Wow That's a Really Big Apple
I got up wed morning and got my stuff packed, having never been to NYC I didn’t know how long the drive down might take, and given that I hadn’t slept much I figured I should get there early enough to cop a few zzzzs before meeting with the band that night.
The drive down was easy enough, right along the southern edge of the Catskill Mountains. So far, I’ve had pretty good luck as far as scenery goes.
I stopped in Hancock New York, and had lunch at the Hancock Family Restaurant
I know this is a shameless plug, but the food was good and the people working there were really friendly. You can find them at exit 87 on HWY 17 about 35 miles east of Binghamton.
I made it into Jersey City (that’s where I was staying) found my motel and checked in.
I had spoken with Jon Lundbom, (he was the guitarist and band leader for this show)
And he had given me directions to his place in Brooklyn, where I was going to meet the other guys and we would make a set list. The directions seemed easy enough, and he only lived maybe 12 miles from where I was staying…..I gave myself 45 minutes to get there.
Now for those of ya’ll who have never driven in NYC, and this included me till that night, it’s not as hard as you would think….but it is in fact harder than the locals let on.
I was told more than once how easy it was because the streets are laid out in square grids,
That part is true…what they don’t tell you is that just like everything else in the universe…it’s easy if you know how, or in this case where….everything is.
Ya see direction means nothing if you lose yourself in time and space, I never had any clear idea where I was or how to get there because I didn’t know where there was, or for that matter where here was either, it’s been years and years since I’ve felt truly lost, but I couldn’t seem to find North….so I felt like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that wasn’t there.
It took me just a bit under 2 hours to go 12 miles……..
I made it to Jons place and the rest of the band was already there, Aaron was playing bass and Amiet was playing drums. We ran thru the intros and breaks, made a bit of a list, had a few beers and called that it…..I got back across Manhattan to Jersey City about 12:30 AM and decided to just stay put till gig time the next day.
Thursday April 12
The show that night was scheduled for 9:30, or maybe 10:00, I’m not really sure and it doesn’t really matter anyway since I was there well before hand, I had decided not to drive, but instead take the subway. Again I had been told that taking the train was a cakewalk, and again I’m sure that’s right if you do it everyday….or even every once in a while, but having never taken the train I figured I’d better give myself a bit of a margin for error. It turns out that was a good move. The train turned out to be an excellent choice
Even tho I still didn’t know where I was trying to go. I did what I always do….I asked somebody.
Now I was a little apprehensive about asking for directions (for my friends in NYC, ya’ll already know the reputation that ya’ll enjoy) so I’d like to take a minute here and add my own observations to that reputation.
I personally found all the people I met in NYC and the surrounding area to be as friendly as they are anywhere else. I think their national reputation on lack of manners is unfairly applied…first of all Manhattan is on an island that’s only 16 miles long and 7 miles wide
(I was told this….I didn’t actually measure it myself) now add to that the fact that there are like 4 million people there….ya can’t really stop and talk to everybody, also with that many people in that small a space….you can’t ever just stop moving…..there’s too much momentum going in all directions.
Anyway there was a fellow on the train that I asked where I should get off, after telling him where I was trying to go…he gave me the best directions I have ever heard
“After I get off….you get off at the next stop” those were the kind of directions I was hoping for….not “go east to 115th street across the bridge…….” And so on and so forth.
One last note on NYC and the people there, I’ve never seen a group that knows more about their city than New Yorkers, they know every street by name even the alleys, and how far they are from landmarks and even what stores and window displays are there.
So for example I heard directions that went like this
“Keep going up this street, go 6 blocks, and turn left, there will be a store with a rubber life raft in the window, 2 doors past that will be an unmarked wooden door, go thru it take the first right and you’re there.”
I was playing that night at the Rodeo Bar in Manhattan. Now I know that seems like an oxymoron until you remember that one of the biggest rodeos in the world was the one at Madison Square Garden.
I got to the bar and got everything set up and fired up the show.
This was only the second time I had ever met that nights bandmates, so the odds of sounding like a tight rehearsed group are pretty much zip….still the guys knew some of my stuff from the recordings, and they also knew a lot of that cosmic/hippie/folk rock/country stuff from the 70s. We played it loose and kind of rambled thru the set. It worked amazingly well, I had asked the sound guy (a fellow named Eric from the tarheel state) to keep my guitar and voice as hot in the monitor as possible, so I was kind of leading the way…..my bandmates that night were really good at that whole fake and bake thing.
