Tour Blog #7

The Home Stretch.

With four shows and a little under one week left to go, the first North American tour is nearing its final lap. Next on the docket are a couple of shows in our neighbor country to the north and then back across the border for a pair of nights in or around New York City. Then, our fearless leader will be jet-setting across the pond to open up 3 weeks of dates for the boys in Boyce Avenue.

Don't fret, my European familie: if all goes according to plan, the rest of us in the Crew will be stopping by soon enough.

And, let's face it: it's not a real rock 'n' roll tour until the van gets jacked, right? Some nefarious ne'er do well in Atlanta thought he'd better his own situation by ripping off some of our personal gear while we played our set inside the Vinyl. The good news? He didn't get all that much and the truly important parts of what we lost were properly insured. The bad news was simply the massive inconvenience it caused, forcing us to iron out a situation now involving police reports, insurance claims, and van repairs. But, as before, that certain someone who has met every single need we've had this past month came through for us yet again, and the tour was able to continue right on schedule.

Jammin' Java, Washington, DC

As for this week, the drives up and down the eastern side of this America have been quite idyllic. The colors of autumn have created a rather serene backdrop for this musical sojourn of ours. The feeling that we've just driven into a wall calendar is overpowering at times, and, being myself a junkie for the changing seasons, it is a most-welcome experience. Staring out the window at the passing countryside is by no means a waste of time for a musician on the road: it's all but impossible not to be inspired and uplifted by the very natural & intoxicating beauty of Virginia, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New York in the fall.

As this tour winds down, I find myself more and more excited for what's right around the corner. Without divulging any details (the music business is, forever and always, constantly in flux), it seems a bit of a misnomer to use the phrase "winds down" for anything pertaining to the T-Ward Crew. This first tour has exceeded expectations for everyone involved, and we'll be kicking things into an even higher gear in 2012.

But for now, let's see what you got, Canada. It's been a few months since we last played for you in the Great White North; might these next shows be a barometer of what the future holds for the Crew on the road?

Oh, yeah. Be sure to dig the new video.

Tour Survival Kit #2 - The Neck Pillow

When 11 people are traveling 12,000 miles in a 15-passenger van, sleep doesn't come easy. Fortunately, however, American industry has given us the answer for our vehicular comfort problems. At the ridiculously affordable price of $14.99, this is a must-have for any young band on the run.

I'll let the picture do the talking.

Tour Blog #6

It's amazing how fast it changes. One day, a nine-hour road trip seems like a bit of a chore. Then, after two weeks of touring, it’s just another day on the job, hardly noticeable at all.

Once it seemed like setting up the stage and getting through sound check would never end; now I blink my eyes and we’re playing Paper Heart.

Albert Einstein once said that music is what gave him inspiration for his theory of relativity. When pressed, I’m sure he would’ve clarified that he was on a music tour, where time becomes a completely unreliable constant when compared to anything. At sound check, Mary Song moves right along at its normal pace, but once 500 people pack the room and scream their heads off at the sight of your band walking on the stage, the click track seems lethargic.

Old Rock House, St. Louis

But you adapt. You get used to it. You adjust what you need to adjust and you bring the business to the people. You learn how to set up, check, perform, and tear down a show on only a tidbit of sleep because while you were busy acclimating to hours and hours of time spent on the road, you forgot how to nap in a moving vehicle. Well, shucks. I guess that’s why we brought the DVD player and the Nook, after all.

And we’ve been forced to acclimate to another kind of constant: the sellout. Phoenix. Chicago. Nashville. DC. And while we might get used to it, we never get tired of it. 

Sold out in Cook County.

The blessings continue to fall on this tour like a benevolent torrent. We have officially driven from one coast of this continent to the other playing music for thousands of fans, all the while protected and provided for: through sickness, exhaustion, and the unavoidable diagnosis of First Time Out. The only thing better than doing what you love is being supported while you do it, and perhaps the largest part of this entire experience is the impression that somebody up there is taking serious care of us every step of the way.

We could never be worthy.

And when did I miss the memo about naming all of our grocery stores in ways that sound like they’re being made fun of by 2^nd graders on a playground? Harris Teeter. Menards. Piggly Wiggly. I cannot possibly be the only one who finds the following conversation hilarious:

“Honey bunches, we’re out of sugar. Can you head on down to the Teeter to get some more?”

Come on, America. We can do better.

New Crew Vids

Dig the latest offerings.

