Road journal!

February 4th, 2010

A spring in the axel snapped on the trailer, so we had to get it fixed before our drive today. As we left the hotel we noticed there was a slight tilt to the trailer, and decided to get it checked out before our drive to Milwaukee.

Finding a place called Mr. Trailer on google maps was a good sign, and it was only 7 miles away. Mr. Trailer was a kind old man, who looked at the axel and said, “don’t worry, it will be fine. The only thing that’s broken around here is me, one of those lucky to be alive situations, I guess.” as he winked and limped around his shop. It looked like half of his body was paralyzed, possibly from a stroke.

We unhitched and left it in his care. First stop, was the Hot Spot drive-thru coffee we noticed just down the street from Mt. Trailer. Were the stories true? Baristas in bikinis, maybe even topless?

We pulled up and were greeted by the sight of a lovely tanned brunette in a bikini who smiled at us and those in the front seats smiled back, while the guys in the back leaned forward trying to catch a glimpse.

We gave her a tip and a sampler CD and went across the street to Bob’s Big Boy diner and got lunch. There we made friends with the wait staff, who told us to keep smiling and made us feel at home – they got a CD too.

We sat and talked about last night’s show in Pontiac. It was a really fun show in the sold-out Pike Room at the Crofoot Ballroom. It only fits 300 people, but there might have been a few more than 300 inside. We heard that a few fans snuck in, but got kicked out – we’re really sorry about that, next time we’ll try and play a bigger room. The Detroit area is a great place to play music – the people there are awesome.

We’re a solid week into tour and despite todays trailer incident, spirits are running high. Many of you tell us that you love the new songs and that you’re excited for Shame, Shame. We’re excited to share it with you, and you’ll hear one of the new ones, Shadow People on Facebook real soon.

The trailer was repaired in a couple hours and Mr. Trailer fixed our hitch too. We left him and his wife, who works the front counter with their friendly dog and cat and went on our way. Before we left, we gave him some Dr. Dog CDs because he told us “All we get on the radio up here is Bob Seger.”

Waterford, the town where we were stranded for the morning, is not on the way to anywhere, and probably doesn’t get too many bands driving through, but the locals were extremely kind to us today.

We’ll be a couple hours late to Turner Hall, but we’re confidant The Growlers will hold it down for us until we get there. Those guys are the real deal, it’s been nice getting to know them.

Love,
Forrest