Here's a short segment on midwest culture. Every summer, the town of Lake Geneva, WI has a huge influx of folks from Illinois. Due to the traffic increase, etc. some(not all) WI locals don't look too fondly on these part-time residents. In fact, they might even refer to them as "Flatlanders", a derogatory term, referencing the lack of character in the landscape of their home state. However, last week, I played five house concerts in Illinois, and found the terrain to be quite interesting. I mean, check these people out!

Gurnee, IL-



Rockford, IL-



Villa Park, IL-



Grayslake, IL-



Batavia, IL-




Speaking of terrain, I drove sixteen hours yesterday, mostly through this-



Until I arrived at this-


Hello Colorado. The Northwest Tour has begun!

I'm writing a movie. It's called "101 Kittens". Where did I get the idea? From a weekend's worth of concerts. I played in Burlington, WI (above) at a house that had recently been blessed with a litter of kittens. Kittens. Cute.

It will make my movie a best seller. Where did the "101" come from? Well, on Saturday, I played in Mukwonago, WI-

There was a women there who was 101! I'm pretty sure that's my oldest audience member ever.

Last night I played in Walworth, WI

And at the house next door there were African geese, Sebastopol geese, guinea hens, chickens, etc. Hmmm...kittens...chickens...the plot thickens...

There's a circus going on outside. I can hear the voice on the loudspeaker. I'll be the fourth ring of the circus tonight, playing in someone's living room in Columbus, OH. I've also been in Southgate, MI(picture above), although I didn't get around to stopping by the Sonic, which I was told is a pretty big deal.

I did play at a nursing home in Newbury, OH and only a couple people fell asleep. I'd consider that a successful event! Here I am with some of the staff.

Last night I played a backyard concert in Grove City, OH, and was introduced to Atomic Buffalo Turds (smoked pepper, cream cheese, sausage and bacon on the grill).

After all this craziness, I think a bonsai break might be in order-


But there's another concert to play tonight. I hope I can fit my guitar in the clown car.

A few more concerts under my belt. I think I'm getting close to 100 for this year! Moving quickly. So quickly in fact that the house concert host in Caledonia, MI didn't even have time to finish building their house! It was a half finished place right on the Thornapple River. One nice thing about an empty house- great reverb.

I also got a warm welcome in Holland, MI, right at the height of the Tulip Time Festival! Besides the spelling on the sign, you can see another indicator that I was in Holland if you look very closely at the yard across the street- a windmill.

With all of the miles I still plan to cover, I'm very grateful for the gift I received from my Holland host. A pair of red wooden shoes!

As you can tell, I'm very excited about them. Thanks Holland!

I'm in Holland, MI, and it's Tulip Time. Although roses are more closely associated with "love", I think "two-lips" might make a little more sense. A point not worth arguing. Why do I bring up "love" in the first place? Well, the picture above is from this last weekend. A friend of mine was directing a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at Lakeview High School in Battle Creek, MI and he invited me to play some pre-show music...The play was fantastic! I actually watched it multiple times and was very impressed with the performance and effort of the entire cast and crew. Well done! Here they are trying to represent their characters in a still frame.

I also bring up love because I just completed another loop of touring and have realized again that I love doing what I do. I finished up with 3 concerts in Pennsylvania. Erie-

Where love is "that thing you do" (movie reference- check it out!)
Trafford-

Where love is the first and greatest commandment (there were a few pastors in the room!)
and Pittsburgh-

Where love makes families grow (there were a couple expectant mothers in the room).

Keeping busy with a few more concerts later this week, though I will take time to stop and smell the...

I'd say that was a pretty good weekend! A stop in Tunkhannock, PA Friday night, complete with a stromboli supper. Stromboli is also an island mentioned in Billy Bragg's song "Ingrid Bergman", which also includes the word "mountain". Interestingly enough, I found myself on a mountain on Saturday, spending a little time with my host family. Doing some fishing-

And watching a couple bald eagles circling overhead-

Then I headed over to Scranton, PA for an afternoon concert-

Beautiful. I found myself a new tour vehicle as well-

I believe it was a '48 olds(?). A classic. Speaking of classics, yesterday I play in Ithaca, NY for a group of classic literature grad students from Cornell University-

I'll just say that the discussion was entertaining and the burgers were good too. Alright back to the daily grind...actually, I'm not sure what that means.

Elverson, PA- a place for good conversation and a back porch to relax on.

New Castle, DE- one of the first cities in the first state in the country. Some very cool history here.

Even though things out east can be kind of busy, it also reminds me of the "old days". When things were "simpler". Times when people would hang their laundry out to dry-

...or plow their field with a team of horses-

...or drink homemade root beer from Zook's farm stand-

Times not so far away...

This is not a "100 concerts in 100 days" tour, but I'm definitely still filling the dates! Recently I've played in Ellicott City, MD, where I was introduced to Leonidas, the sugar glider-

I still have a mark on my arm from its extremely sharp claws which are also useful for gripping branches. Speaking of, I visited a few branches in Washington DC.
Legislative-

Judicial-

and Executive-

Definitely a trip back to junior high Civics class!

I also played a "living room" concert on the Miss Ann yacht in the Washington Channel. Very cool.

Not more than thirty miles north, I was at a house in the the woods in Gambrills, MD.

Good pancakes and good questions from the audience!

In Carlisle, PA I had the chance to walk through the backyard and hop on the Appalachian Trail for a bit.

Kind of inspiring to think how far it reaches and how many people have walked it.

Continuing on my own trail, I headed through Hershey, PA and saw the Hershey's Kissmobile in a parking lot.

If I was its parent, I would definitely make sure it was home by 8pm. Nothing but trouble:)

I'm typing this from a deck in the woods in Lebanon, PA where I played last night-

Visiting with some friends. Something much appreciated on a busy tour like this!

If I told you I met someone whose family had invented a game that is on sale at Barnes and Noble, and then survived a night with the sound of jets flying overhead, where would you think I had been?...Raleigh, NC and Virginia Beach, VA. Obviously.

The game is called Yamodo.

It involves doodling and made-up words. Words like the name of the best NC college sports team- the bluewolftarpackdevilsheels (long story involving very enthusiastic fans).

The jets were in Virginia Beach (a lot of military there)

Also home to what sounds like a made up word- a labradoodle (the dog lying on the floor). Actually not sure if that is a real word. It might be in a dog book but not sure if it's in the dictionary. I'm at Barnes and Noble now, maybe I should look it up. Or, I might head over to the game section...

Today, I'd like to talk to you about water. See, I'm spending a few days in Boone, NC. Kind of an intermission in my tour. I did play a concert Monday night in Blowing Rock, NC. A mighty good time. And since then, I've had some time to relax with friends and do a little exploring. Which leads to my water discussion. Water can be dangerous, especially when it collects on tree branches and freezes like it did a few months ago (Christmas Day). Here's a sampling of the damage it caused, snapping and bending an entire hillside of trees-

Water can also be fun, especially when it runs down rocks and makes a natural water slide!

I'm in the top corner of the photo, wishing I had a little more seat padding:)

Water. It's also good for drinking.