03-07-10 Richmond VA: 1833 hrs. I am sitting in the venue, getting ready for tonight’s show. Things have been going well out here. Over forty shows in now.

     The last few shows have been in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. The shows have been great and I have met a lot of people post show every night. We are deep into the tour now, where it’s a show, a drive, etc. I am getting in good workouts to keep focused and trying to read and write as much as I can. The shows are taxing. It’s a lot of information I am trying put across every night. I am behind on writing on some projects which makes me a little anxious but I will try and get on it as soon as I can. The workouts take up a good part of the afternoon so I am not getting too far from the venue. When on tour, I am all about the shows, so I have been focused on them very intensely and not thinking of much else. Perhaps when I get a few more shows under my belt, I can get other stuff done pre-show. Might take a while though.

     Is it that John Bedell, the man who shot two policemen at the Pentagon isn’t big news or am I missing something? I have not seen much national coverage on the thing. He left behind a manifesto and audio clips but no one seems to be saying a whole lot about it. Is it a boring topic? I don’t think so and wonder why there seems to be an information deficit on this case. Of all the things that went down in the last news cycle, it seems to be left out. Perhaps the thing is still under investigation, I don’t know, I just thought it merited more coverage than what it got.

     I will be onstage when millions of Americans will be watching the Oscar nominations. I never watch those events, although it would be cool to see Steve Martin onstage as he is co-hosting the thing.

     Soon, it will be show time. That’s what this whole day has been leading up to. Thanks for reading this. Henry

02-28-10 Atlanta GA: 1742 hrs. Sitting on the bus in the back of the venue. Shows have been going well. Last night, I was in Birmingham, AL. It was a good show. Of all the recent shows, it was Birmingham that generated the most mail, people thanking me for making the stop there. To be fair, it wasn’t my choice in that the agent booked the tour and I am happy for a show anywhere anyone will show up. Birmingham was on the last tour as well and it was a good show. Perhaps the city doesn’t get much in the way of alternative fare. I don’t know but the audience was great and I am glad that I was able to do the show. Since last week, it’s been a show a night pretty much. Houston, Dallas, Little Rock, New Orleans and Birmingham. I am getting in good workouts and the shows and am feeling pretty good.

     I tried but failed to see much of the summit meeting at Blair House last week. I looked for it on C-SPAN as it was happening but we couldn’t seem to find it so we had to watch the CNN version which was only in part. There were moments but overall, it seemed to me just a run through of the talking points from either side and not a lot happening. I am glad that everyone got in the same room and was at least civil to each other. I wish I could be optimistic about what will come of that get together but I don’t see anything coming out of it but shuffling of paper. Towards the end of the thing, it occurred to me that they could have one of those a week and nothing would come of it. I don’t like coming to conclusions like that. I will try to watch the whole thing replay if I can.

     After the New Orleans show, I went down the street and watch Roky Erickson’s set. It was great to see him with his band. The venue was packed and people were into it. I didn’t hear any new songs. I knew there is a new album coming out soon. I can’t wait to hear it. Right when Rok played his last song, it was bus call and I had to leave but feel lucky that I was able to see the man play. Reverend Horton Heat was playing in town as well. I couldn’t catch any of his set unfortunately. He’s great.

     I have been watching a lot of news over the last few days, trying to catch up with things. The Christiane Amanpour interview with Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak a few hours ago was extremely interesting. She was pressing him pretty hard on everything and he wasn’t giving any ground. It was a stalemate but it made me think he knows more than what he’s telling, it’s not as if he’s going to blurt out classified information but his non-answers were answers in themselves.

     I am looking forward to the FL shows and the east coast run. I am on soon here in Atlanta. It’s always a good crowd, we’ll see how many show up on a Sunday night. Ok, time to get in the venue. Thanks for reading this. Henry

02-21-10 OK City OK: 1705 hrs. Sitting on the bus. Very cold and gray outside. We only got here a little while ago, it was a long drive from El Paso TX where the show was last night. Before the show, I looked over my show lists and couldn’t find a talking show that I had done in El Paso. I didn’t know what to expect but as always, I was glad for the show. The audience was great and I am very glad to have been able to get there and do the show.

So, the US leg of the tour is on. I have done a few shows so far, CA, AZ, NM and TX. The shows have been going well and I am glad to have a few dates under my belt. There’s a lot to talk about so the only problem I am having is staying onstage too long. There’s not a lot to report upon so far on the tour. Last week at this time I was in LA, waiting to get this started. I am just getting the routine of this part of the tour down.

