Tour Diaries: Days 16 - 22

Day 16

Austin TX to Dallas TX

I had some strange sentimental moments in Austin. The last time I was in Austin was six months ago for SXSW. My girlfriend at the time also came out there to play with her band. It was the first time I had seen her in over 3 weeks, which was the longest we had been apart for at that time (though I had been touring heavily for 2 months up to that point). It was not the grand reunion I had expected. Sure it was great, but it was mainly awkward. At the time I did not know why. We hung out sporadically over the few days we were there due to our hectic and near backbreaking schedules.

Returning to Austin and seeing a lot of places we hung out brought up a lot of thoughts about the whole situation. In hindsight, I think that trip was awkward because it was the first time we were hanging out as two people - whereas we had been together as one person for so long before. It made things confusing and I did not know how to deal with it. I did not know much at the time. And now it's all in hindsight. People say hindsight is 20/20. But I think that's bullshit. Hindsight is more like fifty-fifty. So maybe I still don't know much. The fucking past, man.

Day 17

Dallas TX to Houston to Beaumont

Standing on a street corner in Dallas at noon. Trying not to sweat under the unforgiving Texas sun. My backpack on, my snakeskin boots beside me. The Carpenters' “Superstar” stuck in my head. Waiting on the van, not knowing what the hell is taking them so long. My friends that I stayed with dropped me off and left. They said they were worried and sorry for abandoning me and leaving me in an unfamiliar place. Don't worry about me, there's been crazier situations before. This is nothing compared the time I woke up in that hotel lobby in Louisville with no shoes and no phone - and it wasn't even the hotel where the rest of the band was staying. I had made some friends in Louisville and went out to bars with them then went back to hang and stay at their hotel room. For some reason I left their hotel room to go to the lobby. I realized I did not kntheir room number or their last names. The hotel front desk could not tell me how to find them or where to go - except to sleep on the couch in the lobby.

No, this is nothing like that.

Day 18

Beaumont TX to Monroe LA

Day 19

Monroe LA to Nashville TN

Drove 9.5 hours through insane storms to get to the rehearsal for Petty Fest in good ole Nashville. Damn, it's great to be back here.

After the rehearsal, I went to do karaoke with some of my best friends. Naturally, we owned the fucking place. I love those people. So much that it hurts sometimes to miss them so much. It makes me happy to see them being... Themselves.

Day 20

Nashville: Petty Fest

I don't know how we got asked to do the Petty Fest in Nashville, but we did. At the end of the tribute show, we all got to go onstage and song along to “Free Falling.” Sharing the stage with celebrities in front of the home town crowd. Felt proud.

Day 21

Nashville TN to Gainesville FL

It only took about an hour after leaving Nashville for homesickness to creep in. I am always excited to leave to go play shows, and always a little sad, too. Yet today was different. Today it ran deeper than a little sad.
Some of it was the weather. There's not much I love more than a beautiful autumn day in Nashville. The sun hangs low and golden. Gentle. The breeze hums through the trees, mercifully. It is weather's perfection. The kind that makes you want to experience it with someone. To see a loved one's smile in the golden afternoon light. It was hard leaving those loved one's.

I carried my friends and the weather in my heart across Tennessee, to where the sun set in an astounding fashion in my home state of Georgia. There, we stopped at my parent's house and had a home cooked meal, something that is rare when you live on the run. Ahh, Mama's cookin. I was a fat kid again.

Tennessee's golden day. Georgia's red sunset. And now Florida's lonely black night. On this highway, it feels like we are the only ones out here. But it is now autumn. My favorite season. Time to harvest before the cold takes it all away.

Day 22

Gainesville FL to Ft. Lauderdale FL