a bit heavy at times. Every single song that I have written has been written in a different way though, so it’s hard to explain or create some type of formula to express how it all comes down. Sometimes it’s the music first, and then the lyrics, or vice versa. Sometimes the song completely unfolds in an hour after writing one line of lyrics, but sometimes it can be a month or hell, even a year for a song to feel totally complete.

There’s a lot of trust involved in songwriting. Trust in yourself, and trust in your own voice. When I go to that dark place where I am unsatisfied with my lyrics or my guitar playing, the trust is gone, and the kicking and screaming persists, and that’s when I know I need to run far, far away.

And how do you avoid falling into a rut and writing the same thing over and over? That is a very good question. I think it is vitally important to stay true to one’s “voice” while songwriting; so within that idea, there may be common themes lyrically or musically that come through while attempting to create new songs. However, I think the way to avoid oneself from getting into a rut is to constantly be progressing/evolving in your daily life—learning new things, embracing new experiences, traveling to new places (a.k.a. touring), exchanging conversation with friends and strangers, etc. I say this all with such confidence where it may sound like I know all the tricks of the trade to songwriting, but I am still learning more about it every day. I’m at the very beginning of my career, and I have a lot to learn.

In the end of it all, songwriting is one of the most redeeming things I have ever experienced in my existence thus far on this blue and green rotating ball. It continues to fascinate me, frustrate me, and charm me all at the same time. I think that the day that songwriting becomes easy/boring to me will be the day that I throw in the towel on this whole music thing, and apply for a “real” job. And mark my word; if I have anything to do with it, I’ll make sure that that never happens.

Although that statement may be a whole separate blog in itself.

A Computer is NOT a Houseplant

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 12:10:00 GMT

Sometimes in life we experience moments when we just wish we could turn back the clock; instantly we feel this sense of remorse for what’s to come, and there’s nothing we can do, but scream, kick, cry and scream a little more. Like falling off of your bike for the first time (that split second where you are mid-air and realize that you are about to eat sh*t)… in that split second, it seems like you can see the whole world very clearly, and then everything explodes into chaos simultaneously after that moment. Today I had one of those moments. It was a frigid Flagstaff afternoon, and Dave was (finally) about to create a blog and upload some pictures from our west coast tour onto our websites, when I thought it was a good idea to offer him a glass of water. It’s all a blur after that. The glass slipped out of my hands. It tilted over onto the computer. For that one split second, I indeed saw the whole world very clearly, and realized that I couldn’t fight gravity. And it all poured down. Right now, my sad & sopping computer is sealed away in a box in the loft of my apartment, covered in rice. After crazily searching the internet and browsing “HELP! I just spilled water on my Macbook” forums, and after a few helpful responses from friends on Facebook, I discovered that electronics respond well to the application of rice, yes, rice when they are spilled on..something about drying them out faster by reducing the humidity levels. This means that I have to sleep without a humidifier for the next three nights, which I probably haven't done in Arizona in the last 12 months. So here I sit, fingers crossed, (it’s very hard to type with crossed fingers, by the way) hoping that come Wednesday night when I open that baby up again and plug in the battery, that all is well, and we can pretend that I didn’t mistake my computer for a plant this afternoon. Trust me, I know that life could be worse for Dave and I. Three weeks ago we were sharing the stage with the amazing and legendary Willy Porter, and now I’m bitching about a tiny bit of water spilled onto a silly little (life controlling) electronic machine. So I’ll close my eyes and reflect on some of the wonderful memories from this last tour with y’all to try and keep my mind off of this electronic tragedy. Wait a minute! There are too many fantastic memories racing through my head right now, and I can’t decide what to share with you. Lots of people ask Dave and I when we get back from tour, “How was tour? Tell me everything!!”-and there’s usually A LOT to talk about. And unfortunately, often times our creativity does not extend too far beyond our songwriting and performing (sometimes leaving us wondering what we should blog about) so we would like to know what YOU are interested in hearing about in our blogs. ..We’ve decided to open the floor to your ideas and if there’s something that you want to know more about, we'd welcome your thoughts, questions, and inspiration. It's almost 2012 and we suck at using Twitter. Our last tweet was a year ago this week and that was probably one of three we've ever done. We're not scared of social networking, but blogging somehow slips through the cracks. We hereby introduce our latest good idea. Help us, por favor. INTERACTIVE BLOG INSTRUCTIONS 1)Choose something specific from the tour (or whatever) that you want to hear about. 2)Click on the “Add Comment” button below or better yet, write a post on facebook with your blog idea. Hell, even send us an email. 3)Dave and I will look over all of the responses and choose our favorite/most relevant idea and then write a blog based off of that idea. *Some examples could be; “Write a blog about your show in Seattle.” or “Write a blog about what you and Dave ate while on tour." or "Why on earth would you move to the pacific northwest when you have such fantastic weather in Arizona?" you get the point, right??* Ok, so we’re excited to see how this goes (this is an experiment and we hope that you all participate cuz this could be really cool, and if it goes well, we could maybe even muster the gumption (great word isn't it?) to do one blog a week in response to your comments.) Looking forward to hearing some of your creative and wonderful ideas, and stay tuned to hear if, come Thursday morning, my computer is functioning or turning into a house plant! Cheers and tata for now, Mandy Fer

Photos from West Coast Tour w/ Willy Porter

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 06:05:00 GMT

Moonrise in Santa Cruz                                                     Pre-show glee                                                                   Crepe Place, Santa Cruz, CA

Backstage @ Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA               Setlist on a napkin (classy, we know)                               Bathroom art @ Sam Bond's Garage

Eugenian sunshine in November                                   New Day Bakery breakfast is the best!

Tour Eve

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:54:34 GMT

Sunday evening.
10:30 pm.
“Tour Eve”

Man, it really feels like I’m a kid again, and it’s Christmas Eve or something. We have all of our bags packed, (they are sitting patiently by the door) and I am bouncing off of the walls and falling into things like it’s my job. For the last 8 hours or so, Dave and I have been packing, reorganizing, reprinting, refinishing, cleaning, etc.

But right now, my friends, it’s a very, very familiar feeling…that restless, wonderful, magical, tiring feeling, just like I am six years old again and it’s the night before Christmas.

