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Here's the 2004 recap: ... the SPOT ODYSSEY!

After last year's maiden voyage of Emily-E, I had no qualms about putting her back out on the road for more tourin'. Only problem was there wasn't any tourin' action happening til August. That unnerved me. Too much time spent at home.

March 10—Flipnotics • Austin, TX
This was a double bill with me and Freddy "Steady" Krc. For those who don't know, Freddy spent some time in his checkered past as a drummer for one Roky Erickson. Aside from that, there's a reason folks call him Freddy Steady. I've known him for years and this was the first time we had sat down together (other than as sidemen backing someone else up) and played. We kinda just got on stage together and winged it and did our own stuff and remembered all kindsa songs from our pasts that we hadn't thought about in years (and anyone who knows old Buffalo Springfield songs gets a good seat in my cafe!). Damn, this was fun!!

March 18—Lovejoy's • Austin, TX
Another of the afternoon shows during the debacle that is sxsw (suck by suck wad?). Always fun. This year I went on right after Shandom Sahm (Doug's kid). I think he's some kinda rock & roll animal, if'n ya know what I mean...

May 2— Tacoland • San Antonio, TX
A shared bill with Eugene Chadbourne. Years ago I was asked to do a show with this man but owing to another commitment I was unable to join in the fray. But, hooray!, the opportunity finally came around again and this time there was nothing to stand in the way. Karma, eh.....

May 28— Whisky Dix • Lubbock, TX
Apparently the city made the club take down its sign because of the name. Hmmm... They sell Whisky, don't they? And isn't Dix short for Dixie? How could they object to those two words being used together? Many thanks to Andy Martinez (who saw me play Lubbock in 2002 on Mike Watt's "Our Oars Became Wings" tour) and his band! It was a damn fun night up there in the flatlands.

June 14— Fiesta Gardens • Austin, TX
This was the Tenth Anniversary Party for Lovejoy's Taproom (where I work). Damn, was it hot! And damn, was there beer! Ouch! Ten more years of this? Really? Ouch!

June 22— Church of the Friendly Ghost • Austin, TX
A former neighborhood church/meeting hall where they have all kinds of oddball and "experimental" shows. Yeah, just the place for me. The really cool thing about this show was that I didn't have to play the "hits." Folks were actually listening so I had a chance to do a lot of subtle, serious compositional pieces; the kind of stuff that doesn't work in a noisy bar. What a joy! Unfortunately, I had to hightail outta there right after playing cuz o needing to work that night. So I missed Ralph White, the fretless banjo/kalimba slinging ex-Bad Liver; Walter Daniels, the harmonica/reed man/Eugene Chadbourne sideman; and John Wesley Coleman III.

July 1— Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse • Austin, TX
Great fun here. Ralph White showed up with his fiddle cuz he was yearnin' to play some old Irish tunes. Heck yeah! And we did! And the mosquitos weren't too bad that night either.

July 25— Beerland • Austin, TX
This one came up at the last minute. A benefit for a friend who got caught in a bad motorcycle accident and nobody expected him to pull through. But he was too damn tough for that! Old Mr. Death got cheated one more time (yeah, an accident a few years ago put him in a wheelchair, but he built a side-platform onto his bike and kept on riding)! There's something to say about the sheer will to live and it's best not to attempt getting too poetic with it.

August 5 — Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse • Austin, TX
It was hot out there under the big oak tree. Ah, these Texas summer nights. I probably dripped away ten pounds of sweat but that's what happens when I start remembering all those old songs I hardly even think about these days. And hours later....

The August Tour:

8/13— The Conservatory • Oklahoma City, OK
8/14— Kirby's Beer Store • Wichita, KS
8/16— 8th Street Taproom • Lawrence, KS
8/17— Music Cafe • Columbia, MO
8/18— Frederick's Music Lounge • St. Louis, MO
8/19— Hangar 9 • Carbondale, IL
8/20— Minglewood • Rockford, IL
8/21— High Noon Saloon • Madison, WI
8/23— Points East Pub • Milwaukee, WI
8/24— Java Joe's • Des Moines, IA
8/25— House Concert • Lincoln, NE
8/27— Aggie Theatre • Fort Collins, CO
8/28— Beartree Tavern • Centennial, WY
8/29— Surfside 7 • Fort Collins, CO
8/30— 15th Street Tavern • Denver, CO
8/31— Lion's Lair • Denver, CO

September 10-12— CelticFest • Jackson, MS
I almost didn't play the festival this year since it looked like I would have to do it alone. But then Albert A's plans changed, the festival organizers kept bugging me about performing, and I changed my mind and just said yes. It was a good thing, too. These were probably the best festival performances we've done yet, and the saturday night ceili was stellar thanks to caller Catherine Sherer's amazing communication with the band. Wow!

November 6-7— Austin Celtic Festival • Austin, TX
The fabled DeLorean Mechanics reunion didn't happen. Albert and I performed as a duo but just to keep things interesting we got Tom ex-Mechanic to sit in with us on bass on a few tunes. Yeah, we did a few things from the DM repertoire. Unfortunately, a bass string broke (without a backup) at the beginning of the first day's set. Damn! But all was good the second day and we powered through a really great set that more than made up for the previous day's disappointment. Of course, the headliners of this year's festival were two fiddle & guitar duos: Martin Hayes & Dennis Cahill and Kevin Burke & Jed Foley. I could blather on and on about brilliant fiddling here but I won't other than to say it was great fun sessioning with Jed who is quite a fiddler himself!

December 18— Benefit at Artists Coop • Austin, TX
This was a damn fun show featuring art by death row inmates.

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