Tour 12.16.05 - 12.17.05

Tour 12.16.05 - 12.17.05

I hope to continue weekly updates of tours and life so you will know what is happening (as if anyone cares). Last week I began getting up at 5:30 AM (a big change from my previous rising time of 9:00). This is to get me back in the gym with my former roommate Eric. We worked out together all through college and I miss the early morning routine so I am getting back into it. We’ll see how long it lasts. It is tough to rise early in the week and play shows until late hours every weekend…coffee anyone?

As for the tour, the show on Friday was awesome! I love having a home crowd. Honestly it is a little nerve wracking because I know I will see these faces again and any failures on stage will linger with them. I have a hard time dealing with failure and the fear of failure. Once I get going though all is good. It is a great thing to see familiar faces smiling back or nodding with a song. It’s even nice to have people throw money at me…even if it is pennies….DUSTIN! (my cousin…he’s a hoot!)

After the show, I was exhausted, mostly from the previous week of getting up at 5:30 (I still haven’t shifted my night routine to get me to bed earlier) and so all I wanted was a bed. Sarah (Peacock) and I drove to Atlanta after the show to crash at her parent’s house. Needless to say, it was another late night.

Saturday was a trip. Sarah’s family was having their Christmas gathering. She warned me about it and said I didn’t have to go. But really now…free home cooked meal…I’d stand through fire and water for it! We had to get up a little earlier than I would have wished, but the food was worth it. (Special thanks to David for picking at the ham with me after the meal…it’s nice to have a partner in crime.)

Now Sarah’s family is…well…boisterous. They are of course super-nice and very hospitable. Sarah has two sisters, Laura and Rachel. All three girls are roughly two years apart and are so much alike that if one is talking in the next room, I can’t tell you which girl it is. It took me a little while to get accustomed to the dry sense of humor and high volume, but after a little while I realized that it is the same chemistry evident in most family gatherings (except for the slap on the butt greeting…which I didn’t receive…not that I’m complaining).

News flash! As I am typing this there is a dog peeing on the kitchen floor beside me. Crap! What are you thinking! Get back in your cage thingy...I can’t stand cute little peeing puppies.

Brandon (my benevolent friend with whom I am living since my lease ran up on 11/30) brought back a 7-week-old “Miniature” Chihuahua (just when you thought Chihuahuas couldn’t get any smaller) from his parent’s house on Saturday. It may be the cutest puppy I have ever seen, but is only partly trained. (btw, it just dropped a tootsie roll on it’s designated “poopy pad” so it is making progress)

Okay, now I have a mess to deal with and I totally lost my train of thought. Is this what it is like to have kids? Mom and Dad I give you my most sincere apology…and don’t expect grandkids anytime soon.

Have a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa…



(note: since posting this blog, it has been brought to my attention that the dog is in fact not a miniature Chihuahua as such does not even exist…however I am leaving the blog as it is and will continue to use the term “miniature” Chihuahua because I like it…even though I will surely face an unprecedented joint lawsuit from PETA and the ACLU claiming that I have hurt the puppy’s feelings by using the word “miniature” in reference to it, thus hindering it’s growth and subjecting it to a self-fulfilling prophecy over which the poor thing had no control. Because of this I will be required to pay for counseling, therapy, and basic necessities for the duration of the dogs remaining life….to which my response is…”dogs taste good”…)

(of course you know I’m kidding…dogs don’t taste all that great)

Tour 12.7.05-12.10.05

(Note: The views expressed in the following in no way represent the views of Beau Bristow or any other entity that might be held liable, especially concerning Italian Mafia names, Waffle house waitresses, and novelty water towers.)


Well, what can I say? It was great to be back on the road again. I took Thanksgiving weekend off and only had one gig the following weekend (which was cancelled), so I had been off tour (as opposed to “on tour”) for almost 3 weeks!

I began my adventures in Wilmore, KY last Wednesday, at Solomon’s Porch. I won’t comment on the coffee, but Wilmore in general is one of my favorite places on earth. It’s tucked away among scenic horse farms, and it centers around the campus of Asbury college and seminary (two separate schools, as the natives are sure to point out). I always have great accommodations in Wilmore (thanks Ande!) and usually get a great home-cooked meal (thanks again Ande!). It’s great to have friends on the road.

