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...