Miss Tess: News

And so set out Miss Tess and her small band of merry men…

April 20
Today we drove to Cleveland, Ohio. It turned out to be a 9 hour drive. Not bad, really. Our friend Seth returned some musician karma to us from his past and footed a hotel room for our first few nights on the road…

April 21
This morning we went jogging, I think we might be the first touring band ever to do group exercising. Although, I’ve heard Bruce Springstein has a gym in his tour bus. To make up for the morning run, we decided to sample the deep friend pbj sandwich they offered on the menu of The Beachland Tavern, where we played in Cleveland. It was pretty yummy, and, according to the staff, the best sandwich of 2008 in Esquire magazine. We shared a bill with a local band, Gene’s Jazz Hot, who luckily brought about 20 people to the club that night. Otherwise, we may have had 4 people there. Monday night…whaddya gonna do. After the show we hit up a karaoke bar. Alec sang Christina Agulera’s “What a Girl Wants”, Paul sang Madonna hit “Like a Virgin”, and I did Patsy Cline’s “Faded Love”. Paul and Alec got mad I wouldn’t venture out of my comfort zone and sing “Don’t Turn Around” by Ace of Base. I wasn’t drunk enough.

April 22
Today we went to Cleveland’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, which is free if you can prove you’re in a band by giving the ticket takers a copy of your cd. A very interesting architechtural endeavor, the museum provided us with a few hours of entertainment. We also got a good view of Lake Eerie. Apparently Paul’s grandma’s sister died on a cruise ship that went up in flames on the lake in the 20s. After leaving Cleveland, we ventured on to Wooster, OH and landed at Seattle’s Coffeehouse, where we would play later on.

April 23
Paul’s friend, Andy, was kind enough to put us up for 2 nights in Columbus. Andy works as a beer distributor for microbreweries, so, needless to say, we did some fine sampling. On our night off, we decided to visit one of the local open mics, at Victorian’s Midnight Café. Certainly an eclectic bunch of folks, this open mic was hosted by “Crazy Pete”. I reminisced of the days as open mic host at the Milky Way in JP.

April 24
Today we pulled into Indianapolis, a small happening city. We ate at this great local Cajun food chain called Yats. Yum! Tonight we played a concert at the Indy Hostel, possibly the cleanest hostel I’ve ever been to – and I’ve stayed in quite a few over the years. It was quite a cozy little house concert. The folks in the front row were passing a bottle of bourbon around the room, and generously filling our glasses as well. That’s my kind of crowd! After the gig, Alec and I went downtown to catch some live music at the Slippery Noodle, established in 1850. This is a great real-deal blues bar definitely worth the visit.

April 25
Ah Chicago! A big wonderful city. Upon our arrival we met up with an old musician friend of mine from the Baltimore days, Jessie Hughes, and her boyfriend Matt. They live in a fabulous artist loft on the edge of Wicker Park, a hip area of town with great shops and restaurants, and 3 wig stores! Our show tonight was at Reggie’s Music Joint, a new venue in the South side. We played to a very loud, crowded bar, and listened to the sounds of the punk band playing next door permeating the shared wall. Later on we listened to music until the wee hours at the Green Mill, a popular all-night jazz club.

April 26
Welcome to Lanesboro, MN, “The Heart of Bluff Country”, population 788. Apparently the land here existed at the very bottom of various glacial structures, which carved out the land, but not the harder rock. As a result there are really cool looking rock structures amidst miles of farmland. We had a really great lunch special at Das Worst Haus today: homemade brats, baked beans, & root beer.
Lanesboro is one of the most liberal and arts-oriented small towns I’ve ever been to. You can also spot Amish carriages rolling through town every now and then. Tonight we played at the St. Mane Theater for an enthusiastic 15 people. I think the rest of the town was at the opening night of the Norweigan play, “Peer Gynt”. After the show, a very kind man by the name of Fred Kiel donated a few rooms to us musicians in the most beautiful B&Bs I’ve ever seen. Apparently there is a popular 60-mile bike trail that passes through town, popular in the warmer months. (It’s still cold out here) 5 stars to The Inn at Sacred Clay Farm.

April 27
We just missed the snow in Duluth, Minnesota. Thirty-five miles long and one mile wide, this port town is nestled on the western tip of Lake Superior. It’s a very interesting place – lots of industrial looking stuff by the waterfront, a gentleman’s club and a casino right downtown, and apparently 200 local bands. We got into town and played on the local television station, WDIO. Then later, we played at Beaner’s Central Coffeehouse, to an appreciative crowd, including a darling old man named Milt, who worked the door and said “You can’t see it, but I’ve got a smile 5 miles wide inside” after listening to our show. Beaner’s owner, Jason and his girlfriend Sarah opened up the night for us, as Yeltzi, and then let us crash after the show at their house.

