New me meet old me.

I used to write all the time. When I first started touring in 2003 I tried to keep a digital journal of sorts. Documenting the places I was playing, the people I was meeting, and most importantly the food I was eating. The culinary golden nuggets I would be so proud to share with friends years later when they were fortunate enough to tour or visit the same places. To this day, Leatha's in Hattiesburg MS is an all time favourite bbq restaurant thanks to fate, a scary rest stop in Alabama, and many kind black women. Or maybe the 8 hour period in Philadelphia where I challenged myself to eat two large cheesesteaks in 6 hours from the duelling vendors: Geno's and Pat's. I ate one for dinner, played a show, then the other version for after dinner dinner. You would be correct if you anticipated a near disastrous moment of panic and 'NOOOO' the following morning stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Things got very very real, but I didn't poop my pants.

Sometime's when I think back on the early days of touring, I long for them. Solo, with a handful of original songs, a thick CD wallet, crashing on strangers' couches, and all of the food. Oh the food. I remember certain flavours and textures better than some people's faces or names. Truthfully, things haven't changed all that much. When we tour, time feels more valuable and so seeking out incredible reasonably priced cuisine is challenging even on days off. Most recently, I'll remember the ratatouille in Knaresborough, Halloumi in London, Thai in Sheffield, Burgers in Hamburg, and everything in Paris.

I'm sure it's always been about more that just the music. It's the bonus life that comes with a career in music. It's the details you can share, and the unique tastes you derive from experience. All of this lead up to say, that I'll try and get back on the writing horse in this blog. Not just about food mind you, but all kinds of stuff. Actual life, stupid things, important matters, personal ones. I really don't know where this goes, but what I do know is that I missed this outlet. If anyone reads them, great, if not, I just needed to get something off of my chest.