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Spokane(uproar)
Posted on 10/02/11 by Clint
Sitting in hotel room with Moragn watching Cardinals Phillys game. Feels good to be able to lay in bed after a show instead of hanging on the bus full of people, some you know, some you don't. Sometimes having to force a conversation with someone that's a complete stranger. Imagine this, sitting in your living room and all the sudden a complete stranger that's not exactly sober, just walks in, grabs a drink and parks it right beside you in your pjs and starts with a bunch of random questions and request. That's basically what happens to me pretty much everyday on tour. The bus is our home, it's our place of rest, sleep, eat and brush our teeth. I've literally brushed my teeth in front of strangers being asked questions with a mouth full of tooth paste and spit. I don't really mind it because I'm used to it but sometimes they have to feel kinda odd about it. The thing is that most people think there's a magic party going on on a bus, that some unbelievable event is going on, straight out of a Motley Crüe video. That may very well be the case on some tour buses but honestly on our bus, it's a bunch of dudes just passing the time by, some drinking some not. Nothing at all special by any means. Sometimes the conversations are the most entertaining things that go on. It's not that glamourus AT ALL. I'm probably the most boring on the bus. The longer I stay sober the more strange I feel in group settings. I love people and enjoy meeting new people but when you have stuff going on in life sometimes it's not really ideal timing to get to know someone. But again, this is what you deal with on tour and it's not to big of an issue. It's about acceptance and adapting. Just because my path is a sober one doesn't mean everyone else is.
Most people we meet on the road are blowing off steam, having a much needed break from the grind of they're life so they wanna have fun and I get it. Our music and show is there for people to use to forget the stress of life. So we deal with it, even though some days we want to chill and be lay back you have to adapt or you go crazy. Some days it's people watching to the 10th degree and you can really entertain yourself.
Tonight is the first full day away from home after a long week off. It's a grieving time for me, it takes me 48 to 72 hours to accept the fact that I'm back on the road away from my wife and son. I never fully accept it I just deal with it. Before I met my wife and had my son I could tour forever and almost dread coming off the road. They make it hard to leave. People sometimes take this as me complaining or being ungrateful and I've heard people in this industry complain about things that are beyond ridiculous and I've done it myself. The fact that I miss my family and hate leaving them is human. It's not easy to not be there with them, growing together, being worried about theyre safety, wanting to protect, wanting to watch life go by together. Life is short, I'm not 25 anymore, when your at this stage of the game you want to cherish the small things, I don't wanna miss a thing. I've had the pleasure and blessing of seeing the world, a lot of cities, sites and people. Played every size event, stage and played with all kinds of bands. For me I'm changing a bit, living in my new skin as a sober man in a business that is generally about partying and that lifestyle, I'm learning everyday how to exsist. The things that used to matter to me now are different. Im out here to do a job now and there's nothing wrong with that. I take what we do as serious as I ever have, maybe a bit more. I'm more eager to write better songs, to play harder than I did when I was younger. That hour or so we play is my favorite part of touring, the social element isn't appealing as it was. I'm not out here to meet girls, drink or whatever the other cliches are. I'm here to play music to the best of my ability, write music, connect with fans and provide for my wife and son. That's the truth of it. I lay my head down every night feeling good about that. If anything I'm doing this solely for the music and fans. No distractions, nothing to take away from the clarity of the experience out here.
On thanks for allowing me to vent. Tomorrow we have a day off in Bosie, Idaho. In like it there. Great place to go for a long run, gonna do that and probably hit a movie like always. Maybe I'll work on some music. Depends on the mood. Catch some FaceTime with Tara and Harp. I'm a few weeks away from 4 years sober and turning 40. Wow, I can't believe how that sounds. 40(add reverb) I feel so fortunate to reach 40. Damn I was hard headed to have waited this long to start living. Better late than ever.
Hitting the sack soon, hope alls well in your life.
Ps forgive the misspelled words, missing words and bad grammar. I'm writing this quick and mentally exhausted also on an iPad and have a very odd cramp forming in my hands typing this with my thumbs.
God bless
Airport(love you)
Posted on 10/01/11 by Clint
So we re back at it and I'm sitting on a layover in Vegas on my way to Spokane. This last week has been amazing, Tara and I had our reception, spent timenwith family. Ate amazing food, sang, danced(which was hilarious) and all around confessed my love again for the woman I love. I know it's mushy but deal with it. A man in love can get down right corny. I guess a curse for me being a musician is that in almost every situation I hear some song in my head that supports whatever is going on. Usually a bad song and usually from the 80s.
Anyways, it was a very much needed break. So much had happened I'm not sure where to start. One thing is for sure, things were dealt with and there's no longer a major dark cloud over the bands head. We seem to have escaped yet another dark turn and we are a band with a plan now. This plan may have 7d off of the road for most of 2012 so if you get a chance to hit a show mows the time. We ve realized that the band has basically been on tour straight through our career. Outside of a few short breaks to record we have never really gone away. I think it's time to hit the pause button on touring, concentrate on a solid new 7d record, do the family thing and rediscover our love for what we do and have. Not to mention giving the fans a break. Who knows if we ll be able to pull off that much time off but you gotta have a plan right?
