Not To Be Toyed With Tour
September 4th – October 3rd, 2013
The Stops:
- Philly, where I hopped off the Megabus and straight into Independence Hall for some historical and patriotic movies. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of visiting the grave of my ancestor Benjamin Rush. I’m not sure how many people pay homage to their deceased revolutionary ancestors – and I mean that quite literally, in the form of a dollar bill, but it was well worth it to physically trace back my lineage.
- Pittsburgh, where I was fortunate enough to be invited to the University of Pittsburgh’s acoustically pristine recording studio for an impromptu recording session with my old friend Noah.
- Detroit, where I finally made it to Hitsville, USA, the birthplace of Motown. And yes, I did take notes on the custom acoustic fittings of the studio for future updates to the acoustical treatment of Rawhide Records. I also visited the Ford Museum, which has an astonishingly wide range of artifacts among its collection of antique automobiles. For example, the armchair Lincoln was shot in and the Rosa Parks Bus. Aside from the sight-seeing, I performed at my favorite Detroit venue, Corktown Studios, with my wonderful friends, The Philter and Rogue Satellites.
- Chicago, where I kept my toy piano in active use for sessions at Chicago Acoustic Underground and Daytrotter.
- Madison, where I happened upon a memorial to Otis Redding at the Monona Terrace. Apparently his plane into Madison crashed in Lake Monona, causing his death.
- Memphis, where I disembarked the bus around 11pm after a 10 hour ride to find myself enjoying a 13 mile midnight bicycle ride. Later that morning I was audience to the Mallard March at the Peabody Hotel. Has a Sousa march ever been put to better use than by these ducks as they travel from rooftop to first floor fountain via elevator and a red carpet? Doubtful. Next I made my way to Sun
Studios, the birthplace of Rock N’ Roll. Again I took notes on acoustic treating. Among a variety of Million Dollar Quartet memorabilia, you can find the first amp with distortion to ever be recorded. AKA the thing was broken, but they recorded with it anyway and made the fuzzy noise into a desirable effect. - Dallas, where I had a transcendental experience recording vocal melodies into my voice memos in the middle of sculptures at the Nasher Sculpture Garden.
- Austin, where I visited the foundation municipal park, a perfectly legal park for graffiti artists to come leave their mark.
- Houston, where I journeyed to Space Center Houston with my cousin Lauren. Have I ever mentioned how much I love outer space? Maybe Atomic Bridges gave it away, but either way it was unbelievable to lay my eyes on the little amp from which the first human speech on the moon erupted. I also returned to my favorite sanctuary, Rothko Chapel. While reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead, I came across a line that said if you dream you are growing a nest at the crown of your head for birds to live in, it is an internal sign of death. I loved that imagery, so I started writing a poem that has turned into my new song “Nestling”. As always, my performance at Super Happy Fun Land was nothing short of what the venue name suggests. To start, there was a phenomenal vegan pizza food truck parked behind the venue. More importantly, I found the next toy instrument love of my life: the toy pianosaurus. Please, if you ever see one of these pieces of sonic art for sale, alert me immediately! My fingers long for its nearly extinct keys and my ears adore its tinkling glory.
- New Orleans, where I made some amazing new friends and performed at Circle Bar before returning to the bus for the second time that day.
- Atlanta, where I performed at my favorite house show spot and shared my birthday with my twin sister Liz. Yea, we might have hit up the Center for Puppetry Arts.
- Charlotte, where I performed to such an appreciative audience at The Milestone. Despite performing in a totally different genre than the venue generally hosts, which is typical for a girl performing toychestral pop, everyone was all ears.
- Richmond, where I need to find some local bands to build a bill with for next time.
- DC, where I went to the best vegan soul food restaurant on the face of planet Earth. If you’re ever in the area, make sure you go to Woodlands Vegan Bistro.
- New York City, home sweet home.
