Lawrence, Kansas was the first stop on our tour and we loved it! We had been driving all day from Madison, with nothing to fortify us but fried chicken livers and gizzards from a gas station, and maybe a Big Gulp or two. Then Lawrence appeared on the horizon, an adorable-little-college-town oasis in the desert of Kansas [I use "desert" as a metaphor for "prairie" here, much like Toto uses "Mount Olympus" is a metaphor for "Kilimanjaro" in their immortal classic "Africa"], and instantly charmed us.

Upon the suggestion of our friend Kevin from Cowboy Winter who lives in Madison now but is from Lawrence, we stopped in at Love Garden Sounds, a record shop on the main drag about a block from where we were staying. He said it was a great record shop, which was true, but he didn't mention they also had TWO SHOP CATS, one of which had A TEENY LITTLE BOW TIE on his ADORABLE LITTLE NECK and spent a lot of time curled up on the new releases rack. It was THE GREATEST.

We played at the Jackpot Lounge, about three blocks down the street from where we were staying, and it's a cozy little place with a roomy stage backed with glittery silver tinsel. We played with two excellent bands from the area, The Shameless Pursuit and Animal Parade, and loved them both, you should go check them out on the internets! Also, the Shameless Pursuit has a member from La Crosse! The Shameless Pursuit played some epic and beautiful indie rock tunes, and Animal Parade got everyone dancing to some sexy bluesy rock 'n' roll fierceness.

We met so many nice people in Lawrence, and had the most delicious apple pie shots, topped with whipped cream and cinnamon, courtesy of the bar's owner after the show. Go to the Jackpot if you are ever in Lawrence! Darla will treat you right.

That night, we stayed at a very sunny and clean AirBnB, full of white walls and sleek, minimalist furniture. I slept on a white leather chaise lounge. In the morning, I awoke to find that the "B" that had been Sharpied onto my hand at the Jackpot Lounge to identify me as being in a band had transferred VERY clearly in two spots onto the white leather couch and left two large, distinct black "B"s marked permanently on the crisp white leather.

Michael Googled how to remove Sharpie stains and the top answer suggested using sunscreen. Rubbing alcohol and acetone were also suggested. So we spent about half an hour alternately massaging the couch with my expensive Japanese facial sunscreen, some vodka we found in the freezer, and nail polish remover, until the Sharpie finally came off.

Anyway, this is a cover of a song by Lucinda Williams. We wanted to learn a Texas-related cover to play on tour, and this song from her album "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" was written about a friend of hers, Blaze Foley, from Austin. (Other suggestions we tossed around and ultimately rejected include Roky Erickson, Okkervil River, and Daniel Johnston).

B B

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