Me walking through Springfield

Miles

This is Miles. He's 9. We almost lost him the other day when he swallowed a corn cob. I had to bring him in for emergency surgery where they cut open his belly and intestine and pulled the cob out. I've lost a lot of sleep the last few days and have been reflecting on how Miles has affected my life and why I love him so much even though he's caused me so much distress and conflict over the years.

Miles became my pet by accident. I adopted him with my two roommates in Boston - (Alex Maws and Surf del Mar) at a time when the three of us thought we'd be living in the same apartment for many years to come and could share the responsibility of taking care of him. Within six months, that situation dissolved and I became the sole caretaker of Miles. that coincided with me meeting, falling in love with, and moving in with the woman who is now my wife.

Miles has a strong, domineering personality; he's 1/2 Border Collie and 1/2 Rottweiller. This makes him hyper AND neurotic. To say it was rough between him and Rebecca when we all moved in together is putting it mildly. Miles was jealous, territorial and obstinate. the tension built for a year and a half and culminated in Miles biting Rebecca harshly on the hand at 2am on September 11, 2001.

Had it not been for the despair and fear that descended on the nation the next day, we may have used that incident as an opportunity to work out the relationship problems and find a way to co-exist more peaceably. That never happened, and it took us another eight years to get serious about the situation and hire a dog trainer to help us through it.

It's not always rocky with Miles. He tries really hard most of the time to be good. and we've been very good to him. He's travelled all over New England (and the country) with us, hiking and camping in The Green Mountains, The White Mountains, The Adirondacks, The Berkshires, The Holyoke Range, and most often when we lived in Boston, The Blue Hills and the Fells.


He used to be fairly personable with other dogs, and we had a lively community in Cambridge around the dog park we went to, attending special play dates, dog birthday parties, and once, even an Oscars Poker Game. the dogs weren't invited, but the scene was definitely reminiscent of this:

By the way, I won.






But when we had our daughter Lily and moved to Western MA, everything changed again for the worse. Miles became more anxious and more protective than ever. He attacked two neighborhood dogs - luckily not doing any real damage to either - and became increasingly aggressive with Rebecca and I around the house. He would steal Lily's toys, guard them under the bed or table and often chew them up. It's been clear he loves Lily and would never think of hurting her. He does it to spite us.

And yet, I love him. The early months when he brought him home were difficult for me. I was unemployed, my mother was very ill, and I was contemplating being able to stay in Boston. I would walk Miles daily through the Jamaica Plain neighborhood to Jamaica Pond where we would sit on the grass. Miles would romp after squirrels and chew on acorns, and I would write in my journal or read the paper. The distance that was building between my flat-mates and myself was easier to take with Miles around. He was such a beautiful and fun puppy - eager to learn tricks (he mastered most basic commands at six months) and always getting us tons of attention everywhere we walked. We were often beckoned into businesses along Centre Street so people could play with Miles, and we even once literally stopped traffic, while a burly construction worker and his girlfriend stopped their car in the middle of the road and hopped out to coddle the little fur ball.

I'm glad I got to write all of this down while Miles is still around. I know he's not likely to be too much longer, especially given his tastes for inedible objects. I know what a burden he's been on my wife - and often on me - over the years, but I can't imagine our house without him. Even over the last couple days while he was still in the hospital, our home was so empty without his presence. Sad and haunted. The weather has been beautiful but it was hard for me to enjoy it knowing he was in a kennel probably experiencing the worst pain he's ever had.

I'm gonna go give him a hug.

More press!

Nine Mile's Independent Spirit

Easthampton record label owner Rick Pierik enjoys the view.

Thursday, May 01, 2008
By Matthew Dube
A local music retailer I know recently said that he had not lost enough money running a store, so he decided to start a record label. Perceived as a thankless and difficult job in any era, running an independent record label in the 21st century means facing innumerable challenges, from the plight of struggling mom-and-pop record stores to file sharing to the state of the economy. It takes a certain disposition, coupled with a strong will, to beat back the tide.

Enter Rick Pierik, proprietor of Easthampton-based Nine Mile Records. For him, motivation lies in finding exciting bands to release and promote, along with the satisfaction of running his own business. Rick's home near Mount Tom serves as label headquarters and warehouse. The Advocate spoke with Rick recently about the cost of postage and why he feels like a salmon.

