ESPANYA

Spain – my second home

I think this is my 12^th time coming over to the beautiful land of Spain! It started when I was still a teenager when my Spanish teaching cousin took me along on her first trip over here. I loved it then, but had no idea how often I would end up coming here! When I started playing with guitarist Chuck Loeb, who is a dual Spanish citizen, I fell in love with the culture, the food and the people. I have been so lucky to make so many friends over the years! Now every time I have the pleasure of coming to Spain it is a reunion!

So here I am up in the blue skies flying over the mainland. We just left Santander, the gorgeous northern city, and are in route to Madrid. My hotel overlooked the Atlantic, the club was right across the street. It was a real treat. I went for a lovely morning jog all the way to the top of a sick look out. It’s the best climax of the run to finally get to the top and look out at the endless ocean! I love it. The wildlife is so untouched and the ships are out and the sun is shining down. Woo! It was my first time in Santander and added to the list of the Northern Spanish cities I want to visit. I love Asturias (we have played Gijon and Oviedo) and the other provinces that I can’t remember the names of ;) Santiago, Bilbao, San Sebastian. It is such a pretty land. Oh yes!

I am traveling with Bill Evans Soulgrass. Bill is a saxophonist that has been making music all over the world for almost 30 years. He has played with everyone from Miles Davis to Herbie Hancock. The music is fun, loose and eclectic. I joined him with 29 year old Ryan Cavanaugh on banjo, veteran guitarist Mitch Stein (it was my first time meeting Mitch) and bassist Mark Egan. The guys were cool and the hang was fun and loose. We connected musically and by the second night we were a serious machine.

Anyways, when we get to Madrid we are hanging for a minute, then catching a flight to Las Palmas, Grand Canaria, probably the most inhabited of the Canary Islands. One of best friends and my European Manager (if you will) Alberto will be waiting for us! Tht means it’s gonna be fun. We are playing Cicca, a theater that I have played 4 times before. I remember when the JDB packed that place! Ah, memories. Although the weather in Santander was better than usual for November, it should be glorious on the islands, I hope. Right now I’m checking out the mixes for my new music. I LOVE dreaming, writing and getting excited about music on the plane. Sometimes I almost jump out of my seat. I get the rush. I feel the buzz. Sometimes I haven’t slept but I just look down at the ocean or the sea of clouds and I feel the energy for living! I’ve got an empty seat next to me, and the air blowing at high right on my face. Ah, freedom! Life sure is grand. I surely hope this plane doesn’t crash. Doesn’t that cross your mind every time you go up? Flying makes me reflect on life. I guess driving is just as dangerous, but with flying you are so out of control and so out of your element that it just forces you to think, “what if this is it?” You look down on the world we live in and everything is in perspective. I love that little book, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” That is a good modo for life. I find myself micro managing where I shouldn’t and not paying attention where I should. Anyways, I’m gonna go for a run when I get to the island and then I should be meeting Alberto for an “amazing” lunch I’m sure (paying homage to his overuse of the word amazing). On 3 hours of sleep, I feel damn good. J

It has been so crazy being on the road for the past few months. I’ve had some time at home, but it really been a long run. All of the north and Midwestern US, Siberia, Japan and now Spain! The road has gotten more comfortable for me as time goes by. I remember when I first started traveling, the take offs and landings killed my head. My body was so out of place and affected. Jet lag destroyed me and if I didn’t get sleep I would totally fall apart. After a few years of learning the ropes, I feel great on the road. Even when my body is tired I can look out and see the beauty, most of the time. Sometimes it is such a grueling schedule that you can’t even imagine how the hell someone put it together. But in the end I just tell myself that when you start doing radio promotion everyday along with traveling and then the gig and then the afterparty….well, it can get even crazier. That’s what this life is. How far can you take it? Right now things are pretty easy. This is cake! I am singing 4 songs a night, playing in nice places with great musicians, staying in fine hotels and making decent money. When I go back out with my band, it could get much harder at first. This leads me to the subject of one of my refuges on the long hard road, The Canary Islands. Off the coast of Africa, owned by Spain, these 7 islands are beautiful, tropical and welcoming. Once you get past the constant tourism, which doesn’t really bother me, you see there is quite a unique culture there which differs from the mainland Spain. The history of the islands is also unique (if I knew it I’d share it with you) and each island is completely different from the other. I have made wonderful friends there. It is always luxurious and with ease. They really take care of us! Alberto take care of it! Hotel rooms by the ocean, unbelievable dinners and well-promoted and put together shows! Needless to say, people are looking for a good time of these islands. I have grown so attached and I know that as time goes on and I keep on growing in my contacts and touring that I will appreciate my island time even more!

