10/19/00

An extra week in upstate NY. Look at the date. I still haven't been home yet, except for a few days of laundry :( My step-brother's wedding (the other one now) was the weekend of the 15th. I wrote them a song called "The Long Haul" and played it at the wedding. Sorry about that one guys. Anyway, it was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to in my life. We danced all night... and I mean ALL NIGHT. After the wedding, I hung out with all these people that I grew up with and hadn't seen in like 10 years. I had been away for months and was surprised to hear what was called an old song being played called "Who Let the Dog's Out?" for the first time. Wow, who let the dogs out... what will they think of next? Anyway, I gotta tell ya, some of those girls from school were looking sweet! I mean... anyway, the next morning we had brunch and left. All the normal people went to their homes... but me? No, I went on in upstate NY for one more week of touring. I ended up in Syracuse that night where I hung out with Ashley Cox and got to see Kim Lembo play one of her last shows before she moves out to SF soon. What a soulful performer. That night, I couldn't find a place to stay. Stranded in Syracuse... oy! I crashed in the van, but wouldn't you know that was the night it started to get cold. My luck. The next morning I headed up to Buffalo. I played the open mic at Stimulance cafe that night and stopped by Nieztsches. Tuesday, I played at Coffee Bean Cafe. Boy, I would play there anytime, just for the food! A nice crowd of new people. If my regular Buffalo people are reading this... WHAT HAPPENED YOU GUYS??? Anyway, the next day I don't remember too well. I think I just relaxed. Thursday came and I head out to Rochester to play a huge crowd at R.I.T. I had a wonderful time and always enjoy playing schools. I met some fun people and thankfully sold many CDs! (That is an important part of this work as you know) Friday night, I was back in Buffalo playing at Stimulance Cafe. Great crowd that stayed til the end. I talked A LOT during this show. I am sorry, but I was getting over it being my last show for a while. Thanks again to those that put up with me. And thanks again to the asshole cop who gave me a speeding ticket on the highway that night after the show. :) This should be enough for a while... I am going on a 2 week hiatus! Hooray, hiatus! :) Talk to you all soon. -RW

10/15/00

Toronto... home of the Leaf's, eh? Home of the great exchange rate (currently) Home of great musicians that spawn wildly entertaining bands... so many come to mind, but let's use... Moxy Fruvous as an example. I picked up my brother in Albany and on we went. Driving until the sunset, until the sky was black, until ANOTHER BLOW OUT! I am really getting sick and tired of these damn road hazzards. Well, we waited for the man to come and fix the tire. We continued on our way and got stopped at the border. The Border guard was bald, so I said to him... I see we go to the same barber... nothing, no smirk, not a flinch or a blink. He says... so you're musicians, eh? I knew we could be there for a while. They eventually realized we weren't smuggling crack or bombs and let us into their country. "Blame Canada" plays quietly in the background. We were to stay in Mississauga which is a suburb of Toronto. We made it there in record time, but like morons had to stop and see the Falls at night. I tried to get pictures, but I suck... so they did as well. So much to say about our stay in 'Sauga. Withouth incriminating anyone, let me say that we have never seen so much weed in our lives. (They had a lawn just overflowing with weeds) Very fun house... very great people. Thank you Cam and Mieke! We watched the first 2 American pres. debates there. That was a riot. Those things are funny, stoned or not! We were invited out to enjoy the local bar scene with Kareoke night Canadian style. Very fun. I also hung out with some of my Canadian friends I had not scene since Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. We had such a good time hanging out, that some of them stopped by the studio. Am I speaking vaguely about these things? Why yes, yes I am. One night, we went to see Vance Gilbert play at Ted's Wrecking Yard. And I thought he was a riot in America! Wow Vance, what a show! I didn't even mention the closet we recorded in. Did I say closet? Ok, the truth is, the studio we were at, SilverBirch Productions is a wonderfully equipped studio. The only problem is there is no big open live room. Just a little vocal booth where we recorded acoustic guitars and vocals. Bass was recorded at this place as well. Will you love the record and devote your lives to making sure everyone in the world hears it? Yes, yes you will.

10/1/00

This week, we did one more show at Sweet Dreams Cafe. Then, I head out to Bloomsburg, PA for the weekend. This I remember for some reason. I did 2 shows and stayed with a great guitar maker, John Dillon. He told me all about a great custom guitar he would love to build for me and have me play. When I win the lottery John... when I win the lottery! :) Anyway, the shows were great and John's ranch in the country proved to be exactly what I needed to catch a break from myself. On the long ride home, I felt a true sense of satisfaction. About the tour, about my life, and about the trip to Toronto to work on my record that I had to leave for in... SHIT, the stress is back! : )

9/23/00

Slept, slept, did some shows this week. Tuesday, I returned to the scene of the crime... Sweet Dreams Cafe in Madison, NJ. A fine evening I'm sure, although I don't remember it at all. Something about being home. On Thursday, we played at Acoustic Cafe. Can't remember that either. Friday night we were at Rhapsody... do I have to repeat myself. I started to realize I made the mistake of doing something when I got home from tour. I should have litterally stayed in bed for a couple of weeks. All I ended up doing was worsening my exhaustion.

9/16/00

Ok... for some reason, this week is extremely fuzzy in my mind. Monday, we arrived triumphantly in our nations' capitol... (Washington, DC for the complete morons out there) We hadn't decided what to do, so while thumbing through the city paper looking for an open mic, we saw our friend Peter Mulvey was in town at Iota in Arlington. We made our way over there with little trouble. Peter was shocked to see us, but we sat down and had some dinner, then stayed for the show. It is ALWAYS a treat to see Peter perform. Truly one of my favorites! After the show, we headed out in search of a Motel 6. We had a voucher for a free night thanks to the fine Motel 6 in Charleston. (I don't recommend staying there) We brought in lots of equiptment and in the morning, set it up. At 9:00AM on Tuesday, we recorded the rough tracks for the new CD. O-U-C-H! But, no pain, rogain, right? We quickly got the tracks up to their required destinations and forgot that we ever made that dumb decision at 9:00AM. Tuesday night brought some old familiar faces to our show. Friends, fans, even my step-brother who has NEVER seen me perform showed up at the Metro Cafe. Of course I have since learned that 30 friends I grew up with also live in DC. Oh well... next time. After the show, we stayed in Columbia, MD and did some low impact things after that. The next day, Christina went home. She earned it! If you look at the date... we were together for just over 2 months. Her road had ended. Mine had just begun. I had to stay in DC through the weekend for my step-brother's engagement party. Oh, the joy of family. (The stress, the infighting, the murder... oops) Finally, on Sunday, my car entered NJ for the first time since July 9th. Oh, the majestic beauty of the New Jersey Turnpike. How I adore thee. Now, I figured on sleeping for a few weeks... (little did I know what was around the bend for me) Later!

9/10/00

Unfortunately, I am returning to this log months later. If you have followed the schedule, you can understand why. We stopped by my cousin's place in Morehead City, NC on Thursday. I had not seen him in a while, so it was great to spend some time with family. The next morning, we continued onward to Chapel Hill, NC. This was a very interesting place that revolved around UNC. Many students, many bars, and many pizza joints. We ate pizza at every pizza place in town except the one I really wanted to. We stayed with a friend and fellow performer Andy Kuncl. Great guy, amazing guitarist! The first night in town, we played at the Coffee Mill Roastery. It was a nice little coffee house with a fun vibe and big room acoustics. Jo and Jon met us there to split the bill with us. We had such a great time hanging out with them, and they are so freaking talented! If you look through the pictures, you should see me laying in the middle of about 12 guitars. That was from the Coffee Mill. Anyway, the next day, we ate breakfast with Jo and Jon. We were very unwilling to let go of them, but all things must end... we threatened to show up on their doorstep next time we come through Detroit. That night, we played at the Local 506... a popular college hang. Andy rocked the house. We were also on the bill, but just barely standing. Why hide a rough night from you guys? We were suffering from exhaustion and did the best we could to get through the night. We stayed Sunday night in Chapel Hill, then headed north towards DC. The great summer tour was drawing to a close... the end was in sight.

