April 1st

I slept pretty good in the car and woke up wondering just how great or shitty the day was going to turn out. I also found myself thinking up cool ideas for April’s Fools gags but I never pulled any because I had already confused everybody in my life with some cryptic Facebook posts regarding my troubles on this tour I posted yesterday. There was no reason to make things worse by adding some stupid and half-baked AF joke to the mix.

I had been in touch with a former Sacramento friend Teresa who was living in Nashville with her boyfriend Sully and had offered a place to crash after the show there and I was looking forward to seeing her.


I got into Nashville pretty early and checked in with the booker at the Exit Inn which is a really nice and big club that boasts past appearances of some pretty legendary rockers including everybody from Charlie Daniels and the Ramones, to Billy Joel and My Morning Jacket.

And, of course, X and Exene.

Oddly, they had my name listed on the marquee for tonight’s gig.



There were no openers on the bill so it looked like I would be starting off the show which was fine by me. Actually, later in the evening, maybe about 40 minutes before I was suppose to go on, Raven had told me that Exene was thinking about maybe going on first and i talked with the promoter who confirmed that that had been talked about and said he was ok with whatever she/we decided to do. Again, I really didn’t care where I played but I just loved how it didn’t really seem to matter what my opinion was on the subject of changing our set places at the last minute.

Both Exene and I got our own green rooms but it would be wasted on me because, aside from a quick string change on my guitar and a check-in visit from Raven, I didn’t hang out in it at all.

I found a great cafe just behind the club, called the Coco Cafe that has good food and coffee, a strong wi-fi signal and they’re open 24 hours a day! I spent some time there, checking in with loved ones and the rest of the world.

I had kind of forgotten about those cryptic Facebook posts of mine and was a bit shocked by the amount of inquiries about them in my e-mail box. People from all over the world were wondering what the fuck was going on, what had happened and many were asking what they could do to help out. I wasn’t purposely trying to be vague with the posts. I would have loved nothing more than to blab about all this garbage, if for nothing else, just to maybe make myself feel better. But with 2 more shows left with Exene, I didn’t feel like making things even more awkward, so i held my tongue and filled in only those closest to me.

I was feeling mildly upbeat and became even more so when Teresa texted that she and Sully and a friend were at a bar across the street from Exit In and invited me to come hang out.  I walked over, met Sully and chatted with them for a little bit before needing to get back to the club. They’re a great couple and were so nice to offer their couch and shower for the night.

Back at the club, Exene and Raven had showed up but not too many other folks had. Like I mentioned, the club is pretty big so an “intimate” crowd here isn’t too impressive looking. I’d say that we ended up with 20 or so paying customers by the end of the night but that might be a generous figure. 7Seconds has only played Nashville, once, maybe twice, and I’m pretty certain I’d only played once there on my own. But X has played there many times and I figured Exene would draw a shitload of folks.

Maybe putting my name on the marquee wasn’t such a wise move.

I ended up going on first and had a great time. The sound was immaculate and I went a little crazy with my between-song banter. Crowd didn’t seem to mind. The few folks who were there and who had moved forward to watch and listen gave me love and it seemed like a good time was had by all.

After my set, I talked with a few folks while watching Exene’s set. She did a lot of talking herself and it seemed like she played a pretty short one. I felt kinda sad that more people had not come out for her. No matter how bummed I am about what has transpired between her and I, I still think she deserves lots of love and support from the rock & roll masses. I’d be interested to know her feelings on the subject but I guess I’ll never really know what they are now.

While I was standing at the merch table, chatting away, Teresa came up and told me that she was giving me an open-ended airline ticket from Southwest she had that would get me home to Sacramento, pretty much whenever I wanted to get back there. I wanted to weep, I felt so grateful and blown away.

For the last few days, people I know (and even some I don’t) have kindly offered up support and help, in the form of money, food, pickup gigs, transportation, and places to crash. All of it has been very much appreciated but this ticket offer, wow, wow, wow!

Just knowing that, no matter what happens, whether I bail right after Memphis or find a way to stay on the road a little while longer, I now had a guaranteed way to get home, thanks to Teresa. That nearly blew all of the bad shit away in one fell swoop.
I felt humbled and completely unworthy yet I couldn’t turn down her offer. Money is horrifically tight at that moment for me and wasn’t looking to get better any time soon.

After the show, I got paid, packed up my gear in the car and walked a block or so to a corner bar to meet up with Teresa and Sully who were singing karaoke. Well, Sully was. He did a fun, spirited version of Elton John’s Bennie & the Jets and I had enjoyed watching and listening. I’ll probably never get up there and do Karaoke myself but it does look fun, most of the time.

I followed T & S home and we chatted awhile before they went to bed. I took a nice, long shower and, after some Internetting, I melted into their big, ol’ comfy-as-fuck sofa and slept like a motherfuck.


to be continued….