6/13 & 6/14 Two days with friends in Syracuse
Goodbye Albany, Hello Syracuse!
Friday morning started with me
reading in Danielle's house and her waking up a bit hungover from her
birthday merriment. That being said, I wished her a good morning and
a happy birthday and she asked if I'd like to accompany her to the
humble little garden level Hamilton Street Cafe that Jeany works at
but she could never attend because she's always working the relevant
hours. I of course, conceded and treated her to a birthday breakfast
in an attempt to thank her for her hospitality. She dropped me at
the bus stop and we hugged goodbye, glad to have met new friends. I
had about an hour and while waiting for the bus to Syracuse, I
finished reading the Chicken Soup For The Soul: Inspiration For
Writers book my mom bought me. Overall, some of it felt a bit
redundant but most of it was inhabited by strong and sincere
anecdotes that jostled me into some thought. It was nice that each
essay was usually only 4 pages maximum so they were quick and
digestible and if you were inspired or occupied otherwise you didn't
have to wait long to get back to work! I started writing a new song
based on an account of the experiences of a friend of Owen's that
might be called “David's Pursuer”. While on the bus I started
reading Richard Bach's “One”. He is a favorite author of mine,
and “One” is thus far a very philosophical, metaphysical book
that casually brings up poignant and rattling ideas like parallel
worlds, assessing our pasts and decision making and how there are
infinite versions of ourselves based on all the permutations of
choices we've made. “Bad things aren't the worst thing that can
happen to us, NOTHING is the worst thing that can happen to us.”
It is a good challenge and reminder to bring such ideas out into the
world with me, while changing my surroundings, I'm also changing my
inner workings as well! Leaving the overcast Albany behind, I
eventually pulled into a sunny and summery Syracuse!
The Crowell Family
My
good friend Kyle Crowell whom I know from Oswego came to pick me up from the Regional transportation station around four o'clock with his girlfriend
Helena, a sweet girl with a crass sense of humor and a cunning smile. We drove in a convertible that was fun but
falling apart, it began to rain so we clumsily and promptly tried to
put the roof up at a light to the laughter of a nearby trucker! We
got back to the Crowell's house in Liverpool where I saw his parents
again, two generous parents with a calm demeanor and a warm inviting
aura about them. They asked me sincerely how my trip had been and
what was new in my music life and about my impending show at
Monirae's. It had been two years since I'd set foot in their home, (filmed a few fun videos at that time..."I couldn't Stay" and "What do we want") but it felt familiar and that strange feeling as though no time had
passed! The Crowell's treat me as their own and offered me food and
a guest bedroom with a queen size bed more comfortable than any
accommodations back home! They even remembered that I love banana peppers and bought some in anticipation of my arrival! Helena, Kyle and I went shopping at
Wegman's (a trip full of whimsy) and bought a stir-fry that Helena
cooked up when we got back home. While we cooked, she continued her
tradition of watching festively watching Friday The 13th, which I didn't do much of, as I hate horror movies! The stir-fry was tasty, I practiced some songs and wrote my set-list in anticipation of my show at Moniraes in the nearby town of Pennellville! We cleaned the dishes and set off to my first show of the weekend.
The First Rap Act at Monirae's
Monirae's is a
casual dining bar with a big open secondary room with a stage for
performers. It has a bit of a country vibe. Kyle and Helena helped
me set up my merch table, which I incorporated the use of my new
projector for the first time, to people's compliments and intrigue, I
found it very helpful and I'd recommend it! I met Alan Parsons, who
helped set up the show, a nice guy who informed me I was to open,
which made me not just the first act to play that night, but the
first rap related act to ever play at the venue (The rest of the
bill, “The Last Tree” “Elisium” and “Mole and The LevelAntz” were metal bands)! Kyle took some really amazing photos of
the show, I did a pretty good sized set and there were a nice amount
of people there. My friend Alex from Oswego, Alan's brother, came to
the show with his girlfriend and were a real attentive part of the
crowd. I think a lot of people weren't sure what to do with
themselves so I kept the crowd involvement to a minimum and just
focused on delivering my material as best I could.
My set list was
“Quality Vs.
Quarantine” (Creative Differences, A Split)
“Rush Hour '98” (unreleased)
It felt like a good
mix of my projects and had a good flow to it, the longest set of
the tour at that point, and it was good to do extended time and let
all this material breathe and flux between sounds and messages.
Afterward I sold several CD'S and gave out a bunch of stickers in
exchange for email addresses for my newsletters! Those who seemed to
be at a distance due to what I misconstrued as a lack of respect or
appreciation were really just wallflowers and the unlikeliest of
people, Metal fans and real hardcore music fans were really
appreciative and connected to my work. My favorite band of the night
was probably Elisium, admittedly they were the least heavy of the
bunch. They had a really cool message and sounds, they were pretty
filled out as a three piece and had a great stage presence and a bit
more accessible approach to me, as a non heavy-music guy. The
members of Elisium hail from Virginia, were all really down to earth
and have been on tour living out of a van for the past 6 months. We
shared road stories and advice and exchanged info, promising to keep
in touch. I highly recommend you support them, they have a real
passion for their craft and a dedication to their music, sacrificing
the comforts of home in exchange for bringing music to people and
their dreams to fruition, I couldn't get behind that more! As the
Rangers game wore on into double overtime, the music grew intolerably
loud and heavy, Helena, Kyle and I said bye to our new and friends
and retired for the night! Perhaps I've paved the way for some more
diversity at Monirae's and opened the people of that venue up to some
more alternative options musically! “One” can only hope!