9/6/00

The next stop on our voyage was Charleston, SC. I was warned that the women were beautiful and that there were 7 for every guy in town. I can confirm those numbers. Anyway, we arrived in town around 2:00AM and went right to Kinkos to check email. We stayed there until 4:00AM and met some great people who eventually came to the show the next day. We spent most of the next day at the College of Charleston. We played on the radio and had a story we played at the very cool Southend Brewery. Best food all tour.... nicest looking place... but we could have had a bigger crowd. Next time we come down, we will play on a weekend. We left the next morning...

9/1/00

We woke up Friday morning and headed out towards Georgia. This was to be a big day for us for several reasons. Most notably would be our victorious return to the Eastern Standard Time Zone. Great to be back on our own time!!! We found the club first, then Bally's, then the club again. We were playing at the wrong venue. The Lizard Lounge is more of a house/loud alterna-metal sort of hang. We ended up sharing the evening with some acoustic folks upstairs in the Cajun Kitchen. My cousin met us at the show and we stayed with him in Atlanta for a couple of days. Thanks Shawn and roomates!!! We woke up and ate at the Flying Biscuit. Damn good food! Moving on, for dinner we at at Raging Burrito (more like raging black beans) We hung out in Decatur and passed by Eddie's Attic. This has long been a dream gig of mine. The open mic was on Monday, so you know we were hanging around in town. Sunday came and saw us playing at the newest Borders in Atlanta. In fact, it's barely finished. You know that didn't stop us from having a great time. After the show, we relaxed. Monday was labor day, and the perfect day for a labor of love... we got to Eddie's Attic early as out-of-towners should. We were one of 20 acts to play that night. There was so much talent in that place, it was hard to beleive it was an open mic. At the end of the 20, 3 finalists were selected to compete for a first prize. I was one of the 3. Also, one act Jo Serrapear was in the final round. We LOVED her!!! We invited her and Jon to come play with us in North Carolina on Friday. They did. Anyhow... something bizzarre happened... I won this thing! I was invited to come back and play again, and also all the winners are invited to return to compete for $1,000. This was truly a dream come true for me. This is the venue that got the Indigo Girls and Shawn Mullins on the right path. And Eddie is the coolest man in the world! (Or he is tied with Peter Mulvey) The next day, we appeared on CNN Talkback Live. Yup, that was us. That footage will appear in the movie.

8/29/00

The drive to Nashville... hmm plagued with disaster comes to mind. We stopped in Dallas to workout at Bally's. Somewhere after that, I began to notice a small noise when I applied the brakes. Well, I, the expert was sure it wasn't a serious brake problem. I decided around nightfall that the only problem occured when we actually hit the brakes... so if we continued moving until we got to Nashville, all would be well. "And they almost made it too..." Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas, I began to smell tire... burnt tire... this had nothing to do with the brakes. We got a blowout in the middle of the night on route 40 East. We had to wait an hour for a tow and made it into Memphis. We were towed to the tire section of Wal-Mart in Memphis. Wal-Mart was 24 hours, so we went to town until about 5:00AM, then tried to sleep in the van for a little bit. We got about 2 hours until we were woken up by the shop. We negotiated a nice deal on some truck tires, then continued onto Nashville with my brakes running on metal alone. We made it into Nashville with just enough time to stop at our host's house, then raced to our show. Our show. Another world all together. The Bluebird Cafe is one of those places I have been waiting forever to play. It did not dissappoint!!! Great sound, incredible audience, and we played a GREAT show!!! Everyone in the club received us well. I was a little nervous coming to Nashville for the first time, not being a country act, but people seemed to find us refreshing. I found out after our set that Eric Schwartz was in attendance!!! I couldn't beleive it, but he played 2 sets before us. It was great to see him. He is a wonderful performer! Next, some much needed rest followed by some much needed brake job on my poor beat up conversion van. As it turns out, my brakes were VERY broken. Also worth mentioning... we stayed down the street from Johnny Cash in Nashville! Ok, enough of that. The next night, we were invited to play over at the Gibson Guitar Cafe. We played a batch of tunes in this cavernous room. We made lots of friends and will be back soon I hope.

8/25/00

No matter what anyone tells you, the ride from Sante Fe to Austin is not quick! We drove and drove and drove until we were finally ready to stop. I should mention the HUGE bugs that decorated my car like a hail storm once we entered Texas. We stopped in Abilene, TX. We found the safest, most expensive looking hotel, parked the car, and went to sleep in it. The next morning (only a few hours later) we continued into Austin. We were supposed to have people to stay with here, but as has happened in other cities, they had stuffed us. So, we checked into a hotel for the night and went out to see the town. As soon as we hit 6th Street I knew immediately. Austin, TX is the coolest city in the USA, no contest! We brought our guitars and played some songs in a place called Babes. We are now hoping to play there when we return. We also met some folks that came to the other shows we played there. The next night we arrived at Gaby & Mo's. Well, let's just say that the turn out was less than perfect... but the other act that played with us, Karla Manzur, and Thomas V D B... was amazing. We ended up staying with them for a couple of days. We really hit it off and plan to see them up in Vancouver for Folk Alliance. Those crazy married people... Anyway, the next night we played in Borders Books & Music in Austin. Even the bookstore crew rocked in this town. They bought lots of CDs but more importantly, stuck around for the entire show... AND LISTENED!!! We had a wonderful time in Austin... we will return soon.

8/22/00

The 20th is a blur. I have a hunch that we collapsed in a seedy motel and slept.

The 21st brought us into Albuquerque. We were going to play at Sprockets which was right next to the local head shop. Lots of colorful folks there. After Phoenix, it was nice to be in some eleveation, even if it was in the middle of the desert. The show went ok. We ended up selling a batch of CDs, meeting some people from way out of town and staying with new friends in the area. Then we headed up to Sante Fe. The owner told us that maybe we shouldn't play because he was so slow. (To which I responded: ummm no, we'll play after driving 7,000 miles, thank you) And sure enough, a packed house grew from the walk in traffic that heard us on the street. Lots of new friends, the owner was very pleased and I rewarded myself by eating a big animal. (Steak... mmmmmm so tasty once a year) We stayed with friends there, did some shopping the next morning, then began the long descent into Texas...

