Dirt from the Road (📢 a Stoop Chat)

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This week we turn our backs on the Pacific Ocean and strike out East, into the vast prairies of Texas. As I type this, we’re still well shy of those dusty, grassy plains, just about half an hour outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. There we’ll stop at Sawmill Market, dubbed by Eater "the largest foodhall in Albuquerque.” We like a review that avoids qualitative judgments. Stick to the facts. Is it or is it not the largest food hall in Quirky ‘Querque? It sure as hell is. Thanks, Eater. More movie critics should stick to assessments like, “Titanic is three hours and fifteen minutes long, and the actor Billy Zane is in it.” I will decide if it’s any good, and whether it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, thank you very much.

Two days ago we played the historic Casbah in San Diego, and before the show, two noteworthy things happened. First, this message was posted on the Casbah’s Instagram page:

Wha? Huh? We don’t have any idea who leisureengineer is, but can speculate they’re somehow related to the promoter, and cooked up this devilish propaganda in order to make sure the show was a wild success. Sneaky! Hopefully nobody who read this and attended will feel the burn of a bait-and-switch when we continue playing shows and not retiring.

The second noteworthy thing was a sit-down with musician/podcaster/tour-mate Brett “Bar Brawl” Newski. Keith and I met Newski through his podcast, Dirt From The Road, which we’ve each guested on (separately). So we knew from personal experience that he had what it takes to sit down on the stoop. (Indeed, if you notice an uptick in audio quality in this ep, that’s because Brett handled the technical aspects.) Take a listen and see if you don’t agree.

KC’s wife Hayley came out for a couple of California shows. (Don’t be fooled by the fact that the security guard is standing up and that his face is pointed toward his phone — he’s asleep.)

We’re making great time on our (20 hour) drive to Dallas, and expect to attend happy hour in that town tomorrow. Drop your bar reccos in the comments if ya got ‘em — our old standby Lee Harvey’s seems unideal for a dark winter evening.

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