I think I’m a little disheveled, I’m not gonna lie to you folks, but it’s not something a little bourbon and ginger ale can’t take care of! ?

Dave is changing his strings on his beautiful Taylor guitar, and when he pulled it out of his case, I’m not going to lie to you (as I already stated) he sweetly whispered, “I love you” into its sound hole.

We are like kids in a candy store….ready, itching, so thrilled, can’t wait to hit this road hard tomorrow, and hopefully the Flagstaff snow won’t hold us back.

Tata for now, but much more to come from these two giddy musicians, thanks for reading and stay tuned, cuz I’m feeling like this tour’s going to be well documented…

Mandy Ferrarini or Mandy Fer?

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:59:28 GMT

Linguine, fettuccine, Ferrarini...these lovely Italian tongue-twisters are all difficult words to pronounce, spell, and remember. The last of the three, Ferrarini, is especially troublesome because unfortunately, my last name is not something that you have been eating at Italian restaurants and throwing across the table at your big brother since the sweet age of three. For this very reason, I have seen many beads of sweat form on show-promoter’s foreheads as they get ready to announce Dave McGraw & I to an eager audience of new listeners.
.
“Is it pronunced Fur-ree-ni or Fur-rah-reee-nuh? Am I saying that right?” the promoter will ask, unsure of his r-rolling skills. I reply as gently as possible,
“Yea, don’t worry, you can just say Mandy if you want... it’s Fair-rah-ree-ni, but no sweat, man.” He stares wide-eyed at my lips, while frantically attempting to scribble down the correct phonetics for my crazy last name.
“No, no, it’s ok, I think I’ve got it,” he’ll say, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. “So it’s, Free-nee, right?”

Oh, to hell with it.

I write to you all now on this beautiful fall, morning in Flagstaff, with news of a change that I am very excited to deliver to all of your email inboxes across this fine country. This fall, I will be changing my stage name from Mandy Ferrarini to Mandy Fer (pronounced “fair”). After many laborious hours of research and hard thinking, I discovered that Fer is one of the original spelling variations of Ferrarini, (and WAY easier to spell and pronounce). Not only is this staying true to the origin of my family history, but through other research I discovered that Fer is a wine grape used in southwest France, whose vines are extremely challenging to prune, and is named in reference to that challenge as the French word for Iron. Pretty cool, huh?

So, through all of this, I have joyfully decided to make this change before my debut duo album release with Dave McGraw, Seed of a Pine, which is set to be released in Jan. 2012. For all of you avid mandyferrarini.com folks, my website will be switching over in the next couple of weeks from www.mandyferrarini.com to www.mandyfer.com. (For the next couple of weeks however, you can continue to visit www.mandyferrarini.com, and when it switches over to the new address, it will instantly re-route you to from the old address to mandyfer.com, so do not fret!)

Recording The New Album: A Story Through Pictures

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 21:35:00 GMT

-Mandy, Dave McGraw & Andrew Lauher's journey to Chicago-

                                                                               Pre-Production @ Studio Retrograde in Flagstaff, AZ w/ Jeff Lusby

VERY packed car headed to Chicago... Through the mountains of Moab, UT...          And a barbeque festival in Frisco, CO....



And they survived the Blue River in Colorado...              And made it to Chicago!           Just in time for the storm (which put out the power for 4 days)

LET THE RECORDING PROCESS BEGIN!
@
Minbal
with

Zach Goheen

On the journey to the perfect tone....             Wizard/Producer/Engineer Zach Goheen....   "More of me, less of him, please!" screeched Mandy.
                                                                                                                                                                  "Look! You can do it yourself!" exclaimed Zach.
                                                                                                                                                                   And they all lived happily ever after... who said diamonds are a
                                                                                                                                                                                                           girls best friend? I say Furmans are a girl's best friend.



"Are you hungry, man?" asked Dave. Dave warmin up the vocal chords...           "Fighter pilot" Lauher checkin the mic levels...
"No man, I just ate 6 Cliff Bars," replied Andrew.
(See Cliff Bar note below)
"I wish i had a Big Star Taco right now," grumbled Mandy.

Chris Merrill rockin the upright...                                  Tele Time!                                                     Midwestern Lakes after pizza in the belly...

                                                                                 Puttin' JT Nero (Jt & the Clouds) & Allison Russel ( Po' Girl) to work...



Sweet salvation of Big Star Taco...                                                "Miss Ferrarini, Dr. Goheen will see you now."

Spanish flare w/ a pink capo by Mr. McGraw...        Best recording dog EVER...                                       Wurlitzer time!


The gang, post- Chicago style hot dogs...                      Big Star Taco again...                       The only thing Andrew took on the plane back to FLG...

ALBUM TO BE RELEASED IN LATE FALL 2011/EARLY WINTER 2012!
Big thanks to all who contributed in the process...what a blast!

Cliff Bar Note:
On the first Friday of the recording sessions, Dave, Mandy & Andrew arrived to Minbal Studios with approx 45 Cliff, Luna, and Lara Bars. All were gone in 3 days.

Chicago, July 17, 2011

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 11:25:00 GMT

Recording in Chicago:
What really inspired the sessions? How did it all happen so quickly? Here's how.

Oysters
Steak Tartare
Smoked Salmon
Octupus
Rabbit Leg
Mackerel
Italian Beef
Duck Confit
Short Ribs
Rabbit Lung
Tilapia Tacos
Hangover Salad
Pork Fried Almonds
Caviar
Affogato
Calamari
Luna Bar
Falafel
BBQ Chicken Sandwich
Proscuitto
Chorizo
Pork Liver Pate
Pizza
Lara Bar
Pork Tenderloin
Naked Juice
PBR Tall Boys (Thanks, George)
Trader Joe's free coffee
Newport Cappuccino

Now, with two empty wallets, Dave and Mandy are full. It must be time to go home.

THANK
YOU
CHICAGO.