8/19/00

The trip from San Diego to Phoenix took longer than expected. Add to that losing an hour and getting lost... and once again we were late to a show. But we had the best time once we got there. Fiddler's Dream. I wish there were more places like this. It is sort of like a house concert only not in a house. Their charter states that they may not use sound equiptment. So we played acoustic. The sound was so amazing and the peopl that run this wonderful place cannot be beat! After some much needed rest, we headed out to the first of 3 shows on Saturday. We went out to Cave Creek Coffee. Dave, who runs this place is a very cool man indeed. The food here is AMAZING. So, if you go there, bring an appetite. I don't drink too much coffee, but apparantly, his is the best. We played acoustic again which was ok, but voices were starting to fade. Remember LA was still fresh... after the Cave, we headed to Duck & Decantur in Phoenix. Another cool venue which had us playing outside. I beleive it was 115F on that day. But you couldn't feel it with all that cool mist stuff they use. We met some real cool people including a couple of photographers. We ate a couple of damn good sandwiches. We left to head out to our night show at Undici Undici in Mesa. We met so many great people there and at the other venues and I can't remember any of their names. (Also called PR nightmare) Sorry guys. But this gig was cool as well. Great sound, great food, great people, great vibe. If would say that Phoenix was one of the best spots as far as how we were recieved.

8/17/00

After LA, we headed towards San Diego. We were late getting into town. (These things happen... see 8/15/00) We played at Claire DeLunes and the venue was wonderful. Some Fruheads who had heard of us on the east coast showed up. Also in attendance were my good friends Ann & Jeff. They used to live with me, but got married and moved to SD. They were great and so was the crowd. I was still burnt out from the LA experience when KNBC Nightly News crew showed up to film a segment live from the club. The press... grrrr, here come the plastic smiles. If anyone doesn't like that comment... I couldn't very well look like I felt on TV now could I??? We slept, we left.

8/15/00

Ok... here's where the tour got really strange. It would take me a year to recall all of the events that occured in Los Angeles. Lets start with the cold hard facts. 2 singer-songwriters. 3 shows booked. 1 Democratic National Convention. Many protests. Moving on, we arrived at Borders in Santa Monica amid buzz about some protests. No one told us much about them, so we set up to play. About midway through the show, we were asked to stop because of a march scheduled to go right through the 3rd St promenade. Completely oblivious to the scope of this thing, we started to pack up and got a bite to eat (as well as another Jamba Juice) Then we saw the march begin in front of us... helicopters hovering above us, cops in riot gear surrounding us, and chaos EVERYWHERE. This demonstration for the most part went without a hitch. We followed the crowd down to the beach to find out more. That was where we learned everything. One of the organizers of the protests took my number and asked if I would play at a rally against police brutality. I told her I would. Next day, we woke up and made it down to the convergance center for the protests to meet with the woman again. We finally got in touch with her and made arrangements to play the following morning at very early o'clock. We were booked to play at 14 Below in Santa Monica that night so we went and played, but we got the sense all the action was elsewhere... hmmm, free Rage Against the Machine Concert??? We made lots of friends that night though and after the show, we returned to the convergance center where we were shocked to see many kids being treated for pepper spray and tear gas exposure. They needed some relief and we provided some. Sure enough, the next morning we arrived back on the scene to play for the rally. This was one of the most overwhelming days of my life. The cause was very serious... the people were very crazy, and we walked into the middle of a media feeding frenzy. CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX... just about everyone except the Cartoon Network™ was there! We played the Cop Song, got interviewed by several papers then headed on the march path where we played Middle of the Night. Man was that rough!!! We will have lots of coverage in the movie. We eventually made it to the march destination, the Rampart police station. There were thousands of cops ready for action. There was a time when it seemed we would likely be arrested. I tried to talk to these LAPD guys who were in FULL riot gear ready to attack. After quite a standoff, our truck was not arrested. After that experience I wanted to go home and hibernate, but we still had a tour to finish! The next day, we were in the Wall Street Journal and on the NBC nightly news. We had one more show to finish in LA at the Crooked Bar. We did and we made our way out of town. Not to be lost in all this was the wonderful time I had seeing my Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin!!!

8/12/00

Our time in San Francisco began a wonderful stretch of the trip. We saw the town during the daytime, drank lots of Jamba Juice, and played our hearts out at night. The Borders show went quite well. They are the biggest store in the chain complete with 4 floors of excitement. We met so many characters in San Fran it is tough to recall all of them. I just remember getting to the show late, setting up in a hurry and having problems with the sound. Then, sleep :) The next day, we went down to the Wharf and ate assorted fish products. That went well. Afterwards, we headed down to a really cool place, The Brain Wash Cafe. It is a laundrymat - venue. An interesting mix of audience and washers. We sold more stuff at this show than at any in recent memory though! The show ended... we went back to sleep, then woke up and headed to Los Angeles.

8/9/00

On Tuesday, we went to the "best open mic in Portland" The place really pissed me off and if you have nothing nice to say... move onto Wednesday. What can I say about Wednesday... I hate getting up before 7:00AM, but we had to hit the road to get to Sacramento. It would take us between 8 and 10 hours to get there. (Give or take a couple of meals, some great pictures, and a raid on the outlet stores) Drove, drove, and drove. Lots of flatness, then hills... then the beautiful Mt Shasta. What a site. We also had to stop at Lake Shasta... one of the most beautiful sites I have seen thusfar. We finally arrived in Sacramento and made our way to the Luna Cafe. A very cool place with a great owner (Art Luna) We had awesome burritos and fresh juice. Then we played and made some new friends there. Then we realized that we knew no one in town and decided after all that driving to hit the road for 2 more hours to get to San Francisco. The trip was well worth it as we had friends there to stay with.

8/7/00

Sunday morning, the house awoke to head out to church. We rolled out of bed and got on the road towards Portland, OR. We were going to go see my cousin Neal & his wife Karen. I had not seen them since their wedding 2 years ago. What a treat. They have a wonderful new home and are both doing great. We got in, relaxed for a moment, then headed out to the "Saturday Market" in Portland. It reminds me of one of the old markets I grew up around. There was music, good food, crafts, and lots of people to tell about the show. Some even showed up. We arrived at the Snake & Weasel in time to setup, relax and go get a burger. Mmmmm, food! The show went quite well. Out of thin air, our friends from the north (the Canadians as I call them) showed up once again. Now seems like as good a time as any to throw a plug to Moxy Fruvous. Withouth them, no one in Canada would have known who I was and many in upstate New York as well. Thanks! And if you don't know who Moxy Fruvous is, you should be shot. They are the most entertaining group of people I have EVER seen perform and some of the nicest people I have ever known. Click here for more info on them. So, Moday, we headed down to Eugene. It was a beautiful place, the people were nice. We stayed in an AMAZING house right on the mountain with a view of heaven. But sadly, the show was poorly attended and my voice was barely there anyway. We are now in the car on Tuesday heading back up to Portland for laundry, family, and an open mic tonight. Talk to you soon! -RW

8/5/00

Our time in Seattle. I loved Seattle. It was a great place to hang out for a couple of days. I am pretty sure I wouldn't want to live there. So we arrived, completely beaten from the road and with half of a voice. Borders went pretty well. People were very receptive and the downtown Seattle Borders becomes the first in the country to officially carry our CDs for sale. (In the pop/rock section) We will be featured in those listening stations. Hopefully some improved airplay in Seattle will boost sales there. We tooled around for a little while, then made our way to the OK Hotel. What a cool spot. We made lots of new friends there and had a batch of people come down from Seattle as well as Vancouver, BC. What can I say? Canadians kick ass!!! After the show I allegedly was taken to a late night diner... all Iremember is being high on cold meds and drooling on my blueberry pancakes. Ah, the life of a pop/rock star! :) So, we slept in... naturally. The next day saw some errands done, then we met up with George, our host for dinner. We went out to "Ibars, Acres of Clam" It was a nice little place on the waterfront. There was much fun to be had and much filming as well. We shot some great scenes here, but you'll have to wait for the film to be released. We ate cod, salmon, and halibut. Lots of fresh fish. Mmmmm, fresh fish. I slept that night and dreampt of... you guessed it fish :)

