TTS Fall Tour - Day 5

TTS Midwest Tour

Day 5, Dispatch 1 - A Constant Spring in Goshen, Indiana is not the biggest bar we frequent nor does it boast our biggest crowds, but Jason and his staff are always so friendly and everybody who comes out is always so excited to have us there and thus it's another one of my favorite venues to play!







I complain often about the many venues we play that don't have Shiner Bock beer and there are lots of them outside our great state of Texas. Jason remembered me whining last time and so he made sure that there was plenty of Shiner Bock for me - on tap no less. I'm not a big beer connoiseur. I started drinking Shiner Bock in college and that's what I like. Although Jason didn't see what was so great about, he did his best to make me happy and I sure appreciated that!




Last night was epic and once the show was over, the evening's crowd moved from the venue to the home of one of Rhoades's close friends - and we did too. It was a lot of fun meeting new people and it was great to catch up with some folks we met last March when we were here last. I saw the Sun come up again before my head met my pillow and it was only a few hours after that Rhoades was waking me up to meet with his folks for some breakfast. Phil and Cheryl Rhoades are two of the kindest, sweetest, most hospitable folks you'll ever meet and we owe them a big thanks for always welcoming us into their town and welcoming us into their home. It's a shame we don't see them more often but it's always nice to see them when we do. They help make an "away" game feel like we're playing at home -- thanks so much!

Today we're journeying to Urbana, IL to play another fantastic jukejoint called the Rose Bowl Tavern. Not a big room either, but this place has soul and I'm looking forward to being back there tonight. We also have a favorite place to eat in Urbana called Merry-Ann's Diner. They have a cook name Juan that is a breakfast-makin' machine! Can't wait til after the show to get some yum-yums! More soon...

- Dodds


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TTS Fall Tour - Day 4

TTS Midwest Tour

Day 4, Dispatch 1 - My eyes are heavy this morning as we roll out of Springfield, IL. Last night was such a great show! For all my whining about the Shreveport show - we more than made up for last night. The room was an old Masonic Temple and it was full! It sounded great and had such a great vibe and Caffeine Patrol (who opened the show) was a lot of fun and Big Sandy was fantastic! We met some really nice folks out there last night as well. Thanks to everybody who came out and made us feel so welcome.







Once we were loaded out, we made our way over to our hotel rooms and Dennis and I hung out with our new pal Joe Perez, Big Sandy's Fly-Rite drummer, til' around 3:00 am or so and after a phone call home, my head hit the pillow shortly before 4:00. There's nothing like the sound of an alarm clock in the morning to remind you that the best part of the day is over. The alarm this morning found my body paralyzed and it was all I could do to crawl out of my biscuit and make my way to the van. Tonight we're in Goshen, IN, where we'll all play Robin to Rhoades's Batman - and that's not a bad thing. He grew up in Goshen and there's really no need for him to attend any of his high school's reunions because every trip back home is a reunion. The bar we're playing tonight is not a big room and it will be PACKED because he is hailed as a sort of superhero in Goshen and I'm glad I'm on his team rather than playing against him!

The sun this morning is bright and there are plenty of miles ahead of us between our current coordinates and Goshen, Indiana. I'm gonna go catch some zzzzz's so I can be ready tonight for Rhoades-fest 2010. Catch you later...

- Dodds

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Location:Hurlbut,United States

TTS Fall Tour - Day 3

Two Tons Midwest Tour

Day 3, Dispatch 1 - Last night was supposed to be an "off" night in which I had planned to get some rest. With Beale Street just a few blocks away, I was hardpressed to stay up in the room alone while Dennis and Rhoades ventured out onto the streets looking for some excitement. After a laaaaate night with the guys that turned into a wrestling match between Rhoades and I that I provoked by rubbing my finger in the leftover oil of a can of smoked herring that Dennis brought along and then wiping it under/into Rhoades's nose causing him to nearly vomit in our room (that ended in a draw by the way), we got up this morning and groggily made our way back into our coach and got on our way to Springfield, IL. It's been an all day drive but we're now within an hour of our home for tonight and designated place of employment for this evening. We're playing with 'Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys' tonight. Should be fun -- those guys are great! Gonna lay down a bit before load-in/soundcheck so I'll check in again a little bit later. In the meantime, check out Big Sandy online at: http://www.bigsandy.net and stay tuned...

