Week 30. Chickens with Heads Hacked Off.
Mon Aug 09, 2004 11:34 pm
Monday August 10
Shifting from Life to Logistics
Damn the 21+ Torpedos
It's happening. Life's little virtual moments are being eaten away by little
logistical Pac Men. Pieces to the puzzel that one week ago were held in
our mind as parts to the whole are now being disected and framed into
little equations and terms like estimate, minimal, maximum, distance,
map it, exclusion, direction, gps.
The background noise has moved to the foreground. The anxiety has
turned into panic; anticipation has turned into invigoration; the list of
To-Do's is becoming the list of DONES...
For example, I finally got those Rhodes leg mounts fixed. On 2 of them,
the threaded coupling (that allows the legs to screw in) had become
disjoined from the flange that mounts to the bottom of the instrument.
Because I took them to a muffler shop, they didn't charge me to spot
weld the little buggers. "hey, no charge man...no problem" (only in a
small town in Texas).
And we dropped off the Hot Rod DeVille to get fixed - since Chauntelle
has lost her clean channel...(problem coming from the power amp).
And we're washing clothes and sending out T-shirts and designing a new
one and picking colors and I've been on the phone with management
working out details re: new gear needed and logistics and crew and
sound and merch the band is rehearsing and graphics are flying and me
and Kimbertones are headed for Dallas for a few days to celebrate our
big #25 (Aug. 11, 1979) and everyone is starting to freak out a little as
we realize there's no time between LA and the Tour to do anything so it's
ON US NOW!
I am dreadfully full of sorrow over this 21+ nonsense. I can't believe it.
How could it be true? How many venues are affected with this plague
upon you musically mature -21'ers? Since many of my freinds are in that
category, I feel the pain and wish to sock the face (in) of whoever was
responsible for this... but I fear it would be "Snow Patrol" and their
management/agent. Eisley's management/agent merely accepted the
invitation because they thought it would be strategically good for the
band. They could have waved off on the tour but remember - this isn't
the new Record tour...it's a pre-release Tour. I'll have words with them.
The next tour (soon coming - oh yes) will not shun the youthful market
segment of Eisley's fan base.
The Pac Men have eaten my brain stem. I go now. bd
Tuesday August 10
We Have a Name and a Cover
Under lock and key
I'm running out the door with the wife of my youth... but, a monumental
moment just occurred. At 12:30pm today, I unveiled the cover art to
Sherri and Stacy...and they were swooned. Weston came next with great
affirmation....and, now, I guess it's an emerging collective of agreement.
The good vibe as a result of our combined efforts culminating together is
contagious. I'll comment more later, but...for now, I must go. 25 Year
Anniversary (tomorrow) celebration is upon us... Have a great day. bd
Wednesday August 11, 1979
3 Days and we leave for LA
Time Flies...sorta
It feels like it's taken longer to make this record than Kim and I have
been married. We were just saying today that there's no way it's been 25
years. We're way too young... no way. It's some trick from a sinister
villain who dabbles in time travel. Anyway, we're not even half way there
- my parents just celebrated their 50th.
Oh well, we had a an amazing getaway... stayed at a newly re-modeled
hotel built in 1925 right there near where JFK was shot, saw the grassy
knoll, the depository building, the hair-pin corner at Houston and Elm
where they blasted all him, etc. But, mainly, we hung out at Dallas's West
End, which is nice. Ate fine food, had fine coffee... went all over today -
to vintage shops, books stores...tons of stuff; great fun.
We got home and there was a Happy Anniversary sign on the front door;
our sentimental family was all dressed up - like, the girls in long, vintage
dresses - Weston in a suit, etc... and they made a very cool cake for us...
we have the most amazing kids in the whole world. And they made us
these custom cards with photos and a collage and made up all these
wonderful things about us. Man. In spite of all the stress that I'm pushing
back relating to deadlines, this is one of those moments I won't forget.
Ok. enuf about us.
JON is SICK with MONO!! dang that boi's skaiter hyde. I had a photoshoot
all set for in the morning...and we're running out of TIME! Now he's
saying he can't do it at all and will be pushing it to make it to LA. sheesh.
I feel bad for him, but think about ME. Last chance to shoot Eisley here in
Tyler. Do you think I want to shoot them in LA? no. I might have to go
with something I have...which is plenty.