I have been trying to keep track of things happening on the news and tracking how the news is rendered. I am keeping close watch as to how news gets politicized. In particular, Joe Stack and his crashing of his airplane into the building in Austin TX. I am interested in seeing how this tragic event plays out in the press. It brings a lot of things to mind as to security measures and their limits.

For now, it’s a lot of shows in states with senators who voted against ARRA but were happy to take the money anyway! Thanks for reading this. Henry

The rest of the shows in Europe were good. If you were at any of them, thanks for showing up, I look forward to when next we meet.

The last few days have been very busy. There will be a Stooges Raw Power box set released soon. It will have remastered tracks and outtakes. I contributed to the liner notes and took part in a documentary that is being put together by doc. extraordinaire Morgan Neville. It’s always an honor to be a part of one of his projects. There is a Black Sabbath documentary that is being made, I was interviewed for that one as well. As you can imagine, the office has its obligations.

New Talking CD: There’s a new talking CD by yours truly called Spoken Word Guy Vol. 1. The title is derived from the cover photo of the CD. We were in Spain for a talking show in 2008 and the man waiting to pick us up had a sign that said “spoken word” and I thought that would make a good photo, so I shot it before he saw me. We decided to make it the semi-generic cover for the next series of talking CD releases. We have been recording shows on the last several legs of the tours and we will hopefully be able to put out a few that will be to your liking. This first one is from the wonder Birchmere Theater in Alexandria, Virginia, the night before the last presidential election, November 3rd, 2008. It is a 2CD set. We will have them on this upcoming North American tour and they will also be available from MusicToday.

The shows for the second North American leg are almost booked and we will post the dates as soon as we can. Any place that I usually get to and am not, I will most likely get there later in the year. You know me, I will do my best to get out to you.

Thank you for all the kind e-mails wishing me happy birthday. I know all of you have birthdays as well that are no less important so happy birthday to you whenever yours is.

The tour starts in three days. I have to unpack, launder, repack and get ready to hit it the road so that’s what I’m going to do the rest of the day and into the night. I am looking forward to getting out there. See you at the show. Thanks for reading this. Henry

02-07-10 Budapest Hungary: 1130 hrs. I have not been in Hungary for a few years. I used to come here quite often in the last century. It was a great place for band shows. The audiences have always been very friendly and I am looking forward to tonight’s shows. I remember once in 1989 I think it was, I addressed some students at a local university before soundcheck once but past that, I don’t think I have ever done a talking show here before.

Tonight, I am in speaking on a boat of all places. Our bus is parked on the highway next to the Danube River and below us is this huge boat with a venue in it called A38. On the side of the boat it says “Welcome on A38, A Place With An Attitude”. Well, we have that to look forward to. The snow is falling down, the sky is gray and it’s pretty damn cold outside. Hooray!

Last night, we were in Vienna, Austria. Good show. I had not done a talking show there for many years, I don’t know why. The audience was fantastic, I hope I get back there again some time.

Since I last wrote here, it’s been a show a night for the most part. There was a day off five days ago in Bremen Germany but past that, it’s the show, the drive, over and over. Since last week, we finished in Sweden, went back to Germany, from there to Switzerland and then to Austria and now here.

The weather restricts movement but somewhat but I have been able to get out to the gym and to hit a few record stores. I am happy with the shows and glad to see the places packed out every night.

Sometimes it hits me how many times I have been to some of these places. Usually, say on a tour like this one, I am older than the driver and crew and have been doing shows for years longer. My references are from the Bronze Age. I have been at this a long time and the years have sped by. I have been doing shows in Budapest for twenty-three years, some of these places, much longer. There’s no doubt about it, this is what I do. I will be forty-nine next week. I don’t see what else I could have done with all of this time. Being out in the world, so far, has been the best thing I have found. There are times when things are not interesting minute-to-minute, like on a tour like this.