April 28
Today brought us to the wonderful town of Minneapolis. We met up with another songwriter friend, John Wills, at a punk-tiki bar pizza lounge called Psycho Suzi’s. John was nice enough to sweet talk the Roe Family Singers, a pleasant oldtimey/folkgrass/country band, to let us hop on their bill that night at a sweet little joint called the 331 club in the North Side. Nice hang. Later that night we crashed at Katie Palmer’s house, a painter who I had stayed with 5 years prior to this trip.

April 29
Thanks again to John Wills, who grabbed us another last-minute gig – happy hour at Grumpy’s with a Minnesota “hot dish” on special. Apparently a hot dish is a bowl of some sort of savory hot food (in this case it was turkey and rice casserole) for $1. Brilliant. They also had a fire pit on the back patio. Brilliant.
Later on that night, we played at Lee’s Liquor Lounge. Adorned with taxidermized animals, Elvis memorabilia, and veteran bartenders, we played to a medium-sized crowd, opening for local musician Eddy Burke. We had local accordion hero Dan Newton sit in for some tunes, which was good – not only is he a great player, but he brought most of the crowd that night.

April 30
Tonight we played at a classy waterfront restaurant called “Waterfront Restaurant”. They fed us real nice and apparently we got the most applause out of anyone who had ever played there before. Thanks to John & Tammi Holtslander for putting us up that night.

May 1
Today we landed in Milwaukee at Club Timbuktu, a West-African-themed bar and restaurant, featuring mostly reggae & world music. Apparently one of the only clubs in the city with a racially diverse clientele, this was a fun place. We got fed well and local swing band, the Superchiefs, were kind enough to open up the night, help promote the show, and donate their portion of the pay to our cause.

May 2
As if Lanesboro wasn’t small enough, we thought we’d try out an even smaller town, Juda, Wisconsin. Jessica Blue is a fan of ours, and also a teacher at the Juda school, where we played for two assemblies of kids. I have to say, having a hundred little kids singing backups to “I Don’t Need That Man” was a career highlight. Jessica put us up, and took us on a tour of a cheese factory and a dairy farm. Cheese curds….yum…cheese curds…

May 3
We didn’t actually have a gig scheduled this night, so back to Chicago. We played a casual house concert back at Jessie & Matt’s loft. After, a group of us went to country & western night at the California Clipper and danced the night away.

May 4
KC & Pat are a fabulous couple who put us up in Ferndale, Michigan. What a house! We winded down the tour in their lavishly designed home, slowly traipsing through their magnificent garden, zoning out in the shell-studded bathroom, eating magnificent catfish chowder, relaxing after our gig in their hot tub, complete with an outdoor crystal chandelier.

May 5
We played at another school too early in the morning, and gave a lecture on the blues to 2nd and 3rd graders. And now we’re on the long haul back to Beantown…

And so begins our first tour of the year – fine excuse to dodge a few Boston snowstorms…

January 6 – BALTIMORE, MD
Today we drove seven hours to the 13th Floor. Somehow we fit the Bon Ton Parade and all of our instruments including drums and upright bass into my new minivan. I was happy to return to the city where I had my first band ever. We had a lovely show with local rockabilly band The Garnet Hearts amidst the smoke-filled, leopard-print-carpeted, 180-degree-panaoramic-Baltimore-skyline-view club, nestled on the 13th floor of hotel-rooms-turned-condos at the Belvedere Hotel. Apparently the Garnet Hearts are the world’s only band that includes a stunt guitarist. After the show, we crashed at a local art space and a cat peed on Paul’s jacket.

January 7 – DERWOOD, MD
Tonight we had the night off, so we ventured to my parent’s house to do some freeloading. We ate a lot of food and played tunes with mom and dad. Paul worked on his Marimba chops and my mom played her ukulele.

January 8 – KNOXVILLE, TN
Today we arrived at Kirk Fleta’s house in Knoxville. Kirk, a.k.a. the Pauly Shore of the South (in a good way) is a local songwriter whom we met at the Eddie’s Attic Shootout in Decatur, Georgia.