8/3/00

Hellish Voyage... Not even I thought getting from St. Paul, MN to Seattle, WA was going to be easy, but NO ONE could have prepared us for what happened next. We set out on our 24 + hour voyage with high hopes, a full gas tank, and lots of country stations. Day one was long, but for the most part went without a hitch. While traveling through South Dakota, one wonders at the ad wizards behind the "Wall Drug" campaign. We had to pull over after 400 miles of signs, but we didn't stop there. It was raining and the thing looked awfully lame. So, we continued. As a point of reference, it was at this point that we began shooting our beloved road movie... the working title is: Russell Wolff's "Roadkill Americana" (I beleive we call that foreshadowing) So we finally got within reach of Mt Rushmore. This was the very point of our taking the Southern Route across. I now have mixed feelings about that decision, but it made for some great cinema. Rushmore was lame of course, but we snuck into a national monument... that is pretty cool. Then we sped away and thought it wise to eat after 10 hours straight on the road living on pretzels. We looked and looked and finally settled on a Denny's. Oooh MISTAKE!! We became ill shortly after that meal. Moving right along, it was our goal to make it out of South Dakota and to the first major citie (haha) in Wyoming before nightfall. We made it into WY, but night did fall. We were still filming and thought we should use the night vision feature on the camera. Just a warning... I look EXTREMELY scary on night vision. So just after a last comment from me, Christina pans back toward the road. It was night. We were traveling at aproximately 85 miles per hour. Just as she was about to turn off the camera, a coyote (or perhaps four legged sasquatch) runs in front of the van, looks at us, and dies. (We couldn't have stopped that without dying ourselves) I really felt horrible and didn't want to look at the bumper. We finally made it to Gillette, found a VERY overpriced motel, and slept. The damage was evident though. We would need a new bumper. Strangly enough... my bumper was not an unfamiliar sight to a couple of garage owners in the area. Sure enough, they "specialized" in Dodge bumpers and had some brand new off of other vans. So, I trusted them. I really had no choice. I was 500 miles from anything... anything except bison and coyotes. So, back we were on the road. The next day finally brought us into Montana. But first, I learned a painful lesson. You shouldn't speed in a strange state after killing one of their beloved coyotes. On this day, I got a $220 speeding ticket which I am mildly fighting. Anyhow, if you are reading this in "the future" and you look up the news for this week, you will see the worst wildfires in history in Montana as we were innocently passing through. In fact, the smoke was so thick and suffocating, I called 911. I asked them if it was safe for us to continue driving. The told me that it was... so we did. By the time we reached Missoula, which we later found out was one of the worst parts of the state, it was so thick we could barely breathe. My throat was toast at this point. (It stayed that way for almost a week) We were told by some locals that the worst was almost over and that we should drive west quickly. Within 45 minutes, it started to clear and we began to approach Idaho. I was amazed at the beauty of Idaho and the last part of Montana on Rt 90. We were driving through national forests located on mountain ranges. We filmed some of this and took pictures, but nothing could possibly compare to actually seeing these things. It was truly incredible. Well, we finally got out of Idaho and into Washington. We stopped in Spokane for the night and were very greatful to be out of Wyoming.

8/1/00

Ok. Wisconsin, Land of Cheese followed by Minnesota, Land of Lakes. We got into Wisconsin with very little trouble. We called from the road to confirm a setup time for our show. We were shocked to find out they had no clue who we were. These things happen and as it turned out, the owner had too much to drink, forgot about us, and booked another event. Sure enough, we arrived, the people at the bar apologized up and down... we went on stage only an hour late and people stuck around, had a great time, and bought LOTS of CDs!!! Thanks guys. The next day, we headed out to Minnesota, our last stop before Seattle. Because of the impending hellish voyage, I admittedly was a little tense that day. Anyhow, we got to the cafe which was "right in the middle of town" (well, not really) We played our show, met some great people; We even had them escort us to a laudramat that night. We had a blast doing laundry, hiding Christina's lip glosses in dryers, and generally being scarier than the scary people in there! We slept, we awoke, we left.

7/30/00

Well, it took 6 hours and a LOT of Indiana, but we finally made into Chicago. Once again, we were unable to reach the person we were supposed to stay with. (This is a terrifying trend! If you know generous people along our tour route with couches or floors, send them our way) Here is where something truly magical ends up happening though. I place a call to new friend, and extremely gifted performer Kevin So. He was going to head down to our show anyway at Heartland Cafe. We ended up hanging out with him for the weekend. I have known him for a few years, but we are just now becoming friends. What the hell was I waiting for? Great guy. Thanks Kevin. I also want to thank Kevin's gorgeous upstairs housemate who is right at this moment dancing, presumably nude, to Joe Cocker's "You can leave your hat on" What an image! Oh, by the way... I should mention that Chicago is one of the coolest places we have been. The people are AMAZING! Our show at Heartland went extremely well. The next night we played at a Borders Cafe in Crystal Lake. You never know what to expect from a Borders. This show was intense. The folks there are used to laid back instrumental performers. Boy, were they in for a shock! And it turned out to be great for both parties. Lots and lots of new fans in IL! Today we head to Borders in Beverly. I assume all will go well. I'll write more later... Fade to later... not only did everything go well, but we had Kevin at the show. He sat in on The Net and KY and did a few of his own. Later in the night, Kevin took us to an open mic at the house of photographer extraordinaire, Fred Burkheart. Funky room, great guy, down to earth people.

7/27/00

We got to Cleveland in a few hours. Without time to really relax, we headed down to the Barking Spider. Things went all right at the show. Unfortunately, the weather was beautiful and many people wanted to hang out outside. Cleveland also began a strange streak of the people we were scheduled to stay with dissappearing on us. We played later in the night at an open mic next door at Arabica Cafe. We met some cool folks there that insisted we stayed at their crack house... I mean friend's apartment who was away. So that was fine, we did the live radio show in Cleveland the next night, then left for Chicago (enough about Cleveland)

7/25/00

Sunday night. Slept in Albany in one of my all-time favorite parking lots! (Location is Top Secret) Then we were off again heading west to Buffalo. On the way, as we were passing Rochester, we were listening to WBER. We were shocked and amazed to hear this: "now, going out by request, Russell Wolff with My Girl" So cool. It was right between Korn and Limp Biscuit. Anyway, keep requesting us guys. It really does make a difference. Well, we got to Buffalo in enough time to stop at our friend's house where we were staying. Interestingly enough, I went outside and saw that my friends father was washing my car. He is retired and claimed, " I can't stand a dirty vehicle in my driveway." Anyhow, I promised not to give that address on here! (People would be lined up for miles) They were a wonderful family and perfect hosts. We had a huge family dinner complete with honey carrots, mashed potatoes, turkey meatloaf, and salad. Then we played at Nietzches Monday night. The show wasn't as packed as we hoped, but I couldn't get an email out about it. After the show, we went to Mighty Taco, had a bite and conned them into giving me a Mighty Taco hat. This will be the pride and joy of my new collection. The next morning, I got a hat from ManHATtan Bagel. (Boring next to the Taco) Later that night when we played at Coffee Bean Cafe, we were packed with the good Buffalo crew we have come to know and love. We had lunch the next day there, then hit the road headed for Cleveland.

