July 5th
So far, our first two days of tour have consisted of the same routine: get up early, drive eight or nine hours across wide landscape to the venue, play the show, then crash on the floor of a kind stranger who we just met. I’m glad I came into this tour knowing that “experiencing the places” was not exactly on the list: in two days we’ve gone from Missouri to Wyoming, and my sightseeing consists of looking out the van window as the scenery slips by.
There are some things that don’t change, no matter how I travel, and one of the biggest things is the sensory aspect. Life feels grittier, more intense, both less and more real, when I travel. Chewing whole wheat bread slathered with jelly and trail mix while squinting in a Wyoming sun. Sitting on a concrete floor with my fingers jammed in my ears trying to endure yet one more song with the same punk rhythm. Sweat running down my calves as a flood-scented wind lashes through the windows. Linking sticky arms with my bandmates in a group hug at a gas station in Nebraska. Feeling my violin playing vibrate in my back teeth and my collar bone as I hit the note spot-on. Cuddling up in a sleeping bag with a silky-furred yorkie under my arm. Sitting on shady grass and watching Tyler’s pet turtles chew dandelions. Gazing as the landscape transforms from flooded cornfields to hills of ragged gray rock. All part of the experience. All part of the memories.
~Lisa Shafter
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