We start mixing on Monday. I got that official word today. First there's
that small issue of battling out which songs go on the record... Eisley, the
label and management will pow wow. I'll referee and have input... I'll try
to represent you guys if you want. ok. deal.
Hey. They're back with groceries for tonights eating bash. ahh... life is so
good at this moment. Thanks guys for all the nice anniversary wishes.
It was amazing. Still is... boyd out.
p.s. just got the email. you guys who are responsible...thank you. But
you're crazy. much love from me and that girl i married up with. i'll pm
you individually. bd
Thursday August 120
My files were destroyed
I mean, my blog for today
Something wicked happened on Friday (today) and everything that was
posted yesterday is gone I guess. Thomas is trying to find out if there's a
back up or what. I wrote all about Jon and how he has mono and can't
come to LA. sheesh. It was elaborate and I covered much ground on
other related topics. oh well...
Friday August 13
We leave in the morning
Goin' crazy. Wanna come?
Sorry guys. We were wiped out...a bit, anyway. There were 5 pages
when I posted last night and now there are 4 on this thread. But I'm over
it. I have too much left to do to cry about it.
We're in that final stage of packing... but friends are over and it's almost
impossible to think. But we won't see them for a long time, so....it's ok.
I'm working on the tour poster/flyer and the new giveaway sticker that
WB prints up to give to street teamers to hang, fly and give out at the
shows. I always like this part cuz it's free stuff and all I have to do is
send them the files to spec. Trouble is, they called yesterday and wanted
it today. This afternoon, when WB's merch guy ( Tom ) called me for a
status report, I had to let him know we were also trying to leave for LA in
the morning. Now I have till monday morning LA time. Looks like I have
to accomplish tons on the road.
I promise to check in whenever i get on line for an update.
Oh, I know what i talked about yesterday - the set list! I heard the band's
live show last night - sans mr. Jon, who's bed ridden and sickly. It was so
sweet. I swooned and clapped and acted like a complete moron after
every song. The 10 song set list lasts 45 minutes and is very good. Some
of the songs you want won't be in there, but others will. I won't give it
away. That would take the suspense and element of surprise out of it for
you... how lame...."ok, here's my list, Curtis...the next song will be ____"
But it's good. I promise. Oldies, newbies, in-betweenies. Please
understand, if they were headlining, it would be like 18 songs and your
experience would feel more complete.
WE don't know how Jon will be in 2 weeks. If he's-a-no good, we'll have
to use a Jon stand in...like maybe an old Luke Skywalker cardboard
standup with a plastic guitar that lights up velcro'd to it...and hang an
ipod with Jon's tracks around his neck. or somethin'. i dunno. But, no
worries...the show must go on, as they say.
I have to get back to work. The night is young and we get up early. Love
you guys. Pray for us if yer the prayin' type. The road is treacherous
between here and LA... all those tumbleweeds and dead cow skulls that
attack you...and, let's not forget the killer cacti.
I go now. Sorry posts were wiped out. grrrr... perhaps restoration will
occur if it was backed up. bye. boyd out and Eisley A W A Y.
------------------------
The distinct possibility thrives that Jon, in his sickly state, will not even
be on the tour. He told us today that he was only getting worse... with
this kind of disease (mono), recovery is long...fatigue is an absolute. The
road is relentless. We'll have to go with whatever his doctor says. We are
seriously considering an ipod replacement for him. We have all of his
tracks and Weston already plays to a pre-meter'd click track; all we'd do
is copy a stereo version - click in one track panned to Weston's ears and
Jon's bass to the front of house (also in in-ears). Or, we could run him on
an imac thru garage band or something. Sad, but...who can play bass
like Jon? nobody...but Jon himself.
Saturday August 14
Half Way Between Tyler and LA
El Paso, Texas
Hey everyone. Good news: Earthlink works. I dropped AOL because I
hated the software and this is almost half the price. So far, the service is
amazing, the people are cooler and no one is paying me to say it. I won't
really be able to weigh in until the tour is in full swing. It's a big country.
We'll see how great their reach is.
We're in bed watching the Olympics. Me, Weston and Brad are sharing a
king. Oh well... we'll deal. All the girls piled into a king also...Christie
included. Hey, $43 bucks...that's a deal.