Salvation from Flat Cornfields: The Northeast, Part 1

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:10:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini
August 31, 2010

Soybeans and corn. Soybeans and corn. We’re somewhere in the middle of Ohio and I hear Angrew screeching in the front seat, “That’s all there is, soybeans and corn. Soybeans and corn.” It’s probably our 887th cornfield in this trip thus far, and in the back seat of Henrietta (a.k.a. the “burp cage” 1 ) I am wondering how much longer this state of Ohio is going to last. Eventually, Ohio retreated from our windows, and we entered into the beginning of a beautiful Northeast experience for Dave McGraw and Crow Wing.

Once we finally scooted out of Ohio, I was amazed to see how gorgeous the rolling hills of Pennsylvania really were; this trip out to the Northeast was basically my first time out there, minus a field trip to D.C. in 8th grade. I had no idea that this part of the country was going to steal my heart so much, but I constantly found myself with my face pressed up against the window exclaiming, “Wow, look how pretty this is.” And what’s so cool about it is that it transforms from rolling green hills to a HUGE, and I mean HUGE, metropolis without even the blink of an eykkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Oh, sorry, I just fell asleep holding down the ‘k’ in another cornfield filled area in middle of nowhere, Kansas. Seriously. Dave just got a picture of it, I think.

Anyways, our first northeastern stop was Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Crow Wing got their dive bar fix for the tour. Philly definitely charmed me with its steep winding streets and baseball-watchin-Philly-cheese-steak-eatin' crowds filling the bar scenes. We prowled the streets for a pre-show meal, and were advised by a local to eat at a pub around the corner, where bar food consisted of tasty vegetable wraps with goat cheese, salads with fresh mint and artichoke hearts, and of course, Philly cheese steaks. What a pleasant surprise to eat good bar food for once…no offense to Flagstaff, but bar food just isn’t good there.

With full bellies, back we headed to the bar where we were playing, and waited patiently for our turn to rock Philly’s socks off. That night we were scheduled with two other bands and, uniquely enough, a comedian who filled the silence between band switchovers. Oh, boy, did he fill the silence. I don't think I can repeat a single joke, because there may be children or other wholesome persons reading this. As you can imagine, it was an...interesting...fit with three folk-rock bands. But unexpected surprises are what the road is all about; they're never something you can truly prepare for, but that’s what makes it such a thrilling ride.

We had a great time playin' that night in the little dive bar on a small street corner of Philly, and in our crowd was one of my dear friends, Ailsa, who rallied five fun friends from Philly to come dance to some sweet Southwest tunes. Ailsa took in Crow Wing with open arms to her mom’s beautiful home just south of the city, and we thank her so much for having us. It’s hard to explain the sense of comfort that staying in a warm home brings after spending numerous nights in Motel 6's, especially an amazing house like that one, with such an amazing friend. This house is a classic Pennsylvania home built in the late 1800s, with character seeping out of every centimeter inside and out. We soaked up every outdoor second that we could in her massive and gorgeous backyard, picking some fresh raspberries and kicking back with a little bourbon by the fire. Man, life on the road is rough.

The next morning we awoke to some Northwest style rain, which we greeted with great pleasure. Crow Wing got super lucky with the weather we experienced in our northeastern bout; not a day even attempted to feel hot, and gentle sprinkles gave Henrietta a daily washing. Off we did roll to Ithaca, New York, where Dave McGraw and Crow Wing played their first coffee shop ever as a full band, surrounded by a crowd of loving family and friends. I feel like I’ve become repetitive in these blogs talking about loving family and friends in the audiences, but it’s true, we have been blessed to be surrounded at almost every performance by such wonderful folks. So, thank you all a million times for supporting us. If any of you haven’t been to Ithaca, and are considering it, I say do it. It’s a colorful, quaint town, and if you can make it into “The Shop” while you are there, it's worth the effort. According to Andrew, Crow Wing’s resident coffee connoisseur, it’s the best coffee he had all tour. We all had a great caffeinated set there at “The Shop,” where the tempo was maybe a little faster than normal, but luckily Andrew kept an eye on it and slowed the cappuccino pace down whenever necessary.

Thom's kind friends Yamin and Diane opened their doors to us for a delightful night of delicious homemade lasagna and comfortable, much needed Z's (the 2 previous nights consisted of a total of 6 hours of sleep). With the hectic streets of Manhattan awaiting our arrival the next day, Crow Wing was in dire need of more than 4 hours of sleep that night. Thank you, Yamin & Diane, for helping us recharge our minds and spirits within the beautiful confines of your home.

Next time: A Day in the Life of Dave McGraw and Crow Wing

______________________

1 I burped ONCE, and nobody seemed to forget it, so now whenever I am acting up, the boys send me to my burp cage in the back seat. [Editor's note: It was WAY more than once.] That’s where all of this fun blogging occurs from, though, so I guess we're all in the burp cage together...muhaha...

It Was a Small Texas Town

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 01:05:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini
August 25, 2010

“Everybody come on in, you can taste a little of the summer… my grandma put it all in jars.”---Greg Brown

Grandparents are true gifts in our lives. Their words constantly heartfelt, their stories a gentle and constant symphony of truth to our wide and bright young eyes. Dave McGraw & Crow Wing was lucky enough to enter into a chapter of family history this past week in Sherman, Texas, where a lovely lady named Dorothy Foster opened the doors to a vast cavity of vivid memories to share with these four youngsters on a hot August afternoon. Dorothy’s quaint white house was strewn with antique china and old photographs of smiling family faces; I could have sworn that I heard a continuous whisper of untold narratives behind each corner of every room.

Our visit to Sherman, Texas was brief but took us straight to the heart of the American South… where sneaky chiggers are nestled in thick grass waiting to hurl themselves into sweet northerners’ ankles, and where churches, without a doubt, outnumber Starbucks. Crow Wing jumped in head first with a lunch at the “Glory to God Café”, one of Dorothy’s favorite hot spots in Sherman. We knew that this lunch was going to be a memorable and “bloggable” experience simply by the name of this place, but I think we were all floored with how much heart their was inside of this small café. A preacher and his family run the restaurant, and they had just decided that morning that they were going to have to close it down because they could not longer afford it. The kind daughter prepared us plates of candied yams, fried okra, green beans, southern style mac & cheese, and a fried catfish sandwich. Everything tasted like it was on sugar-butter steroids, but in a good way… let’s just say that southern food does NOT lack flavor. It was a very real and very heavy experience to be inside of an establishment that had been such an important part of Dorothy’s community and to watch it prepare itself for its final days. I realize more and more that these “real” experiences are why we are on the road. There is so much to see in this world, let alone in this country, but we are just trying to do our part to follow our hearts, and share real experiences with real people.