7/23/00

On Thursday morning, we headed from VT to one of my favorite places in the world, the Falcon Ridge Folk festival. Now, I learned a very important lesson last year. My body was not meant to camp in a tent, on the ground. Well, as most of you know, I now own a conversion van. Hmmm, where do you suppose I slept? Well, we checked in. I was volunteering in the kids area, so that meant I was going to run a children's music program. Stay tuned for those pictures. So, every year, on Thursday night, there is an open mic. Every year I go to that. Christina and I both played separate songs together. All I can say is they LOVED Christina, and they seemed to enjoy me as well. The next day was filled with fun excitement and very little sleep. I was bombarded by people who saw us play at the open mic. We talked to so many folks on Friday. During the day we showcased with my friends from home, Outpost in the Burbs. It was good to see the NJ crew. So many details with no sleep is making this hard. It was great to see some friends had been chosen this year to showcase on the mainstage. Maybe someday me... what do you say guys? But I saw Butch Ross, Kevin So, Dierdre Flint, and Greg Cagno up there. Way to go guys! Friday night at 2:00AM we released 2 CDs under the tent. Thank you all soooo much for making that event so wonderful. The tent was packed. There will be a few pictures posted from that as well. Saturday brought more of the same. Wandering aimlessly on no sleep, singing to children, hanging out with old friends.

7/19/00

On Sunday, we made our way up to see my surrogate family, the Wades of Vermont. (that is there official royal title) We have recently been conducting extensive DNA testing to see if I am blood related. (that was a joke for those of you having trouble with this) Well, the house was unusually full with all sorts of interesting people. It seemed like some great story you might read in a book... yeah a book! Well, Monday and Tuesday nights were spent in Montreal. We got some choice pictures which will appear shortly in the gallery. We played Tuesday night at Club Zone in Montreal. It was a fun time, and it was great to see Heather McLeod again. Did I curse WAY too much on-stage in a foreign country? Yup, I did. I now send my apologies to the good people of Montreal, QB. One very cool thing that happened is we got reviewed in a French paper there. Nipple received such high marks that it beat out competition from Busta Rhymes among others. Then we saw Busta act in Shaft. "Hmmm, Oscar nods... anyone... no???" (spoken in Dr. Evil voice) On Wednesday, we played live in St. Albans VT as part of a summer music series. It was well attended by 3-6 year olds and their mums, so you know we had to pull out the stops with such hits as Old McDonald, Wheels on the Bus, and NIPPLE. : ) The last night of sleep for a while.

7/16/00

***THE CD RELEASE PARTIES***

On 7/9/00, in NYC, we officially released the new CDs from myself and Christina Abbott. We then had a series of shows in several different areas to celebrate. The first was on the 9th in NYC. We arrived at the Gaslight ready to rock! We were just so pleased to see some folks head to this show that had caught us at Outpost in the Burbs as well as some from CT. We also saw some new faces and some who were at Gaslight last time we played there. What a fun night! Thanks guys. Next we headed to my home base on the 12th, Sweet Dreams Cafe. This was the place that really started it all for me. Nipple... never would have happened without the urging of the sickos in this joint! I mean that, I love you guys!!! What can I say? It was a kick ass show, a packed house, and a great time to be had by all. Thursday: packing for the tour. Friday, we left our houses forever! (Well at least for the next 2 months and 2 days) We headed up to Rhapsody in Brew for another packed house and killer response from the crowd. This was a great week of shows for us. Christina's friends brought her lots of fun little gifts for the tour. Where were my gifts? (Stay tuned) If you get a chance, try and support this venue. Tell others to go and play there. The owner is a great guy and the vibe is PHAT YO! Saturday night... our release party in Northampton, MA. Very well attended, but we were given a 7:00 PM slot. I love Fire & Water, but I know it's usually slow at 7:00 PM. Anyhow, I knew there was no one playing at 10:00 PM, so I stuck around. Christina and I played again at 10 for 2 hours to a PACKED house. Thank you all for buying these new discs and continuing to support us. We do notice and we know who all of you are. You REALLY make a huge difference.

7/3/00

July 3rd was my birthday. I hate birthdays. I had a lousy day spent mostly driving. We no longer discuss age. You want to get on my good side? Find a drug to fix birthdays!

6/26/00

Long weekend... on Friday we played Rhapsody in Brew... did someone forget to advertise this one? Hmmm... could be I suppose. Then I had to rush back to NJ for a personal matter (yes, every five years, I get time for a personal matter) On Sunday, I was honored to be a part of the open mic finals at the wonderful Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, NY. Well, I didn't win or anything, but Scott said that we were all winners, so BLAH! : ) I also got a chance to see some of my favorite acts play, met some new people, and just basically had a great time hanging around with friends.

6/20/00

Ok... wow, so much to say here... let's start with father's day. I didn't actually see my father. Sunday was final mix/mastering for the 2 top secret projects going on in the studio. I got to the studio at around 8:30 PM and all was well. Or so I thought... (subtle foreshadowing) Midnight rolls around and we run into a whole heap of technical trouble... So, 8:30 AM rolls around and all was well. Joe had to head to the city, and I had to finish up the final designs for the production of these little bastards... I mean masterpieces. So, that process took all day. On no sleep and barely any food, I head down to my home turf, Sweet Dreams for what I thought would be a difficult evening. Boy was I right! And wrong! For starters, I was delirious, which has never stopped me from performing. But this was a Monday night, it should have been quiet right? NO. The place was packed! A whole new batch of people I didn't know along with the usual suspects. I played my balls off, although I could barely get through one song without forgetting my lyrics. Some highlights: the worldwide debut of Bizarre Mitzvah (Rage against the meshugena) Disco Nipple (inside joke), and a rousing, no holds barred, sing along version of the "Vagina Song" (I swore up and down never to play that damn thing again) Lotsa new fans and friends! Thanks for buying all those CDs and for the tips!!! What an amazing night.

6/3/00

This was a powerful, action packed weekend. First on Friday, we returned to a place I am really growing attached to, Fire & Water. It's one of those places you just love. I can't put my finger on the reason, just to say that there is so much positive energy there... and the girl who works there is adorable! (Hey, did I say that?) Moving right along. The next night was simply amazing. I have seen him over the years, spoken to him on numerous occasions, I love his work, (he has a copy of Nipple) he is an AMAZING person... but I hadn't shared the stage with him until now. The man I am speaking about os none other than Peter Mulvey. All I can say is HOLY %$#@!!! This guy eats his folk wheaties in the morning. What a strong performer and incredible player... what a nice person. Enough, I have said too much. Oh yeah, thanks to his fans for being so supportive of me!

5/27/00

Wow, did we find a little Oasis tonight. Way up the Merrit Parkway, in a town I had never heard of, at a place most of you got lost trying to find, lay a small cafe filling to the brim with possibilities. Rhapsody in Brew. They have not been doing live music for too long, but the place fills up with young people yearning to be reached. Christina and I apparently reached them. The place was packed standing room only. And although the crowd was much smaller, I got flashbacks to my night with Moxy Fruvous... english translation = "I'll be back." Then we stayed in CT for a show at coffee in New Haven. This show was a little bit shady. School had just let out and the place was a ghost town. The usual suspects did show up of course, but without them, the night might have been a wash. I hope to return there in the fall during school year. Perhaps after coming from Rhapsody again.

5/21/00

Kool night, kool city, kool pholx!!! Gaslight in NYC. We will return. It was Me, Myles Cochran, Scott Sylvestor, and Marc Teamaker. Everyone of them a winner. All different styles. The common thread was quality and a friendship with Marc. Thanks again guys for having me along! I was honored to be among this group of writers. AND THE KNICKS WON!!!