So we only had one day to hang out on Grand Canaria. Boo! I made the best of it. 3 hour of sleep in and I was feeling pretty tired. But once I stepped off that plane, felt that cool tropical breeze and witnessed that dark blue ocean, I couldn’t think about sleeping. It was great to see Al and some of his gang! Al had started a new promotional company this year and it was the first time I had seen him since this transition. I forced a jog right after I checked in. My room was huge and it was right on the boardwalk, as per normal. I love the rooms on the island. Hardly any sheets on the bed, wicker chairs and couch, not so fancy, but soulful and totally in check with the salty scent and humid mist in the air! I had a great little run along the boardwalk, finishing out with a glorious sprint to Steve Winwood’s Higher Love, perfect for any island run. I jumped in the shower and quickly got ready for lunch with my friends.

If there is one thing in life I love, it’s food. Alberto shares this same love – hehehe. I had a list in my mind of all things I wanted to taste! Some of those little green peppers with the sea salt on them, oh, and those squids that come with those special salty potatoes, oh, and we NEED the mojo sauce – a special sauce that comes out of the Canaries. Pulpo y Jamon y Queso de Las Canarias, y Pan …the list goes on! It was glory! We caught up on things, talked about family, about changes in life, etc. I felt like so much had happened since I was last there. So much has! I’m a veteran of this terrain at this point. With a full belly, I went back to my room and nodded out for a half hour, which proved to be more painful than not when I was woken up by the road manager calling me saying everyone was in the lobby waiting! I hate that! My alarm hadn’t gone off properly. In a zombie like state, I went to soundcheck.

This venue we played is called Cicca. It is a 400 seat, very fine theater with really nice acoustics. I didn’t have to play the drums loud. As a matter of fact, you could hear every brush stroke, every finger tap completely clear. The show was the best show I’ve played with Bill yet! The music felt great and the dynamics helped the music grow. I sang well and you couldn’t tell we were all so tired. Georgia on my Mind, my jazz group feature for the past 5 years, went over so well! My voice has come such a long way in the past 5 years. Unreal! I feel great. After the show we signed CDs. I was surprised and delighted to see some friends. Some young drummers who had come to my masterclass in 2006! Many people that had seen me with Chuck Loeb, or with the JDB were there too. A couple that lives on Lanzarote came out! They come to see me every time I come to Espana! It touches me because I recall the night we met and they took me out and totally made sure I was treated like royalty. This is my reward for doing this! These feelings of appreciation help you realize that we are not only doing this for art and for our own growth, but for others!

We had another amazing meal after everything was packed up. Once again, I leave the Canaries with too much food in my belly. Another 3 hour rest, and I am back on a plane at 6 am. We are headed to Barcelona! Luckily, there is an open afternoon, so I can play guitar, rest, check out the city, whatever.

I love the soundtracks of the times in our lives. Certain songs will always bring me to a special place in time. Here I am right now, way up in the sky looking over the brown nd dark green Spanish terrain, and I can only remember my first feelings in this country. I remember my very first tour with Chuck Loeb where we drove all over the mainland. Songs that come to mind are IGY by Donald Fagen. I have to listen to this song in Spain because it reminds me of those wonderful first feelings of the sun shining down on us as we toured around. It was the beginning of something for me. That is where I started singing from my heart and realizing new things. Every year I realize them more and more! It is a serious journey. It is about the adventure.

We arrived in Barcelona and I needed to crash. Our hotel was seriously artsy. Ryan and I went to a little mom and pop restaurant down the block and had a sick lunch before crashing. The venue we played was called Luz de Gas. I had played there with Chuck before. I remembered this place turning into a serious dance club after hours. I knew what kind of night I was in store for. Barcelona is one of those places I’ve been to a few times, but never really tapped into fully. It is a deep hang and there is so much to take in.

