pale beneath the blue

Road stories and more from singer/songwriter, pale beneath the blue.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

My Adventures in NY

I've been spending some time walking around in Manhatten and this is just some of what I've witnessed:

a man singing loudly with his ipod
street vendors of every kind
men kissing
pedestrians making traffic stop for them
the sound of a million conversations in languages i can't understand
nyu film student in starbucks buying paper cups for his production
an older woman dancing crazily through the street as she listens to her ipod
british looking rockers walking down the street in hip clothes and doc martins
some young guy begging to heal my leg
a guy on the subway with no legs, shakes his coffee can which apparently means "give me money, i'm poor"
a guy that looks like Jeff Snyder (an i-see-sound.com staff writer)waiting for the subway
the chrysler building
the ed sullivan theater
rockafeller center
a film being made
5.75 for a bud light, are you serious?
the guy who lives under the bridge in queens
arlene's grocery

It's been an interesting time in NY so far. Can't wait to see what else I run into...
Enjoy where you are,
Rhonda

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Boston and NY

Oh, my gosh. I can't believe I didn't get into an accident in Boston. We actually have video footage of us trying to get out of town and we just keep looping around on the highway. It's craziness. But a great experience. We played at TT the Bears Place in Cambridge with Count Zero, The Ghettobillies, and Fluttr Effect. Great crowd, great club. Allison's friend Jeff came out and brought some friends and they videotaped our performances. (We'll eventually have some of that available for you.) Also, Jim Schultz from Sonicbids came out to see us and hung out with me most of the evening.

Schenectady Rocks!

A huge thanks to everyone who came out in Schenectady. You guys are the best. We're glad that you enjoyed yourselves. A big thanks also to Phillip Stone for the great article in the Schenectady Gazette.

Also, thanks to Moon and River Cafe--great place you've got there. Thanks also to the Bookdrop Bees from Troy, NY. Ilan, and I even have the same guitar. I have pictures but I can't get them off the camera. My computer has decided that I've got enough pictures, I guess. My favorite quote of the night: "Schenectady has so much history, there's no room for the present."

We had a great time visiting John and Temi--thanks for a fabu place to crash. Hope to see you all again soon!

Rhonda

Thursday, April 20, 2006

PA, Cleveland and PA again

Like going through Pennsylvania once isn't enough, we decided to make two stops with Cleveland in the middle. Pittsburgh actually wasn't bad this time. I had to turn around only once and that was only because I had absolutely no idea where I was going. Carnegie Mellon is a beautiful campus so that was cool.

On Wednesday, we headed toward OHio. My friend Todd came out and hung out with us and even took some amazing pictures. Hopefully he will send them and I'll post asap.

Today, Thursday, we drove back into Pennsylvania to head to the Coffee and Tea Room in Williamsport. An interesting town of about 30,000 folks. I met a guy named Phil who was writing a novel about a new world that was dependent on some sort of "black oil." He says it's fiction, though it sounds vaguely familiar. Allison and I covered "What's Up?" by 4-non Blondes. That was interesting. I love pulling something off at the last minute.

We were planning to head to the hotel gym but decided to get a drink instead. I apparently said the wrong thing, "No, just one shot. I just need something to loosen me up." All the guys turned around to see what I looked like. Then we came back to the room and watched Sex and the City. Then I watched South Park--I had never seen that before. Funny. Aliens. Then there are the commercials with the girls who want to talk to you. They dress slutty and say things like, "Flirting on the phone is fun." Really? Is it? Because I would think that sitting home and talking on the phone instead of going out to meet real people is well, PATHETIC! Real life never ceases to amaze me. More from Schenectady tomorrow...
Rhonda

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

I hate the IRS

We thought we would enjoy a somewhat leisurely Easter at home in Cincy but that didn't exactly happen. Allison and I did get to go over to Hungry Lucy's place to be a part of their podcast (should be up soon) which was a blast. They are so cool--we had tea and everything. But I spent the rest of the evening working on taxes, watched Desperate Housewives and crashed. Then Monday, I spent all day until it was time to leave for the show, working on taxes. Fortunately, we're getting money back, but still--it took forever and I'm not even positive that I did them right. I used Turbo Tax and everything. Could you all please call your congressmen and tell them to vote for fair tax?

To ease my pain, some friends and really cool new folks came out to the Trolley Stop in Dayton to hang with us. We had a great night, I just wish we could have gone to Gem City Records and walked up and down the strip a little. But, I guess I'll do that when I'm back on May 19th for the CD Release. I'm trying to get this stuff all done with Blake this morning. Gotta get it to the presses, and we have to hit the road.