Before we departed from this small Texas town, Crow Wing serenaded Dorothy with their version of the Sherman Living Room Sessions, which entailed almost an hour’s worth of acoustic melodies and rhythms. Thom, Dave and myself all fiddled on guitars (I periodically jumped over to the perfectly tuned piano and tried to keep up) and Andrew singing and tapping on whatever he could get his hands on. Throughout the whole day we spent in Sherman I couldn’t seem to kick “Seed of a Pine” out of my mind, whose lyrics include lines such as, “great grandmother would have surely known” and “hope is believing in the seed of a pine.” We began our mini concert with that song, and the silence steeped with photographs was soon covered in Dave’s voice, singing words of all he knew and loved to his smiling grandmother. What a joy it is to share our music with the people that we love.

We pushed out of Sherman with Henrietta properly lubed from a cheap/fast oil change and northward Crow Wing flew bound for a recently drenched Iowa City, IA. Angrew (whom I will explain later) made one of his first experiences of the trip thus far when he took the wheel right outside of Des Moines, Iowa. As most of you probably know, Iowa experienced a devastating amount of flooding within the last week or so, and we got to see some of it firsthand in a 2 hour traffic pile that was caused by this flooding. Rivers flooded over their banks and just barely missed the highway by about 20 yards… this being said, the second that Andrew got behind the wheel he claims to have been “hosed” because he was the unfortunate one who had to drive us through the entire hot traffic jam. Originally, Andrew jumped behind the wheel and our friendly GPS Karen recommended an alternate route for Henrietta, which we gladly attempted to follow. This alternate route led Henrietta to her first encounter with a dirt road next to some very well watered corn fields, but little did Karen know that almost all of these back roads were washed out from the flood, so Andrew was forced to turn Crow Wing back around to the bumper to bumper traffic filled highway.

What’s that you say? Who is Angrew? Well, Angrew is the slightly angrier version of Andrew, who occasionally makes appearances under frustrating circumstances most commonly en route to a show when the traffic or the coffee isn’t quite right. When Angrew shows up, Crow Wing is always understanding of his needs, and knows that eventually Andrew will reappear once the circumstances improve, and truly we all just need to get a little angry sometimes, so we thank Andrew for having the courage to name his angry side and have it sound so catchy and clever. Mangry or Thomgry or Davegry just doesn’t sound as good. Andrew resurfaced once the road cleared up, and we arrived in Iowa City to be pleasantly surprised by a lively town and a lively performance that evening at the Iowa City Yacht Club. The Yacht Club seems to have nothing to do with boats just like the Walnut Room seems to have nothing to do with walnuts, but we still enjoyed hammering out some solid tunes in a dark basement for a loving crowd of Iowa City fans. This show exceeded all of our expectations with crowd receptivity and Crow Wing definitely had a downright fun evening in that Big Ten town. Thanks to all of our new Iowa City fans who came out and supported with joyful openness to our Southwest twang.

The world became smaller for me once more that night when the bartender at the Yacht Club asked me who I was and then informed me that we went to high school together. I think I’m learning through this tour that the world is small, and we are all always closer than we think we are to each other. It’s taking that extra step to go see the world that helps us to reach some sense of understanding for what the hell we are doing on this crazy planet. I guess then a small advantage that we have on our elders or our grandparents is our ability to go out and stretch our crow wings and see so much of this lovely painted earth, whether it may be by plane, train, or Henrietta—but in doing so we can’t forget our sense of home, and how important that is as well. Home…where our antique china sits and waits to be used, where an old pecan tree grips tight to the hot summer earth, where a grandmother waits patiently for her afternoon nap to pass so she can watch her grandson shine brightly through song. Where pictures tell stories which words may not understand, and where memories grow like weeds fed only by love.

Sweet Home Chicago

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 01:05:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini
August 27th, 2010

Pizza, hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, blues music, Da Bears, and... did I say pizza yet? These are just a few reasons why I love Chicago, my pre-Flagstaff home. Occasionally I find myself in the back of a cab in downtown Chicago, sweaty palms clinging to the sticky leather seats, wondering if the cab driver is just crazy, or if I’ve been away from this city for too damn long. It brings me some inexplicable sense of comfort when I am worrying for my life in the back of a cab, with some false sense of reassurance like, “Oh, don’t worry, Mandy, these guys know what they’re doing.” When really, they’re just part of this game we call living in the concrete jungle, and they’re just dancing at extra high speeds with a little bit more cojones behind the wheel than a small-mountain-town girl such as myself.

When Dave McGraw and Crow Wing cruised into Chicago that Sunday afternoon (well, not really cruised, more like sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic), there was a great sense of anticipation amongst the entire group. I think I speak for everyone when I say that Chicago was one of the most highly anticipated shows of the Crow Wing’s August 2010 tour. Not only because this show was in such an infamously prominent music town, but also because we were going to be playing at such an awesome venue, opening up for an awesome Chicago band, being surrounded by hundreds of awesome Chicagoans in the crowd. And all of this joy was nearly stripped straight from my hands, almost literally, by a filthy, evil, teeny Deerfield yellow jacket.

For those of you who are familiar with Deerfield, Illinois, you know that there are just a couple famous things about this quaint North Shore suburb. One of them is the Walgreens factory, and the second one is “the Tunnel”. The Tunnel is an exit ramp tunnel that was built in the year 2000, which takes you from 94 West to Deerfield Road. This lovely tunnel became a central point for entertainment for my high school friends and me on many boring Friday and Saturday Deerfield nights. How can a tunnel be entertaining? Needless to say, Deerfield nightlife was far from compelling, and my friends and I were extremely creative and colorful individuals (trust me, you should have seen the colors on our patchwork skirts). With just the right tunnel song, and the windows down all the way, if you stick your head out the window just enough to let your three-foot-long hippy hairdo tangle in the wind, the Tunnel can be the recipe for complete bliss for a bliss-starved sixteen-year-old stuck in the suburbs.