January 9 – KNOXVILLE, TN
Today we woke up early enough to make it onto local station WDVX’s “Blue Plate Special”, which is a great daily noontime in-studio live performance featuring two bands each day hosted by Matt Moorelock. We shared the bill with Tennessee-based band, The Dixie Beeliners, a happening bluegrass band.

Later on that night we played at Barley’s Taproom, our first show with our southern tour mates Christabel & The Jons. During the show an unknown middle-aged man came to the stage holding something. I put out my hand and before I knew it, his 14 carat gold wedding ring with the name “Stephanie” engraved on the inside was mine forever. I thought it was a joke, but the man didn’t ever come back to get his ring. Poor fella. I figured we could always pawn it for gas money.

January 10 – CHATTANOOGA, TN
Soon after we rolled into town, we found dinner at the Southern Star. It seems like whenever I’m in the South, I come across new foods. This time it was something called “lacey cornbread”, which is essentially thin cornbread batter deep-fried (of course). Greasy, but might tasty.

We played at a cozy little joint, JJ’s Bohemia. I’ve also been noticing things that happen in the south that you would never see in Boston. A man wearing no shirt and a leather jacket is one. A big-cheasted woman bearing her wares is another. Tonight the Bon Tons wrote a delightful song called “Oh Monkey” in 3 part harmony. After the show we covered Jon’s sister’s floors with air mattresses and called it a night.

January 11 – HUNSTVILLE, AL
Today I went to Alabama for the first time ever in my life, also a first for Gillian and Alec. We went to Rita’s house and she made us a fantastic dinner. Rita is a local gal, who likes to spend time playing the ukulele and accordion, writing songs, and hosting many bands at her lovely house. She has 2 daughters and a sweet ride.

We played to a decent crowd at Flying Monkey Arts, which is a really eclectic arts space with studios, a record store, and vintage clothing store, and many other interesting artist-owned spaces. It was an intimate concert setting with room for dancing, great sound and friendly folks. This was the first venue I’ve played at where I was allowed to have my lady flask on stage.

After the show all 8 of us went back to Rita’s to have a stellar jam session. We revisited “Oh Monkey” in the wee hours of the morning and laughed until our bellies hurt.

The next morning a cat peed on our minivan.

January 12 – CARROLTON, GA
Tonight we played at a smallish Italian restaurant called Mia Bella’s. Eh.

January 14 ¬¬– CHARLESTON, SC
Gotta love Monday night shows. Tonight we played at the Maproom in Charleston. 30 people at the show make this place look pretty darn empty. Nonetheless, we continued to rock the room. We spent the rest of the night hanging out in the band room and rearranging the letters on their rollout marquis (see pictures).

January 15 – CHAPEL HILL, NC
In Chapel Hill we played at a scuzzy little rock bar called the Cave. This room is certainly appropriately named, dark, low ceilings, lots of cement, and booked by a man who calls himself “Mr. Mouse”. Today was Gillian’s birthday. Her partner, Roxanne, had a massive cake designed to feed 50 sent to the club from a pastry place called Sugarland. We all ate a lot of chocolate, drank birthday whiskeys, and there was much rejoicing. Both bands slept at a frat house after the show, a first for many.

January 16 – WILMINGTON, NC
This was the Bon Ton Parade’s first show in a hookah bar. There certainly was a jolly crowd out at the bohemian Juggling Gypsy. And dollar beers. The owner is a fire dancer (explains a lot). I met another Miss Tess tonight. She drove an hour-and-a-half to see the show. She makes clothing and owns www.misstess.com. She said she’d give the domain to me if I wanted it, which was nice.

After the show, the Bon Ton Parade got to live it up in style at our first hotel of the tour, Motel 6. Are we rockstars yet?

January 17 – ASHEVILLE, NC

Our last day with Christabel & The Jons turned out to be somewhat trying. They blew a tire en route to Asheville and got stuck for hours waiting for triple A. They arrived at the Garage in Asheville around 10:30, just in time to start their set. It had snowed in Asheville that day, which dissuaded many people from coming out. Luckily, we had a good company of swing dancers who decided to brave the weather (which was nothing at all…southerners…). For any bands or booking agents who may be reading this, I do not recommend working with Chris Hart at the Garage.

After the show, we went to Jill’s house, the unofficial musician’s hostel of Asheville. We stayed up late singing our own version of karaoke. Paul plays guitar as we read song lyrics off of a labtop. Alec’s rendition of “Like a Virgin” was sufficiently entertaining.