We played as much of my stuff as we could then went into Little Feat and The Band, Dylan and Johnny Cash covers, with some Merle Haggard thrown in for luck.
We played a couple of sets to an enthusiastic crowd, and then my NYC adventure was over….except for the getting back to Jersey part. I wound up taking a cab back, it was too late and I was too tired to monkey with taking the train, one last observation about NYC. I was standing on a corner in lower Manhattan when it hit me that it was 2:00 AM, and there were still thousands of people out on the streets, and if I lived there I would never sleep at all.
Back To T-Burg
I got up Friday morning and drove back to T-Burg, I did manage another stop in Hancock for lunch.
I landed at Hall Road early in the afternoon; it was a travel day so there wasn’t much I had going on, except a vague plan to go see the Tar Box Ramblers who were playing at the Rongo later that night.
I had heard a couple of things about the Tar Box Ramblers, but nothing had really prepared me for their live set…..HOT……. is probably the best adjective to use.
They were playing Great American Cosmic Music with lap steel as the lead, and dominant instrument, and it was just smoking. I got to meet the band thanks to Tracey Craig from the radio show None Such on WVBR.
I wanted to hang out a bit longer but, I was starting to fade and I had two shows the next day, Jon was looking a bit faded as well, so we decided to roll it up for the night. We went back to Hall Rd and had a couple of beers and watched the Dodgers game on Jons computer. The Dodgers won.
Two More Shows
I had a show that afternoon with Eric Aceto, just a two acoustic guitar vocal thing at Burritts Cafe over in Weedsport NY.
I had played there on the trip last Oct., and it had gone well enough that Darryl and Sherry(the owners) had agreed to have me come back. It’s a nice little gig to have….good stage……good sound system…..and really good sandwiches. We got there a bit late but that didn’t seem to be a problem since today was the first day in a week that it hadn’t been snowing, and the sun was almost out, there wasn’t anybody there anyway.
I felt kind of bad for nor drawing better but in New York in April I don’t think anybody could compete with an almost sunny….not cold… day.
We played 2 sets and wrapped it up….thanks Darryl and Sherry….maybe we’ll draw better next time.
We got back to T-Burg about 5:00 PM….we had a show that night with a whole nother different rhythm section. I had hoped to sleep a little bit before the show…but that didn’t really work out….so around 7:30 we saddled up and headed for Ithaca.
We played our first set till I broke a string (just one this time) then we stopped for a bit…and it was while we were stopped that people started to drift in…Tracey from None Such was there and Chris from Guitar Works…and a lot of people dressed in boots and cowboy hats, there had been a cowboy party somewhere close by and when it broke up the partiers had joined us.
Up until that point I had been feeling a little bit shaky…hell I hadn’t even had any beer, but we took the stage and played all the songs we knew….and a few that we didn’t.
Man that was a party crowd…I haven’t seen that many people on a dance floor in a long time….and it was more like a mosh pit than a dance floor….but we played till I was completely out of songs and then we played two more…and called that it…I love it when the last show in the stand is the best…and that’s how this one worked out.
A big thanks to everybody who drifted in and stayed to party.
Sunday was a recovery day, and since the Nor Easter was blowing in, there wasn’t much to do anyway…..we hung out at Hall Rd and recovered, I did sneak down to the Rongo that evening to have a beer, and tell Mike Barry I’d see him next time
Monday
I woke up and looked out the window and there was snow everywhere….like in a Christmas Television Special…..I was afraid my flight would get grounded, but Pamela was checking it every 30 minutes and it was still listed as on schedule.
I still had an hour or so before I had to leave for Rochester, and Eric had told me that the factory for Hipshot b-benders was located in Interlaken…..I would have figured them for a California company and they were founded there….but that aside I just had to go visit the place….if for no other reason than to one-up Mr. Hemphill.
Jon drove us over….what with him being used to driving through snow drifts and all….and I got to meet David Borisoff….the inventor Hipshot B-Benders, and owner of Hipshot Products…..it was just as cool as I would have thought…getting to meet a pedal steel guitar player who was working in LA in the early 70s…..he knew and played with about half the people in my record collection.
I loaded up from there and drove to Rochester…where my plane got delayed…I missed my connection in Cincinnati….had to spend the night there and got back to Austin just in time for lunch on Tuesday.
Man it was a great roadtrip, and I can’t wait till next time. Thank you to everybody I met…especially you city dwellers who took pity on a lost hick from Austin.
I also want to thank all the players on the shows….ya’ll are the best.
If any of this is not how ya’ll remember it…well….it’s been over 2 weeks since it happened and I’m just now getting around to writing it down….so feel free to send in corrections.
