Tennessee Highway Patrol Calling (photo essay)

                                     Stainglass Mandala at the Jack Robinson Gallery in Memphis

Photo from the back of a Tennessee Highway Patrol Cruiser.  They unpacked the van, ran through some dogs, then made us pack it back up. Total time lost: 2 hours.
Trooper Brown: "What's that in your pocket, sir?"
Me: "That's my mojo, officer."

                                    And all that for 'failure to maintain lane' on a windy highway

                                                    See ya Tennessee, Hello Carolina
Thanks for reading
Lincoln

Mighty Mac Gore

The strory is told of a Confucian scholar who besought the twenty-eighth Buddhist patriarch, Bodhidharma, "to pacify his soul." Bodhidharma retorted, "produce it and I will pacify it." The Confucian replied, "That is my trouble, I cannot find it." Bodhidharma said," Your wish is granted." The Confucian understood and departed in peace.

As long as we are conscious of what we are, we can never entirely be what we are. -Sartre

Long drive back to Memphis. Quick thanks to Jen, Greg, Jon and Andrew for letting us crash at your pad in Austin. Also thanks to Rayland and Bucky Baxter for the free mead and music at that castle.

Jarett shared with us some family and Tabor City lore last night after diner. Apparently his great grand father Mac Gore was the only man to beat the worlds fastest man Hardrock Simpson in a race.  Hardrock Simpson was said to have beat a horse in a transcontinental race, after which the horse died. During a stay in Tabor City, NC, Hardrock Simpson fell for Mac Gore's young bride, Docia. He challenged Mac to a race for her affection, to which Mac agreed. "I'll walk you for her." The rest is history. Mac Gore was the only man ever to beat Hardrock Simpson in a race.
The moral of this story; If the fastest man in the world challenges you to a race, walk him.

"Don't start nothin, won't be nothin'" - Wanda Sykes

Sorry no pictures
Thanks for reading
Lincoln

Austin, TX somemore.

Dead End Show, 9th and Embassy, Austin TX
Spent the night at a party in a house shaped like a castle. Great house and great bands.
http://www.myspace.com/benmillerband
Ben Miller Bands first set was amazing. Real gritty slide guitar, multi-instrumentalist (trumpet, trombone, washboard, drums) a washtub bass and great harmonies. Best band I have seen in a long time.
http://www.raylandbaxter.com/
Rayland was great as always. Beautiful songs.
One more show in Austin and then back to Memphis.
Best band in Austin http://lowvictorecho.com/
We have been treated to some generous hospitality here in Texas.
http://thechorderoys.com/
http://www.amysicecreams.com/2.0/#/home/
Check out these links and I'll be back tomorrow
Thanks for reading
Lincoln

"Oh, am I wearing an ascot? I didn't notice"- Tom (Aziz Ansari) Parks and Rec

So far Austin, TX has been a blur. Still trying to find Stephan Sellars (I know you're mad at me, but text me anyway).
I saw Aziz Ansari at Wholefoods. Heard his voice first and when I turned to look I thought to myself, "that little kid sounds just like Aziz Ansari." turns out he's about 5 feet tall.
Lot of street meat and loud music. Fun though.
More later.
Thanks for reading
Lincoln

"It says, ' delicate unit, handle with care' but there's a big dent under it" Jarrett Dorman

Noah Adams from Dirty Bourbon River Show was a generous host in New Orleans. He invited Sean up to the studio at Loyola to record a track. You can listen at the link above.
New Orleans is full of interesting characters. We met a woman that told us she used to be a smutty lounge singer in Dallas. The names of the songs she sang where hilarious. My favorite was, "You Don't Lick My Crevices Anymore." Fun place, New Orleans. Noah, you are a gentleman and a scholar.
Baton Rouge has some nice folks too.
We powered all night across LA to TX. Jarrett did the critical overnight into morning stretch.
I had a friend named Miles Reid who used to call the hours before dawn, 'Louisiana'. Last night Jarrett did his Louisiana in Texas.
Thanks for reading.
I'm a little tired
I'll tighten up my next post
Lincoln

New Orleans

"We're not hitchhiking any more; we're riding" - Ren Hoek

We made it all the way to Memphis with no spare tire. The only reason anyone mentioned it was because tuesday morning right rear was almost riding rim. We limped to Firestone where after about and hour they informed us that the couldn't patch it because the nail that was jammed in the tread was to close to the sidewall. Next we found out that as a rule Firestone doesn't fix leaks with plugs (corporate liability). The option in play was a $170 replacement that they had to order and would take two hours. So we drove to a used tire shop; service menue in Spanish, then English. 6 minutes later we where on the road with a pugged tire $7 dollars lighter. The guy that fixed the tire told us about a yard full of cars on jacks that you can pick apart. Part picked, another used tire shop and $30 dollars later we had a full spare and where off to the Big Easy.
I spent the day wondering around the French Quarter by myself. I went into a voodoo shop to get Little Cinda a trinket. The woman behind the counter told me I had two daimons following me and one was trying hard to trick me. She didn't say anything about the other daimon, which in retrospect is a little unnerving. She handed me a root to keep in my pocket for protection.
Playing in the Howlin Wolf Den tonight.
See Ya
Thanks for reading

Lincoln

Mountains to Memphis

So we crept out of NC through the mountains from Boone to Knoxville in the middle of the night. Kinda felt like we were fleeing under cover of darkness on a switchbacked road, like some modern day von Trapps. We grabbed a few hours sleep in Knoxville at Jarret's aunt Kathy's house. He told us she had an Elvis room, but we couldn't stay long enough to see it. We drove all day across TN to Memphis.

Sean on top of Beech Mountain

Oh before I forget, we went to the Perkins cabin in Beech Mountain and ended up on top.

Jarret and Elvis @ Sun Studio

The huge fun happened lastnight. We recorded and taped a 7 song set in the original Sun Studio! Still hard for me to believe. When I was a teenager learning to play guitar my teacher Kevin Richards filled my head with all the Sun Studio lore. He told me stories about Sam Philips and Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Howlin Wolf.  Kind of how I imagined musicians where passed knowledge from the beginning of time. They always seemed like fables or allegories to me. He showed me how B.B. King could express a whole world of beauty and pain with just one well placed note on a guitar. My entire education as a musician grew out of this piece of information. It seemed to embody why people make music in the first place. Both classical and deconstructed at the same time. Needless to say being at and playing in Sun Studio was like a 360 through time for me.
New Orleans next.

"It only gets mo' better"- Pam Smith (Jones's Mom)