Home Stretch

It was about 8 p.m. when we were passing through a random town somewhere in western Montana. We were thinking of getting dinner as we drove by a good selection of restaurants but we weren't quite hungry yet and we decided to wait until the next town to eat. Little did we know that we wouldn't come across anything but open prairie for the next six hours. . . so when we got to Bismarck, North Dakota, the soft yellow glow of the Denny’s sign felt particularly welcoming at 2:30 a.m.

The next day in Minneapolis, we got so excited to see city lights after hundreds of miles of darkness that we took a gamble on what locals were calling “the best pizza in Minnesota” and wound up feeling homesick for authentic east coast pie. The gig that night was at Lee’s Liquor Lounge, which is an awesome nostalgic country music bar with a shrine to Elvis on the wall, an old lady sewing in the corner, and Chuck Berry as the house music. Although the couch surfer we were staying with claimed to have acquired his house for free (it needed work and he knew how to take advantage of some government program), it was a great little place and he made us feel at home.

Compared to the previous couple of days, the drive to Chicago was a breeze and we ended up staying at Semaphore studio where we recorded our new album. There was some issue with the couch surfer we planned to stay with and when we met up with Eric, the engineer who did our album, he offered us to stay in the studio. As if things weren’t ironic enough, Owen ends up finding us a couch surfer to stay with the following night named Andre who Eric happens to know from work. We ended up getting comp drink tickets from the club where Andre works and became captivated by the movie Snakes on a Plane, which was being projected above the bar with the sound off. Back at Andre’s apartment we had to maneuver around his various art projects and homemade furniture but once we got settled, he had us in stitches with a hilarious obscure comedy show he found on YouTube.

In Pittsburgh, we stayed with a tight-knit house of film students who cooked us some kick ass ribs and potatoes for dinner and afterward, shared their hookah and one of their favorite films, Natural Born Killers. The next day we spent hanging out at one of the couch surfers’ uncle’s house, which was a state-of-the-art custom-built villa perched on a hillside overlooking downtown Pittsburgh. We had a great time playing pool next to the fireplace, perusing the impressive wine seller, and admiring the view from the ballroom floor. All this put us into a relaxed mood for the last show of the tour and we were happy to get to play for some people at Ava Lounge.

Now, we’re back home after an amazing trip. Come check us out this weekend! We’re playing at the Arthouse in New Brunswick this Friday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday we’re going to be part of an all-day benefit show for Yoko Ono at the Brooklyn Bowl in NY, starting at noon. More info at www.liketrainsandtaxis.com