The Post-Road Diary: New York

In an attempt to recount a recent tour of upstate New York, and realizing she hadn't started to write about a prior trip to Canada, Annie was compelled to reach back to the beginning of her traveling career. Here's an installment from the first band tour in 1994.
But wait, I never got a chance to tell you about our tour of the Canadian Maritimes!
Flash forward: I only realized afterwards that it was our first band tour (“tour” in this case means at least three consecutive out-of-town dates) in thirteen years.
OK, flash back: Our first band tour together was in February of 1994. We drove all over (where else?) Florida and Georgia with our bass player Damian Purro and our great drummer Tuffy Kimble. I had been playing with Paul for a little over a year. We had done a few gigs outside of New England, but I had never really gone out on the road before. Paul and I flew down to Orlando and rented a car, while Tuffy and Damian drove down with all the equipment to meet us at the first gig at Blind Willie’s in Atlanta. We got to Atlanta the day before the gig and checked into the club’s affiliated motel, a sleazy family-friendly place called the Cheshire Bridge Motor Inn.
In those days I was working out regularly at a gym, so, having brought my sneakers and sweats with me, I set out in the morning to find a place where I could crunch those quads, or whatever it was I used to do. As it happened, there was a gym right next to the hotel. I decided to walk a little first, warm up and see the neighborhood. Just past the gym was a bakery. The smell of freshly made bread filled the air. I walked a block, turned around, walked back to the bakery, purchased a loaf and brought it back to the hotel. I could always work out tomorrow. It’s amazing how quickly the lifestyle of a touring musician cured me of any notion of physical fitness. I know they have “fitness centers” in most hotels now, complete with treadmills and stairmasters, but wouldn’t you rather play, eat, drink or smoke too much than miss out on the chance to do any of those things because you were “working out?” Also, if you’re staying in a hotel and you don’t have to a)take Junior to school; b)pick Junior up from school; c)call Junior’s teacher about that grade; d)drive to the mall; e)clean up cat puke; - why not take a well-deserved nap and save the exertion for when you’re home and need to vent your angst about the unbearably tedious turn your life has taken?
Flashing back to Florida: Tuffy and Damian arrived that afternoon. We all drove around until we found Blind Willie’s. We all bought T-shirts that said “It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Sleazy” – not true, by the way – and had our picture taken together outside the club. The show went reasonably well, though I can’t remember any of it. We were preceded by a robust singer named Sandra Hall. She sang in the tradition of “big mamas” and did a fine job.


Next: Jacksonville