5/15/00

So, the official Spring Tour is over and done with. Let me thank all of you for your continued support. Without you, none of this would even be imaginable let alone possible. -Russell

5/14/00

Ok, the next day, we headed up to Rochester. We went to Wegmans (duh) We played at Borders, and had a great turnout again. Even Christina Aguilara was there, and she was kind enough to sell merch for us. Stay tuned to the gallery for pics of that! Well, somewhere about mid-set. I cam to the realization that I had to make it to my mother's house in Long Island by Noon for Mother's Day. When I did the math, it seemed the most logical thing to do was to drive home that night. RIGHT. Let me just take this special opportunity to thank Gordon Gano and the rest of the Violent Femmes for their 1981 self titled debut. It was that CD and that CD alone that kept me awake and alive on this drive. We arrived home at 5:00 AM... mother's day was a blur, but I surprised mom!

5/12/00

On Thursday, we played in Albany at Mother Earth Cafe. We met some cool folks at SUNY and had a nice turnout. Afterwards, Rusty went out on the town... nuff said. It's been a while, and I deserved it! Saw the sun rise... got no sleep... drove to Syracuse. If you are in Syracuse, you must stop at the Blue Tusk and get there bakes french fries. They are sooooooooooooooo good. Then I got a couple of father's day gifts from the Hot Shoppe... My dad doesn't read this crap, does he? Then we met up with Ashley Cox and got ready for our big show at Happy Endings Cafe. What an amazing room. I cannot wait to do another show there. It is set up like a theater. The sound and lighting is perfect. The performers that night were... okay. ;)

5/10/00

Van Gogh's Ear... great place, love the decor. Next.. one of the coolest nights. I was honored and thrilled to play at the legendary Caffe Lena. We split the bill with a local jazz funk fusion ensemble, Delband, who were WONDERFUL. The show went so great and thanks to Mike Flanagan of Delband, we got some great stuff on tape. What's all this talk about taping? Where is he going with this? Will something be released? Is this called foreshadowing??? Anyway, thanks again to Mike for letting us stay with him in Saratoga Springs. We got the best sandwiches on the planet at a place I can't remember the name of. Mmmmmmmm, no name sandwiches... I also got my mom a great mother's day gift in town. What a good son I am! (sometimes :)

5/6/00

A little rest was in order... and that's about all I got, a little. :) Thursday the 4th, we played at the Common Sense Cafe which has since closed. We shared the bill with Christina Kane, a WONDERFUL singer-songwriter from Ashville, NC. She was so sweet. I had met her before out in Cleveland at Folk Alliance. It was also great to hang around with CJ on the last month the place would be open. We will all miss you! Enjoy the mountains! :) Then on Saturday, we were part of an amazing show in Philly at La Tazza 108. There were three bands: Maggie, Pierce, and E.J., Butch Ross Band, and Me! What a great night. The place was hot as hell, but so was the music. I was honored to be a part of such great music this week. We will return to Philly again, oh yes, we will return..

4/28/00

"Next stop, Orono, ME" We made it in one piece up to Orono. We checked in with the BUMSTOCK crew to sign in, and dot the I's, cross the T's. We met some friends for lobster dinner, then head out to Benjamin's in Bangor for a rocking set at one of the roughest bars around... Hey! Don't mess with Benjamin's! A great crowd there as always. The next day, BUMSTOCK began. We were not booked on Friday, so we were able to relax and enjoy the great weather, serene surroundings, and oh yes, the HARDCORE blaring from the mainstage at the festival. I got a nasty burn. The next morning, we were ready for our closeup on the mainstage... the stage belonging to Dave Matthews... the stage that would host not only yours truly, but also Corey Glover, former lead singer of Living Colour. What a day! Great turnout at the festival. Someone taped it on DAT, but I haven't gotton it yet... hello? Where are you? Anyway, that night we were booked to play at the Bear Brew Pub. Great crowd there. We met so many new friends, like Don Roberto. He just came 500 miles to see us play in NYC! Way to go Don Roberto!!! The next morning... Ok, 10 hours later, minus Cadence, I achieved my goal. I made it home in time to see the Simpsons. Then, all is dark... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

4/26/00

On Monday, we had off. We went to Boston and hung out with friends. We saw Hi-Fidelity in the theatre. Not bad. A nice distraction. Tuesday night, we played the open mic at Club Passim. It was great to see so many old friends and we made a couple of new ones as well. Then, on to... Portsmouth, NH. We were booked at the Press Room. A nice club in the middle of the historic little town. The show went well, we met folks from NH, and as far away as Chicago. They bought CDs and promised to come see us play out there this summer.In the middle of the show, I got a little tired of some of the loud drunks, so I went into this riff, that started to feel like a song... we wrote it right there on the stage. It's called "Atlas" and you can expect to hear it soon if you haven't already. And just like that, the show was over. We didn't have anyone to stay with in NH so at 1:00AM we started North on the 5 hour drive to Orono. Then we hit Portland, my eyes closing at regular intervals, we caved in and stayed at a motel... g'nite!

4/23/00

Montpelier... ok, I didn't know much about this capitol where everyone knows each other before we got there. But they welcomed us as one of their own. On Saturday night, we played at Cafe Delilah. World class food run by a world class guy... thank God we were playing there, otherwise we would not have been able to afford to eat there. We made a lot of new friends and fans in this place and this city. Then, Easter Sunday... well my mom was still sore that I skipped the seder. She doesn't have internet access so she'll never find out that I had bacon pancakes on passover!!! You won't tell, right? We played the Brunch at The Horn of the Moon Cafe... I feel obliged to tell you that it's New England's oldest vegitarian restaurant. Then at night, we played at Charlie O's World Famous Bar. Upon looking at this place, I was a little unsure... but they let us play, and for that we are grateful. Given the surroundings, the show went particularly well. The town had a huge heart and nowhere was it more evident than at Charlie O's. I got a parking ticket the next morning. I freaked out until I read it. $6.00 I happily marched down to city hall to pay my fee. They had never seen someone so happy to pay a ticket. I told them I was honored to pay $6.00 for violating a parking law. (In New York, it's $30.00 to park in a lot and $65.00 for a ticket)

4/20/00

Off to one of my favorite states this side of Russia... VERMONT!!! We had gotton a couple of last minute openings for the weekend so on the way up to Burlington, we stopped into the capital, Montpelier. We were simply shocked at what we found there...after milling about for 25 minutes, not only did we have 3 bookings for the weekend, but our posters were up EVERYWHERE in the town advertising the shows. Way to go town! So, we got to Burlington a little later than I expected When we got to UVM to do our regular radio promo thing, we saw all the students heading in one direction... away from that building. Hmm, i thought, what must be going on? I looked at the time. It was 4:16PM. I stopped a group of students and asked them what was going on... it was the big 420 at 4:20 on 4/20. So we gathered our things quickly and walked around to the library past many cops and faculty members who seemed OK with the whole thing. We were amazed to find THOUSANDS of students outside the library in full view of the police SMOKING THE GANGA!!! I personally could not believe it, but we set up our stuff and played for a while. I got the best contact high since I went to a Pink Floyd show in 1988! Anyway, we eventually got the munchies and had to stop. We had some dinner at the Kountry Kart deli, and setup to play our show at Red Square. The show went quite well as they usually do at this cool spot. Now, let me take a moment and mention the Wades of Vermont. Perhaps the coolest people I have ever met in my entire life. We stayed with them for a couple of days. They cooked quiches, popovers, and bacon pancakes for us. They came to our shows. I first met them up at Falcon Ridge. Then bumped into them again during the fall tour. I would not be able to find enough words to describe these truely insane, warm, loving, and incredible people so I wil stop trying now. I miss you guys and I will see you in July! The next night, we played at Borders... it was Borders, but in Vermont. That makes it like a super-hyper-mega-hella-cool Borders. Nuff said. Should I even mention the speeding ticket I got from a UVM cop while traveling in the slow lane following a college professor with traffic flying past me in the other 2 lanes? Nah, I shouldn't mention that.