 

 ...and yes, I actually did play the entire song on the Roland SPD-30 Octopad. 

Tour Blog #5

Deep in the heart of Texas.

Houston, Dallas, & Austin. San Antonio tomorrow. And a stop in Phoenix beforehand. All either sold out or within a couple dozen of being so. To put it lightly, the tour is picking up steam.

Due to the steady social media flow, word is getting out and tickets are moving. And we could not be more privileged or thankful.

A sold out show in Phoenix, AZ kicked off our week. One would be forgiven for thinking Sunday night had morphed into Saturday with the amount and intensity of fans that made their way out to the Rhythm Room. It proved to be an poignant indicator of the way the rest of the week would unfold for us: great audiences in great rooms making for great shows.

Houston and Dallas both offered up their House Of Blues venues, and Austin propped us up at the estimable Stubbs' BBQ. The band continued to break pre-sale records at each subsequent step, and despite several crew members coming down with the bug, the performances have delivered.

There was another gift tossed our way during this little road trip: after our Phoenix gig, our fearless leader hopped a flight back to Los Angeles to film a performance for Ellen. (Tyler and his 'How To Love' compadre, Christina Grimmie, will be all over daytime television this coming Monday.) After the taping, Tyler joined back up with the rest of the crew in the Lone Star State.

Not even breakfast ceases to remind you of where you are.

The daily schedules have been packed, as well. After a two-day jaunt into the Central Time Zone, our week was a whirlwind of traveling in the morning, checking sound in the afternoon, and performing in the evening. As I write this, we're on a rare day off after three straight travel/performance dates, and it's an understatement to say that the response of the fans has been a rejuvenating force for the band: playing every night to packed & fired-up houses makes the daily cyclone absolutely worthwhile.

In the meantime, we've found some rather effective ways of passing the considerable amount of time spent in the van. Friday Night Lights, The Big Bang Theory, & Breaking Bad have all been getting serious time in the DVD players, and we've been able to record our performances from the previous night and listen back for some on-the-job review. The work never stops here in the Tyler Ward Crew, people.

Actually, that last part's not true at all. Last night, after our show here in Austin, we made our way down to 6th Street to see what all the fuss was about and, well, as they say here in Texas, it was somethin'. And tonight, the schedule's completely free, so who knows? Maybe we'll even catch one of those fancy moving picture deals everybody keeps talking about.

Says it all. Even without the other 'P'.

Tour Blog #4

California: Hills & Valleys.

Well, the west coast leg of this tour has officially come to an end. 4 shows in the Golden State and we've begun our trek east; first stop: Phoenix, AZ.

On the marquis at the legendary Roxy

California had some special moments waiting for us as well as some important lessons to be learned. This last week was chock full of on-the-job training, from surly sound guys and bud-smoking club managers to audiences as different as ice cream and Tabasco sauce. Most of the club crews we've worked with have been fantastic: friendly, accommodating, hard-working. But every once in awhile you run into the scenesters, who care only about their favorite types of music and won't be bothered enough to offer up even a monosyllabic grunt or two if your band doesn't happen to be their particular flavor of death-metal-thrash-core-screamo-punk-rock. And then there's the entitlement crowd, who passive-aggressively condescend to the young rock band on the road the moment they don't get exactly what they want.

Welcome to life on the road.

We've also compiled some crazy travel stories, including a misplaced credit card reader that ended up being found in the gutter of Sunset Boulevard, a late-night drive towards San Francisco after our Los Angeles show that had us arriving at our hotel room at around 4:00 in the morning, an impromtu tour of Taylor Guitars' HQ, and the discovery that the club in San Fran in which we played, Slim's, is owned by the legendary Boz Scaggs. We've also begun to hit our walls: a certain amount of exhaustion has begun to get the better of some of us; as I write this I've just woken up from a Nyquil-induced coma due to the symptoms that began to appear in my head and sinuses last night.

Welcome to life on the road.

Tyler at Taylor

Adaptation is the word of the day: the show must go on, and God-willing, it will. Because every single night that we are blessed enough to walk out on that stage to the ear-splitting welcome of our fans, we're reminded that it's all worth it. There is nothing in all the world quite like performing for people who have waited months and (in many cases) years for the opportunity to see our little band do what we do. We feel so loved and appreciated on this tour that no matter what technical issues, personnel issues, or health issues we may be experiencing, if we can get to that stage, we're going to bring it. Every night.