Valley Advocate: What's your musical background?

Rick Pierik: I've been playing live music—drums—since I was 16, in clubs. After college I lived in Boston from 1995 to 2004, and was the drummer in six or seven bands, including Los Diablos, who had a fairly strong Pioneer Valley and Vermont fan base.

Why did you start a record label?

I was always the guy in the band who booked the shows, tallied the money, hung the posters and did most of the grunt work to make things happen. I started Nine Mile Records to add some legitimacy to my work and to act as an umbrella for all the bands I was working with. There's strength in numbers. But it wasn't until 2003, when my wife and I had a child and moved out to Easthampton, that I began using the label as a way to stay in the music world. I wasn't gigging much anymore and wanted to keep the momentum going with all of the projects I had put time into.

I didn't actually start Nine Mile Records, though. It was started in 1986 by some high school friends of mine when their band put out an album. When my band was ready to do the same the next year, we borrowed the moniker. When I was searching for a name years later, I remembered that title and phoned up those old friends and asked them if I could use it. I don't think they thought I'd actually start a legitimate business.

I understand Nine Mile is more than a strict issuer of physical releases.

Nine Mile functions a little differently than most traditional labels. I work primarily with artists who are gaining big regional attention, but haven't broken into the national scene yet. Most of them come to me with some level of professional backing—a manager, a booking agent or a publicist. I help them create a plan for their next release and try to fill in whatever components they are missing by either linking them up to appropriate outside agencies or by doing it myself. I'm not just concerned with distributing and promoting releases but with management, booking, radio airplay, press, podcasts, you name it. I'm kind of like a utility infielder. I've even filled in on drums.

How many Nine Mile releases are there?

The old Nine Mile Records put out five releases. Since 1996, I've put out an additional 24 titles, plus three label compilations. I have three or four more due out this year.

What does your intern program entail?

When I lived in Boston, we had interns everywhere. Since moving out here, it's been a struggle to find people who want to get this kind of entry level music industry experience. I don't know if I'm competing with paid internships, or if the interest isn't there anymore. But because of the way the label functions, an intern at Nine Mile has the opportunity to learn how every facet of the music industry works: distribution and promotion, radio airplay, tour publicity, licensing. Also, because it's such a small outfit, we can tailor the internship to really get at certain skills a person wants to learn or develop. And I've finally caved in and budgeted a small stipend for the right candidate if they can commit to a certain number of hours in a given semester.

How is it different operating in Easthampton as opposed to Boston?

Did I mention a lack of intern candidates? First of all, we have a much bigger house here, so I finally have a dedicated office. Plus much more room for warehousing. I don't remember any mountain views in Boston, either, so that's nice.

What's the best part of being a record label head honcho?

Being continually surrounded by great music. It's really inspiring. Plus you have a great excuse to go to festivals and music events and then write them off.

Who are your all-time favorite bands?

Until 1984, it was The Police. I guess I stuck with that one as long as I could. High School brought Split Enz, The Pretenders, Midnight Oil, REM, anything that vaguely passed for alternative music. Then I became a college DJ and all bets were off. These days I can't really answer that, although I've been very drawn to Shara Worden and her My Brightest Diamond project. I went through a big Calexico phase recently as well. And a new band in San Francisco called the Botticellis really gets me.

How is Nine Mile affected by some of the current industry concerns?

It's pretty crazy. I feel the "new dawn" is finally getting here after all the hype. Record stores have been struggling for a while, but now No Depression and HARP magazines just up and folded out of the blue. Like I said, I work with artists who already have pretty defined niches. I also only look for bands I think can deliver on their live show. As my business plan picks up more on that end and less on retail, I hope it will compensate. I'm also getting more licensing offers for Nine Mile artists, which helps a little. The biggest thing that hurt me last year, however, was the postage increase. In fact, it damn near put me under. My costs almost doubled. And it hurt, because the Postal Service had been telling me for months that prices for my bulk mailings were going to go down. But because of the size and shape of CDs, they actually went up.