4/19/00

On this particular day, we went to an open mic. One of the coolest I have been to at the Towne Crier in Pawling, NY. Maybe someday we will return there to play. Wait, did I say maybe???

4/14/00

Meanwhile, south of Buffalo... I will wrap up the rest of the week here. Wednesday night, we played in Rochester at Java's. Now, I thought the show went pretty well... but a lot of the audience seemed to enjoy what I was doing, but didn't want anyone to know that they were enjoying it. Bizzarre!!! After the show, someone told me, "this is the Eastman Music campus... the audience was a bunch of critical music students" Hmmm, at least I wasn't playing near Berkeley! :P OK, but thanks to the Syracuse crew who came up for the show. This was also the birthplace of the "New Jersey National Anthem" If you don't know what that is, you have to come see us play soon!!! The next night we played at Valentine's in Albany. Ok, the place was cool enough. We brought a batch of our people. Things were fine. However, the stage upstairs is right on top of the downstairs stage. We were playing alterna-folk at a reasonable level. They were playing HARDCORE. You get the picture. I know you audience people couldn't tell, but from the stage, it was EVIL!!! (said with an Evil Dr.ish pose) The next night we played in Greenwich, CT for a Teen Night in the community center. I have vowed never to speak of that show again. Then home for a couple of days. Sleep.... sleep... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

4/11/00

Buffalo... it's a helluva town... we keep doing really well in unexpected places (which is fine by me) Buffalo is quickly becoming a second home. We started the trip with a show at the newly renovated Coffee Bean Cafe. Great place, amazing food, and run by a nice man... call him Jim. Lots of local folks were around and one guy played during our break. He was amazing (nice to remember his name for this page, oops) Sunday we head to Borders for what was most aptly described as a charity gig, but aren't they all in folk? Nice crown. Thanks to Dan for taping all of our Buffalo shows and his family for putting us up for a few days. Monday night, it was back to Nietzsches. A truely cool place for a bar, and run by the coolest bald man in Buffalo, Michael Meldrum. We played for 2 hours! Great night there. Then on Tuesday, we played at UB South Campus. A couple of Fruheads heard about the show and stopped by. We stalked them after the show and went back to Coffee Bean to have lunch... time to breath.

4/7/00

Syracuse again. Well, not much has changed since the last time I was there, but they moved the Hot Shoppe in Armory Square. We saw our old friend Audrey at Coffee Cave. They are busting there ass to stay alive down there on Marshall street after a... you guessed it STARBUCKS COFFEE opened on the corner. I advise all of you to go down to Coffee Cave and support these wonderful people. After the show, we headed to the OPL to play a gig with Ashley Cox (rhymes with ROCKS doesn't it?) Went well despite the non-Russell Wolffish surroundings. Although I did get all the drunks at the bar to sing Supermarket with me. You go, Russ! The next night we played the mall again... Borders, then we were off to...

4/6/00

Ahh, Ithaca... land of the free and home of the bald? I felt so out of place with my GAP cargo pants... and lack of dreads. Just kidding. We had a blast as we always do in Ithaca. We pulled into town just in time to do some live radio on VIC and ICB. The we were off to do one of my favorite shows of every tour. The student run songwriter's group. We played for about an hour, then answered questions the students had about doing this for a living. The answer to most of them was: DON'T! After that show, we were invited down to the Haunt to play a one hour set. Thanks again guys, we had a great time. Moving right along...

4/1/00

April Fool's Day... I got to sleep for a day and do some laundry! NOT!!! First, on Thursday, we played at the neatest place in the coolest town... Fire & Water in Northampton. Everything went according to plan until some overhead speelunking commenced... (please excuse my spelling) One thing we have to borrow from that place is the tip truck. This thing is so cool. The only improvement would be to make it remote control!

3/28/00

A nice time was had by all at Barnes & Noble in Farmington, CT. Cadence wasn't around to make a set list so I gave out a special setlist grade napkin to the audience and let you guys decide what I was to play... oops, my bad! LOL Anyway, I managed to piece through a verse of the much anticipated "Wookie Song" without my lyrics. Then on Monday night we had the pleasure of performing and interviewing on WPKN in Bridgeport with Terri. A very cool station.

3/25/00

University of Delaware... must it rain at every single show on the tour regardless of city and state??? This show was extremely cool. We had a great time with some very cool people down in Delaware. Thank you so much for the overwhelming response! Ok, Sun Music... the show that will not be spoken about (unless you really ask me) Arlene Grocery was great. We packed up the little place and had a great set that was broadcast live over the Internet. I didn't buy it so I started daring Internet viewers to email me if they were watching... oops! My bad.... something about daring Fruheads...

3/18/00

John & Peter's was great again. I love that room. People came from far and wide to the show. Thank you. Bitter End was just that... we had an 11:30 slot in NYC with pouring rain coming down. The odds were against us for a big turnout. We still love the place though. But on Friday night (Friday nights tend to make up for rough weeks on the road. This theme will repeat) We were blessed to open up in my hometown for one the coolest acts out there, Karen Savoca. Karen and Pete are two of the nicest people you will ever work with and we played at Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair. What a powerful space. Everyone listens, the sound is wonderful and the place is in an old church. VERY COOL!

3/14/00

Great to be back at home. It seems that I always start tours on the 13th of a month... and things seem to be going alright so far, so why screw it up. Sweet Dreams was really fun. I had forgotton how much love there is in that place. Sometimes it's tough to see through all the smoke. Christina Abbott came down and played the show. She rocks, she rocks, she rocks, she's on my label!!! Rock on!

2/20/00

Wow. Much to write. I have to sleep first. Cleveland...hmmm 500 miles, 8 hours on the road, lots of road signs. Who knew Pennsylvania was that big? At one point, I was dozing on route 80 so I decided to write a song on some paper while I was driving. I officially apologize to the other drivers on the road. Cute song though... called I gotta get to Cleveland. : ) I finally made it out there and enjoyed showcasing at Folk Alliance. We set up the way cool Cueball Records Multimedia Village complete with music video for My Girl and live video opening for Moxy Fruvous. We were blessed to stay with lovely Donna out in Cleveland. Thanks Donna!!!

Next it was Russell off to Buffalo. Well the weather was great in Buffalo. Then I arrived. It snowed for 4 days straight. I hung out at Nietzches and played at Michael Meldrum's birthday bash. It was a blast. Next night I played at Nietzches again. Did a set at their open mic. 6 songs! Not bad for an open mic. I was lucky to stay with Susan and Michael up there. Thanks guys. Next night I played at SUNY Buffalo. Not a great turnout, the weather was not great and THEY HAD ME SET UP TO PLAY IN A FOYER! But anyway, the people that hung out for the show were very cool. In fact, they were supposed to be working, but when they heard me, they turned on their machine, locked the office and watched the whole show. You guys rock. You will not be forgotton...I already have you in a song. They were so cool, they busted by Buffalo Mighty Taco cherry. For those of you who don't know what Mighty Taco is, I can't help you. GO TO BUFFALO AND EAT IT!!!

