days 65 – long island

we arrived in huntington, long island around 6am. the guys are passed out and i was designated driver. tired as hell i went the speed limit since every 20 miles a state police car seemed to have someone pulled over.

we pass out quickly and wake up at 1pm, finally.  still to early for us… we get our plans together for the week, no music just packing, and we decide to part for a bit and meet back up at the new york academy film festival to see the final films of the year. martin’s film is last “the vanishing”.  a very well made movie based off a short story written by cecilia malmstrum. we all agree that martin is going to be a successful director in the next couple of years.

aksell’s, another NYFA student, who also had a great movie.  the movie itself was done very well, in hd, and the actors were believable. to my surprise i actually knew one of the actors in aksell’s movie.  stacey gerber.  strange that she was my first boss at my first job in new york and I would see her on screen upon my departure of new york.

and i could go on and on with the rest of the movies but that’s to much to write so you will just have to lookout for martin menzel and aksell stasny on the screen in the next few years as directors.

things are coming into play now and we are happy with our US tour behind us.  we have decided the europe tour is a def. and should be done around June so we are going to plan/market ourselves in the following six months.

we want to thank everyone for their support in our two month craziness of music and exploring the US. we will keep updates in the next six months of our status so please keep checkin in!!

(i still have a few more blogs– ’bout the night the tom & andre enjoy some smoking festivities… the plastered guitarist still standing up to play, and well…)

day 60 – regroup time

day 58-59 – i have to see about a girl

tommaso has met a girl in portland, oregon. it has been a romance ensuing since we left portland.  they’ve have been writing here and there and he’s decided to spend the next six days in portland and leave trandre to themselves.  hmmm….romance on both ends, nice!!

we say goodbye to tommaso at the airport and have left instructions for a requested pic and a confirmation that he’s made it there.

trandre heads to tybee island to check out the beach but its’ to cold. we stay for a few and then head to the lighthouse. its’ weird cuz its’ inland. hmm…next…hotel…

we find a beautiful little b&b and we get the masters room. its’ really nice. we are excited to stay and somewhat exhausted from the trip. we head to six pence for a drink and the bartender is totally cool. she’s really friendly and a music lover. we also talk with a couple sitting at the bar. she’s an artist attending scad and he’s from florida and he’s just come up with her.  wow, everyone is social here and so extremely open and friendly. we like we like we like!!! we are thinking to stay another day.

we head to downtown for a bit and have been warned not to walk down the dark streets. it is not safe. two new yorkers (guys) last week were robbed at gunpoint. everyone at the b&b were surprised and so were the new yorkers.  we decide to run thru the lighted squares and be leary of strangers passing by. all is good in the end and we come home with a nice buzz and pass out.

9am – breakfast time! OMG! that’s so early. i’m dying for the first time! my body moves but my mind is still asleep. i’m so unbelievably tired for some reason. coffee doesn’t help. i go back and lay on the bed and andre goes to check on the masters room to see if we can have it for another night. we end up getting the tree top. it’s cool to. it reminds us of new york. a sitting room and then a back bedroom and a kitchen this time.

we head to do some touristy sight-seeing, back to six pence, and then to the old pink house (for a pricey but yummy dinner) and somewhere in there we get a text from tommaso. things are going well. VERY well..hmm…please tommaso come back to us in philly!!

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 57 – savannah, ga

we make it to savannah a bit late due to the 14 car accident and I-24 being closed down for 20 miles. we decide to take the van to firestone. some funny smell on the brakes. we aren’t sure if we should trade the van in or not.  the people at firestone are awesome. they tell us everything is cool and no need to pay them for checking it out. yeah!! so not new york!

savannah is beautiful even at night. the moss is draping over the streets and we start to imagine what the day will bring us. we call sentient bean and let them know we might be a bit late. they are totally cool about it. we hit the hotel and drop of some stuff and check in. we head straight to the sentient bean and find out that its’ a vegan place. hmm…so we get some food and its’ delicious! so far so good. we set up on stage and we have a small crowd. a LISTENING crowd. we are pumped. they all buy cd’s! its ends up being a fantastic show and we are back again. we are happy to be on tour and the music is def. workin but just not for nashville.

