Tuesday Update 08.29.06 (On Wednesday for good reason, but poor discretion...)

Tuesday Update 08.29.06 (On Wednesday for good reason, but poor discretion...)


Yeah, I know....today is Wednesday....not Tuesday....but I have good reason...I’ll tell you at the end.


Now, for the week in review:


Last Wednesday was the second of two band rehearsals as I prepared to take the Beau Bristow Trio on its maiden voyage.

Thursday was it’s christening as we set sail for Georgetown. The show was a lot of fun and my friends in the audience gave an intimate touch to a rocking set.

Friday we played an outdoor festival in Bardstown, KY. I never know what to expect going into these situations. It’s like pulling down that trap door/ladder thing that goes to your attic, you know, the one that knocked Chevy Chase out in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. You never know what is going to jump out at you, but you are braced for the ladder, an anvil, 3 rats, a raven, a spider riding a snake, and maybe a vampire or two.

Well in this case, we were in a park that had a playground, a pavilion, and a grassy hill around the front of the pavilion...not exactly a stage, lights, and screaming fans.

We set up as. one by one. people began to roll in with their lawn chairs. By the time we were ready to go we were surrounded by a hill of 100+ men and women. Now my typical audience is high school and college students....add 40 years to that demographic and you will get an idea for what the audience was like in Bardstown. Honestly, I was a little nervous. Could I connect? This was something unfamiliar, out of my element. I took a deep breath, braced myself and began....

Long story short, we played two 45 minute sets and had a much better than expected response...however, they did say the drums were too loud, which makes Lee the first drummer ever to overpower an outdoor audience without even going through the audio rig...I had him turned completely off! Way to go Lee...

Lee Holland (drums) and Caleb Mundy (bass) added more than I can tell you about here, and so I am happy to tell you that we are now booked for a huge festival in Georgetown, KY on 9/23! Be looking for details soon!

Now, fast forward to Monday night: Curb Café at Belmont University in Nashville. I get through maybe two songs in my set and am confronted with something that I still can’t get out of my head. I have been waiting on the photo so I can share the horror with you in this blog, but I didn’t get it until today.... that is why I am a day late... brace yourself...

(The picture is edited and the names are withheld to protect the indecent.)



Happy Wednesday!

Beau

Tuesday Update 08.22.06 (Da Burns, Salsa, “Don Gato”)

Tuesday Update 08.22.06 (Da Burns, Salsa, “Don Gato”)

Okay, it’s currently 11:30 PM and once again this Tuesday blog is going to be more of a Wednesday blurb....

The fact is that I have been so busy booking and getting things ready for upcoming shows that I just don’t have time to blog like I want. Speaking of upcoming shows, I am taking the Beau Bristow Trio for a test drive this weekend in Georgetown and Bardstown, Kentucky. This will be the first time I have played with a backing band in over 2 years! I am excited to have the talents of Lee Holland (drums) and Caleb Mundy (bass) behind me. We had one rehearsal yesterday and we will go for one more tomorrow....only 2 rehearsals....can we pull it off? Come find out if you are close by!

At this point I feel I should introduce you to my long-time friend and manager Matt Burns. We were college roommates for 3 years and almost 18 months after college. Over that time he picked up nicknames such as Burns, Mad Matt, Coach, and my favorite ‘da Burns. (Bonus points to anyone who can tell me where the last one came from...hint: “da bears”...)

Someday I’ll have to tell you about how we went backpacking and it snowed on us and it was so cold that the water splashing against the banks of Kentucky Lake froze to my pants instantly, or the time we built a wall of cinder blocks in front of our neighbors’ door (those girls never appreciated the genius behind that prank), or the time we pulled up 50 campaign signs and stuck them in the yard of our on-campus housing (and the fact that he did this in a Karate suite), or the semester he stayed in our on-campus housing after he graduated (one semester before me) because residence life never put someone new in his room (he had to move all of his things out 3 different times because of inspections or other things that would have blown his cover...still not sure how pulled it off).

I could tell you about the time we went to his parent’s house in Minnesota for thanksgiving and we somehow ended up in Indiana, a whole hour off course! I could then go on to tell you how we took back roads through a blizzard to get back on course in Illinois. I could tell you about the time I duct-taped his cell phone to the wall in our living room, and how hard I laughed when I was awakened from my sleep by the vibrations it sent through the wall and up to my bedroom as he called his phone to find it (and the ensuing phone call to me to say “I hate you,” all in good humor or course).

I could tell you about the time I shot him in the neck, point-blank, with a mini-marshmallow out of a 10 foot piece of ½ “ PVC pipe, and then how he poured all of 2 quarts of water in my bed in retaliation (it was an accident, I swear....). I’ll never forget his reaction (think Arnold Schwarzenegger) when our water pipe burst one winter and 5 campus security officers and 2 maintenance men stood there looking at the water pouring from our ceiling while one poor guy ran round like crazy to shut the water off. And honestly Burns, if you are reading this, I’m still not sure how you got the salsa on the ceiling....