Till Next Time
ADIOS
The drive down was easy enough, right along the southern edge of the Catskill Mountains. So far, I’ve had pretty good luck as far as scenery goes.
I stopped in Hancock New York, and had lunch at the Hancock Family Restaurant
I know this is a shameless plug, but the food was good and the people working there were really friendly. You can find them at exit 87 on HWY 17 about 35 miles east of Binghamton.
I made it into Jersey City (that’s where I was staying) found my motel and checked in.
I had spoken with Jon Lundbom, (he was the guitarist and band leader for this show)
And he had given me directions to his place in Brooklyn, where I was going to meet the other guys and we would make a set list. The directions seemed easy enough, and he only lived maybe 12 miles from where I was staying…..I gave myself 45 minutes to get there.
Now for those of ya’ll who have never driven in NYC, and this included me till that night, it’s not as hard as you would think….but it is in fact harder than the locals let on.
I was told more than once how easy it was because the streets are laid out in square grids,
That part is true…what they don’t tell you is that just like everything else in the universe…it’s easy if you know how, or in this case where….everything is.
Ya see direction means nothing if you lose yourself in time and space, I never had any clear idea where I was or how to get there because I didn’t know where there was, or for that matter where here was either, it’s been years and years since I’ve felt truly lost, but I couldn’t seem to find North….so I felt like a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that wasn’t there.
It took me just a bit under 2 hours to go 12 miles……..
I made it to Jons place and the rest of the band was already there, Aaron was playing bass and Amiet was playing drums. We ran thru the intros and breaks, made a bit of a list, had a few beers and called that it…..I got back across Manhattan to Jersey City about 12:30 AM and decided to just stay put till gig time the next day.
Thursday April 12
The show that night was scheduled for 9:30, or maybe 10:00, I’m not really sure and it doesn’t really matter anyway since I was there well before hand, I had decided not to drive, but instead take the subway. Again I had been told that taking the train was a cakewalk, and again I’m sure that’s right if you do it everyday….or even every once in a while, but having never taken the train I figured I’d better give myself a bit of a margin for error. It turns out that was a good move. The train turned out to be an excellent choice
Even tho I still didn’t know where I was trying to go. I did what I always do….I asked somebody.
Now I was a little apprehensive about asking for directions (for my friends in NYC, ya’ll already know the reputation that ya’ll enjoy) so I’d like to take a minute here and add my own observations to that reputation.
I personally found all the people I met in NYC and the surrounding area to be as friendly as they are anywhere else. I think their national reputation on lack of manners is unfairly applied…first of all Manhattan is on an island that’s only 16 miles long and 7 miles wide
(I was told this….I didn’t actually measure it myself) now add to that the fact that there are like 4 million people there….ya can’t really stop and talk to everybody, also with that many people in that small a space….you can’t ever just stop moving…..there’s too much momentum going in all directions.
Anyway there was a fellow on the train that I asked where I should get off, after telling him where I was trying to go…he gave me the best directions I have ever heard
“After I get off….you get off at the next stop” those were the kind of directions I was hoping for….not “go east to 115th street across the bridge…….” And so on and so forth.
One last note on NYC and the people there, I’ve never seen a group that knows more about their city than New Yorkers, they know every street by name even the alleys, and how far they are from landmarks and even what stores and window displays are there.
So for example I heard directions that went like this
“Keep going up this street, go 6 blocks, and turn left, there will be a store with a rubber life raft in the window, 2 doors past that will be an unmarked wooden door, go thru it take the first right and you’re there.”
I was playing that night at the Rodeo Bar in Manhattan. Now I know that seems like an oxymoron until you remember that one of the biggest rodeos in the world was the one at Madison Square Garden.
I got to the bar and got everything set up and fired up the show.
This was only the second time I had ever met that nights bandmates, so the odds of sounding like a tight rehearsed group are pretty much zip….still the guys knew some of my stuff from the recordings, and they also knew a lot of that cosmic/hippie/folk rock/country stuff from the 70s. We played it loose and kind of rambled thru the set. It worked amazingly well, I had asked the sound guy (a fellow named Eric from the tarheel state) to keep my guitar and voice as hot in the monitor as possible, so I was kind of leading the way…..my bandmates that night were really good at that whole fake and bake thing.
We played as much of my stuff as we could then went into Little Feat and The Band, Dylan and Johnny Cash covers, with some Merle Haggard thrown in for luck.
