MY 1ST NATIONAL TOUR - "The Crystal Wind Ensamble"

There are a lot of different ways to travel around the country side. Planes, trains and automobiles come to mind, but there are few ways as much fun and exciting as climbing into a van with a small band of friends, hitching up your trailer full of gear and hitting the road for the promised land... or at least a good time! Looking back at my 1st National tour it's pretty nostalgic for me, wide eyed engineer playing on some great and not so great college circuit sound systems... that was school for me, problem solving 1a and a MASH course in making it work every day. I was fortunate to have my 1st tour Engineer offer come from a friend of mine, Bodhi (Keven Setchko), not only were we already good friends, but we share the same birth date and year... I refer to him as my doppelganger Brother and a personal synchronistic event that we've well noted.

 

 THE CRYSTAL WIND ENSEMBLE

Bodhi and his band "The Crystal Wind Ensemble" had signed with "Higher Octave" a record label that specialized in what was then called new age music and was planning a National tour insupport of their new album "Inner Traveler." The band had a decent following amongst electronic music and jazz fans and we played some beautiful college theaters and clubs across the country, but it wasn't until we arrived into the southern parts of the states that we really noticed something very odd... we had protesters outside our shows, marching, chanting and carrying signs that read "Down with the Devils Music" and "New Age Music is a Sin". The parallel was uncanny, 6 young nicer than the boy next door musicians playing lite jazz led by a flute player... mothers lock up your daughters!

On one evening after a Charlottesville South Carolina college show we checked into a dorm room / hotel room situation arranged by some well intentioned staff member I'm sure. We were handed our room keys by a rather demure young women at the front desk and directed which way to go, we were all dead tired and traveled all day and had played a long set for a good house... it was clearly the bed time of day. When we reached our 3 rooms and walked in we all noticed the same thing, there was only one king size bed in each room! What? was the general thought... I marched back down to the front desk with one of the members in the band to voice my objections and request the correct accommodations. I put on my best, I'm tired and cranky but a smile will work better face... and said, excuse there must be some mistake, our band was supposed to have 3 rooms with 2 double beds in each room not just one king size bed... I travel with these guys all day and work with them all night I'm certainly not about sleep next to them. The desk clerk smiled in the sweetest way and said without a blink of an eye "I'm sorry, we heard you were from San Fransisco so we didn't think you would mind." In retrospect my 1st tour taught me a lot about sound engineering, the music business and people in general.    

These stories consist of rough drafts that will be proof read and finalized

before being included in "Another Day Another Decibel"

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