After we survived the five o’clock downtown traffic and skidded to the northern suburbs, I picked up the phone and dialed my favorite pizza joint’s number (which I still have memorized; thank you, Il-Forno’s), and decided that it would only be appropriate to share the Tunnel with these Crow Wing fellas. So, I picked a good tunnel song,“Paradise City” (I know, it’s too good), we rolled down Henrietta’s windows and zoomed through my high school memories at full speed. After our thrilling tunnel run, we jumped onto Deerfield Road, and the familiar smells, sights and sounds of home abounded. I was just finishing saying to the boys, “So, now you know what I did in high school, and now you’ll understand why I had so much free time to practice guitar--”, when all of a sudden, it felt like a friendly Deerfield birdy dropped a little friendly turdy through the window and into my not-so-long-now hairdo.

I turned around and asked Dave, “Is there bird shit in my hair?” I ran my hand through my locks, and felt a not-so-friendly evil buzzing creature sting my right index finger, 4 days before the most important musical performance of my life. I would much rather have opted for the bird shit.

Now, when I reflect on it, the irony of the situation is exceptionally laughable, but at the time, after multiple doses of Wal-a-tin and Benadryl (which I learned is very FUN), one useless visit to the walk-in clinic, and six suburban Walgreens visits in 24 hours, I was about ready to cut my finger off. It started as just an extremely painful and swollen finger, and then spread to my whole hand; the same hand that was supposed to be able to hold a pick on Thursday on stage at one of Chicago’s premier music venues. Thank you to all of you friends and family who tolerated my overly stressed, crabby and drowsy behavior throughout those few days. But my biggest thank you goes out to Dr. Lu (and my mom, for scheduling the appointment), who is the physician who prescribed me to a high dose of steroids and antibiotics, which by show time on Thursday shrunk my hand to its almost normal size.

Ok, I’m supposed to be blogging right now about our awesome experience in Chicago. Sorry for the detour…

I warned Dave when we booked this tour that I was going to need just enough time in Chicago to see Granny and eat pizza, and it turned out to be our longest stop on the tour. Thanks, Dave. From Sunday to Friday we all were able to spend some quality time with family and friends, eat delicious cuisine, and experience some of the amazing entertainment and activity that the Windy City has to offer. Thom scooted off to Indiana to have some genuine family time in South Bend, while Andrew, myself and Dave soaked up D-town for all it was worth: visits to famous Chicago museums, to a jaunt on the Metra to a My Morning Jacket show at Northerly Island with Crow Wing supporter Tosch, to a $75 trip to Rosewood Beach (damn, you Highland Park Police, for ticketing my mom’s car). The pizza was more delicious than ever, and the visits with my Granny Pearl were more irreplaceable than ever. Just like Dave’s grandma Dorothy, Pearl is a huge advocate for our music; to be able to sit down in her cozy living room of her quiet apartment and fill the air with a few lively moments of music brings me so much joy, and makes this entire tour worth it for just that one look of contentment on her loving and smiling face. A few more acoustic versions of Mandy/Crow Wing tunes were performed on the back porch of my parent’s house for loving family members' ears, and Dave’s brand spankin' new djembe arrived at our doorstep just in time to be played on stage that next night. Big thanks to Mom and George for opening your home to us, as always, and for being such awesome musical cheerleaders since day one.

Thursday night arrived, and Dave McGraw and Crow Wing found themselves stepping their crow feet into one of the coolest musical nooks in Chicago that I have ever seen. When you walk in the front door of The Hideout, the walls are littered with pictures of past performers in the venue, branching anywhere from Andrew Bird to The Swell Season and Neko Case. Let me take a minute to send great appreciation to JT Nero of JT & The Clouds for putting together this special night for us; what a pleasure it was to share the stage with his killer band that night. If you haven’t heard of JT & The Clouds, you owe it to yourself to check them out (www.jtandtheclouds.com), because they rock. As does his lovely female vocalist’s other band, Po Girl (www.pogirl.net). Thank you, too, Alison, for your amazing soul and for your kind words. We look forward to sharing the stage with you all again very soon.

Now here come more thank you’s. I can’t begin to thank all of our family and friends for coming out that night to support our music. It felt so good to get up on that stage for my opening set and look out at so many familiar joyful faces---I am so blessed to know all of you. It was such a blast to share my craft for the first time with so many fans that have been by my side since the very beginning. I had such a ball playing both sets, especially when Dave brought his new djembe (now referred to as the Goat) on stage and shook the walls with that beautiful beast. Something extremely exciting about touring the country with this band is their ability to carry the essence of the Southwest straight to the stage; whether it is through songs written about the unfortunate happenings of Mexican drug cartels or Dave’s experiences chasing birds throughout the sandy ranchos of Chihuahua. Crow Wing flew high that night on that beautiful Hideout stage, to the point where during the last song (Crow Wing River), my Nalgene flew off my amp and spilled water all over my pedal board. I looked at Dave wondering what to do, and he gave me a big grin that implied, “Yea, that’s rock and roll baby.” The boys and I grew another unique version of “Seed of a Pine” with special guest JT, who sang some sweet harmonies with us--- it’s moments like those, where I look around the stage at Dave, Thom, and Andrew, and I float up out of myself and say, “Yes.” We’ve done it… we are on the road, sharing our music with family and friends and strangers alike, with smiles swollen from joy, and hands healed from the wrath of filthy, teeny Deerfield yellow jackets.

A Not-So-Small Texas Town

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 01:05:00 GMT

By Mandy Ferrarini
August 18, 2010

The Dallas skyline is extremely impressive. I’m a born-and-raised Chicagoan, so I’m spoiled when it comes to skylines, but this one is one of the best I’ve seen in a while. Yes, I have been hiding out in Flagstaff for a few years now, where the only skylines that frequent my vision are the natural skyline of the San Francisco Peaks…but anyways, I was just surprised to see such an extensive array of crafty looking buildings scraping the skies of Dallas, Texas.

