031709 Dallas to Austin

Get Ready to be Assailed by Photos

The Seedy Seeds departed Dallas in very good spirits with a belly full of sammiches and a twinkle in our eyes.

We arrived at our homestead just north of the city, burrowed ourselves a niche, and packed the niche full of our luggage and gear, and set off on a scouting mission.

Austin by night.

We discovered several interesting things about the city of Austin, Texas. For one thing, I love this city. People here are accommodating and polite. The entire city is on fire with good nature. After a brief foray into the city limits, Dr. Saint Augustine Nytehawk, Sir Franklin Redhawk and I went to have a beer on St. Patrick's day. After a few attempts, we found a local watering hole and, as you can see, achieved complete success.

Dr. Saint Augustine Nytehawk O'Malley enjoys himself.

The next morning we woke up and headed down to registration. The festival organizers really did a bang-up job of getting people in the right lines and moving them along.

Registration is fun.

Austin by day.

Austin by day again.

To drive the point home, I like this city a lot. Not just the festival but the whole shebang.

Anyhow, our sweet badges in hand and wristbands on wrist, we went exploring for a short time before loading into our venue, finding a totally awesome parking spot, jamming some food in our gullets, and oh yes, riding jackalopes:

Margaret likes them.

After getting a pretty good idea of the lay of the land, we went back to our venue, Waves, and got ready for our first show of the trip, our official South by Southwest Showcase. It was completely rocking.

Jam it out, Mike!

Sing it Margaret!

After our show we split up and took to the streets for a little bit. Redhawk and I found the most amazing thing in the world, a band that was playing to synchronized, music-producing Tesla coils. They actually worked out the frequency of each one and used them to play music. The sound of the air between the two coils exploding, at a certain rate, produced a tone that was in tune with the music - it was unbelievable and this picture does it no justice:

Music by lightning.

We also got to catch our pals Seabird.

This festival is simply fantastic. I'm going to have to apologize for being a little behind on my blagging, it's pretty crazy down here and I love every second of it. There'll definitely be more blogging to follow!

Perhaps one of the best things about this festival, aside from all the awesome music and people and places and things to do and see and buy and sell, is the fact that one street over from the main drag is a 10ft by 10ft trailer, constructed like a lincoln-log cabin, that sells AMAZING VEGGIE BURRITOS FOR THREE DOLLARS AMERICAN. And they're really, really tasty. It's the cheapest and best festival food I've ever found anywhere.

OMG SXSW OMG.


—Mike

031609 St Louis to Dallas

Conversation Survivalist.

We left St. Louis Monday afternoon for Dallas. We’d spent the morning reorganizing the boxes in which we keep our merchandise and auxiliary percussive instruments, writing emails, and printing handbills ahead of our Austin showcases.

Seeds Temporary Mobile Remote Headquarters, St. Louis, MO (STMRHSLM).

Mike tried to eat a baby garden gnome.

Mike also played some piano. NOT PICTURED: Brian singing on top of the piano.

With BaVanarama all packed up, we set out west. Brian E, Brian P and Mike (who have, at this point, knighted themselves with “tour names” (Sir Franklin Redhawk, Dr. St. Augustine Nighthawk, and The Micklen Man, respectively) shared stories back and forth of times past on the road in the American Southwest. Afraid that I would be forced to listen to tour stories with Creedence Clearwater Revival in the background for hours (CCR’s Chronicle is the only tape we have in BaVanarama), I thought it wise to pass out. When I awoke, we were nearing the border of Oklahoma. The boys were still sharing stories, so I was pretty happy with my previous decision to fall asleep to avoid the aural assault.

Greetings from Sir Franklin Redhawk.

Greetings from The Micklen Man.

Saggy Boobs, This Exit.

We had dinner and got back on the road just as the sun was setting. We had a tremendous view of the night sky which would otherwise have held our attention all the way through the state had it not been for all the fires! No joke, there were fields ablaze everywhere we turned. It seemed that as soon as we passed one fire, another would begin. My impressions of Oklahoma are at this point : 1. totally beautiful, clear night sky 2. fires, fires everywhere, and soon 3. giant monuments of Indians hanging out in front of strip malls. I fell back asleep and when I woke up we were pulling into Dallas.

I’m an early riser. The boys were fast asleep when I got dressed and got antsy to move around. I convinced The Micklen Man we should do some exploring and he, after resigning to the fact that he wasn’t going to get back to sleep, took me and BaVanaramma to the grocery store for breakfast.

When we got back, Redhawk and Nighthawk were up and assembling some TSS promotional samplers to hand out at the festival. We ate together, relaxed a little, and set off for Austin.

"No I'm totally awake."

"summunahWHERE AM I! DIJOO TAKE MY FISH had me a DOGCAT once DONTTOUCHMYSTUFF!!"

—Margaret

031509 Cincinnati to St. Louis

Creepy Pilot Truck Stop Bathroom Cowboy

Leaving for tour is pretty much the best feeling ever. Working hard to make sure everything is prepared, and all checklists have been scrutinized to ensure we are not forgetting anything- even though it is bound to happen. Seems like the only real time to relax is when you are finally on the open road. So true.

The first fill-up is always the greatest, “The point of no return” in my mind. BaVanarama needed to fill-up, while us Seeds needed to empty out. Now, I could tell some stories of truck stop bathroom visits completely based off of sitting in a stall and observing the nocturnal sounds of the general trucker / road dog lifestyle, but that is reserved for another time and another place. If you stay in one place for long enough, you are sure to find a humorous story to run back to the van with, worthy of interruption of our Subway picnic.

One phrase sums it up: “Creepy Pilot Truck Stop Bathroom Cowboy.” Letting it all hang out, surveying the scene for his next attack. He didn’t only stare- he observed his prey. With a tip of his ten- gallon hat, and ruffling of the feathers, he was there for business.

Back on the road, no looking back. We arrived in St. Louis mid-afternoon, greeted by milk, cookies, and yes- apple pie. It is so great to stay with family. They usually take you in as if you were stranded puppy on the side of the road. After a great dinner with even better people, Seeds business took over. After seventy or so emails sent, fifty shirts rolled, and about two hundred samplers stuffed- time for lights out. Busy days of long travels ahead and more emails ahead. South By SouthWest - we’re coming for you.

We also passed the LARGEST CROSS IN THE WORLD. Eat your heart out, Touchdown Jesus!

—Brian