Same routine; soundcheck, and then dinner. They took us to one of the sickest buffets I have ever seen in my life. They had every type of seafood, salads from around the world, paella, two tortillas, soups, vegetables, pastas, etc. It was so great. I wish it hadn’t been 30 minutes before the show. Actually, Barcelona was definitely my weakest show of the five. Afterwards I started rapping with a cool chick bartender who about to start work. It was midnight. Her shift was until 6 am. Serious! Another band was coming and getting ready to play so I chose to stay and hang. Some of the guys came back and we chose to hang more. I met some local musicians and the club started to fill up. The band would play until 2:30 or so and then a DJ would take over. I just can’t do hard liquor anymore. 2 really strong jack and cokes and I was toast! I was dancing, getting crazy and getting into trouble. At some point I realized that I could not move anymore. It was so packed! I hate crowds like that and nothing seems worth it to me in that situation. So, like I do so often after I’ve had a little to drink, I just disappeared into the night, hailed a cab and went back to the hotel. It did take me almost 5 minutes to just get out to the road! I didn’t even remember talking to Cate on the phone that night. Needless to say I woke up the next day and felt like warmed over shit. I missed breakfast and finally purged my body in the bushes at a rest area. I am due for one of these situations once a tour. This was my bad day.

While I sat in the front of van, after the rest area and the puking, we had about an hour drive to Lleiad. I had never been to this city. It was Saturday. I was so thankful that I would have the afternoon to sleep. This hotel ended up being even more artsy than the last. It was extremely “Euro”. The shower had no door and the handle for the faucet was across the other side of the shower area (and it was just an area). It took me a second to find the handle because the towels were hiding it. What is the point of this? Anyways, I slept, or at least layed in bed all afternoon. By the time we had to go to sound check, I was almost totally better. This town was hip! I liked the looks of it. We played in a brand new hall in a university. The people enjoyed it and it was a really good show. All the notes still came out when I sang! I actually sang better that night than all of them. Back to the routine: sign Cds, get in the van, sleep for a minute, get up at the crack of dawn and drive for another 4 hours. It is a labor of love. And we all need to make a living.

Our last hit was in Burgos. Burgos is a very old city. It was the only cold weather we experienced on the trip as well. We saw castles and beautiful old stone streets. There was a castle where Columbus was knighted and I think maybe his remains were there or something. Funny enough, our hotel was on the outskirts of town, and the venue was a brand new venue that used to be a train station. It was a rock n roll room. It was fun to bash on our last night! It was a big stage and there was a light show. The drums sounded like ACDC and there was nothing I could do about it. Every other night had been light and dynamic. We still played with dynamics but this last show was much more of a fusion freak out show. I had fun playing. The audience appreciated it. I was so tired. It was past 1 am and we had to wake up at 5 am. I knew we had a 3 hour drive to the airport in Madrid and then an 8 hour flight. It hurt to wake up after that short of a sleep. I had to force myself into the shower. I have to wash before a long day of traveling even though I know I’m gonna feel gross at the end either way.

Now here I am on the plane. I have am aisle seat. That’s my new thing. I have to have an aisle. I just watched Bourne Identity and part of a movie on Winston Churchill. I love being inspired by movies. The way Winston Churchill talks just inspired me to write some lyrics that I think will help finish a song. I love writing on planes. Like I said before, this life is a journey. You have to do the best with what you have and do not ever give up on what you want. I get so down sometimes. We all do. It is us that create our drive and it is us that will make our destiny. I’m not saying we are God or anything. I am saying that we need to do everything we can to make it happen for ourselves. It’s the drive and the effort that bring more strength. Doubt cramps the energy flow. Once you stop the fear you will start the flow. Once you feel strength working you will start to believe. Once belief starts to work in you then you will start to see results and you will gain more confidence. It is a chain reaction, I hope! J I am on a journey. I am a seeker. Now Spain is in my heart. I can close my eyes and go the mountains and plateaus. I can feel it in me and I can smell the ocean and hear the waves and breeze of the islands.