The Party

We arrived in New Orleans on Friday evening, July 18th, my 44th birthday. The plan was to surprise Madeleine Edens, the mother of our band-mate Angela. Madeleine turned 60 on the 16th, and we came out to play a block party for her on Saturday. It was a big secret that Mike Edens, Madeleine's husband, was hatching for the last month or so.

We had wanted to go on the road this summer, as we haven't been able to for the past seven years or so since we bought a house and "settled down". Before that, each summer we toured. We brought the kids, the camping gear, the music equipment and instruments and hit the road. The last summer tour was in 2000. We toured for ten weeks that summer. It was all ovet the U.S.A.

We couldn't believe that Mike wanted us to come out to New Orleans and pay our way! What a fantastic opportunity! And we LOVE Mike and Madeleine! Ever since they moved to New Orleans I have wished we could see their place and visit the city.

We met for dinner and Madeleine's eyes popped out of her head when she saw us. It took a little while for her to get her head around what was going on, even after Mike explained it all. They had talked about a block party before - to get to know the neighbors and all. And it was happening without her having to help plan it, and with her daughter and band playing the music! Fun!

So on a very sticky Saturday afternoon, July 19, we set up and played out in front of what was once a taxi station down in the Mariny district of New Orleans. The houses were built in the 1830's. The people were a colorful bunch of folks that lived there on Burgundy street, plus friends and family of the Edens. I believe everyone had a good time. We certainly did!

First, the Food

I am a firm believer that every city has to be visited in an "eat your way through the day" way. New York is a fine example of this. We spent a day - a long day - visiting different parts of town on foot and trying different foods. We had Kabobs and tabouli, Indian food, bubble tea, Vietnamise fare, real New York pizza, and so on. Although we were STUFFED, we felt as though we had experienced the city in a way that "just looking" doesn't stand up to. New York is all about every nation's food. It is like being everywhere in the same day.

New Orleans has its own thing going on. It is like visiting a different country of its own. Arizona has regular western fare. New Orleans has things like Jumbalaya and Alligator and Crawfish - things you don't eat elsewhere. The block party that we played for had two main events - the music, (that was us), and the very large iron pot of Jumbalaya. There were also some tasty ribs, which I am pictured with here:

New Orleans

We just returned from a great trip to New Orleans. I can't tell what I really liked best about the trip. It could be the food - we had "crawdads" (which are actually called "crawfish") and alligator, and frog legs. Jumbalaya, barbequed ribs, red beans and rice all were a great departure from our regular fare, and delicous! Another favorite thing was definitely the music! There was music EVERYWHERE! Street musicians, and venue after venue had music playing all down the street - blues, rock, jazz - and so many PIANOS! There were pianos in every other venue! REAL pianos - grand pianos! And baby grands as well. I was SO happy to see so many PIANOS!

(Speaking of pianos, we just today started recording some piano tracks with my real piano - nothing like the real thing!)

The other very favorite thing about this trip was the history - what a great city for history! We stopped in an art gallery - Joe Dunn, photography - and Joe's wife, Pam, told us about so many interesting things about the city. They also told us the place to get the best burgers in town - Clover Grill. The guy cooks your burger under a hubcap! It was a yummy burger.

But, by far, the people are the best there in New Orleans. And the people we traveled with, also - the best. And the people that got us out there are so beautiful, as well. Our purpose for going was to play a block party for a very special birthday. I think that I should "expand" on each favorite thing of our trip, and put up pictures for your viewing pleasure, and then you could vicariously enjoy the trip! See you soon!
P

Bass Player

My sister has contracted my daughter to play bass for her in her band. This is only especially interesting because said daughter has not been playing bass for even a year, and said sister could use any first-call bass player from NYC that she knows. This is definitely a love thing. Caralie is a fast learner, and Annie is a very effective teacher! Each and every time that they rehearse, there is an amazing improvement! Now all I can say is this is an unusual and fantastic opportunity for Caralie! Annie was just the same when she was younger - we had her in our band from the time she was all of twelve years old! She sang harmonies like no other, and she also played sax or flute or recorder as needed. The stage time was invaluable for her as it will be for Caralie. They are a good team together, now.

Work space

This has been an eventful three weeks! My sister, Annie Quick has been here from NYC to build her art installation that will go on tour with her and her band in October. Dad also came out to work with her on some specific "engineering" parts of the project. My house was transformed into an "all kinds of creative things" workspace. We also had our living room used as a rehearsal site for three different bands, and a recording studio. The place looks like a bomb went off here, but I couldn't be happier at the outcomes.
We had a show downtown in a great little old hall in Mesa. We set up the art installation, and my band, CAVU played and then Annie's band played. If you are wondering about the art installation, please check out Annie's blog at: anniequick.com/blog. It was a great success! Now we just have to store the stuff until October!
There are also a couple of Demo projects being produced by the amazing Austin Owen, right here in our home studio. We will be working on our new project when we get back from our road trip at the end of July.