Do you sometimes feel like a salmon heading upstream?

Yes. In fact, I often use that analogy.

What releases and events are on the horizon for Nine Mile?

Kathleen Haskard from the UK released Don't Tell stateside on April 15. It's a dark folk-noir kind of thing that was produced by Chuck Prophet. I'll also be putting out Matt Hebert's next album, The Deep North, under his moniker Haunt. We're going to press a small run of vinyl this spring or summer and then do a CD release in September. Matt was one of the first Valley musicians I met back in the Los Diablos days, so it feels great to work with him. And this record is a real departure for him sonically. He recorded the songs with Jose Ayerve from Spouse, and Jose really got him to expand his palette. Lots of big guitars, feedback and heavy drums.

I also put together a semi-annual music series in Boston called Twisted Roots that's slightly eccentric roots-based bands done in cabaret fashion with a host. The next one is May 9 at The Lizard Lounge in Cambridge with Miss Tess, The Wiyos from NYC and Josh Lederman from Los Diablos with his new ensemble, The Cambridge-Somerville All Stars. It'll be hosted by yodeling banjo player Curtis Eller. It's been very successful in Boston, and hopefully when Flywheel reopens I'll be able to bring the series out here."

Nine Mile Records in the news, baby!

OK, OK, so there's been quite a lag in my blogging. Well, jesus, you try to keep up with a three year old and make time for this crap, eh?!?

Anyway, a lot of folks have been asking for an electronic version of the article on Nine Mile Records in this month's Northeast Performer Magazine. Well, I'll do you one better and include a pice written by Kristen Beam for MassLive last August after we put out Fancy Trash's Three Cheers For The Cheated. Check it:

NORTHEAST PERFORMER DECEMBER 2007


Nine Mile Records Helps Unique Talent Thrive In A Changing Industry

Since its inception in the late 80s, Nine Mile Records has taken independent artists in need of nurturing under its wing, allowing them to grow in a co-operative exchange until they feel prepared to fly the coop. Originally created by a group of friends in upstate New York as a means of bridging the gaps between local Syracuse artists, NMR has always shared in the DIY mentality, stressing the importance of the self-sufficient artist and his potential power in the modern music industry. The now-Easthampton based label began as a kind of guide or facilitator, helping artists take steps to promote their music locally. Over the span of roughly two decades, co-founder/musician Rick Pierik has transformed Nine Mile Records into a small but versatile label that works closely with its artists, some from overseas and some based locally, having been loyal to Nine Mile since the early days.

After taking an unofficial hiatus, Pierik revived NMR after a move to Boston in the 90s. At that point, its services were still limited to friends and locals, Pierik himself being the drummer for four bands (Josh Lederman y Los Diablos, Grubstake, Alex Maws, and the surf trio The Benders) that were, and still are, part of Nine Mile. While Pierik handled PR and distribution for Nine Mile-affiliated artists for years, it wasn't until 2005 that the label officially signed its first non-local artist. The premier talent, Patrick Sweany, a bluesy-roots singer-songwriter from Ohio, is now signed to a national booking agency and has a string of accomplishments under his belt - one being that his last CD charted on the national AAA and Americana charts. Since Sweany's initiation, the label has built up its roster and currently showcases 10 artists from an eclectic array of backgrounds and styles, though the focus usually leans towards genres such as singer-songwriter, blues, folk rock and folk punk. Yet Nine Mile is drawn to the musician who has a little extra to offer - dedicated artists who take these genres to the next level and somehow make them their own. For example, Northampton-based Fancy Trash has been described as "spazzy, folk-tinged, acoustic indie-rock," New Orleans outfit The Zydepunks honor their Cajun roots by singing primarily in Creole and French, and longstanding NMR band Grubstake combines accordion with zombie flick lyrics.

Despite gradual expansion, Nine Mile Records retains its center and close-knit sense of solidarity. Pierik recently told Performer "Because I'm such a small operation, I try to craft a contract to meet the specific needs of the artist. The new mantra is true: the music industry has changed and independent artists can now do a lot of more for themselves than before. They don't need the monolithic label to handle all affairs, but they do need an advocate who can pound the pavement, pick up the phone and talk to people on their behalf. There aren't enough hours in the day for most musicians to do all that."