- Dodds


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TTS Fall Tour- Day 2

Two Tons Midwest Tour

Day 2, Dispatch 1 - The rooms at the El Dorado Casino are so nice. It was great to have a nice place to stay the first night out. After we got back to our room, I told Dennis that every night I room with him I feel like a kid spending the night at a friend's house. I don't have to try too hard to imagine that Mom and Dad have gone to bed and left us with snacks and goodies. And laughter. When are we not laughing about something? Or at each other? We finally got to bed between 2:30 and 3:00 and after a quick load out this morning, noontime finds us well on our way to Memphis. Looking forward to what we'll find in Memphis and more tomfoolery!

- Dodds




Two Tons Midwest Tour

Day 2, Dispatch 2 - So after arriving in Memphis and checking into our rooms, Dennis and I laid around a little while recharging our batteries before he and Rhoades headed down towards Beale Street. I hung around the room for another half hour to watch the season premier of "The Office" before I met them down there. After a few drinks and sitting in with a band down on Beale Street, the night is now endinv with the kind of tomfoolery that you can only be here to understand. With that having been said, check out the following video -- it should answer any questions you may have...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvp6b35Y3V4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

We'll talk soon!

- Doddsy

TTS Fall Tour - Day 1

Two Tons Midwest Tour

Day 1, Dispatch 1 - We're en route to Shreveport, LA. Playing El Dorado Casino tonight. Should be fun! We're 2 hrs into a 2 week run travelling through the heart of our nation. Check twotons.com for tour dates and check in at twotonsofsteel.blogspot.com for more online fun and Two Tons hijinks as I chronicle our adventures! More soon...




Day 1, Dispatch 2 - Roughly a 1/2 hr outside of Shreveport. 7 hours on the road today. No worries! Showtime between 8:00-8:30. Two 75 min sets. Easy peasy. Stay tuned...




Day 1, Dispatch 3 - Wow. Was so looking forward to playing tonight. Rough, rough night. Don't know why. Fatigue? I mean it's only the first day, but I know I haven't had a full night's rest in at least 4 nights and with 7 hours on the road today -- I'm pretty wiped out. We're off tomorrow but we have almost 6 hours to drive up to Memphis where we'll stay and then drive the rest of the way to Springfield, IL on Friday. Hopefully with a day off and splitting an extra long drive across 2 days, the next show will come together better.
****
After having written the above, I spent some time hanging around the casino bar with David, our soundman, and a new friend, Cameron Meshell. These 2 guys made tonight worth it. Great conversation and a good time. Ended the night by walking around the casino with Dennis and laughing about all the crazy themes of all the different slot machines. Dennis pointes out that it seems there's something to appeal to everybody's tastes. We saw lots of ladies playing "Kitty Glitter" & we couldn't help but laugh! It's now 2:31am and check out is once again at 11:00am. It's off to bed for me. 'Night all. Here's to the rest of this tour.

- Dodds

Location:Shreveport,United States

Uh oh...

So we're downtown Austin, playing a street party & waiting for the previous band to get off the stage so we can set up and start our set. The smell of diesel is in the air as we stand in front of the generator right by the stage. Dennis walks up and tells me he mysteriously got our set time delayed indefinitely. "Huh?" I say. Turns out the pooling of fluid around the generator wasn't a gathering of the day's earlier afternoon rains, but rather a leaking of diesel all over the sidewalk. Generator's shut down and our set is cut waaaaaay back due to stay on schedule for the rest of the night.




We talked about the movie "Spinal Tap" the other night. Seems tonight when I get home will be the perfect night to enjoy that film again. It's funny regardless, but for those of us making our livings as professional musicians (and drummers), it's REALLY funny. Here's to "show biz".

- Dodds




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Get out!

"Check out is at noon" Kevin says as we climb out of the van last night at 1:30am and head for our rooms. Housekeeping drove us crazy all morning trying to get in to clean our room. As I get out of the shower - another knock at our door. Dennis says "housekeeping's been very persistent about cleaning our room". As Dennis is taking his shower, another knock at the door. I open it and with a head full of wet, nappy hair, I see the hotel manager in front of me. "You guys gonna check out today?" he asks. "Uh, yeah? In 10 minutes - at noon?" I respond. "Okay because checkout was at 11:00".

No wonder they were trying so hard to get into our room. We overstayed our welcome.


Brilliant.

Two Tons of Steel; makin' friends everywhere we go.

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