I'm in a Vegas airport getting ready to take off. I gotta say I'm a little annoyed with people tonight. The airport to me is a miserable experience. People lose they're manners, they're consideration and everything you buy is jacked up simply because there's nothing you can do about it. It's like the same people who price the stuff you get at a movie theater are lined up with the airport people. It's frustrating. I can buy a magazine, fast food meal and candy bar and put a major dent in a 100. Oh well, like I said, we have no choice. I never get through security without a shake down and when I do get through the person in front of me gets held up. There is no science to avoiding this, it's either gonna suck or suck real bad.
But it's the price you pay to do what we do. The full blog starts up tomorrow folks. It's last two weeks so I'm gonna spice it up. I hope life is giving you what your putting into it. I've learned that over the years. Life is what I try and make it. Period. My perception is a powerful thing and when I keep it in the positive even the bad unfair things in life are a tiny bit smaller.
Ok I have to shut this off because this iPad has the power to affect this planes take off. Didnt realize thisbthing had that much juice???Another amazing thing about the flying experience.
God bless
Hello Cleveland(day off and Uproar)
Posted on 09/21/11 by Clint
Sitting in a hotel in Akron, Ohio, played earlier today on an Uproar show today. Rainy and dismal, not a very big crowd today and not very energetic from the crowd or the band. Some days are just like that. My whole body is hurting. I ran for an hour today in the rain which wore me down but fell down a hill side today walking back from catering. I was trying to find a short cut and cut throw a lil grassy hill and slipped and ate it pretty hard as these guys in a golf cart passed by laughing. In my mind I imagined pulling out a bazooka and firing at them straight out of a Rambo movie. Maybe even throw in one of those "slow motion walking away while the cart explodes"
type scenes. I would of laughed too though. It was pretty funny.
Yesterday we had a day off and a few of us got hooked up with a suite at the Cleveland Indian baseball game. I had as much interest in this as I would say, to clip a gorillas toe nails But Morgan was able to throw the opening pitch and I figured that was worth the trip. They treated us amazing, we got to walk on the field and meet some very serious players that have done a lot for the sport. I almost feel bad because we would meet them and people would whisper to me "Do you know who that is" and I have no clue. I respect baseball players and what it takes to play at that level. Some of my friends play major league baseball but I don't have a deep interest in a particular team or sport for that matter. I just enjoy watching it from time to time. Growing up with parents that were musicians, it wasn't pushed on us that way. My brothers and I have the build to play sports but didn't have that type of up bringing. Corey was the sports guy out of all of us and had the gift. Damn musical curse.
After the game Morgan, me and a couple others scored some passes for the Foo fighters. Now this I was into 100 percent. Lately I've been very jaded with going to shows, when I go I generally lose interest about 4 songs in no matter who it is. I guess the magic of it all has faded and I end up being judgmental and bitter Either I'm saying "this isn't that cool or energetic" or if it is good I say "well if we had that type of production we could do that too" I never wanted to become that guy, the type who sits in the back crossing my arms, judging and player hating. But I have those days. In all honesty I respect anyone who can make it in music. It is not easy and if you have the gift of music and you can get a crowd to get on one page together it is a site to see. Well if anyone was gonna keep me interested it'd be Dave Grohl and crew. They are an amazing american rock n roll band in a day where they're are rare. Show starts and we 're sitting in some chairs not open to public stage right. The production is amazing, it's quiet from where we sit. Dave and the guys throw down. But like always, I start fading after 6 songs and Morgan and I decide to head back to hotel. We were impressed though. It was good to see a band play with raw and genuine power. Great players, great songs and cool lights. No bells and whistles outside of a few special moving lights.
It was a long day and time to go to hotel.
I'm so excited to go home tomorrow and be with my family. Our reception is Saturday and we have a ton of family and friends flying and driving in. The bands moniter guy/guitar tech Brucie P will be filling in. He's a great guy and has been with us long enough to literally be able to jam with us. He's very excited and I'm thankful to him for helping us out. It's always weird missing shows but this means a lot to my wife and I and the bands been very cool about this. It's gonna be good to have a small break. We're all very burnt out and missing home. As good as the shows can be it's getting harder and harder to deal with the small quarters of a 45 foot tour bus. It's a lot of personalities crammed in a tight space. After a month or so the vibe starts getting tense and with all we have going on right now with the band business it's very stressful. This too shall pass.
I love those guys and have no fear that the things we face as a band right now and the people who are making things hard for us will be out of the way shortly and we can focus on this next 7dust record and shutting down the cycle for CDM. We just wanna make a living at this and make good music.
Much love and respect-
My prayer tonight- THY WILL BE DONE
C
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