Pierik intends to continue reinforcing the reciprocal relationship between artist and label that has granted Nine Mile success.

"I'm taking on much fewer artists in 2008 than I did in 2007 so I can focus on really developing the talent I already work with. Nine Mile has grown every year and I expect 2008 to be no different."

Getting to know Nine Mile Records

Posted by kbeam August 09, 2006

Categories: Western Mass. Record Labels

The news that Fancy Trash had been signed to a record label inspired me to find out more about Nine Mile Records. Rick Pierik, the label's owner, agreed to answer some of my questions.

What is your title and function at Nine Mile Records?
Owner. My function is to do whatever I can't get my interns to do.

What's a typical record label intern like?
Usually a budding college-attending musician who wants to get some practical knowledge of the industry and make some contacts, but also sometimes just a music lover who can't satiate their intake of music by simply seeing live shows and buying ten CDs a week. Most have a far deeper knowledge of unknown great bands than I do. Surprisingly, it's been difficult to find interns in the valley, so if anyone reading this is interested, check out the NMR website and shoot me an email.

Where is the label based?
Easthampton, Mass., Center Of The Universe.

But you didn't start out locally, correct?
I started the label in Jamaica Plain, Mass. approximately five years ago. At that time it was a collective - kind of like Pigeon Records - with different artists contributing different skills to help the label function. When I moved to Cambridge three-and-a-half years ago, I took it over myself and let the bands go back to making music and playing shows. I think the business workings of the label were getting in the way of them focusing on the music. I moved to Easthampton almost two years ago.

I am always interested to hear what people outside of Western Mass. think of the Northampton scene.
Actually, when I played in Los Diablos, we played out here often with Treefort, Ware River Club, Drunk Stuntmen, Fancy Trash, The Figments, Ray Mason, Big Bad Bollocks, and on and on. I was so impressed with the vibrancy of the scene given the community's size. And everyone was always so supportive - very different than Boston. We made a lot of friends. When my wife and I were ready to leave Boston two years ago, the Valley was on a very short list of places to move. I can honestly say that the music scene was a major reason why we moved here.

Do you ever see Northampton exploding into something major? I mean, since you chose to base your label out here could it be said that you are making an investment in the potential of the region?
I hate to say it but no, I don't. It just doesn't have the number of people to support the kind of live music scene that merits an explosion. But considering its size, the relative output of interesting, quality music is amazing. And not just the stuff that's making it out to the wider world like The Winterpills or Grace Potter. I'll stumble across a hidden gem like Our Lady of Bells or Josh Crane and be completely blown away. As I said, the music scene was an important decision in our move to the region, but really it was about a lifestyle change - fresh air, small towns, mountains, farmshares - all stuff we wanted to 'invest' in. Also, as I said, I hope I have the opportunity to invest more in the music of the Valley. One of the drawbacks of being the 'new kid' is that I haven't had the chance to really sink my teeth into the scene. I think once I do, you'll see some more locals on Nine Mile.

What helped you make the decision to sign Fancy Trash?
I like their music first. That's always the priority. And their sound has really evolved in the past couple years beyond the more standard folk-rock of their first CD. I try to build my roster around artists who use tradition - in this case traditional acoustic instruments and folk and pop music - and expand it. If you've ever seen Fancy Trash live, you know they are all about expanding it.

What are some other notable bands on the NMR label?
"Boston's Kings of Irish-Jewish Folk-Punk" Josh Lederman y Los Diablos and a retro-soul wildman out of Akron, Ohio, named Patrick Sweany, whose band used to include (and whose CD was produced by) Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys.

Fall and winter releases in the works for The Zydepunks out of New Orleans, a stripped down solo CD from the lead singer of Detroit's High Strung and a blues punk duo from Philadelphia called Grubstake.

