Sunday, October 23, 2011

Tour Blog #7

The Home Stretch.

With four shows and a little under one week left to go, the first North American tour is nearing its final lap. Next on the docket are a couple of shows in our neighbor country to the north and then back across the border for a pair of nights in or around New York City. Then, our fearless leader will be jet-setting across the pond to open up 3 weeks of dates for the boys in Boyce Avenue.

Don't fret, my European familie: if all goes according to plan, the rest of us in the Crew will be stopping by soon enough.

And, let's face it: it's not a real rock 'n' roll tour until the van gets jacked, right? Some nefarious ne'er do well in Atlanta thought he'd better his own situation by ripping off some of our personal gear while we played our set inside the Vinyl. The good news? He didn't get all that much and the truly important parts of what we lost were properly insured. The bad news was simply the massive inconvenience it caused, forcing us to iron out a situation now involving police reports, insurance claims, and van repairs. But, as before, that certain someone who has met every single need we've had this past month came through for us yet again, and the tour was able to continue right on schedule.

Jammin' Java, Washington, DC

As for this week, the drives up and down the eastern side of this America have been quite idyllic. The colors of autumn have created a rather serene backdrop for this musical sojourn of ours. The feeling that we've just driven into a wall calendar is overpowering at times, and, being myself a junkie for the changing seasons, it is a most-welcome experience. Staring out the window at the passing countryside is by no means a waste of time for a musician on the road: it's all but impossible not to be inspired and uplifted by the very natural & intoxicating beauty of Virginia, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, and New York in the fall.

As this tour winds down, I find myself more and more excited for what's right around the corner. Without divulging any details (the music business is, forever and always, constantly in flux), it seems a bit of a misnomer to use the phrase "winds down" for anything pertaining to the T-Ward Crew. This first tour has exceeded expectations for everyone involved, and we'll be kicking things into an even higher gear in 2012.

But for now, let's see what you got, Canada. It's been a few months since we last played for you in the Great White North; might these next shows be a barometer of what the future holds for the Crew on the road?



Oh, yeah. Be sure to dig the new video.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Tour Survival Kit #2 - The Neck Pillow

When 11 people are traveling 12,000 miles in a 15-passenger van, sleep doesn't come easy. Fortunately, however, American industry has given us the answer for our vehicular comfort problems. At the ridiculously affordable price of $14.99, this is a must-have for any young band on the run.

I'll let the picture do the talking.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Tour Blog #6

It's amazing how fast it changes. One day, a nine-hour road trip seems like a bit of a chore. Then, after two weeks of touring, it’s just another day on the job, hardly noticeable at all.

Once it seemed like setting up the stage and getting through sound check would never end; now I blink my eyes and we’re playing Paper Heart.

Albert Einstein once said that music is what gave him inspiration for his theory of relativity. When pressed, I’m sure he would’ve clarified that he was on a music tour, where time becomes a completely unreliable constant when compared to anything. At sound check, Mary Song moves right along at its normal pace, but once 500 people pack the room and scream their heads off at the sight of your band walking on the stage, the click track seems lethargic.

Old Rock House, St. Louis
But you adapt. You get used to it. You adjust what you need to adjust and you bring the business to the people. You learn how to set up, check, perform, and tear down a show on only a tidbit of sleep because while you were busy acclimating to hours and hours of time spent on the road, you forgot how to nap in a moving vehicle. Well, shucks. I guess that’s why we brought the DVD player and the Nook, after all.

And we’ve been forced to acclimate to another kind of constant: the sellout. Phoenix. Chicago. Nashville. DC. And while we might get used to it, we never get tired of it. 

Sold out in Cook County.
The blessings continue to fall on this tour like a benevolent torrent. We have officially driven from one coast of this continent to the other playing music for thousands of fans, all the while protected and provided for: through sickness, exhaustion, and the unavoidable diagnosis of First Time Out. The only thing better than doing what you love is being supported while you do it, and perhaps the largest part of this entire experience is the impression that somebody up there is taking serious care of us every step of the way.

We could never be worthy.
And when did I miss the memo about naming all of our grocery stores in ways that sound like they’re being made fun of by 2nd graders on a playground? Harris Teeter. Menards. Piggly Wiggly. I cannot possibly be the only one who finds the following conversation hilarious:

“Honey bunches, we’re out of sugar. Can you head on down to the Teeter to get some more?”

Come on, America. We can do better.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

New Crew Vids

Dig the latest offerings.

 

 ...and yes, I actually did play the entire song on the Roland SPD-30 Octopad. 

Tour Blog #5

Deep in the heart of Texas.

Houston, Dallas, & Austin. San Antonio tomorrow. And a stop in Phoenix beforehand. All either sold out or within a couple dozen of being so. To put it lightly, the tour is picking up steam.

Due to the steady social media flow, word is getting out and tickets are moving. And we could not be more privileged or thankful.

A sold out show in Phoenix, AZ kicked off our week. One would be forgiven for thinking Sunday night had morphed into Saturday with the amount and intensity of fans that made their way out to the Rhythm Room. It proved to be an poignant indicator of the way the rest of the week would unfold for us: great audiences in great rooms making for great shows.