I woke up Thursday morning to snow flurries. That afternoon I drove 45 mph through snow and slush all the way to Florence Y’ALL, KY. The locals will know what the “ya’ll” is about (and you will too if you every look at the candy striped water tower off of I-75). Unfortunately, due to the snow, the show in Hebron (between Florence and Cincinnati) was cancelled and the “woman repeller,” as my Saturn station wagon has come to be called (thanks Matt), was covered in salt.

Kyle Cruz, his drummer Steven, and manager/friend Chris Fabriani were supposed to meet me in Florence. They were delayed in traffic, so I chilled at the library (nerd!) until they got in town. We spent the night at Chris’ house, since he is from Florence. It was butt cold (< 20°) and windy.

After sleeping late on Friday, we drove to Oxford, OH to play at Kofenya coffee house (one of the best coffee houses in the world and owned by 2 awesome gals of 21). We walked around campus until we had snot-cicles and then ate some top notch (for Ohio) Mexican food with Cara and Mi-Sun. (Chris, I still think Frankie Fabiani is a great name for a kid…no one would ever want a piece of that).

The show started at 10:00 and was great, but the highlight of my evening was the release of my live album, “Coffee Not Included.” It was scheduled to arrive that day so I had 50 units directly shipped to Kofenya. It was great to see the results of the past few months of my life right there before me. A lot of work went into the album and it was almost completely done by my manager and me. I highly recommend that you get a copy…of course.

We drove back after the show and hit the Florence Waffle House at about 2:30 that morning. This presents nothing to talk about in itself except for the fact that we saw the hottest Waffle House waitress ever, not that she was all that, but come on…it was Waffle House.

Saturday was the Lexington show at Common grounds Coffee House. It is one of my favorite places to play. The crowd is always great and it keeps growing. After dinner with some great new friends and a couple of old ones (or so it feels Lyndsay and Jenni), Kyle Kicked off the night with his set.

I have become a big Kyle Cruz fan. Great voice, great writing, great guitar riffs, and a great guy. You can find him on MySpace and I suggetst that you do. Kyle, Steven, and I did “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” together and then Kyle’s sister, who had driven up from Nashville graced us with her amazing voice. It was awesome and I wish we had saved it for the end because it’s tough to add anything after an act like that. After my set I hung around with my Georgetown friend Tiffany and new friend Ashley. I didn’t get to Nashville and my bed until 4:00 AM.

I can’t wait to do it again…

Student X Finale

I fully intend for this to be my last entry regarding Student X. I know he has been a source of entertainment and a hearty smile to many of my readers and nothing short of that to me, but I would hate for any of these innocent stories to come across in a negative way and tarnish the reputation of the parties involved, especially since I truly hold all of them in high regard. Of course something may eventually happen that I must share, and honestly, I am pretty sure it will. But until then I will leave it at this.

The past few weeks have been the best yet (in terms of progress, not entertainment). He recently explained to me that I should sell my CDs at Target, “you’d sell a bunch of CDs there!” he paused and reflected, “but then you’d be rich and wouldn’t teach guitar lessons anymore….and…I’d miss you Beau.” I almost shed a tear...
Since then we have had a break through.

Yes, we still get off track, once or twice in regards to naming guitars (he calls his other guitar his “football” guitar, a natural balance to his “baseball” guitar…we have yet to settle on a name for my guitar). We have even plotted to smash all of our guitars right before we die…a fair compromise between my insistence that we never smash our guitars and his insistence that we smash them that very moment.

Overall though, we are making progress. We played through 5 new songs at our last lesson. He was so excited and would have gone for 6 had we not run out of time. Afterwards he insisted that I come out and corroborate his story as he relayed this great news to his mom. As soon as he finished his story and I concurred, he voiced his request for M&M’s from the candy machine in the lobby. His mother turned to me and in a dramatic tone that implied that she knew the answer but wanted to play as if she didn’t, she asked, “Does 5 songs deserve M&Ms?”

Following her lead I replied, “Yes, I think it does.”

With that I walked back to my studio, somewhat thankful that he got the M&M’s after the lesson and not before it and anxious to see what next week holds…