Diablos West Coast Tour Part IV - On The Way Back Home

Day 8 - Ladies & Gentlemen, we're nearing the end of our fun-filled virgin trip out West, and I have to say it's been a gas. Today we wake as refreshed as we were the day we stepped onto our planes for Portland; not usually the way one feels after a week on tour. California living does a body good. We wake at The Buckley residence and - what's this?!?!? breakfast has been cooked, coffee has been made. Sweet Jesus, the Buckleys have adopted us!
After breakfast we decide to do as the Romans and hit some wineries. Always a good idea to get in at least 5 hours of wine tasting before a show. We meet up with some of Buckley's old friends in Sonoma and hit some bottles. Splendid, indeed. That's us at the oldest winery in Sonoma. I would have jotted down the name if I hadn't been so loopy...
Tonight we're playing at The Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. It's a large Performance Center attached to a UU Church. Again, I'm not sure what the usual clientele are gonna make of us. But it happens to be run by Lee Templeton's brother David (the one who had us over for Turkey Day) and he's been so supportive and confident that we are extremely excited to see how it unfolds. Plus we're finally playing with the notorious Culann's Hounds, a Bay Area Celtic Punk band that I contacted months ago when we first started planning this trip. It's all coming together. We get to The Glaser Center early for an extensive sound check. It's a large, live theater, and requires some delicacy with the mix. We sound check for what seems like an hour to make sure everything's a go. Then we have a few beers backstage with The Hounds, meet and greet some folks and the show begins. The Hounds sound fantastic - it's a great space for their acoustic sound and they get folks up dancing and clapping a couple of times. We head back and wait for our introduction. The rooms not very full, but there's still quite a few people here to see us for the first time. We're pretty pumped up. We get out on stage and, wha?!?!? all of the mics on my drums have been taken away as well as my monitor. Uh, why did we bother to sound check?!?!? Man, how to make a musician nervous 101 - get his/her sound down exactingly before a show and then, when they start, change it all without telling them. now this is starting to resemble a Los Diablos tour. We blaze through 75 minutes of our greatest hits (plus a couple misses) and people tell us afterward it was great, so no harm done. And we even got a chance to invite the Hounds onstage for a couple tunes: Irish Rover and Dirty Old Town. Very cool.
After, we hit a pub called The Black Rose under the freeway. Good Guinness + Black Horse Blues Band = Sure Fire Fun! We close the place with Josh singing tunes with Renee and Michael from The Hounds. Pretty awesome. Now how do we get back to where we're staying...?

Day 9 - Our final Bay Area show. Could we possibly have missed anyone in the area?! Tonight we're at The Starry Plough in Berkeley. We're splitting the night with The Mad Maggies again. On paper it looks like one helluva fun evening. At some point in the afternoon we drift down to San Francisco and do some arranging for our trip home. Josh and I head to Berkeley in the afternoon and poke around. One of the Maggie's has invited us over for dinner and his apartment is just a couple blocks from the venue. People here are just way too nice. They better not expect any reciprocation when they come back East. Doesn't work that way in Boston.
We're on first tonight - a good plan if ever there was one. That way we can get pie-eyed jumping around to The Maggies after we're done playing. A friend named Sol takes some fine photos of our set:

Turnout this evening is again less than expected, but boy folks are appreciative. And they know how to waltz! As planned, we jump around like idiots to the Maggies fine ska-klezmer-polka set and get drunker than, uh, last night. Which is pretty drunk.

I'll spare you the part about waking up hung over at the ass-crack of dawn to get Pete to the Oakland airport and just move along to the nice bit about how much fun we had out on the West Coast. thanks to all of you who came out and supported us, bought us a round, let us crash at your place. We truly had about the best time we've ever had - and that says a lot coming from Los Diablos. See you next time!

There are more photos on our MySpace page - go check em out as well as a live on air cut of a new song from the KPIG radio show in Santa Cruz. Cheers!

Diablos West Coast Tour Part III - How to Overstay Your Welcome

It's Monday, November 20th and the craziest leg of our innagural West Coast tour is behind us. What's ahead you ask? sleep. Pure & Simple. Well, that and another radio spot at 4pm. So today we gotta truck on up to Santa Rosa for a quick spot on KRSH to promote our upcoming shows north of San Francisco.
We hit California 1 and head north, passing some damn fine scenery:
We get to Santa Rosa and check into Mike Buckley's parent's house. They've graciously opened their doors to our ragtag ensemble for a couple of nights - guess Mike didn't really tell them about us...
KRSH goes well - 3 full band songs and a quick interview in which host (and local radio legend) Bill Bowker can't get our name right. Oh well, it's a small town and people will surely know where and when we're playing. We get some invaluable info from Music Director Pam Long about some fine local wineries to hit, and away we go.
Josh, John and Pete all head back into San Francisco to party while Mike and I decide to stay in Santa Rosa and get some rest. No gig tonight.