On this particular Monday evening, our arrival in Dallas was an excited one…we had just made one of the best possible stops for road-side munchies at the Czech Stop Little Czech Bakery just off the road between Austin and Dallas, so our bellies were quite happy. If you haven’t noticed yet, I will explain a concept that I have learned thus far on this long, strange trip. It goes like this: happy bellies=happy travelers=happy musicians=sweet-music-makin' machines. What makes a belly happy is not only having the food taste really good at the point of intake, but also having it make you feel good when it’s all said and done. Part of that for me includes knowing that the ingredients in the food aren’t just 100% MSG ridden and the production of it wasn’t a gnarly, loveless battle. It’s nice to know where your food comes from, isn’t it? Anyways, Dave McGraw and Crow Wing had their best sweet-music-makin' performance of the tour yet after eating those delicious Czech pastries and mini pizza sandwiches, and there were some other wonderful contributing factors that aided to the creation of such a magical night that we’ll elaborate on in just a few more miles.

Let’s discuss the arrival at Poor David’s Pub. It was hot, and we were hungry and relieved to make it off of a tight-knit/semi-filled/traffic-drenched I-35 highway. Our own David was at the wheel, smiling big upon his return to this legendary Dallas venue. We pulled into the back parking lot of the venue where there was actually a real life back entrance for musicians to conveniently load in their gear. We don’t see that very often; loading in can be a very troublesome endeavor. This time though, we were blessed by some nice double doors and an actual sidewalk ramp…oh, the small pleasures of being an on-the-road musician. So, like I was saying, Dave was backing Henrietta into the parking spot right outside this lovely back entrance, when Henrietta’s pretty round behind decided to give Poor David’s Pub a little bumper kiss. It was just a little one; I already told you she likes women, right? I think that she just got curious with what it might taste like or something…but not much damage at all was done to her perfect figure. Just a pinch of damage might have been done to Poor David McGraw’s pride in handling Henrietta, though. Crow Wing didn’t squawk at Dave at all, because we all make mistakes, and nothing was hurt or broken, so it really just became a good story in the end for Dave to share with the crowd the the pub later that evening on stage.

So once we all recovered from Henrietta’s public display of affection for Poor David’s Pub, we entered into this legendary venue ready to play some heartfelt music for some loving crowd members. Over the last 32 years Poor David’s Pub has been graced with performers such as John Lee Hooker, The Dixie Chicks, Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Robert Hunter, Arlo Guthrie, and many more. It was an amazing pleasure to step foot into that venue, let alone step foot onto this stage. On their website it states, “Poor David’s Pub has a long history of being a 'listening room.' More aptly put…people have come to respect this venue as a place where the main focus is always the performing artist.” The whole idea of playing listening rooms has gotten me hooked over these past couple of weeks; I think I could be happy forever if I was able to continue playing such accommodating venues where people are there truly for the music, paying close attention with open ears, hearts, and minds.

What a colorful group of listeners we had at the Poor David’s Pub that lovely Monday night. With my arrival to the stage I greeted them with a, “Hello, Dallas family.” The entire crowd was family based in one form or another, and we thank all of you so much for making it out on a Monday evening all the way to our show on such a hot, hot, hot day. There were aunts, uncles, cousins, fathers, brother-in-laws, sisters and brothers, and most importantly, a lovely and beautiful woman by the name of Dorothy, whose face beamed with pride for her grandson the entire evening. Dorothy is Dave McGraw’s 88-year-old grandmother, who trekked it hours away from her small Texas town to see her David sing and play with his friends in a dark bar in the middle of Dallas, Texas. What a delightful spirit Dorothy is; you will indeed hear more about her and her lovely life that she shared with her grandson and his rock band in the blog to follow.

Back to Poor David’s Pub, where the trusty soundman, Carlos, created the best sound I have ever played out of, hands down. Carlos, you sure did know how to make me feel like an angel on that well air-conditioned stage that evening, so thank you. Mr. McGraw joined me once more on stage during my set to sprinkle in some delicious djembe work; it’s been so nice to have this new percussive element added to my songs- it’s like I’m watching these songs evolve and take on a new life of their own every time Dave joins in with his drum. And I have a pretty good feeling that this is just the beginning of this sense of evolution of music that we will all be experiencing together.

Soon to follow, Dave McGraw and Crow Wing floated onto stage with a comfortable and energized set of music for the whole family to enjoy. Something clicked that night--maybe it was the fact that we were engulfed by so much love in the audience--but Crow Wing soared high and was covered in smiles and good energy throughout the whole set. A couple of highlights include an effortlessly striking version of “Seed of a Pine,” which no doubt has become a favorite of Crow Wing’s—another example of a song that has the capability to take on new life each time it’s performed. Another highlight was a close to home and heartfelt performance of “Blue,” which Dave wrote for his aunt as a 35th wedding anniversary gift, and it gave me chills that night to see her in the audience as the 3-part harmony filled the room: “Somewhere in the south…somewhere it was a small Texas town…it was where I saw my light.” And off to a small Texas town we did wander that very next day, to see where a family history was born, and where the heart of America is still pumping strong and mighty with each passing day.

The Lettuce Challenge: Austin, Part 2

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 01:05:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini

Aug 15, 2010

Part of our good Texas time began with the discussion of that 72 oz. steak. If you are unaware of the context of this piece of meat, please refer back to blog numero uno [Somewhere, Texas, posted 8/9/10]. This dramatic story will no doubt be one of the fundamental threads running throughout this tour, so I hope that you all follow along, and know that Thom Lord is taking this race seriously, with every inch of his heart, stomach, and intestines. After our Austin show, seeds of hope were planted for Mr. Lord, as a possible partner in crime, Glen Seeley, pondered the idea of joining Crow Wing at the Big Texan in 2 weeks for a big slab of meat and all the trimmings. A sense of community was born for Thom, knowing that someone else with the same hopes and dreams could very shortly be sitting right across from him at that elevated table in that big Texas dining hall.

