Winter Tour Blog Pt. 3 - Lawrence, KS

Aloha from Lawrence!

An oasis of liberalism and youth in a sea of Republicans and creationism! I write to you from my hotel room at a Best Western in Lawrence, KS.

After writing my blog in Omaha yesterday, I left the hotel and drove to the Old Market area in downtown Omaha that I had heard everyone rave so much about. It really is a nice neighborhood with lots of shops and restaurants on brick streets, and it has a very old west feel to it. I stopped into a couple of record stores and picked up some new discs: Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding (thanks to Daniel back in Des Moines for showing me the light on that one) and Sonic Youth - Dirty. After stopping into a cafe for a sandwich, I got back on the road to head south to Lawrence.

An hour later, I was already bored, sick of the drive, and a little sleepy. To my right were flat as flat can be plains and to my left were the Missouri River bluffs, which all look the same after an hour. Desperately in need of a diversion, soon after I crossed into Missouri I spotted sign for the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. I pulled off the highway so fast those dirt roads didn't know what hit them. The Refuge ended up being a 10-mile driving tour through the wetlands where waterfowl come from far and wide to chill. While it certainly wasn't peak season to visit (I was the only one in the park as far as I know), there was a vast empty beauty to the area. I drove the 10 miles, getting out here and there to take some pictures and walk a bit, and was glad that I had stopped. I will post pictures later today; the wireless in my room isn't the fastest at the moment.

I got back on the road, driving past Kansas City and into Kansas, soon after arriving in Lawrence. Lawrence really is a great town. I had been there once before, last summer when I played at the Wakarusa Music Festival, and was looking forward to coming back. The actual town isn't too big, but Kansas University is here (Jayhawks) so it is a big college town. I have to be honest, much of the rest of Kansas scares me. They openly teach intelligent design in public school classrooms and from what I understand women cannot easily sell their own property. Lawrence is like a smaller Madison, however, and whereas Madison is surrounded with the conservatism of much of the rest of Wisconsin, Lawrence is surrounded by some bat-shit crazy conservatives. I do like Kansas though, its very pretty country, and I've never seen a sky so huge and blue.

I checked into my hotel and went out for dinner. Oh yes, I knew where I was going: Local Burger! Last summer at Wakarusa I had discovered this Lawrence staple through a food stand at the festival. They get their meat from farms right outside of Lawrence: beef, buffalo and elk. Now I know what you're thinking, didn't I say in my last post that I was a vegetarian? The truth is, I'm one of the looser vegetarians, and I will readily eat meat if I know where it came from and that it wasn't pumped full of anti-biotics. That being said, my buffalo burger was delicious. Mmmmmm, I'd been having a burger craving, and was glad that I could spend it in a healthy way.

After eating I headed over to the Bottleneck, which is a seriously seriously legendary venue. Pretty much all of my favorite bands have played there, and I'd compare it in size to the High Noon Saloon in Madison. I was opening for the Lee Boys, a sacred steel group from Miami, and after briefly meeting them I did my sound-check and hung out for a while, working on some new lyrics. I was supposed to start at 9pm, and at 9:30 there was NOBODY there, except for the staff. At least I was getting paid guaranteed, so I just decided to play my hour set for the staff and the headliners, who were great listeners. After I got done, the Lee Boys took the stage, and out of nowhere a crowd showed up! Why the hell didn't they show up for the opener?!? Ah well, I can't really complain, the Lee Boys were great, I got paid, and I still was at the Bottleneck. I chatted for the rest of the night with Chad, the band's touring manager. He is from Mississippi and had great stories about watching Brett Favre play college ball, touring around with different bands, and his experience with Hurricane Katrina. Chad told me that the Lee Boys had just gotten the phone call that day letting them know that they were going to play the main stage at Bonnaroo this year. The main stage! At the best music festival in the world! Damn, these guys really are blowing up, and they've even been jamming with the likes of the Neville Brothers and Victor Wooten. Oh yea, and did I mention that the Lee Boys' bass player plays a monster 7-string bass? Unreal! After enjoying the heck out of the Lee Boys, I headed back to my motel and turned in for some sleep. On to Hays!

John

Setlist:

Isonzo Waltz
Song & Dance Man
Every Other Time
Waitin' Round To Die (Townes Van Zandt)
Letter From S.E. Asia
Absentee
Cold August Night
Can the Circle Be Unbroken (Carter)
Hard Times Come Again No More (Stephen Foster)
Rite of Spring
Our Love Was Made For Canada

CD's Listened to on the drive:

Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding
Sonic Youth - Dirty

Had to eat:

coop goodies: cranberry walnut granola bar
Omaha cafe: parmesan eggplant sandwich w/ applesauce
Local Burger: locally-raised Buffalo Burger w/ organic russet potatoes and green tea

Alcohol imbibed:
3 High Life Lites
2 Miller Lites