MidWest Tour Diary Part 1

And so the adventure begins...

I’m trying not to call the tour a disaster because at the very least I got the book to some good people and into several really cool bookstores, saw a few old friends, and made some new ones. I’m trying not to call it a disaster but on the face of it, others would be hard pressed not to.

Day 1 - May 16th - Departure

Long, difficult day. Before I’ve even left, lots of regrets from friends who won’t be able to make it out to the events. For understandable reasons, and at least they let me know ahead of time, but it would’ve been good to see them and have people at the readings. To add to this, an hour before I leave, a bookstore messages me about an event in June that was double booked and needs to be rescheduled. I get on the road at 7:17PM, the plan being to break up the 8.5 hour drive to Cleveland by getting 3 hours under my belt tonight. A cheap hotel booked in Wilkes-Barre, PA, close to Nanticoke where my grandparents were from. I do feel this resonance whenever I drive by.

I’ve been on a big Chameleons kick lately, and I must’ve listened to The Fan And The Bellows 20 times this trip. Man, those guitar lines, and the bass runs between the chords. So I dialled up some podcasts with Mark Burgess, particularly digging Straight To Video and The Hustle, which also features an interview with Tiffany (yes, that Tiffany) in the same episode. Now, this latter ep kinda changed my life and altered the course of my listening for the tour, because I noticed the most recent Hustle had an interview with Darren Paltrowitz about his DLR Book: How David Lee Roth Changed The World. I had not heard of this before and of course it caught my interest. As soon as my paycheck clears, I’m ordering this book. In which, Paltrowitz attempts to present real life stuff behind the persona. In the course of listening I also learned that Paltrowitz is the co-host of The DLRCast dedicated solely to this topic. I had many audiobooks downloaded and albums lined up to listen to on the 2144 miles I covered, most of which went out the window as I got obsessed with what Darren & Steve have been laying down, topics I’ve spent countless hours discussing with friends over the years. Tonight though I managed to finish Stephen Fry’s reading of Wodehouse’s Lord Emsworth And Others, quite enjoyable short stories with a couple Ukridge ones in there too. Inspired by the podcasts of the evening, I also downloaded Greg Renoff’s Van Halen Rising, which I have a physical copy of but got interrupted some years ago without finishing. Get to the Motel 6. Very creepy. I bring everything inside.

Day 2 - May 17th - Williamsport to Cleveland

Up at 6:47 then laying in bed to rest my aching body. Up at 8:20, meditate, write. 10AM interview with Andy Downing from Matter News in Columbus. Really enjoyed this talk. Andy knew his stuff, had read Sporting Moustaches in the two days since I sent it to him, and had researched my other work as well. Setting off after a good meal at Eden-A-Vegan in downtown Wilkes-Barre. Taking an alternate route to go over this really cool bridge with an eagle atop each of its four posts. Over the Susquehanna River which I passed last night too and always feel a sense of connection with as my grandmother would talk about it from when she was growing up. Listened to The Chameleons’ What Does Anything Mean? Basically. Then back to Van Halen Rising. Taking a break to listen to the Paltrocast interview with Steve Vai, which I very much enjoyed. After that I really dove into the DLRCast. Stopping in to OTTO Bookstore in Williamsport where The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass has been selling. And well, they told me. Jello behind the counter knew the book and although she hadn’t read it yet summarized it perfectly and said it’s on her list. Awesome. She also asked me questions about writing. It was cool to hang and talk. The owner John showed me around and said based on the sales of BCA and with Sporting Moustaches being a great Father’s Day Gift, they’d order 10 copies. Awesome again. I pushed on, getting to Cleveland a little after 7. As I got on the by-now-familiar highway 77 and headed towards exit 164 for Cleveland Vegan, I had an urge to hear Ice Cream Man so I cranked that up. Apple Music recommending Yankee Rose afterwards and I listened to it laughing about the idea – as presented on the DLRcast – that on David Lee Roth’s Spanish language version of Eat ‘Em And Smile - Sonrisa Salvaje – Steve Vai would’ve also made the guitar ‘talk’ in Spanish. My first ever concert was that tour and fond memories flooded back to me. Cleveland Vegan delish as always and I got the avocado BLT with the amazing shiitake bacon and a bacon egg and cheeze. Very filling. Walking down the street on such a nice night, and I do like the Lakewood area of Cleveland, felt good to be out of the car. And went to the awesome record store My Mind’s Eye where one copy of Nick Cave’s Bar that I left last year had sold. Charles gave me a great percentage on it and I took back one of the copies of BCA as I’m running low, but leaving one there as I like having it in cool shops. Talked about Julian Cope for a bit and then I made my way to my hotel. Again, not the greatest accommodation.

Day 3 - May 18th - Cleveland

Good writing in the morning before leaving the hotel. Back to Cleveland Vegan. Two orders of avocado BLT + omelette. On to getting books in shops. Passed Gordon Park on way to Browsing Room Books, the lake looked really lovely, wish I had time to stop. To Visible Voice, BCA flyer still in bathroom from last year’s reading, took 2 on consignment. To Loganberry Books which is fantastic, a huge shop with many different sections, the fiction/poetry room being like a rich person’s library. Gave spiel to owner and woman she was in a meeting with, lots of laughs, said they’ll take two. First sale of the day, felt good. To Appletree Books and just enough time to drive out to Blue Arrow Records & Books before heading to the reading. When I finally find the address, it said Closed. To Mac’s Backs then. Great shop. Owner Suzanne so nice. Great to see Andy again, met Daniel, and Vince who I was to read with. Except even after 5 there was no one there for the reading. I’ve learned in cases like this the best thing to do is not accept defeat. I wasn’t even phased that no one was there, it happens. Often. So we set up a table outside with the books and hailed people passing by. Also hung out in the shop, talking to customers. Sold a couple copies that way, and a couple of Nick Cave’s Bars. Suzanne was great, bought more books from me and gave me a copy of Elaine Dundy’s The Dud Avocado - I’ve long admired its cover -

and two Wodehouse books. One I need, and the same edition of Cocktail Time, my favourite Wodehouse, that I had years ago. Traded books with Vince. Had a really nice time. My friend Bo couldn’t make it out from Toledo but I went back to Town Hall to snag some Reverse Osmosis water that when we were there last year had a sign saying something like ‘The Best Water On Earth’. And I’m pleased to report it’s still just as delicious. Before that headed out to The Vegan Club but they were only doing take out. Got a delish slice of Raw Cashew Cheezecake with frozen strawberries and whipped cream, reminding me of my grandfather making Strawberry Shortcakes at Sunday dinners. Another 2 hours to my EconoLodge booking in Monroe, Michigan. Room a lot nicer than my previous two, with a living room set up. In my exhausted state I’m very pleased about this, despite only being here less than 12 hours. Listening more to Van Halen Rising and had to shut it off about 20 minutes away from the hotel because I was too tired to really pay attention anymore, for a second there concerned I may have finally overdosed on VH lore.

Cheers!

To be continued…