Houston and Dallas both offered up their House Of Blues venues, and Austin propped us up at the estimable Stubbs' BBQ. The band continued to break pre-sale records at each subsequent step, and despite several crew members coming down with the bug, the performances have delivered.

There was another gift tossed our way during this little road trip: after our Phoenix gig, our fearless leader hopped a flight back to Los Angeles to film a performance for Ellen. (Tyler and his 'How To Love' compadre, Christina Grimmie, will be all over daytime television this coming Monday.) After the taping, Tyler joined back up with the rest of the crew in the Lone Star State.

Not even breakfast ceases to remind you of where you are.

The daily schedules have been packed, as well. After a two-day jaunt into the Central Time Zone, our week was a whirlwind of traveling in the morning, checking sound in the afternoon, and performing in the evening. As I write this, we're on a rare day off after three straight travel/performance dates, and it's an understatement to say that the response of the fans has been a rejuvenating force for the band: playing every night to packed & fired-up houses makes the daily cyclone absolutely worthwhile.

In the meantime, we've found some rather effective ways of passing the considerable amount of time spent in the van. Friday Night Lights, The Big Bang Theory, & Breaking Bad have all been getting serious time in the DVD players, and we've been able to record our performances from the previous night and listen back for some on-the-job review. The work never stops here in the Tyler Ward Crew, people.

Actually, that last part's not true at all. Last night, after our show here in Austin, we made our way down to 6th Street to see what all the fuss was about and, well, as they say here in Texas, it was somethin'. And tonight, the schedule's completely free, so who knows? Maybe we'll even catch one of those fancy moving picture deals everybody keeps talking about.

Says it all. Even without the other 'P'.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Tour Blog #4

California: Hills & Valleys.

Well, the west coast leg of this tour has officially come to an end. 4 shows in the Golden State and we've begun our trek east; first stop: Phoenix, AZ.

On the marquis at the legendary Roxy

California had some special moments waiting for us as well as some important lessons to be learned. This last week was chock full of on-the-job training, from surly sound guys and bud-smoking club managers to audiences as different as ice cream and Tabasco sauce. Most of the club crews we've worked with have been fantastic: friendly, accommodating, hard-working. But every once in awhile you run into the scenesters, who care only about their favorite types of music and won't be bothered enough to offer up even a monosyllabic grunt or two if your band doesn't happen to be their particular flavor of death-metal-thrash-core-screamo-punk-rock. And then there's the entitlement crowd, who passive-aggressively condescend to the young rock band on the road the moment they don't get exactly what they want.

Welcome to life on the road.

We've also compiled some crazy travel stories, including a misplaced credit card reader that ended up being found in the gutter of Sunset Boulevard, a late-night drive towards San Francisco after our Los Angeles show that had us arriving at our hotel room at around 4:00 in the morning, an impromtu tour of Taylor Guitars' HQ, and the discovery that the club in San Fran in which we played, Slim's, is owned by the legendary Boz Scaggs. We've also begun to hit our walls: a certain amount of exhaustion has begun to get the better of some of us; as I write this I've just woken up from a Nyquil-induced coma due to the symptoms that began to appear in my head and sinuses last night.

Welcome to life on the road.

Tyler at Taylor

Adaptation is the word of the day: the show must go on, and God-willing, it will. Because every single night that we are blessed enough to walk out on that stage to the ear-splitting welcome of our fans, we're reminded that it's all worth it. There is nothing in all the world quite like performing for people who have waited months and (in many cases) years for the opportunity to see our little band do what we do. We feel so loved and appreciated on this tour that no matter what technical issues, personnel issues, or health issues we may be experiencing, if we can get to that stage, we're going to bring it. Every night.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Branford on Music Students

 

 Time to get humble, folks.

Tour Blog #3

One week in; three shows down.

Three days of straight travel had us ready to kick things off with a show in the great city of Seattle, WA. After some time spent sightseeing and the discovery that even within sight of T-Mobile HQ the reception still doesn't exist, we headed over to Studio 7. A 900-degree room during load-in made setting up the drumset a little unpleasant and Tyler's favorite guitar mysteriously committed suicide during the show, but those were probably the only downsides to the tour's opening performance.



The next night found us at Portland, OR's Backspace, a downtown coffeehouse/internet cafe. The room was a bit smaller and the stage was a bit shorter, but the energy of the Portland crowd was through the roof and made for a truly memorable night. Any time you have fans driving upwards of 10 hours to see your band play, you feel inspired to play your tokus off, and when they show up with the kind of excitement and energy that they brought with them to Backspace, you play your tokus off.


The drumstick tree @ Backspace; truly, a work of art. 