Training requires practice and perseverance, and both were illustrated last night at Crow Wing’s post-show IHOP experience. At 1:30 a.m. on this particular Monday evening, our faithful Karen led us directly to the house of pancakes that was 2/10ths of a mile away from our roach-covered motel room. We found a suitable booth, and the wait-staff soon arrived at the table with 7 plates of food for 4 people, 3 of them plopping directly in front of Lord’s dome. Oh, Ashley, our steadfast IHOP server, we place our gratitude upon your soul for being such a lovely southern belle to our hungry, hungry table. If you ever need to be reminded of wondrous southern hospitality, I recommend visiting the IHOP in North Austin, right off of I-35—supposedly it’s the oldest IHOP out there, and make sure to request Ashley as your waitress.

Not only was she funny and knowledgeable, but Ashley also became a supportive fan of Thom Lord’s race to the 72 oz steak. After Thom finished his plate of chicken-fried steak doused in sawmill gravy, 2 eggs over easy, 3 pancakes, and hash browns—he was still hungry. According to Ashley (who prefers to be referred to as “the IHOP waitress who stretched out my insides with random aqueous vegetables”), lettuce serves as the perfect training food: since it's relatively quick and easy to digest, you can practice filling up frequently. This game's all about volume. So, the first public proposal for free food ejected itself from Lord’s mouth when a gigantic bowl of salad arrived at our table, compliments of Ashley. Lord confidently said, “If I eat this whole plate of lettuce in 5 minutes, can my companions here have free ice cream sundaes? And if not, I’ll give you a 30 percent tip.” They haggled over a mutually satisfactory time constraint for almost a minute when finally they agreed on a 4-minute deadline. Satisfied and strong, Lord asked the waitress, “Can I go pee first?” Upon his return to the table, Ashley waited with an iPhone timer in hand, and the demolition began.

The ravenous scramble of honey mustard-bedaubed lettuce versus stomach began with a determined stride--- a good 30 seconds of stuffing face, a famished gulp of ice water…lettuce locked between teeth…swallowing, barely stomaching, a small gag…
“How’m’I doin? How’m’I doin?” between gulps he gasped.
“1 minute down,” Ashley reported.
He looks up. “Oh, this is easy.”
Two and half more minutes, and the plate still had a decent pile of lettuce remaining. Andrew, Dave and Mandy are barely keeping the urine inside of their bladders the laughter is so severe.

Ashley’s grin grows as the final 10 seconds count down to Thom’s unfortunate defeat. As he downs the final leaves of lettuce anyway, Crow Wing reassures Thom that this is all just part of training. Ashley arrived once more at the table with a free ice cream sundae because, “Thom was so hardcore and rocked it so hard.” And, mind you, Thom partook in this ice cream as well. What a way to finish a lettuce, chicken, gravy, egg, pancake, hashbrown-filled meal. The check lands on the table, and Thom’s wallet leaves the IHOP just a little bit lighter.

But hey, it’s all part of training. We all learned something, and lost nothing but a couple of bucks to a jolly waitress in a jolly pancake house on the side of a long winding Texas highway.

Let the training begin.

It's Hotter than Hades: Austin, Part 1

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:00:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini

August, 13, 2010

Texas smells right now. There’s a spankin' new royal blue Dodge Ram pushing out some rancid stink in front of Henrietta’s face, and I don’t like it one bit. Crow Wing is rightfully hot and perturbed, we are trying to decide whether or not to breathe, or whether or not to turn around and drive straight back to Flagstaff where the air is sweet like butterscotch candies. Thom, as always, plays it safe and smart—he slows Henrietta’s smooth roll, and off zooms the shtanky blue truck…Crow Wing, revived and breathing, heads north to Dallas.

Before we go any further, there is a new, essential member of the band to be introduced that was gifted to us by a loving father in Denver, CO. Her name is Karen, she has black hair and blue lined eyes, and she’s not afraid to tell us where to go and how to get there. Her velvety voice whispers words that are yet to lead us in the wrong direction; it’s hard to believe that Crow Wing was ever able to fly without her. She is a Garmin Nuvi 255 WT, and we are already lovingly addicted to her ways. Luckily, Henrietta is slightly partial to women, so the two of them hit it off instantly after their first night of alone time in Amarillo, Texas. If you haven’t caught on already, Karen is our new GPS navigation system that we must take a moment to desperately thank Jack McGraw for providing us. Thank you, Jack, a gazillion times over. I guess it’s all part of the feminist movement that Crow Wing is now part of, this sexy & sleek Australian woman jumping into the van and taking over Rand McNally’s place in 2 seconds flat.

Each day feels like a year’s worth of memories when sailing the sea of the highway with these three boys…oh, and these two women. Yesterday was a first experience in Austin for both Mandy and Andrew, and we made the best of the 19 hours we had. When we rolled into town, we navigated our way (with Karen’s help) to the Hole in the Wall, where the sign reads, “Cheap music, fast drinks, live women.” Of course, that sign didn’t go undocumented by a little silly girl like me (refer to picture below). The Hole in the Wall was a great and authentic Austin pub—there were two stages, and two bars with a huge outdoor patio and restaurant in back of the joint. Not only were there two stages and bars, but also two toilets lined up perfectly next to each other, sans stalls, in the ladies bathroom (refer to other picture below). Crow Wing arrived to the bar around 6 pm to a bluegrass band all huddled around a single mic, pickin' some happy hour tunes, and it seemed like the music was non-stop everywhere around town. Pubs, pizza shops, clubs... all of them had a guitar waiting patiently in its case to be pulled out and loved in public for all of Austin to see. And this was a Monday, mind you!…Austin really is a musician’s dream when it comes to that.

Our dream was a short but sweet one that night as Dave McGraw & Crow Wing sailed gracefully through a swift 45-minute set on the front stage of the Hole in the Wall; Andrew successfully downsized his kit to one cymbal, one high-hat, one floor tom, one snare, and one kick drum. For those of you who are familiar with a traditional rock & roll drummer’s set-up, this is damn impressive. And indeed he wore it well; blasting out some early 20’s beats behind Lord’s solid bass grooves, Ferrarini’s fickle fingered fretting, and McGraw’s undoubtedly heartfelt melodies. Some old friends made it out with supportive smiles: thank you to Havilah, Halley and the Seeleys for your attentive presence. The set ended and Crow Wing spent some quality time and a few Texas lagers with some loyal Foster/McGraw friends—much thanks to the Seeleys for showin' the band a good Texas time.

