August 30th - Winthrop University: Rock Hill, SC
Have you noticed that I like to take pictures of signs??? It is a nice archive of where I have been in life. I am working slowly at getting a photograph of myself in front of every state sign. I have a few in the bank, but I don't often stop on the road with LDE because we are usually on a time schedule and I don't want to slow us down. One day I'll have all the photos, Hawaii might be hard because one can't really drive to Hawaii.....hmmmmm.

Winthrope was great. Lunch with Boyd and company, great venue, great people on the student board, a bunch of fans, nice sound and lights. It is a shame we had to split so soon to get back to MD, but we still put on a show, and I almost got a speeding ticket in Virginia. And yes I do keep all those construction paper cut out things they put on our dressing room door. You think my photo taking is a little OCD, you should see my collection of archive materials from LDE. It's a gold mine!

Chris



August 28th - Coastal Georgia College: Brunswick, GA
Our long drive through the night landed us in Brunswick, home of Coastal Georgia College. We couldn't have been treated any better by Dave and his wonder staff of students. Although we were exhausted, we loaded onto the stage on the warm but comfortable morning. We were sound checked and ready by noon and we came out to play for a scattering of college kids and a few high schoolers that were brought from one of the states advanced programs. The crowd was quite enthusiastic for lunchtime and we appreciated it.

I had a generous time taking in the sights of St Simon's Island, a place that I had played years in the past. Redskins Pre-Season was on tap along with pitchers of Bud Light. Thanks again to the staff and our favorites, "the roommates" Faith, Jess, and Katie. It would be nice to see you all again soon, maybe we can stop and do some Starbucks Open Mic for free coffee!

Chris



August 27th - All Day/All Night Drive
Sometimes the struggle for morning coffee on the road is just too overwhelming. Today, the process was so arduous that I just gave up completely and went to sleep in the van, just a mear 120 minuets after I had woken up that morning. The debacle began with a search online for possible coffee venues. After we left lunch, we passed the site of where one should have been, kept driving while I searched again on my phone.

We passed by the road that we were supposed to turn on and I was trying to kindly ask Donnie to detour back to the destination. I was already getting a little flack for being addicted to coffee, even though my other coffee cohorts had satisfied their craving with hot coffee from McAlester's Deli. I was in the search of iced. Donnie obliged, turned around, and off we went to find one place; closed. Another java shop; bordered up. I finally called the last place on the list before we hit the highway and asked the lady exactly where they were located since we were having trouble finding it by eye. She gave me directions and Pat spotted the place to our left.

I got out of the van with my cup since there was no parking in the main street. The guys drove off around the block to come pick me up and I walked across the street. As I approached the store, I felt a sigh of relief. My mouth would be whole again. I reached out to open the door and it was locked. "CLOSED." There hours were from 6am to 3pm. It was 3:35pm. Not that I lost my temper over not getting coffee, but one would think that the lady on the phone would have at least alerted me to the fact that the shop was no longer serving. Jeepers!

I got right back in the van and told the guys the story, they laughed naturally, I went in the back, put ear plugs in and went to sleep. I did however write down the exit number I suggested Donnie take after his shift was up. I had researched the directions and times of this place with a phone call. Maybe when I wake up all will be right in the world.

Chris



August 26th - North Central Texas College: Corinth/Gainesville, TX
We woke up early enough to still be asleep for 5 hours, drove 4 hours to TX, stopped for Coffee, almost stopped a Casino, and passed 3 or 4 dead armadillo's. We arrived at North Texas College v1.0, loaded in until sweat was covering our entire bodies. It was rough going with no sleep, 100 + degrees, but hey at least gas is $3.25 out here. We finished up at the first location and it was time for some serious nourishment. Johnny Corrino's Italian is my favorite stop in Texas, the perfect place for food and a shower in the sink.

We kicked around town for a few hours, patronized Target, drove north to Gainesville, and put off our second load of the day as long as we could. The heat was killing us and there wasn't a whole lot of inspiration to move big boxes. But we finally got everything up and ready and muscled through the show with very low light due to using a gasoline powered generator as a power source. We exited at a Chili's Bar and Grill for late night food to carry us to our final destination which was a small town in East Texas called Longview, TX. Lets sleep for 12 hours ehh? Happy Birthday Dad!

Chris



August 25th - University of Art and Sciences: Chickasha, OK
The trip to OK was anything but short and easy, but the show was good enough to reward even the most exhausted of musicians. On our way there we suffered through miles of terrible drivers, accidents, and toll roads. We made a nice evening of music with the kids of UAS but I never did get to eat some Ice Cream from Braum's, the delicious family owned dairy store that resides only in OK and parts of TX. I believe that the company wanted to keep all location within 200 miles of the farms to allow their drivers and employees to always be home at night. Cheers to guy who bought the Pink LDE shirt and rocked it all night long. This would be our first official show in Oklahoma although we have traveled through the fine state on plenty of occasions heading to and from Texas.

Chris



August 20th - Wild Wing Augusta, Hilton Head, Mt. Pleasant, Savannah
Wild Wing Mania followed our show at Shorter College, all the way across the state of GA, and back to the Carolina's. We had the luxury or crashing with our friend and sound engineer Iain the Scottish Bastard. Iain has been mixing the band for about 5 years now, and we finally were able to wrangle him up to Baltimore for our CD release show, and it made a huge difference. I wish we could afford to have him with us always, although I am not sure if he would want to be with us that much, the bastard that he is.

