Backstage in St. Louis

Well, here we are again at the Old Rock House, St. Louis, MO. What a trip it's been.

Not a whole lot of new info to report to everyone. The band's out again after the Thanksgiving break and back into the swing of road life. The shows this week have been great - the audiences have brought the love and reminded us all that we're exactly where we want to be: performing for fans all across this country and building the T-Ward fan base step by step.

It occurred to me earlier that during my junior year of high school, I bought a new drumset to play for a talent show. I ended up winning that talent show (along with my bass compatriot Joshua Corbett), and that very same drumset, albeit with a couple newer additions and tune-ups, is still with me tonight for my second show in St. Louis. It's crazy how life goes sometimes.

Kinda like this....

Joey turns to me and says...

...half-jokingly, "Is this God's country?"

And I reply, not jokingly, "Absolutely."

(These pictures have been shamelessly stolen from the Instagram of merch guy and all-round great conversationalist, Brent Buckingham.)

 

Posted with Blogsy

On the Road Again

the 1st leg

There's a bittersweet quality to having breaks during a long tour: getting to come home and see my family, my friends and my dog is always a plus, but having to leave them again is never a pleasant thing (especially during the one time of year when I want to be at home more than any other). Alas, this is the nature of the gig and the ever-present reminder that dream jobs are not always perfect ones.

Thus, the band has set out on its final leg of touring for 2012. The first North American portion went swimmingly: we had better-than-expected attendance at just about every show, the crowds were great (by-and-large), and nothing even close to catastrophic went down. (Here's hoping our good fortune continues to hold out!) In the midst of all this, some pretty huge developments are brimming behind the scenes in the dark, musty, and pungent corners of... bum ba da bum... the business side. Seeing as how it's neither my purview nor area of expertise, I'll just leave it at this: next year's probably gonna be big. Huge, even. Maybe even... riesig. (wink, wink)

A few things you might want to know...

...before coming on the road with the Tyler Ward Band.

1. Sometimes abbreviations just aren't enough. Which is why, more often than not, we just end up using the first letter (even if it doesn't save us any syllables).

"Hey bro, let's go grab some d." [dinner]
"I really need some s." [sleep]
"I am gonna punch you right in the f." [face]

When you think you're ready, start trying to one-letter multiple words per sentence. That's when things really get crazy.

2. Offstage Entertainment. House, MD. Happy Endings. White Collar. Homeland. Go On. New Girl. Friday Night Lights. TV? Yeah, we like the good kind.

The Warmup

Getting warmed-up backstage. Anyone care to guess whereabouts?