August 17th, 2003

We're at the close of the summer, though in the 97º heat here in Austin, it's a little hard to tell, so here's a little update about the events of the summer, and plans for the fall.

We left Austin on the 24th of June for our first gig at the Artichoke Sandwich Bar in Wichita, Kansas. That was the week that the Midwest received multiple doses of thunderstorm mixed with tornadoes, and as the last of the stormcells was moving eastward, we were driving north on IH-35, just a little to the west of it. The landscape was so flat, I could see the storms moving away from us off to our right (though we still managed to get rained on just a little). Wichita turned out to be exactly what I expected a small Midwestern town to be, not too much traffic, low buildings (except for the churches and college buildings), all the usual franchise stores and lots of friendly people. The Artichoke was tucked away on one of the downtown streets, with a replica of the Blarney Stone out front, and Art, the owner inside. Art won my heart by making an enthusiastic plea for us to the clientele and then passing around the tip jar himself. Thanks, Art!

The next night found us in tiny Cobden, Illinois at the Yellow Moon Cafe. Cobden's a little south of Carbondale, set amongst the trees, just east of the Mississippi River. We passed a bridge under construction on the river that had been featured on NOVA, the science program on PBS, because it was being built from the middle of the river outward to the shore. It looked about half completed, and very space-age. The Yellow Moon, on the other hand, was as down-home and comfortable as you could want, complete with a stuffed catfish hanging over the stage. We had a great time there, and a great crowd, thanks to Jerry Bradley's article in the Southern Illinoisian.

Then on to Louisville, Kentucky - The Rudyard Kipling - with Heidi Howe, whom I met on the Indiegrrl list (a subscription newsgroup founded by Holly Figueroa. Looking at Heidi's petite, delicate, blonde features, you'd never guess what a wallop she can pack with her great songs and her big voice. I'm looking forward to going back one Tuesday night to do her One Night Stand show at Clifton's Pizza in Louisville.

The next day we did something very special to me, but I have to tell you a brief story so that it will make sense. Back at the turn of the 20th century, my grandfather came from Ukraine with two of his brothers. There was a disagreement, and they became estranged, one from the other. As a result, by the time my generation rolled around, there was no mention of the other families - and I, for one, didn't know most of them existed. In Ohio, this past June 28th, was the first-ever family reunion of the progeny of my grandfather and all six of his siblings. About 150 people came, just a drop in the bucket (I'm told) compared to the actual size of the family, ranging from 86-year-old "Uncle Ruby", to several infants in arms. All thanks to Dave Polen, and Rob Weltman. And I got to sing for all of them - the black sheep's dream come true!!!

From here, we went on to visit Rick and Sue Lawn in Philadelphia and got shown the wonders of the Philadelphia Art Museum (the stairs Rocky ran up in the first movie) and the University of the Arts where Rick is the dean of Fine Arts.

Then we went to Upstate New York, the Clove Café; The Muddy Cup Café in Staten Island, and Bar B in lower Manhattan (playing to 30-or-so of my daughter, Raina's, closest friends). After a week or so, we went on to Washington, DC.

In Washington, we played at two places on Dupont Circle, the Soho Tea and Coffee Café and the Afterwords Café. At the Soho, I sat in front of the room on a stool and felt like I should change my name to Phoebe and sing about my cat. I enjoyed the crowd there and also the food. The next night I stood on a balcony overlooking the dessert chef, and felt like Marie Antoinette! You know ... "Let them eat cake ..... and could I have piece too, please?"

And then we went to Nashville! We stayed with Bill and Kira Small, musicians and writers par excellence, and played at the Bluebird Café! The lineup was David Llewellyn, Brent Moyer (who split his time with Hunter Moore), Bill Small and myself. Need I mention we had a great time? We had a full house too ... and I can't wait to do it again!

There are pictures of all of this at : http://www.janseides.com/PhotosSelection.html