Six Observations

1. In Boulder the traffic lights change about half as fast as they do in Santa Fe. One actually has to take the foot off the clutch for a red light…

2. We coined a new phrase…..when one puts on a colorful fleece vest or jacket one ‘Boulderizes’…

3. We now have two Canadians in our crew. The Lighting Designer as well as the FOH (Front of House) Mixer. Both are very talented and great guys.

4. Tonight in Calgary Mark Clark used his skateboard to get from his riser on stage left to the cajon on stage right. It was very funny and surprising to watch him glide across…

5. How can one combine two weak items into one special brew? Order a regular cup of filter coffee and an espresso. Dump the espresso into the cup of coffee. Viola – a decent cup of coffee…

6. I haven’t written anything lately because I am hooked on Neal Stephenson’s new 900 page book Cryptonomicon…

Instore Performances + TV

We drove from Santa Fe up to Boulder, Colorado, yesterday. Today our crew is setting up the sound and lights and will test all of the equipment. In the early afternoon the 3 drummers will set up and later in the afternoon the whole band will do a 3 hour rehearsal.

The following instore performances/signings/TV appearances have been confirmed:

Saturday, June 12th, in Denver, Colorado 1-3pm: Instore at Bose/Cherry Creek Mall in Denver (signing only)

Tuesday, June 15th, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
CFCN-TV CTV affiliate, ‘News at Noon’ live TV show
12:20pm Live Performance 1 song plus interview
12:55pm Live Performance ‘play out’ over credits
Tuesday, June 15th, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
A-Channel independent TV station, Taped TV Interview
Note: to run in the entertainment portion of their news at 5:00, repeat at 10:00.

Saturday, June 19th, in Tigard/Portland, Oregon
12pm: Instore @ Borders, 16920 SW 72nd Ave, Tigard/Portland, OR

Thursday, June 24th, Two Rivers, Sacramento, CA
Tower Records will sell CDs at the venue. Ottmar to stop by and sign after show…

Sunday, June 27, Torrance, California
12pm: Tower Records/Torrance/Instore+performance, 22135 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance, CA

Tuesday, June 29, San Diego, California
12pm: Borders/Mission Valley/Instore+performance/1072 Camino del Rio North, San Diego, CA

A week before the first US show of ’99

Three days ago I did 10 phone interviews with journalists in Canada and Mexico. That amounts to about five hours on the phone, talking about my life, the new album, and this upcoming tour. It can be more exhausting than playing a three hour show, but then there are always some interesting conversations, too….

Two days ago, 4 phoners and a 4 hour rehearsal with the band. Yesterday, another 4 hour rehearsal… and a little birthday celebration for Daniel, who turned 33. James Bobchak came by and said hello. He was in the Luna Negra XL band a couple of years ago, and just released his second album, Sundance Flamenco, on the New Earth label.

Well, Luna Negra XL sounds fantastic this year… and we have more songs than we can fit into the show… we might have to change the set list every night. The sound of this band is big and exciting, bright, full of energy and depth… a week to go before the first show in Boulder, CO…