January 18 – DERWOOD, MD

Back to the parent’s house for a concert. We had a modest crowd and got our first good night sleep in a while.

Overall, the tour was a great success. We impressed a lot of people, generally rocked out, got really good at packing the minivan, went to Alabama, learned to appreciate eating and sleeping habits of my wonderful band mates, and Paul didn’t drive the entire trip. He was very proud.

Until next time…

Here begins another journey around the south (of Boston): Miss Tess with bassist Paul Dilley.

First stop ¬– New York City.
December 17 was my debut at the Living Room in New York’s lower east side. We were please to have more in attendance than the normal 6-10 patrons. Also, we were actually allotted a whole 45 minutes for our time slot, as opposed to the last club that had bands every half-hour.

Second stop – Maryland
It’s kind of weird I never play gigs in Maryland when I pass through, journeying to North Carolina, being as it’s my home state and all. However, my parents still live there and have extra beds and a freezer full of food. I am excited for the January tour, as I’ll be playing my first show in Baltimore since 2005.

Third stop – Asheville, NC
Staying again with my lovely harmonica-playing friend Jill in the mountains of North Carolina. Jill lives in what I call “the unofficial hostel for musicians”. She was not even in town, but me and Paul, as well as other musicians, including Joe Bass from the Wiyos, filled her house with music and the tick-tapping sounds of labtop keyboards. Paul and I blessed the non-existent stage of a restaurant in Saluda, NC called the Purple Onion. This place gave us free dinner for playing, and let me say, they must have the best food in North Carolina.

Forth stop – Knoxville, TN
Returning for the second time to Preservation Pub, opening up for Knoxville legend Hector Qirko, we realized how thankful we are you cannot smoke in bars in Boston. I used to have nostalgia, as a jazz musician, for that cloudy haze lingering in the atmosphere of a good divey pub. There’s just no going back after experiencing clean lungs (and clothes!).

Fifth stop – Harrisonburg, VA
We didn’t have a gig scheduled for this night, but luckily my friend Jeremiah found a cocktail house party for us to crash with our instruments. We drank and played, people danced, and they even bought cds. Then Jeremiah took us to his new pride and joy, a restaurant/bar/venue, which will be opening at the end of January ’08 called Clementine. They’ve been renovating this space themselves since May ’05 and holy shit is this place nice. It’s the size of a nightclub with huge pieces of art around, state-of-the art tables and charis, and a really nice bathroom. We should be playing there sometime this summer.

Sixth stop – Thomas, WVA
Some of my dear friends, Chris and Misty, decided to drive down to our gig at the Purple Fiddle from Berkley Springs. They were going hiking before the show so we decided to join them, even though the weather was a little suspect. We ate lunch and a patch of sunlight appeared, so we decided to make the trek. When we got to our destination- a rock promontory in Blackwater Falls, our faces got pelted with rain as we enjoyed the overlook. We played at the Purple Fiddle, which was a very cozy coffeehouse type of joint in a small ski town. Some friends from MD drove 4 hours to see us. That’s always nice.

Seventh stop – Decatur, GA
After dropping off Paul off at some ungodly hour of the morning at the Baltimore airport, I enjoyed a nice Christmas with family in MD. On December 26, I flew to Atlanta for one last tour gig at Eddie’s Attic, the venue where we kicked ass at in November and won their open mic shootout. I played solo in a singer-songwriter in-the-round session with Caroline Aiken, Matthew Kahler, and John Pringle. This is an amazing venue, where people pay to come listen and go gaga over songwriters. People actually shushed each other during one of my songs. It’s like Passim, but cooler because there’s alcohol.

Back to Boston…with my new minivan.

Last week I have a wonderful time at Augusta Heritage Swing & Blues week (www.AugustaHeritage.com). There's a video of one of the concerts up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoZO_-xSwbk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIJhTjS3zLs

Here's the story of the tour in all its glory...

We started off to our first show of the tour on June 27. After suffering through the immense pile of traffic that is new york city, while rocking out to metallica in the car, to try and alleviate our frustration with the congestion. We pulled up to 68 Jay Street, a tiny bar in DUMBO, Brooklyn, just in time to set up and start playing.

We were very happy to be doing something other than getting sore bums in the car. We were greeted kindly my Miss Jan Bell, a bonafide musician in her own right, and presented with 2 lovely cold free beers. We knew it would be a good night from thenforth. We were situated next to the big open windows in the front of the bar. As we played, the rain came pouring down and all was well.

Next we drove to Maryland to visit with my folks. I could not get a gig in my own hometown.