Toronto. Home of that space needle... oh, that's Seattle, eh? Toronto was amazing. All you Canadians that have been giving me such love and support... you know who you are... THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!!! I don't know where I'd be right now without you. I got to hang out with friends, fans, and Fruvous. In a strange turn of events, I ended up running lights for 2 of the Fruvous shows and sound for the hotel show at Frucon. Look at me sliding faders like a happy monkey. It was my pleasure to help out the band that has helped me out so much. The rest of the weekend was a blur. Parties, people, money conversion, sushi, singing in hotel suites... THANK YOU KEVIN! Anyhoo, I eventually headed back to the states. On the way back, I once again became delerious and thought I could write a song on paper while driving 90MPH... this is becoming a REALLY bad habit... but I love the new tunes. Hope you all hear them soon. Gotta book! (Literally) Later.

2/1/00

OK. Major life achievement time. I got to open for one of my all time faves, CHERYL WHEELER!!! Although I have loved her work for sometime, I must admit that my knowledge was somewhat limited when stacked in a little pile next to Cady's. Anyway, short story, then I shall move on. I could write that everything worked out the wasy it was supposed to without a hitch, but I would be a liar. A funny thing happened on the way to the stage. With hot tea in my left hand and a cold water bottle in my right, i TRIPPED walking onto the stage. I nearly fell over. It ended up being more of a stumble. The applause quickly turned to gasps and silence. I composed myself, turned to them, approached the microphone... and in my best dead pan Steven Wright impression proclaimed, "that was my finest entrance yet." They seemed delighted and the rest of the show went fine. I just wanted to come out publically about this, so as not to be percieved as some inhuman egomaniac who can't screw up! I screw up all the time. : ) Go check out the tour schedule! See ya soon.

1/4/00

Happy New Year everyone. You all made 1999 the greatest year of my life. So, after an uneventful 12/31/99, I spontaneously hopped onto a plane to go up to Buffalo for the 2nd Moxy Fruvous show at the Tralf. I had the best time. The band was phenomenal and it was great to see so many people I love. After the show, Kevin had me over to his hotel suite for a late night concert. Many people were there and we had a blast. I can't beleive we weren't kicked out of the place. Shortly after that fiasco, I was kidnapped and smuggled into Canada. Thanks again to those who put me up during these few days of unadulterated fun... you know who you are. Let's never sing about Wookies again! Later.

12/5/99

Wow. It would take me a year to describe the night of December 4th, 1999. We were honored to open up for MOXY FRUVOUS in Clifton Park, NY. I am still in awe of the response from their fans and can only tell you that it was the most wonderful experience of my life. With that, I leave the rest up to the fans, whose reviews, comments, and emails I have been compiling on THIS PAGE.

11/10/99

Back in Boston. Well... Cambridge to be exact. Thanks again to Steve of SIMON and the Mike Brown Project for giving me their couches for the night! It's starting to get cold in the touring "Shag-mobile." I hung out and played at Club Passim for a couple of nights. GREAT ROOM! Then I got the wonderful news on Tuesday. I am opening for MOXY FRUVOUS on December 4th in Albany. I am thrilled and honored to share the stage with those guys. In my opinion, they are one of the best groups out there. Then Dave Murphy came up for two shows we had booked at Borders in Framingham, MA. What a weekend! I am still exhausted... but in a great way! I should be off for a little bit now. I am starting the new record in a week or so. Watch out though. We will play many shows in the area until I am done. Later.

10/31/99

Hartford. What can I say? I hung out at a really cool radio station there. WWUH at the University of Hartford is Public radio. Similar to WFUV in New York, but with a more scattered format. We played some songs, talked about some shows in the area, gave away CDs, and basically left... in that order. The pathetic thing is this: As soon as I got done at the station, I went down to the venue I was booked to play at. To my shock, I found the place borded up and closed down. This made for a very annoying trip to Hartford. I left a note on the door apologizing to the people who had just heard about the show on the radio and offered to send CDs to anyone who came down. SORRY GUYS! Anyhow, I am off for a few days, then I head back to Boston for a week. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! See ya!

10/25/99

So... this is the planet "Party!" Ok, so I just got back from Albany. Do these people sleep at all? I had quite the time in Capitol City. Apparently, Pataki and I were on the SUNY campus at the same time. He didn't say hello, or have any official comment on my tour. I played a couple of radio shows up at WCDB and WRPI. Then I headed to Mother Earth Cafe. Richard is one of the nicest people you will ever meet, so if you are in the Albany area, stop by at the corner of Western and Quail. He also has some of the best natural homemade food this wary traveler has had in a LONG time! Not much else to tell ya right now. I made it back to New Jersey just long enough to play a set with friend and labelmate Dave Murphy. He played some new material which I am absolutely crazy about. This week it's Connecticut. Later.

10/10/99

Wow. I guess the weather is actually changing. Winter is right around the corner. Nowhere is that more clear than up in Syracuse, NY. DAMN it was cold! I'm sure people with hair had an entirely better time of it though. In Syracuse I played four shows in two nights. I hit: Borders, Happy Endings, Coffee Cave, and No Borders No Boundaries. I can tell you that I met some truly incredible people up there. I was wisked away on Wednesday to the town where the writer of Wizard of Oz was from. All the sidewalks were made of yellow bricks! (And midgets like me fit in just fine there : ) After that I saw some breathtaking waterfalls. Although they were only breathtaking because of the 100 steps to get there and me being asthmatic of course!

The next stop was Ithaca. I love the Finger Lakes Region. It's just so darn beautiful. Especially this time of year. Ithaca was a really neat place. I played a songwriter's circle on campus Thursday, and at The Nines on Friday. The people were chill. The scenery was unreal. The Wolff is tired. I have to send out a special thank you to Mike Lieberman of WICB and WVIC. He made my stay in Ithaca perfect and I had a blast at the stations. So... now I sleep for a bit, head to Boston, then on to Albany. Later!

10/1/99

I think Vermont is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I drove up from Boston to Burlington. A drive that takes only 2 roads... I-93 and I-89. I will caution you though. I left Boston at 74F. When I got out of the car for gas about midway it was 42F. Anyway, the shows went great and I met lots of interesting people. It is a neat little town. I loved waking up every afternoon (hah) and having lunch down by Lake Champlain with nothing but mountains in the near distance. The air was so breathable it nearly collapsed my New Yorkian lungs! I made the mistake of driving back to New York in the middle of the night after my last show there. Here is how the drive went: mountains, mountains, side roads, mountains, no cell service, more mountains, truck stop, Albany, more desolate unpopulated road, then home. I am still recovering. Anyhow, I leave for Syracuse soon. Then, it's off to Ithaca, and later Boston! See ya soon.

9/20/99

Maine was great. I learned a couple of new phrases. "All set" seems to be the big one. We say it down here, but not nearly with the same frequency or ferver as the Bangorians. The people in Maine could not possibly have been nicer. They gave me a place to stay, friends to keep me company, and lots and lots of new fans. I was also overjoyed to see that Denny's, one of my all time favorite late night dining spots, is making a comeback. The first of the new Denny's decorated in a classic 50's getup is right there in Bangor off Rt 95. Go up and have the Moons over my Slammy!!! I will be returning in the Spring for a week to be scheduled later. I am off for a couple of days. Then its off to Burlington, VT. See y'all out there.