6/14
Last day in Syracuse!
Saturday was a really hot day, and I spent a lot of it inside writing. At
some point in the afternoon, Helena, Kyle and I went to the big ol'
mall in Syracuse to get some fathers day stuff and goofed around and
took silly pictures wearing dumb glasses. We also went to a really
cool local record/cd/movies/games store called Soundgarden,
incidentally named after a band I really enjoy! Soundgarden is a
place you could get lost in, they have vinyl, cds, games, posters,
clothing, memorabilia, record players all new and used. It's like an
indie music lover's warehouse, they even have a cool local music
section where I saw my Syracuse native friends Sophistafunk
represented! It took a lot of will-power to resist the urge to pick
up a bunch of vinyl and CDs and such, from obscure metal to popular
music to underground rap classics and new CDs, they have it all! I
talked to one of the guys about doing in-store events and
performances and got some information about that and then we went
home. Mrs. Crowell made a mouthwatering and delicious dinner for us
that consisted of salad, pulled pork sandwiches, and baked beans
with a blanket of bacon strips across the top of them that was
absurdly good! We had homemade brownies with pecans for dessert and
got ready for my show at the DIY venue Badlands with SPACEGOD and
Late Earth.
Good times Badlands
“The Inevitable Effort” and “We'll Make It Together”, and the mastermind behind the comic “Late
Earth” and guitarist and vocalist of the band of the same name.) I
met him at Funk N Waffles on a tour a few years ago and we've
remained friends since. Evan is a brilliant guy with a boatload of
ambition (a big boat), and a huge heart. He and his girlfriend
Destynee make up the two consistent and present parts of the larger
group “Late Earth” and also SPACEGOD (Rob was to open)!
Badlands is a
small dirty but charming room next to the Spark Arts Center situated
be neath artist apartments. It functions as a DIY music venue space
that the public can rent out. It was lit by lamps you might use if
you had a pet lizard, that were clamped into rafters. There was a
sink in the corner that looked like the sinks in your high school art class,
which I apprehensively revisited for water throughout the night. I
immediately knew this was going to be an informal, intimate show (my
favorite kind) and I was looking forward to it immensely. 
Rob opened up
and played a funny and very informal set of acoustic songs that were
vulnerable and sometimes playful. He has a great voice and sense of
humor and his style translates well to a singer-songwriter approach,
despite being used to playing primarily in heavier bands. Late Earth
played and had a great mix of Evan's signature impressive guitar
playing and lyrically dense/intelligent speed-talk-rapping and vocal
harmonizing with Destynee's beautiful voice. They would trade off
verses, sometimes share harmonies or layer vocals on top of each
other. They definitely sucked the room in and had an awesome energy "on
stage"! 
I incorporated a few requests into my lengthy set that ran
for about 45 minutes or so. Kyle had requested I do Carsick, which I
did a capella, as well as AllOne & The Room's "Revealed" trilogy
while Helena requested “Quality Vs. Quarantine” and said one of
the lines “The only way to get love is to let some in” would make
a great tattoo...stay tuned, because that might happen! Between
crowd participation and just attentive enraptured listening, the
experience was really sincere and connected.
Here is my set list
thought I don't exactly remember the order of it
Sloth
Quality Vs.
Quarantine
Rush Hour '98
Work In Progress
Around 10:45 my set
ended and I exchanged hugs and conversation and info with everyone.
Several people bought CD's and signed my mailing list and took
stickers and flyers. I wished Evan well requested that next visit we
should hang out more and encouraged him to release a new volume of
the Late Earth comic book, because it is amazing! While maybe the
most run down venue, and not nearly the largest crowd (it's gonna be
hard to be the size of the crowd at Everett) this was easily my
favorite performance experience of the trip thus far!
It was advised
that we go get milkshakes, as it was hot out and we were all hungry
Kyle, Helena, Jason and I went to a really cool little vegan place
called Strong Hearts Cafe. It was independent with an artful vibe, each
of the items were named after famous artists and writers and the
like. Helena treated me to a chocolate-banana-peanut butter shake
named the Ken Saro Wiwa, which half of my decision was based on the
fun pronunciation of the name, it was a delicious choice! It turns out that he is a Nigerian writer, television producer, and environmental activist, among other things, interesting, some concerns I can really appreciate! Jason
kindly bought a CD from me and we all exchanged hugs and parted ways.
Kyle, Helena and I watched silly videos until we passed out, my last
night in Syracuse was a blast.
Sometimes the rough
IS the diamond,
beauty and strength
awaits you everywhere!
-AllOne
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