On July 29 we drove to Charlottesville, VA for our second gig. We stayed at Adam Larabee's new house, another great musician currently playing in a band called Joy Kills Sorrow. His lovely fiancee, Chloe, also greated us with 2 cold beers, and all was well.

We drove around town until we located Fellini's #9. After parking, we took a stroll down the central market area in Charlottesville, which was quite bustling with people and commerce. We bumped into Joebass, a friend who is in a great band called the Wiyos. He was busking on the street, playing oldtime music with some friends.

We then went to the club and set up. The bartender asked us to start playing at 9:56, 4 minutes before our scheduled start time.

People danced. Jeremiah, an ex-Bostonian, came to the show and dragged a bunch of friends out. They liked it. My aunt's sister came with her husband, but they have to leave before we started because they were tired. Joebass came later with his friends.

After we finished playing, the bartender, who also happened to be the person who set up the show, complained to Lyle, asking him where the rest of the band was.

The next day we drove to Hendersonville, NC, a small town about a half-hour south of Asheville. Our show was scheduled at the Blue Ridge Performing Arts Center. A very friendly man named Howard Molten runs this relatively new venue. He also gave us beers.

Lyle's Telecaster was creating a strange buzz that might've had something to do with the stage lights in the old movie theater we were playing in. Within 30 minutes he had 3 of other people's guitars to choose from. He picked the flattop.

Howard said our new cd, "Modern Vintage", had gotten airplay on a couple of local stations, and somebody wrote an article about us in the local paper. I never saw the article. Many people came to the show. The only person we knew was my friend, Jill Fromewick, blues harmonica virtuoso who plays in a band called the Grit Pixies. She was putting us up in Asheville. Her house is the unofficial musician's hostel of Asheville. Everyone was silent when we played and people bought a lot of cds.

In Asheville, the next day, we went to the river for a swim. It was somewhere near Hot Springs, NC. It was beautiful. We did not go to the hot springs.

The second day in Asheville, July 30, we played at a BBQ Restaurant called Ed Boudreaux's Bayou BBQ. It was a long gig.

The next day we went to Deactur Georgia to play at this place called Eddie's Attic. I tried to book a gig there, but failed, so I figured we'd go anyway and compete in their open mic competition. We won and Eddie, the owner, bought us whiskeys. The performers were good- and from all over the country-, the room was crowded with an attentive and appreciative audience, and it was a Monday night. We might go back in November to compete in the open mic shootout. Grand prize: $1000

When we got to our accommodations that night, which Jill had arranged, I realized I had gone to school with our host. In Australia.

On July 3 we drove to Gainesville, FL to meet up with another musician-friend (who is also a scientist and teaches at Harvard), Hazel Levy. It was her 35th birthday. We met her at a place called Satchell's Pizza, serving the best pizza I've ever eaten.

That night we played at a noisy Irish Bar called Durty Nelly's. A fantastic musician named Eden Archer opened up for us. She sang beautifully with her sister.

The next day was the 4th of July and we set of an amazing SC-bought firework called "Bling Bling". It was totally worth it.

On the 5th, we drove to Athens, GA. We ate at a superb diner called "Clocked", which was right around the corner from the Mercury Lounge, where we were playing. Stuff is cheaper in Athens than it is in Boston. After the show, we saw a really vulgar duo playing at the Caledonia Lounge with my friend Nick from college.

From Athens, we went to the Chapel Hill area. First we played at Cafe Driadde. This intimate coffeehouse is basically in the woods and we played on a small, outdoor stage. It's hard to hold out a note when a mosquitoe is biting you on the arm or the forehead, and there is a green bug crawling on your fretboard.

Our second show was in Carborro at another coffeeshop called the Open Eye Cafe, where somebody at the previous show had told us the Germans wearing tight clothing hung out. I assumed he meant hipsters.

The next day we arrived back in Maryland, where I am now, sitting on my parent's couch typing this. Tomorrow night we play our last show of the tour, back in new york at Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction in the East Village. We play at eleven and will then drive back to Boston.

~Miss Tess

So last night was the cd release for "When Tomorrow Comes" at the prestigious jazz room, Blues Alley in Washington, DC. I'd like to sincerely thank all who came out and made this such a great night. We sold out the first show, which is pretty much unheard of for the club on a Tuesday night!

Hello fans,

Thanks to all who made it to the Lizard Lounge May 25 for the "Modern Vintage" Cd release party. We sold out!!

~Miss Tess