Having said all of this, our meetings as artist and manager are surely not the norm. Just to give you an idea, we generally meet and start off on course to get a lot done, but by the end we are tired and delirious. For instance, if you hade been there at our meeting tonight you would have heard:

“Before we commit blasphemy, let’s turn off wireless.”


“Let the chips fall where they may...and we’re hoping for salsa.”


“Goodwill doesn’t sell in bulk!...goodwill sells in dirty, skanky worn for 30 years...”


What does any of this have to do with any semblance of a professional career? Well, I guess you would have had to be there.

That being said, be sure to add Matt (http://www.myspace.com/flintentertainment) as your friend (and make certain you read his “sounds like” section on his profile....priceless).

I know this has been a little bit of a tangent, but I really wanted to share a little about the friends that help keep this thing going.

Before I wrap this up, if you are starting school soon, good luck! I hope your semester goes well and that I end up in your city soon!

Now, I saved the best for last:

It has come to my attention that I need a mascot, and in fact, Burns and his wife Stephanie have a new kitten. His name is Linus, which I like a lot, but in a startling coincidence it was recommended that I get a mascot and name it “Don Gato.” Now I have been told that “gato” is Spanish for “cat,” so it seems only appropriate that I now introduce you to the new member of the Beau Bristow team: Don Gato!







Have a great week!


Beau

Tuesday Update 08.15.06 (laughing camels, crabs, Seinfeld lives...)

Okay, it is currently 11:40 PM, and I’m in a mad rush to get this up before Wednesday gets here in 20 minutes.....here goes...

The last week is hard to recall....I have been around the world it seems. I definitely put 2000 miles on the Saturn since last Tuesday, so there is much to tell, but I’ll cut to the chase...


Saturday was the highlight of the last week. I stayed with my friend Jonah Sage (see my top 8 on MySpace) in Florida and we got up early Saturday to go catch Scallops and crabs in the bay. It was a 90-minute drive and Jonah’s roommate Matt was driving. About an hour into our trip someone just happened to ask, “so what does a scallop look like?”

As you might have guessed, the response from everyone was “I don’t know, I thought you knew!”

It was funny asking the locals what in the world we were doing, seeing that we had just driven 90 minutes as if we had a clue. They were obviously amused, but not nearly as amused as I was at the man and wife in the bait and tackle store.

I must have had more water than I thought on the drive to the bay because when we got there I had to go. Well this old skinny guy beats me to the restroom and is in there forever. While I am standing around waiting, I hear a laughing camel...at least that is what I thought it was. I turn around and it turns out to be this old lady hacking on something, not choking or anything serious, just hacking...I tried to ignore it but dang it was hilarious...and awkward. She was blasting 90 decibels barely 3 feet behind me and seemed oblivious to the fact that other people were there in the store to hear her. I finally turned around and she asks me, “is my husband still in there?”

I nodded and tried to pull myself together. “Yep,” I muttered.

She made some strange comment that I can’t recall and then continued hacking. I assume that this is either a hobby or a way to let her husband know that he had better finish his business because she is tired of waiting...Makes you married guys tremble doesn’t it?

Anyway, I have gotten in the habit of striking up conversations with whatever interesting personalities I encounter on the road so I approach the hacking lady and ask if she is “from around here?”

She says “yeah,” but that she was from Tennessee before she got married. She proceeds to tell me that they have bee married for 13 years. I am guessing by their appearance that they were married around the age of 45...

She tells me a little more and then I hear the door open and her husband walks out of the restroom. This puts me standing directly between them as she asks him, “are you alright?” I begin to drift towards the bathroom in an effort to relieve my bladder and avoid wherever their conversation will go next.

As I pass this man in a narrow section between stands of overpriced “technical” fishing clothes, he leans in toward me in an eerie way and stutters once before he continues...

“I--If there’s anything left in there, scoop it out!” he exclaims, still leaning in toward me, grinning, and making a spastic scooping gesture with his hand.

What the crap! How do you reply to something like that!!!

I can’t really remember, but I think I mustered up a sheepish “okay.” I could feel his wife’s disapproval at his comment even as I walked away from them. As soon as the bathroom door closed I laughed...between her hacking and his comments I felt violated twice, and yet I was smiling just to know that it had been a Seinfeld moment...one of those brief and meaningless occurrences that are commonplace in situational comedies, but that are golden when you actually live one and survive....

The rest of the day must have been part of the same episode. We hunted scallops for almost 2 hours without finding even one. We kept asking the locals and they held back smiles as they told us what to look for and where we should be looking. Our pride as hunter-gatherers was quickly dying...