We stayed at Iain's, played shows, ate chicken wings and honey baked ham sandwiches, hung out with all of our good friends in SC and GA, and watched the final hours of the Olympics. I saw my first centipede and made a fort for my aerobed upstairs in Iain's movie room.

Chris



August 17th - Georgia Southern University: Statesboro, GA
Somewhere south of Augusta, where the highways turn to state roads, I woke up parched, hungry, and ready for a stretch. Statesboro isn't too far off I-16, West of Savannah, but the way we were traveling, we had to navigate over an hour of back roads. We did make it on time and were welcomed with a very nice performance facility. Nice stage, lights, sound, natural amphitheater, food, drinks, just about everything you could ask for.

After we packed, ate some cold pizza and drove to the hotel, I stayed up enjoying the Hampton Inn 24-hour coffee service. Not your typical midnight activity, but we were staying for 2 days so I decided to let my body do as it pleased as opposed to forcing it to sleep or wake. At the grocery store, they had made 30 foot display of coke products in the formation of the Olympic rings. Creative, time consuming, and I didn't have my camera on me. Jimminy Crickets!

Chris



August 15th - First Friday's: Roanoke, VA
So it's been awhile. I know. You haven't emailed...I walk by our usual spot hoping you'll be there...sometimes I drive past your place at night hoping to catch a stalkerish glimpse of you in the window... I pick up the phone and dial the first 9 digits of your phone number then hang up before completing the call. It's been an awkward few months...me releasing a new CD...you spending the summer wondering when I'll be back around. All I can say is I am sorry, i haven't been myself of late, I needed to take a break....but now I am back.

Kidding aside, I apologize for the lack of journal entries. It has been a better part of 6 months since I have really sat down to document our travels, and we've been casually staying in our area, mostly in preparation for our CD release, but partially to take some time to be with family and friends. But as our tour schedule shows, we are back to what we do best...or what we do at least; tour.

The beginning of our 17 day run brought us to home territory in Roanoke for the outdoor First Friday's Festival. With dark ominous clouds looming the distance, we set up the show, leaving quick access to our cases for when the rain was sure to come. As it did, people scrambled and our brilliant set was cut short by almost half. It was a shame. But there was more Roanoke to be had, but not for me. The guys took Saturday to do an Interview/Performance on News 7, hang out with friends, and then perform at Corned Beef and Co. I broke my Cal Ripken-esque streek of consistent shows played, driving to Charlottesville for my best friends amazing wedding.

The was no way to avoid my absence. To cancel the Saturday shows would have been stupid considering how long we were out, and the fact that I am only the guitar player. And hey, we've played shows without everyone else, why not my turn!!! The weekend in Noke went well overall, and I was back at 8am Sunday to join my mates for a lengthy drive to GA. A nice congrats to Tim and Marci on a wonderful union.

Chris



May 23-24th - The Roast: Rome, GA
I don't want to say too much about the Roast since it was a private event, but we had the best time this year hanging out with everyone. Matt and Co put on a wonderful weekend with all kinds of great food and drink. We had a blast at both performances and are looking forward to next year. I hope we see all you Roasters out at an LDE show in your area. Thanks for the candy bars (I never eat candy) and what a fire. I'll never really know how, why, or who the first person was that came across a pig or cow and said, "Let's kill that, light it on fire, it will taste great...who's with me!" Let's also all be thankful that ALL the equipment didn't fall out of the trailer when the lock was left unlocked and the rig was in motion. No one will fess up to the mistake, so I'll just blame it on Gravity.

Chris



May 16-18th - Spinnakers: Panama City Beach, FL
In an off season for Panama City Beach, Spinnakers was an absolute joy. Because of scheduling conflicts, we are only down in the Florida panhandle two times this year so we decided to make it count. 3 night shows and a one-hour daytime charity event wrapped up our performances for the week, and I don't know if I even touched the sand while I was there. It's a shame, all I did was eat, sleep, and admire the Lobster Machine that grabbed live lobsters for cooking, and watch out.....you might find some American currency attached to a claw!

It was a treat to have Karen, Dave, Kim, Kim, and Steven down for the weekend, representing MD and the incredulous looks when ordering peel-and-eat-shrimp without receiving any old bay. Oh, the Kim's, Steven and I played Mini Golf and I didn't loose! Must be all the composure I am gaining from the Yoga. Let's talk Yoga for a second. I'm a little obsessed. Not completely devoted to a life that shares every breath with mother earth, but it has made things in my life easier. Rock climbing, running, and working out are easier with the flexibility, the breathing has helped my singing (didn't think anything would EVER help my singing) and doing some yoga and stretching in the morning and at night has helped me wake up and fall asleep with great ease.

And who can't like an activity with postures with names like "downward dog," "half moon," "reverse warrior," and "corpse pose" which is essentially lying on your back like any normal human attempting to sleep. But it works I tell you, grabbing a block past your toes, standing on your hands in "crane" for a minuet, and holding "wheel" for what seems like an eternity are great feelings of success. Well, it's not for everyone, but what really is for everyone...breathing??? A heart beat???

Chris