CD Release Party #2 went pretty decent. Attendance was nothing like what we had at the first one at the Mews, but it’s hard to imagine how it could have been, as that show was truly amazing. We had a wonderful time all the same. Thanks go out to the JG Faux Show having us on to plug our stuff, and for being really entertaining besides; to The Half Hearts for getting the rock started; and double thanks go to American Restless for the time they spent and shows they did with us. We intend to do some more fun things with them in the future.

North Vs South was a little different than I expected, but not by much. A dozen or so bands per day alternating between two stages in a beautifully crusty rock club (scaled down from multiple venues in previous years). If it’s actually meant as a contest between North and South, I think we might have to call it a draw. We met some definite characters too. North Of Grand played great, and I heard the Hickoids were hilarious offensive fun but was a bit tired and preoccupied sitting at the other room’s bar while they played. The big discovery for me personally was Grand Champeen, and the crowd in the room during their set was commensurate with their rock skills in size and enthusiasm. I wonder how it could be that I hadn’t heard of them before.

We had what I’d consider our first on-the-road “misadventure” since I joined Why Make Clocks on the way back. After nearly colliding with a stretch Hummer limo on our way out of town as it look up four lanes to turn out in front of us, we stopped at a Quik Trip for some food, and as we pulled in Dan asks me if we need to get some gas. See, the gas gauge on the van is broken. He’d put in $40 worth before we left Des Moines and I told him I thought we had enough to get back on. I grab some munchies and we take off. Some ways up the road, the combination of skanky roller grill food on top of a few beers and being half-asleep in the front seat with oncoming headlights swimming before my eyes got to me and I had to ask Dan to pull over so I could throw up on the side of the interstate. With that accomplished, we resume our drive and I drift off to sleep, when suddenly I realize the van is sputtering to a stop on the side of the interstate. It appeared we’d run out of gas after all. Dan calls roadside assistance and after an hour and change, during which I’m pretty sure we all caught a nap, they show up with $5 worth. We get off at the next exit, with only 30 miles to go until Des Moines, to put in some more. Once at Dan and Kim’s we decide to forgo the unloading of gear and just all get some sleep. I finally hit my bed about quarter to six.

So lesson learned: always fill up before leaving town. That was originally my plan once the gauge broke, and I didn’t stick to it, and this is what happens. Also, I really need to save up that money to get it fixed. Right after fixing the exhaust that’s been not-quite-all-there for a long time now, and got shook a little more loose still when I ran over a dead animal on the way back from Omaha last week. Oh and then there’s the window that doesn’t roll down… maybe we should have a “Fix The Van” benefit show

Coming up next month we’ve got a couple shows here in Des Moines as well as Lawrence, KS and Springfield, MO. We’re hoping to find something in Columbia, MO to go in-between those two on the 25th.

Had a real cool time at The 49′r in Omaha last night. Thanks to the 49′r for being a cool bar and to Black Heart Booking for getting us hooked up on this.

American Restless, who are hanging out with us here in Des Moines for a few days, also had a show last night in Omaha but at a different venue, the Saddle Creek Bar. We’d have preferred to do a show together, but this was just how the booking ended up working out. So we headed off to Omaha, with Kim along to hang out and help with the merch, which she is exceedingly good at — I wish we could bring her along all the time.

Late-entry Spiders For Love opened things up at the 49′r. I’m a sucker for this kind of fun lo-fi bedroom-folk stuff in a live setting like this. If it’s got acoustic guitars, Casio keyboards, cuss words, and girls singing vocal harmonies, well, that’s a formula for smiles. “Don’t Ever Kiss Madonna” was especially entertaining. I hope we can hang with them again sometime. Platte River Rain folked it up in a bit more country-fied traditional style with songs about fuckin’ up. Good stuff.

One of Dan’s amps (he plays through two) didn’t want to fire up so he had to play through just the Blues Junior, which sounded a little off but was plenty loud enough. We made do. After our set, which seemed to go over quite well, The Biatomic Point coughed up a big messy glob of “balls-out rock and roll.” They seemed to have a good little following that includes a lot of goth kids, which is kind of weird because in my impression they weren’t gothy by any stretch, but hey, whatever bites your neck.

After much friendly chat with the Spiders For Love folks, and giving some of our CDs to Daniel to sell at Homer’s Music in Omaha, we made the drive back to Des Moines and that’s pretty much that.

Our second CD release party for These Things Are Ours, which is at the Des Moines Social Club, is all-ages, and starts with our being a guest on the JG Faux Show at 8:30 and will also feature American Restless and The Half Hearts, is this Wednesday night, and then Saturday night we’ll be trekking down to Kansas City for North vs. South Fest at Davey’s Uptown. We’ve got some more great shows lined up for next month that I haven’t entered on the calendar here quite yet, so check back sometime soon.

I really want to show you that funny photo we found lying in the parking lot behind Barley Street Tavern last time we were in Omaha. I’ve got it sitting right here. But I have no batteries for my camera, and my scanner is kind of busted. I haven’t seen the Cadillac emblem that was attached to it since we got back from Lincoln… maybe Will ended up making that belt buckle after all.