Finally, we drove to a nearby bridge over a small inlet from the gulf. The beaches were beautiful and the surf was pretty reasonable. We had a crab trap and were told that we could catch crabs there. The trap only caught 3 crabs (probably due to the fact that we failed to lock the door on the trap shut...morons!), but thanks to a homeless man that let us borrow his dip net, we caught 27 total crabs in the next two hours. It must have been hilarious watching the three of us out on the sand flat with one net. We would sweep the flat as a team, almost always in waist deep water, and would corner any crab we came across until one of us with the net could get there. (We aslo jumped up a huge sting-ray!)

By the end of the day we were exhausted, and Matt had a sunburn in the middle of his back where he tried to put on his own sunscreen and failed. Nevertheless we had a bucket full of crabs...and no clue how to prepare or cook them.

It made no difference to me. I never got to taste them because I had to shower and drive to Mobile, AL for a show as soon as we got in. I drove to my parent’s house in Birmingham right after the show was over and made it in right at 7:00 AM.

I was exhausted. I still am. So I am going to bed.

It looks like it is now officially Wednesday...12:30 AM...so it’s not a “Tuesday” update...what else is new...


Beau

Tuesday Update 08.08.06 (wow this is random...)

AHHHHHH! It’s Wednesday! (wait that’s how I started my last TUESDAY update....this is getting sad)

Okay, I confess. I tend to overlook things like “Tuesday Updates,” birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, my sleep needs, doctor appointments, basically anything that is fixed to occur in the space-time continuum.

It is really strange. Scary even. Since I have been touring consistently, I don’t have a routine and therefore I have no idea when one week ends and another begins. Ask me what day it is, and I will be doing well to tell you what month it is.

That being said, please forgive me if my Tuesday is your Wednesday. I mean really, if we all agreed that today is Tuesday, would it not be Tuesday?,,,or would it? Hmmm....this could be a really fun conversation....

Anyway, I am about to leave for FL again. The sun is out, my audiobook is ready to go, and no I’m not showering today because I’ll be the only one around me for the next 8 hours. (why am I telling you this?)

Here’s a slightly funny story for you: Picture Santa Clause. White beard. Rosy cheeks. Round belly. Now feed him steroids and put him on a Harley. Now imagine him in the gym with a lifting belt, boots, and a sleeveless shirt. Now imagine that he is lifting weights and asks this scrawny, white, red-haired musician (okay, that would be me) when I will be finished using the attachment I am using on the cable pull-down machine. Next, picture me getting finished with the attachment and in an act of kindness taking it to him on the other side of the gym and then without even thinking saying “merry Christmas.” Now imagine angry Santa... True story. Happened yesterday (Tuesday for me, Monday for you).

Wow, this was a pretty random update. I must be losing my blitzflikin mind.


Tune in next week.


Beauxses


P.S. I have two full band shows later this month! 8/24 and 8/25! Spread the word. This is a rare event.

Tuesday Update 08.01.06 (Lulu's, High School English, going platinum)

Tuesday Update 08.01.06

AHHHHHH! It’s Wednesday! Yeah I know I’m a day late, but I’m still calling this a Tuesday update...and for good reason.

Yesterday was wild. I slept 4 hours Monday night, drove 7 and ½ hours from Nashville, TN to Gulf Shores, AL on Tuesday and then played for 4 hours at this amazing bar/grill/marina called Lulu’s. It was intense. I did get a 20-minute nap on the office floor there at the marina before the show, so with a little coffee I had all I needed to get through the show. In fact it was awesome!

I sold 47 CDs! I was blown away. The highlight was looking up during my 3rd song and seeing my high school English teacher in the audience! How crazy! She was on vacation and dropped in to see me. I wish I could have seen the look on my face when I saw her!

At the end of the show a little girl came up to me and said she wanted to buy a CD on one condition: that I play “Sweet Home Alabama.” What could I say! Most people had already cleared out and things were closing down so there I am standing at a table and playing “Sweet Home Alabama” unplugged for a few grateful Crimson Tide fans. Good times, good times.

Last weekend was a great weekend as well. I played in Louisville, Springboro (OH), and Lexington. When I play in Lexington I stay with friends in Wilmore, KY. It has become like a home away from home. All of my friends there wrote notes welcoming me “home” and put them on the door to the room where I sleep. We all went canoeing, hiking, and swimming on Saturday before my show in Lexington. It was a blast! I did get a little sunburn...it’s starting to peel...my epidermis is just falling off...it’s a bit disconcerting...and gross...

On a more somber note, we (my manager and I) have been trying to get into NACA (National Association of College Activities) showcases. We got word Monday that we were once again rejected. Not fun to swallow. We were already rejected for one, but we were still listed as first alternate for that one, which was at least re-assuring. The most recent one didn’t even give us that much. Oh well, keep moving Beau!

So that is a glimpse into my life for the past week. I am sitting in a coffeehouse in Mobile writing this and getting some much-needed work done. Thanks so much to everyone who has shown me hospitality in the past week. I have stayed with great friends and I appreciate all of you greatly!

On the move,

Beau