Somewhere, Texas

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 01:00:00 GMT

By: Mandy Ferrarini

August 9, 2010

Sunday afternoon…and we’re bound for Somewhere, Texas. The sun is bright and it’s just getting brighter as Henrietta rolls southward on I-25. The mountains are begging us to turn back, climb to the highest height, and forget the road that we are on for just a minute or so. But we refuse, and push onward---much too much to see on this upcoming stretch of desert highway. It is day four of Dave McGraw and Crow Wing’s August tour, and the crew is freshly showered and smelling pretty darn good, but it’s still the beginning. Speaking of beginnings, please allow me introduce myself. I’m the new girl, Mandy-nice to meet you. So many exciting beginnings for me here, so please forgive me if my smile stretches out of the computer screen and hugs you so hard that you can’t breathe.

Let’s talk for a second about being a woman cooped up in a van with three other males traveling across the country in a van. Because I know that you’re all wondering what kind of cultural experiment we are conducting- thus far I think that you all need to understand something about these Crow Wing fellas. They’re by far better mannered than I am. So I guess you could say I’m learning a thing or two not only about the road/touring from these gentleman, but also about life in general like how to say, “excuse me” after a yawn or a cough. On a serious note, we couldn’t be blessed with a more cooperative and thoughtfully outrageous crew.

So I know you all are wondering about the Cock and Bull, I would be too. We’ll get to it; don’t worry.

The first stretch of our journey lassoed us into the Cowgirl in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the pulled pork was steaming and spicy, and the green chili smothered breakfast burritos were served until the wee hours of the evening. I jumped in for my first opener set for DMCW, joined by Mr. McGraw on djembe for the final few tunes. Followed directly by our first time doing the music dance in public as this version of Crow Wing, which went quite well. Frankly, there was even a real live cowboy in the crowd who danced so hard that his cowboy hat jumped right off his head and straight onto the PBR saturated floor. A kind friend of Andrew’s opened his doors to the band and offered up some traditional Santa Fe flair with his beautiful adobe abode. His driveway was inhabited not only by a beautiful green Porsche, but also a tasty plum tree that Thom delightfully indulged upon. In the backyard lived a lovely wooden ladder resting on the flat mud-based roof that gave the boys a sweet Santa Fe moonrise just before bedtime. Much thanks to Dan for his supremely sensational hospitality; what a friendly and whole being he is.

Off to Pueblo we went after a New Mexican style breakfast in the sunlight, where the four of us received a sufficient Santa Fe sunburn. We took in some more Mexican food upon our arrival in Pueblo for pre-show dinner, experimenting with how strong these touring stomachs were going to be. And then..ahh, the Cock & Bull. Our expectations were pretty high for this one, but I think it was beyond what one could imagine for a bar whose name includes such profane imagery. Alright, let’s get our mind out of the gutter… to be honest, the Cock & Bull was a pleasant surprise for Crow Wing, with tall ceilings and wooden walls that made for extremely satisfying sound for the band. We set up sans dance floor, but instead in front of approximately 25 bulky wooden chairs, and two giant wooden tables. The bartender warned us around fifteen minutes into our set that people would be showing up probably around nine, and not to feel upset that nobody was there yet. She was right, but little did we know there would be a bus-full of Slovenian senior citizens sauntering in during “Walk on the Wild Side”.

A necessary band photo was taken outside of the Cock & Bull post-show, and then we jumped in the van and Dave drove us on a late-night cruise to Denver, with a much-needed night of slumbering at the McGraw residence. Before the slumbering, there was more food, actually an epic amount of food intake. Nothing like a loving mother and father opening their doors to their starving artist son and his friends. Nancy opened the freezer first, and there were mini Tony’s pizzas and Eggo waffles staring us in the eye. Our first course of the fourthmeal (thanks, Taco Bell) was an appetizer of Eggos drenched in syrup (which I hear makes for a great shower product) and fruit. Thankfully, there was fruit, also a mother’s touch of course….inserting health amidst a late night munchie feast. Then came the mini pizzas, grilled cheese with provolone, and cheese and crackers. All on the same plate, mind you. Great masses of thanks to the McGraws for taking such great care of us, and helping to prepare us for a night of great music.

Well fed and well rested we headed to The Walnut Room, Saturday evening in Denver, CO. I speculated whether or not there were going to be any real walnuts in that place. Then I thought, maybe there’s just a crazy guy stuck to the wall or something, you know, the “nut” on the wall. Neither was true, but we decided to keep the gig anyways. We were graced with the work of the very talented soundman, Randall - and our sound check felt like a warm stick of butter melting nicely on a hot frying pan. What a joy it was to have somebody taking care of the sound for us, so we could sit back and do what we know best…create music. Another Mandy solo set opened for Crow Wing, with a patiently attentive audience, only quiet whispers to fill the acoustic filled air. Crow Wing then took the stage, and the fan-filled crowd anxiously cheered with the arrival of their one and only Dave McGraw, returning to the stage of the Walnut Room for the first time since 2007. An amazingly receptive crowd was present with proud smiles beaming for their fellow Denverite, almost all of the audience singing along to every song. The band closed the set with an appropriate “Crow Wing” closer… whose lyrics highlight, “it’s time to take another drive, this time from Denver, Colorado-”---which sure did rile the crowd up for this final fantastic number. The night carried on with two other sets of music from Benyaro and Wadirum, and soon enough, Crow Wing was back on the road to the Hotel Red Lion, courtesy of one of Dave’s best friends, Matt. Thank you, Matt, for making us feel like real V.I.P. rock stars for our evening in Denver.

Onward to Amarillo, Texas, where we approached the Big Texan grill, and Thom debated attempting the intake of a 72 oz steak. Thankfully, after careful thought and almost 3 nervous breakdowns by Mandy, Andrew, and Dave, Thom decided against it…for this time at least. We figure that if it takes 72 hours for him to recover we could really be screwed for Austin and Denver.

Fast-forward now to a freezing Amarillo Motel 6 room, and Andrew just saw some random guy skinny-dipping in the pool outside. Keep in mind that one of the pool rules includes “do not swallow any of the pool water”. Oh, Texas, here we come.