We played a couple of sets to an enthusiastic crowd, and then my NYC adventure was over….except for the getting back to Jersey part. I wound up taking a cab back, it was too late and I was too tired to monkey with taking the train, one last observation about NYC. I was standing on a corner in lower Manhattan when it hit me that it was 2:00 AM, and there were still thousands of people out on the streets, and if I lived there I would never sleep at all.
Back To T-Burg
I got up Friday morning and drove back to T-Burg, I did manage another stop in Hancock for lunch.
I landed at Hall Road early in the afternoon; it was a travel day so there wasn’t much I had going on, except a vague plan to go see the Tar Box Ramblers who were playing at the Rongo later that night.
I had heard a couple of things about the Tar Box Ramblers, but nothing had really prepared me for their live set…..HOT……. is probably the best adjective to use.
They were playing Great American Cosmic Music with lap steel as the lead, and dominant instrument, and it was just smoking. I got to meet the band thanks to Tracey Craig from the radio show None Such on WVBR.
I wanted to hang out a bit longer but, I was starting to fade and I had two shows the next day, Jon was looking a bit faded as well, so we decided to roll it up for the night. We went back to Hall Rd and had a couple of beers and watched the Dodgers game on Jons computer. The Dodgers won.
Two More Shows
I had a show that afternoon with Eric Aceto, just a two acoustic guitar vocal thing at Burritts Cafe over in Weedsport NY.
I had played there on the trip last Oct., and it had gone well enough that Darryl and Sherry(the owners) had agreed to have me come back. It’s a nice little gig to have….good stage……good sound system…..and really good sandwiches. We got there a bit late but that didn’t seem to be a problem since today was the first day in a week that it hadn’t been snowing, and the sun was almost out, there wasn’t anybody there anyway.
I felt kind of bad for nor drawing better but in New York in April I don’t think anybody could compete with an almost sunny….not cold… day.
We played 2 sets and wrapped it up….thanks Darryl and Sherry….maybe we’ll draw better next time.
We got back to T-Burg about 5:00 PM….we had a show that night with a whole nother different rhythm section. I had hoped to sleep a little bit before the show…but that didn’t really work out….so around 7:30 we saddled up and headed for Ithaca.
We played our first set till I broke a string (just one this time) then we stopped for a bit…and it was while we were stopped that people started to drift in…Tracey from None Such was there and Chris from Guitar Works…and a lot of people dressed in boots and cowboy hats, there had been a cowboy party somewhere close by and when it broke up the partiers had joined us.
Up until that point I had been feeling a little bit shaky…hell I hadn’t even had any beer, but we took the stage and played all the songs we knew….and a few that we didn’t.
Man that was a party crowd…I haven’t seen that many people on a dance floor in a long time….and it was more like a mosh pit than a dance floor….but we played till I was completely out of songs and then we played two more…and called that it…I love it when the last show in the stand is the best…and that’s how this one worked out.
A big thanks to everybody who drifted in and stayed to party.
Sunday was a recovery day, and since the Nor Easter was blowing in, there wasn’t much to do anyway…..we hung out at Hall Rd and recovered, I did sneak down to the Rongo that evening to have a beer, and tell Mike Barry I’d see him next time
Monday
I woke up and looked out the window and there was snow everywhere….like in a Christmas Television Special…..I was afraid my flight would get grounded, but Pamela was checking it every 30 minutes and it was still listed as on schedule.
I still had an hour or so before I had to leave for Rochester, and Eric had told me that the factory for Hipshot b-benders was located in Interlaken…..I would have figured them for a California company and they were founded there….but that aside I just had to go visit the place….if for no other reason than to one-up Mr. Hemphill.
Jon drove us over….what with him being used to driving through snow drifts and all….and I got to meet David Borisoff….the inventor Hipshot B-Benders, and owner of Hipshot Products…..it was just as cool as I would have thought…getting to meet a pedal steel guitar player who was working in LA in the early 70s…..he knew and played with about half the people in my record collection.
I loaded up from there and drove to Rochester…where my plane got delayed…I missed my connection in Cincinnati….had to spend the night there and got back to Austin just in time for lunch on Tuesday.
Man it was a great roadtrip, and I can’t wait till next time. Thank you to everybody I met…especially you city dwellers who took pity on a lost hick from Austin.
I also want to thank all the players on the shows….ya’ll are the best.
If any of this is not how ya’ll remember it…well….it’s been over 2 weeks since it happened and I’m just now getting around to writing it down….so feel free to send in corrections.
Till Next Time
ADIOS
posted by Billy Eli at 1:09 PM
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