DAY 5 Tonight we're lined up to play The Larkspur Cafe Theatre in Larkspur, CA, just north of the city. It's a cute little room, primarily accustomed to jazz, folk and dinner theater, so I'm not sure what they're gonna make of us. But, hell, it's a Tuesday so whatever happens is fine with us. The Theatre is cute - definitely a throwback to an era when communities each had their own little playhouses. This one comes with a nice menu and a bar with fabulous wine. We've gotten some great press in the local weekly The North Bay Bohemian, so hopefully between that and the radio show we'll get some folks out.
8pm showtime, and apparently people around here don't a] read newspapers or b] listen to the radio. Very sparse crowd. BUT, certainly not empty. And, once again, size doesn't matter so much because everyone who shows, LOVES us. There's some fine waltzing, much applause and we even get two old Jewish grandmothers to whoop it up for Ana Nevsky and our new as-yet-untitled Hungarian Wedding Song. Also, Lee Templeton, madcap Dj of the One Night at McSorley's internet radio channel, and one of the main reasons we came all the way out to CA, makes the scene and we finally get to meet in person. We've clearly hit our stride musically - every night is better than the previous - and we're keeping people glued to our performance. Our music seems to really resonate with people out here.
After the show I decide to head into SF with Pete and Josh. Turns out, an old buddy of Pete's lives in Pacific Heights and has allowed us the use of his beautiful home for the next couple days. I don't wantto get into too much detail without his permission, but suffice to say, he came to California during the tech gold rush and struck it rich. His partner is having a late night thanksgiving party tonight that we crash. It's quite th stylish scene and I'm afraid we may get dumped back on the street for being too shabbily dressed and too pasty of skin. Everyone's tan and gorgeous and cooler-than-thou. But, hey free booze, turkey legs and a Ms. Pac Man machine. Plus, a view of the Golden Gate from the roof that is so incredible it looks fake. Eat and drink, lads for tomorrow we, uh, eat and drink some more.
DAY 6 Our 5th gig lands us at The Makeout Room in The Mission part of San Francisco. A very cool club with an impressive roster of now-famous bands that have graced their stage. For instance, here's a picture of my idols Calexico playing there in 2004. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of this evening. The opener is a fantastically unusual and talented performer named Uni, who accompanies herself with a ukelele and a whole lot of charm. you can check out her songs here. Her simple, catchy songs and her lovely voice captivate Josh. More on that later. In the meantime, we take the stage, and as has been our custom this trip, we promptly blow the room out. Everyone's dancing by the end of our set, and people scurry up to buy our CDs and chat us up. Sweet Jesus! Do these people know who we are?!?!? We are not worthy of this! I'm starting to get worried that we're exhausting every ounce of gig karma we've ever accumulated...
so, as I was saying earlier, Uni has cast a pervasive spell on our hero, Josh. So, when it comes time to settle up and get on back to our pad, Josh decides he's gonna ask Uni out for a late night dinner. She accepts and away they go into the Mission for 2am burritos. The rest of us head back to Pac Heights and drink with some old and new friends. Eventually we crash in the wee hours of Day 7.

Day 7 - Thanksgiving

Ouch, my head. Stop talking so loud. And get me a coffee if you're going out for one. And shut the blinds. Ouch. We actually have a busy agenda today. Our penpals Lee Templeton and her brother David Templeton (who runs the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa where we're playing on Friday) have invited us to their family Thanksgiving dinner in Petaluma. And after that, we've got our 4th Bay Area radio show on KRCB with the illustrious Doug Jayne at 8pm. If we start getting up now, we might barely make it.
Dinner is fun and the Templetons are EXTREMELY gracious. We are not worthy. In fact, we are quite hung over and make pretty lousy conversationalists. Josh even falls asleep on the couch stroking ther cat. I think I hear him muttering, "Uni..." as he dozes off.

