I made a costly mistake on our trip by driving through the heart of New Orleans which ultimately put us in Houston during rush hour traffic on a Friday evening. Honestly, Houston has to be some of the worst traffic I've ever experienced. Either way, we made it there safe and sound and had a great visit in Austin.
We saw some pretty interesting things and we were informed that we should beware of the scorpions and spiders in Texas! That was great advice since I was walking around with no shoes. We enjoyed the chance to have some impromptu jam sessions with our Texas friends and I had time to play guitar and write a few ideas that may make it on the new album. We also visited 6th Street in Austin and briefly explored some of the tourist spots. We visited a cool store that has the largest inventory of useless musical memorabilia I've ever seen and we ate at the 1886 Cafe.
Thanks Justin and Jennifer for putting up with us for 4 days!
A good decision and a lot of motivation by Andrea saved us a lot of trouble on our journey from Austin to Los Angeles. We fought some bad storms all the way down the east coast and into Texas but it was nice and sunny most of the weekend until the morning we were preparing to leave. We got up a little earlier on our way out and packed our gear before we hit a major downpour. It would've only taken 1 more minute of procrastination on my part and we would've had a truck load of soaked clothes and recording equipment.
We learned a lot of things while driving through Texas. 1. Don't Mess With Texas. Yes, you're reminded of that every 5-10 miles. 2. A "Cowboy Church" is apparently an official denomination in Texas. 3. Get gas every chance you can when you're driving on I-10 in western Texas. 4. DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!!!
I'll revisit number 3 briefly. Even though I've driven through Texas on I-10 when I was on tour with Bitter:Sweet, I knew that the stops were few and far between but I overlooked the fact that I didn't fill our tank up completely before hitting 300 miles of uphill driving with crosswinds and no fuel stops. As a result, we did almost run out of gas. Luckily the fuel stop that was closed in 2008 was open this time. We refueled, took deep breaths, thanked Jesus, shot a roadside video and continued on our journey.
After driving through a sea of nothing for a few hundred miles and having a rather questionable Tex-Mex meal, a traffic stop in El Paso delayed our trip. I was apparently driving 3 miles over the speed limit. I lost my E-Cig on the side of the road and Andrea lost precious sleep. Luckily, the officer was a kind gentleman and after extensive questioning, we continued on our trip. It was confirmed at that point that you just don't mess with Texas. Besides the tank museum conveniently located beside a California truck stop, a windmill farm and a magical plate of biscuits and gravy in a coffee shop, the rest of the trip was relatively uneventful and we arrived at our temporary L.A. home.
We are currently in the process of writing the new album in the comfort of our Los Angeles apartment.
I'm considering this the "pre-production" stage with more than a dozen ideas laid down for the new album so far. I have managed to completely destroy our living room/studio/dining room/bedroom/kitchen/den. It's a super multi-purpose room and actually sounds really nice but we're looking forward to tracking the new album this spring in North Carolina with the entire band.
We're finishing up a really cool holiday project that'll be available in the next few days. We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season! Thanks and remember that pajamas and work boots are the next big thing in travel fashion this season.
Thanks, David