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 54-56 – nashville bound

the band that we confirmed has decided to cancel. this poses a slight problem since nashville seems to be a town that is in-bred only.  NO BANDS OUTSIDE TENNESSEE allowed to play in nashville. wtf? i email blue but never heard from her and we are not allowed to call since everything is done via email only, per the owner’s request.

hmm…so we look up open mic, cafe coco and we go to check it out. we like the vibe so we decide to come back for open mic. its’ around 7pm so we get a tour from leann of nashville. its’ cute and country music all over for sure.  hmm…is this for trEas?

cafe coco – 7pm – we get there and it is packed before open mic hits. its’ all the college kids from the local college here. they seem to be regulars. they all sit together in one row.  the vibe is cool and we end up playing first and hang around for the full open mic. some are good some are not so good. some need a bit of work on some parts but overall we loved cafe coco and can’t wait for our gig tomorrow.

french quarter cafe – we arrive in east nashville still not knowing anything. the owner is jammin out on his new amp. we go over and talk with him. he is instantly concerned. he’s apparently just fired blue and has no idea what the heck is going on. he’s pissed that there seems to be no nashville band. that we are new york and there is no third band. wtf? and this is our responsibility after we emailed and are not allowed to call?? man..this is a total bad vibe ensuing. we talk with the bartenders and the soundman and apparently this is protocol. the owner and the booking agent can’t get it together since inception of this place. so what happens? we are pissed to so we play like SHIT! it’s a really bad gig for us.

we hit the town anyhow afterwards and listen to some nice slide guitar and some locals gettin up on the mic for a quick song. nice!! its’ old country and we like.

so we are all tired and kind of getting tired of the tour. we are happy now that its’ coming to an end. we are running out of money, the van is starting to make a weird sound, and its’ getting cold, everywhere.

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 53 – saints win!!

another day of football but not so crazy of a scene.  we are exhausted and its’ raining again. we decide to take it easy and take care of trEas business. tomorrow nashville.

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 52 – salvation

we sleep only until noon so we can check everything out in new orleans.  we head straight for the french quarter. its’ quiet no craziness around. there are girls half naked standing in the doorways. hmm…nice invite to the strip joint. tons of bars and drinks- maragarita $3.25.  nice!!

we are starving so we find a nice outdoor cafe but they are closed. bummer. we head to stanley restaurant at the suggestion of cafe amelie for breakfast at 3pm.   the restaurant is FANTASTIC. we are starting to get into the groove of new orleans but its’ raining so not much is going on.  we are still exhausted so we head back to the sheraton for a quick regroup before heading out to frenchmen street to check out the bands.  andre decides to go in and check with the sheraton about giving us a discount. we explain our whole story to two girls at the front desk. they apologize for all the craziness and make everything right. we get an upgrade in our room and an extra free night. NICE!!!! things are starting to turn around. good job andre!!

tommaso is out with his friend, guiseppe, and we (andre and I) meet him at the spotted cat cafe.  they are drunk already and having a great time listening to some zydeco. the music is fantastic. no vocals, sousaphone, washboard, clarinet, upright piano and a small cymbal with a kick in front of hit. it was beautiful. and all free…perfect price for us at this point in our tour.

we head across the street for dinner at snug harbor. they have live jazz upstairs feeding through the speakers. it is fantastic. we decide to head to d.b.a. next and another zydeco band is playing. the play the tango and people are dancing.  this is the heart of new orelans for us.

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 50/51 – arrival in new orleans

we arrived in new orleans around 11:30pm. it was crazy people everywhere. wow, we thought, nola is really happening.  like a little new york. we are stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 30 minutes. we finally arrive to our hotel after careful andre manuvering through the barracaded streets.  the valet tells andre that we can’t park in the front of the hotel. what? andre politely lets him know we are checking in. the valet is not polite and gives him a little bit of a hard time still but andre ignores and meanwhile i’m at the desk checking in.  so many people are in the lobby its’ crazy. is this what mardi gras is like, i’m thinking? the guy at the desk says the room we reserved is not available so we’ll have to downsize. the hotel is booked out. we are not happy. ok time to park the car.  we go out to speak with the valet and no parking is available. they valet grudgingly gives me directions.  andre decides he will park the car. 30 minutes later we are in the hotel room and i get a call from andre. he can’t find a parking spot. he can’t even drive thru the city. everything is barracaded by the police. it is literally a maze at this point which no gps can possibly help.  i walk to the car after talking to the bellman who has just complained about our tip being to cheap.  well, you didn’t do anything what do you expect, i think to myself but instead i apologize and say something polite and get the directions from him as to another place to park our van securely. he also grudgingly gives us directions.  so i finally find andre and we start to drive thru the one ways thru all the barracades and finally we make it to poydras.  whew!! not so crazy here. we get to the hotel and i’m now on the phone with hotels.com trying to get a discount since they overbooked  the hotel.  we pull up to the alternative parking area and the hotel says that they don’t offer it for the sheraton. wtf? i then borrow andre’s phone because i’m still on the phone with hotels.com.  i call sheraton and they can’t get the valet on the phone. they say i have to drive back to the hotel. i then explain to them that we can’t do that because the city is barracaded and the valet doesn’t want us to park there. it would be easier to walk. she apologizes and says that’s all she knows to do. great!!!!!

i call tommaso who is in the room.  it is 1am now. he goes down to the valet desk and hands the phone over. the valet tries to tell me that the other hotel is booked so he can’t offer anything. i explain to him that they don’t associate with them at all and that if we needed alternative parking why did he suggest it? he says he doesn’t know and that the whole city is full. so that’s that. we are screwed. just then i finally get off the phone with hotels.com. it is now 2am. they have been kind and offered us nice discounts due to all the problems we’ve had. ok one problem solved…next…the van…we have no where to park.