At 7, we come to, pile into the car and off we speed to the radio station for a 2 HOUR SHOW! Egads. That's as long as a gig. Doug meets us there and he fits into our scene so well we almost knight him an honorary Diablo right there on the spot. what follows is a 2 hour broadcast of food-related songs interspersed with a couple of our tunes live in the studio every so often. We give away some tickets, we chat pointlessly, and we discover that a handful of people are actually listening. Poor fools. Doug lets some of us crash at his pad (his wife's away in Japan of all places) and we make a night of it, imbibing until the wee hours and listening to the new Tom Waits box set. Then we actually do knight Doug an honorary Diablo before dozing off to sleep...ahhh Tryptophan...

Diablos West Coast Tour Part II - Radio, Radio

If I were a betting man, I would definitely have laid odds against Josh and the boys making it to Santa Cruz for the 10am radio show after the harrowing night we had. But, to their credit they were out the door at 7am and made it to Freedom, CA with time to spare. This morning's spot is on the world famous KPIG, just outside Santa Cruz. We've got a 3 song slot on the show "Please Stand By" hosted by longtime radio personality Sleepy John. KPIG is a station that's right up our alley. Not only do they spin the kind of roots based rock and folk that fits our style, but they also ingest their playlist decisions with some actual feeling and heart instead of picking the 8 songs that are gonna sell ad space. Ya gotta respect that in this day and age. Josh, John and Pete played "Rain Keeps A'Fallin,'" "Chinatown," and a new one called "55 Words" and were interviewed inbetween songs about the tour. Turns out, ur previous evening's adventures make great on air commentary, and everyone in the studio has a good laugh. Then, to everyone's surprise, Sleepy John actually asked for an additional tune; hig hpraise indeed! So the lads ripped into "On The Way Back Home." At one point, John offered up another nice compliment by telling Josh The Pogues should cover "Chinatown." Egads! Perhaps they didn't make the show and we're all still dreaming. The set sounded fantastic, and you can listen to and download the version of "55 Words" on the Los Diablos MySpace site.

Now would be a great time for the band to regroup and relax - maybe find a local hotel in Santa Cruz and catch some much-needed rest before tonight's show. Too bad the guys have to truck 2 hours back up to Berkeley to play another radio show on KPFA at 2pm. Back in the car, stopping only to use a bathroom, they make it to the KPFA studios with neary a minute to spare. This spot is on Mary Tilson's America's Back 40 program, a fantastic 2 hours of bluegrass, Americana, old-timey and folk music. Mary became enamoured of our last release Let's Waste Another Evening and has been playing it often in the past 16 months. She admits to being a big fan and we're honored to be on the program. Not that you'd know by the fact that Pete looks like death and John, uh, smells like death...
Anyway, the lads do a full 30 minutes of interviews and music and even get the usually unflappable Mary Tilson to mistakingly say "urine" on the air several times - good stuff. You can hear the entire program on the KPFA archive here.
Now they have exactly 45 minutes to scarf down some Indian buffet before they drive back to Santa Cruz for our early show at The Attic!!
You may be wondering what the fearless rhythm section has been doing while Josh, John and Pete rush to make all of these engagements. Well, after exchanging rental cars in Berkeley, Mike and I decide to stroll around Telegraph Ave and take in the beautiful Fall day. We do a little record shopping, grab a nice lunch of spicy Pakistani food, and generally act like we're on vacation. Of course, when Josh calls to check in we act like we're working hard...
Back in Santa Cruz we regroup and prepare for the evening's show - the first with local's The Mad Maggies. The Attic is a beautiful space and the hospitality is lovely - big bottles of local brew and delicous food. Unfortunately, it's a Sunday night and the crowd is, uh, slight. But, man The Maggies are FANTASTIC and the faithful who do show up are wonderfully appreciative, waltzing and drinking the evening away. After the show, a few of us are swept away to Santa Cruz's only real Irish Pub, The Poet & The Patriot because there's this perception that we might like Guiness. Talk about stereotyping! Not that we mind this kind of stereotyping...