Today was great. Non-stop music from Weston's ipod and tons of Brad's
cd's. We stopped like...2 times tops and made it here in 11.5 hours I
think. That's a record for us, but we're not toting the trailer. I'm tired but
have to get to work on graphics, so I have to make this short. Just
wanted to say hello and let you know we're ok. (i know you were so
worried) We get back on the road at 8:00am after the continental b-fast.
New T-Shirt on the drawing board
We're talking about a brown T-shirt with some new Sherri art for this
tour. The girls originally wanted a Hanes color called "moss" (fitting,
huh?). It was a pale, limish green...I guess more like pale yellow-green,
but stupid Hanes Beefy-T didn't offer that color in youth sizes. There are
many other brands, but none with that color... other brands fit really bad
too...so the big issues are always color, fit and availability.
Fruit of the Loom is the only other brand that really fits right for all sizes,
so we're dealing with a limit the color pallet. Weston wanted Red, Stacy
agree'd but Sherri wanted Brown; I felt like we were straying too far
away from any semblance of Eisley identity; we ended up doing some ad
hock market research while four of our 17-20 year old male friends were
at the house last night. They were thumbs down on red and big thumbs
up on brown so...Sherri won.
I'm making an attempt to bring continuity between the new T and the WB
giveaway sticker (very similar to the silk screen from the BN tour). Not
sure about the poster yet... brain dead from staying up till 3:30am and
getting up at 7:00.
We're staying in a hotel this trip. 2 weeks wasn't long enuf to snag an
apt. oh well.... night ya'll.
Sunday August 15
Driving Thru the desert
Cacti, Rocks, Dirt, Mountains, Skulls, Sand, Tumbleweeds, Windmills
We're here...in one piece, all happy and in our rooms...with HIGH SPEED
INTERNET (wireless and hardwire). It's great...and we don't even have to
go into Hollywood and we won't because we're here in downtown Burbank
and the studios are in North Hollywood (that's on the North side of the
mountain) Yes. This is divine. We have continental breakfast, pool,
microwave, fridge, internet, work out room, laundry...we're SET. This
brand new Best Western has our vote.
Our butts were so tired of sitting in that van. ohmygosh...it takes forever
to get across that desolate, scorpion-ridden, hellish desert; it was 105 at
one of the gas station pit stops in Arizona. (we'll be back for the Tuson
and Phonix shows)
Weston's new ipod rules; think i mentioned - the new device that links
your ipod to an FM signal of your choice; we were smattered with such a
wide array of tunes - Queen, Gino Vanelli, The Unicorns, Black Sabbath,
Carol King, Ryan Adams, The Shinns, Lori Chaffer, Mew, Keane, Eisley,
Radiohead (live at Berlin), Cashmire, Foo Fighters, Aaron Sprinkle, Muse,
Brand New and tons of Beach Boys... (and much, much more)
I think we only made about 4 stops today...only 3 yesterday. I think we
only spent about $150 in gas... Try flying 8 people to LA. This is
economy. And basically, if you'll just sit your butt in a chair in a small
room, nibble on food and only get up about 3 times a day to get blood to
your feet, you'll see how easy it is to drive to LA from East Texas.
In the morning, we meet Darin for b-fast I think...and head over to the
studio afterwards for mixing...I think. Plans are always sketchy in LA, and
they never start on time or make good use of daylight. If, for example,
someone in the music business says, "we should meet for breakfast say
around 10", it more than likely means - "i have no clue if that will work
out, we'll see... I'll call you in the morning... or not."
In Texas, if you said, "we should meet for b-fast around 10:00, both
Texans would be there around 5 minutes before 10:00 to get a table and
order coffee. Both are ok. It just takes getting used to the different
communication styles.
Someone asked if the band would play the same set for the entier tour. I
think: yes. Especially if Jon is reduced to an ipod. But the set list will be
fresh to each market. Too bad they don't have a longer set.
Well, we're tired and I have to work. So we're gonna go to bed but I'm
gonna stay up and work. I have my own bed tonight. No homophobia.
Last night i slept on a retractable chair thing and covered up with a towel.
I curled up into a fetal position and got 100% coverage from the towel.
It was great. Weston and Brad shared the King Daddy. (no spooning)
Anyway, everything is going well....our trip was great and we're super
thankful. bd
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