so the valet, javier, sees that we are totally stuck. so he offers to put our van in a private lot around the corner. it is secure enough so we can leave our stuff. hurrah!! a knight in shining armor!  but should we trust him? we don’t even know him. well we decided to anyhow. we are tired, we are upset, i have a pounding headache and we just want to be done with it all. so we get in the back of our van while the valet drives it into the garage.  javier tells us we might need to duck and just then he yells “duck” his supervisors have just walked up.  oh boy, all pretty sketchy, ehh? in the end he’s cool and really helps us out. he parks it gives us the ticket and we take our keys. he even says we can take it out on our own if we have to get away early in the morning. nice!!! it is now 3am. i’m feelin like shit but i go with the boys anyway for a drink. we head out onto the barracaded canal st.  a sea of drunks and people just hanging out. it’s complete chaos, people pissin on the streets, people running in a panic at the thought of danger.  and what do we do? we go straight into the chaos, bourbon street, and we run into the officers on the horse. they are pushing the crowd out. andre asks what’s going on and they say 4 people have been shot. shit!! we head back out and down a few blocks and right back into the french quarter. we head down another street and we are able to walk thru the streets. we stumble onto a “the chart room”.  the bartender is nice. it seems it is after hours but she lets us in and serves us a drink. we tell her our story and she tells us she is sorry for us that we had a terrible time. she assures us things will be better and tells us where to go.  we are starting to get excited again. its’ time to go to bed now…6am

ciao ciao,

tracy~

day 50 – new orleans bound goodbye to the writer

i’m sick and hungover. not a good combination. andre wakes up at 9am with the alarm clock that at some point we had set when coming in drunk this morning. exactly why we decided to do this at this moment had suddenly seemed to me the dumbest idea.

tommaso aka pacman has packed our hotel cart, with a few instructions from the german.  tommaso takes one hint and leaves the other to chance.  tommaso hurrys into the elevator with the hotel cart and suddenly, boom! no not the elevator it was tommaso’s precious mac laptop. uh-oh. tommaso picks it up and is optomistic that it is ok.  we get to the van and he immediately opens it up. it won’t start. wait, it will start but there is no screen. for the next few hours he tries to figure it out and finally it comes on. hurrah! except one minor issue the screen is now as if it is one of those old tube tvs that starts to go bad.  poor tommaso, we will have to find an apple store in new orleans.

so we headed to magnolia for some brunch to plan our days out. after brunch we all agree that magnolia receives the trEas approval stamp!! food = 10; atmosphere = 10; price = 10;

and now at this moment we are driving aimlessly thru downtown houston for starbucks to see a bit of houston on our drive to new orleans. hey valarie isn’t this your hometown? where are all the people? hmmm…no starbucks to be found facing the streets and not much seemed to be going on. perhaps its the holidays? oh well, back to the road….new orleans new orleans new orleans! some great pics to come!

ciao ciao,

tracy

day 49 – trEas back to austin, feeling nostalgic??

so after a quick review/revamp of the next few days planned we agree that one more day in austin is good. we finish up our last minute loads of wash , clean the van, and head to austin. we get a hotel just a bit out of the downtown area and agree to cab it in so we can all get fucked up.  the cabbie tells us iron cactus is where to go for food on 6th street. we get out of the cab and the boys are excited.  we heard that 5th street is the place to be but we figured we’ll start here. we see a girl dancing in the window and she’s scantily dressed. hmm…the red light district of amsterdam comes to mind  although i’m sure she can’t be bought…or can she? i see maggie mae’s and a few other bars that seem to be around from the last time i was here.

as we walk on down the street everything is starting to seem like las vegas. like an amusement park. insert tourist here. insert doormen here. insert dance place here. finally, we get to iron cactus and the kitchen is closed. man, i haven’t eaten since this morning. we ask the doorman where to go to eat and he points to the vendor across the street. what??? no place to eat? the doorman says no sorry man, pizza and hot dogs is all you can get now. fuck fuck fuck. i’m hungry and i’m not eating greasy food. at this moment i miss new york city finally. i miss the real venues not these bullshit venues made up for tourists. i miss the diners and the deli’s where you can get a turkey swiss sandwich toasted with mayo, tomato, lettuce, salt and pepper.  i miss the realness of nyc. we all agree 6th street is bullshit bullshit bullshit.  we move to 5th street were we had heard from our gig that lots of good music resides on.  we find nothing. we agree on jazz and we head to congress.  congress seems to be where austin’s heart is not 6th street.  we head to the elephant room and then grab a seat at the front. take some pics and relax. tonight will be a good music night! no food though so tomorrow might not be pretty for me. oh well i refuse to eat shit tonight.

ciao ciao,

tracy