Stay tuned,
Rhonda

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Kokomo Rocks!



A big thanks to everyone who came out to Sycamore Marketplace last night. What a great time we had. Joe Cameron got things rolling, and Allison and I finished up. I'm still struggling to completely learn her song, "Agree" on piano, but she stepped in and pulled off some background vocals. A good time was had by all from what we could tell. We both hope to go back sometime in the future and see all our new friends again. Thanks once again to Lindsay Webber for putting it all together. She is the bomb. Pics of the Kokomo gang will be up soon.

Peace and happy Easter,
Rhonda

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Daytonians party in Chicago

Chicago again. Seemed kinda pointless, but we were in for a surprise. Mick from Gidgets GaGa was the first person we encountered at Red Line Tap--amazing guy. We were just hanging out talking with him after load-in and then I see this guy that looks familiar--oh my gosh! It's Drew Perfilio! Drew is a poet who worked at Canal Street Tavern for a while and I had sent him a message about the show but never heard anything back. Wow, it's great to catch up. We had to run out to the car and get a few more things and on the way there, I saw some other folks that looked familar. No way, it's Eric Cassidy from Shrug and his wife Kate. Apparently they were in town seeing David Gilmore (Pink Floyd) the night before and were looking for something to do and ran across my name on a message board or something. Crazy.

We all got to catch up a bit and then Chicago Nick showed up, a guy we met on Wednesday at Jazz It Cafe. He was supposed to meet up with us for Chicago pizza but had to work late. We were happy to see him--late is always better than not at all. Drew ended up calling some friends, David (from I can't remember where) and his girlfriend, Texas Rebecca. A fun time was had by all and we've got the pictures to prove it. Check this out. Later Drew took us to The Green Mill, an infamous jazz club. Cool place and very surreal. You can see it in High Fidelity and Oceans 12.

Happy Easter.
Rhonda

Friday, April 14, 2006

Chicago, Kenosha and Madison

Chicago was a blast. We met some new cool folks at the new Jazz It Cafe. Everyone there was so nice and attentive and tried to drag their friends out. It was a gorgeous day so it was no wonder that everyone was in such a great mood. Hope to meet up with some of the folks we met there for pizza this afternoon.

We did get a parking ticket in Chicago--that was not cool, but we drove up to Madison, WI after the show to stay with Allison's friend. It's a bit of a drive, but not bad. Of course they are doing construction and at the first toll plaza, I somehow ended up in the wrong lane and went through the EZ Pass lane. Hope that I don't get a ticket for that as well. Our driving adventures never end.

So, Madison is a cool place. I see it as the Austin, TX of Wisconsin. I never imagined living farther North in the Midwest, but Madison is pretty cool. Kenosha was interesting--Cameron at WIPZ was very helpful. So, we're not sure what program we were actually on but the schedule said "Spank Tank". The town seemed more typical Midwest small town than Madison and what is up with Milwaukee--is that a yeast smell? We were out from town a bit and still it smells a little wierd.

What a cool evening. We played at A Room of One's Own, a womyn's bookstore in downtown Austin. Allison's friend came down and brought some of her friends and then Mike and Ben from Sunspot came down and hung out with us. We all headed out to dinner which was a hoot. Mike is hilarious and very informative. It started hailing about half way through the evening. I haven't seen anything like that since I was a kid. It sounded like the building was going to fall apart. Fun stuff though. Our favorite quote of the night, "You can still buy my cds and come to shows, but we're not sleeping together again."

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

This is the rock star life

Last night was a fun night in Muncie--thanks to everyone who came out and to Dale Johnson for video taping. The MT Cup is where all the cool kids hang out from Ball State. Hilleary opened for us and was amazing. Hopefully we will see some more of her.

But we left there and headed toward Indianapolis and spent the night Katie Trotta's parents for the evening. Oh, my, it's beautiful here. And Katie's mom had chocolate chip cookies for us when we got in late and then we got waffles and fresh fruit for breakfast. I don't get that at home. So, I need to go shower and we have to hit the road. Allison is crocheting frantically and I'm chatting with Katie's mom. I love this business!

more soon,
rhonda

Wednesday, April 05, 2006



I finally broke down and joined a gym. I'm sure that based on this photo, you might wonder "why"? Yes, the crutches have been good for the arms. Looking forward to the next set of photos.

photo by Deogracias Lerma