After a couple more days in the van we landed in Riverside, CA, on the campus of California Baptist University. Twerp week was kicking off (don't ask) and they invited us to help them get the party started. The crowd was great, the weather was great, but the power was not, and about 30 seconds into our first song, the PA system lost the juice. The only thing the kids could hear was my drumset, and, while I would never deny anyone the sheer awesomeness of such an opportunity, that wasn't exactly what they all had come to see. During a quick impromptu acoustic performance, the hard-working sound techs got the power back on and we started up again. Mary Song was once again rockin' like it does, but this time around, about 60 seconds into the song, the PA died.... again. For Round 2, Tyler took Jess, Alex G, and Eppic out in front of the stage to give a raw, unplugged performance of the band's acoustic montage and the crowd was gracious enough to dig it and hang around.

Sights like this one as well as the Solyndra HQ building make the drive through California a truly sentimental experience.

Once again, the techs (now running around like proverbial decapitated chickens) plugged-in this and rewired that and got the whole show up & rolling again. The third time turned out to be the charm, and we were able to ride that wave all the way to the end of our set. Gina and the rest of the crew that took care of us at CBU could not have been easier to work with, and the entire tech team busted some serious hump to make sure that the show did indeed go on. 4th-and-long turned into a touchdown because of the hard work of everyone around us, to be sure.

We're one week and three shows into this tour, and so far the T-Ward Crew fans are proving that they are indeed some of the best on the planet. The support has been tremendous, and most everyone's been kind enough to bring along their cell phones and video cameras so that every tinsy, winsy little mistake we make will be entombed forever upon the hallowed digital manuscripts of YouTube. I'm sure one day a casual perusal of the internet will have us shaking our 60-year-old heads and saying to ourselves, "What in the world were we thinking....?!?" Or maybe we'll be the first band in history to compile an entire live DVD from footage obtained solely by the fans. Who knows? The sky's the limit at this point, people.

The Big Party


Can't wait to see everyone else in the other mainland time zones over the next few weeks... be sure to bring your cell phones!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Tour Survival Kit #1 - The Cooler


Never underestimate the value of a well-stocked cooler in the tour van: $8 is just too steep a price to pay for every single meal of the day while your band is still independent and you never know what one of your wife's homemade chocolate chip cookies will get you.

"Tyler, I'll let you have one of these fluffy culinary delights if you let me play a 13-minute drum solo tonight..."

Never underestimate the importance of a cooler. Never. And don't forget to pack the vitamins!

Needtobreathe - 'The Reckoning'

If there's anyone out there looking to score some new music, be sure to check out Needtobreathe's brand new album, The Reckoning. This baby is brand new as of yesterday and Needtobreathe definitely deserves the attention of every serious music lover out there. Be sure to check it out, my peoples.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tour Blog #2

There are some unexpected mysteries that pop up in each of our lives. One such unexplained enigma surfaced in my life not long ago when I realized that I had never met a single person from the state of Idaho. What's more, I didn't think I had even spoken to a person who had ever spent any amount of time in Idaho. I had absolutely no point of reference for what the Gem State was like outside of an entirely blue football field I had seen on TV.

Fortunately, two things happened: 1) a co-worker friend of my wife informed me that she had attended college at the University of Idaho and was able to inform me about a thing or two, and, 2) I went on tour with the Tyler Ward Crew.

Those Idahoans love their Broncos.

Anyone know who Titus Young is? I'll bet you someone in Idaho does.


Thus, today I am able to check not only this mysterious blank spot in my geographical reference off of my list of visited states, but it's westerly neighbors, Oregon (pronounced O-ray-gone by the manager at Outback Steakhouse tonight) and Washington, as well. It truly is an exciting moment for a travel geek like me to set foot in a new state, even if only passing through. What's really making the ramblin' glands salivate is the knowledge that, God-willing, I will end up on the entirely other side of this great country before this tour is over.

I love my job.

It's Officially Official....


....we're on tour.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

'Storm Before The Calm'


YouTube is working again and the first new crew video of the tour is up. Dig it.  

 

EVH

"....it was just given to me. God just picked me to do this. And you try to keep your chops up so whatever He gives you, you can execute."

- Eddie Van Halen

...and here we go.

It's September 20th; the Tyler Ward Crew is officially on tour.

Day 1 finds our merry band of heroes departing the beautiful homestead of Colorado for the greener, wetter, Pacific Northwest-ier city of Seattle, WA. Along the way they will traverse the largely-uninhabited frontier that is Wyoming and the rugged ranges of Utah.



After nine hours of drive time in our 15-passenger APC (aptly named "Colonel Mickey"), the band have found ourselves holed up in Ogden, UT for the night. Highlights from what might seem like an otherwise slow news day include a victory in my very first Madden 2012 game (the randomly-selected Chicago Bears bested the Seattle Seahawks 34-24, and, yes, Col. Mickey comes equipped with the one-two punch of XBOX 360 & HDTV) and the discovery via Michael Lewis' Moneyball that the difference between a .270 and .300 batting average (IE: the difference between a journeyman ballplayer who's name you forget and a first class Hall-of-Famer) is a single hit every two weeks. Great stuff.

Col. Mickey's junk in the trunk: 200 cubic feet of sheer awesome.
Tomorrow finds us with nine more road hours on the docket; for now, Real Time with Bill Maher seems to have appeared on my hotel television set, which means, good people, that it's definitely time to unplug and shutdown.
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