It's always hard to begin and fill this blank canvas, especially with the flurry that occurred between the last entry and this one.  I'll start with the fact that I'm writing this in Colorado Springs, CO at Pike's Perk Coffee.  Bob Dylan is playing overhead and his lyrics don't make ANY sense.  We're hiding from the 90 - 100 degree weather that has made it's presence known since we've arrived in this state.  I can't complain too much since it's nice to feel some warmth on my vampiric skin.  We played a good show last night with Mike Clark, who is becoming a friend of ours on the road.  I thought I would never say this, but Colorado Springs isn't half bad -  just look past the hundreds of evangelical signs and the megachurches and you'll see some beautiful terrain.  We might head to the Garden of the Gods pretty soon, but the AC is feeling pretty good.

To catch up with everyone, I'll begin by saying that the Fort Collins show went extremely well.  It was the first show of tour and the first show playing with Paul who had just flown in.  We hit the ground running once he got into town.  We rehearsed, then went to soundcheck.  There's something humbling with traveling a great deal and presenting your art to a room full of strangers.  By the end of the first song, I felt welcomed.  The room was spacious and felt intimate at the same time.  Victor and Penny were great in their vein of 30's era crooning, even down to the fancy guitar that gave me the imagery of "happy 30's metal", I told the guitarist this, and I couldn't tell if I offended him or not.  Danielle Anderson was great in her confident songwriting.  She played a good set with odes and vignettes.  She even included a Avril Levigne cover which might have been serious with no irony to be seen.  We left with a celebratory drink on the cobblestone streets of downtown.

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We hit Denver, CO the next day (Friday) after spending some time in Boulder seeing family and friends.  I need to add that Paul and I saw one of the worst buskers I've ever seen.  He tried the "I'm a really bad magician, but funny" schtick, but take out the funny aspect and he was left with silence and wincing toddlers.  In Denver, we played our first of two showcase shows in the UMS Festival at the Hi-Dive (one of my favorite places to play!).  The set went really well, the audience that was there at 6:00 in the afternoon was a great one - really engaged.  The picture to the left was taken after the show and after I just witnessed a man combing through the sidewalk dirt looking for gold.    He told me that he was the second coming of Ezekiel and that he was looking for the gold that he once paved the streets with, I imagine that he'll find it some day.  The streets were packed and alive when the evening rolled around.  We walked and paced ourselves with conversation and music echoing from doorways, stages, and storefronts.  It's been a while since I've felt connected to the Denver as a whole in a while, and it felt like a 100-degree blanket.  

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The next day, we had a great photo session with our good friend and very talented Gary Isaacs.  We played at the Illiterate Gallery around 7:30 with the streets humming with life outside and spilling into view.  We played in a packed and sweating room with an audience of family, friends and great deal of people I've never seen before.  This was one of the best sets I have ever played, there was something about the energy of the viewers and players all being presenters feeding off each other (sorry, it's my Naropa language coming out, but there's no other way I can explain it).  The picture is a link to a review of the show.  The rest of the evening was spent imbibing drink and conversation.  The evening ended with a late night set from a local Denver Stoner-Rock set from the band Houses who were awesome and complimented the hazy vision and late night shouting.  There were so many talented artists and performers alike and I was flattered and humbled with the response from people that we met and the inspiring art that they create.

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We were joined by this unwilling travel companion on our way down to Colorado Springs, CO.  Jessie took pictures of it while I was shying far away from it.  We were welcomed with enthusiasm and collaboration.  We played with The Ghost of Mike Clark, who plays music to travel with through the desert with no water.  We played an impromptu collaboration with his band and I shouted gibberish along to their lyrics hoping not mess anything up.  We playing another show with them tonight in Pueblo, CO and I will definitely have the lyrics ready to go this time around!  We stayed at our friend Cole's house and we spent the late evening drinking bad wine around a barrel fire and walking through ditches and looking at graffiti.  This morning, we ate green chili with great Mexican food and stories from our host.  There are cracks and crevasses to our experience that are skipping my mind at this point, but we are feeling great in our travels.

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If you live in the Pueblo area, come to this show that we're playing with The Ghost of Mike Clark at The Downtown Bar tonight!  We've never been to Pueblo before, and we're looking forward to seeing all who come!  Please keep emailing us with thoughts and confusion!
Love, Stirling.
P.S. We love our moms!




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