1913 hrs. In the venue. One of the more interesting places for a show. It’s an old barge that used to hold coal, completely overhauled and made into a venue with a restaurant on top. Really great place. I went to the gym earlier and got in a good workout. I had to take a taxi each way. Getting one of the four beautiful women to call a taxi for me was hard. I asked if they could call a taxi for me and they all looked like I had asked them to paint my house. If there was a main road, I would have gone out and stood in the snow and tried my luck. After a few sighs and looks of you’re tying to kill me, one of them made the call. THANK YOU. Eventually the taxi came. I got in, I got out. We ate upstairs, very good food. As soon as I got up, the autograph guys were there with many things to sign, before I was even able to push the chair back into the table they were all around me. I guess they were in a hurry. They are the ones who don’t go to the show but download photos of you, have you sign several of them and do something with them later. I always tell them that no one on eBay will care but they are deadset on getting all those photos signed. These men are grim and I always wonder if they live with their mothers.

It’s a 2100 hrs. show. I don’t know how this one will be. Interesting to say the least. Two more shows here and then back to America for quite awhile. With all the things happening at the moment, there will be a lot to talk about. I look forward to it. Thanks for reading this. Henry

It’s been a show a night with only one night off so far making it eighteen shows in nineteen days. I would rather be onstage anyway, so the schedule is to my liking. Heidi May, The Demon as I call her, said that last week’s dispatch was boring. She’s a wonderful bundle of vipers and always quick to add levity and light to any situation. I am sorry if it that was the case. Sometimes touring is not the most eventful thing. It’s what you make of it pre-show really. What you get done before soundcheck, pre-show prep and then the show itself. I have been hitting gyms as often as I can, checking record stores and working on a couple of writing projects that I will detail when they are done and approved. Past that, the weather is not the most conducive for getting out and about.

As some of you know, it’s pledge time at KCRW, when we ask for people to show their love for the station and for community radio. It pains me that I was not able to do my show live last night and be a part of it. It’s hard to get all the way out of Europe, do two hours of radio and then come back and pick things back up out here. So, I did what I could via my digital recorder and sent in some messages from a backstage box in Berlin the other day. Hopefully it’s of some use. It’s a hard thing, asking the listeners for money but I think they understand what’s at stake, it is, after all, subscriber supported radio and without the listeners pitching in, it’s not going to happen. In a way, I like that. I like the idea that we at the station have to have faith in the listeners to get what the whole thing is about and take action. Year after year, somehow, the station is still on, so it’s obvious that people get it and that’s great. I must say that it bugs me that I can’t be there to be part of the pledge drive. If I still have a job there six months from now, I will try not to miss it again. I love having a show there. It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.

I have not had the chance to go through the entirety of the president’s State Of The Union speech from a few nights ago. I have heard clips but not the whole. If I am able, I am going to try and download the text tonight before I hit stage and then read it on the way to Goteborg later tonight. I try to never miss the SOTU speech. What I heard, I liked. I have heard the speech vilified by some and have grown used to that but I look forward to reading what the man has to say about where America is at and what is ahead. I know that for some, president Obama will never have the right message. I know how that is, I have felt the same way some presidents myself.

One of the things I have been getting done is listening to a lot of music I have never heard before thanks to Engineer X, Road Manager Ward and Liza Richardson of KCRW. I have a lot of music that they gave me to check out and have been digging it big time. From interesting 70’s French Prog Rock, to Japanese Avant, Swedish Psyche and American Indie music, not to mention all that Sri Lankan Death Metal I picked up recently, all the things I loaded onto my hard drive back in LA several weeks ago to what I have been finding out here, I am fairly spoiled for choice out here. I am working on future radio broadcasts that will incorporate all of these finds. I am going to keep it challenging listening as best I can.

I guess the people who write me and ask why I am ignoring their city on this tour don’t read this thing, otherwise they would know that more shows are being booked. Once more, if you live in North America and you don’t see your city listed in the dates starting in February, please know that the second leg of the North American tour will start in May, when I get back from the Australian/New Zealand/South African dates. If you still don’t see your city or a city near you listed when those shows dates are posted, I will hopefully get there later in the year when the multi week dates are done. This is going to be a very long tour and you know me, that’s what I’m into so please know that I will do my best.

I am having a great time out here in Europe. The audiences have been nothing less than fantastic. I am looking forward to all the shows coming up. I am onstage in about two hours and can’t wait. Until next week, thanks for reading this. Henry

01-24-10 Ghent Belgium: 1818 hrs. Backstage at one of the better looking venues I have been in for some time. This is one beautiful city. Very old, very well built. I am not one for churches so much but the ones here are magnificently built.

I have been looking all over my computer for my show notes to see the last time I was here. I am seeing a band show in 1989 but no talking shows. Usually, I just do a show in Brussels, every great now and then, one in Antwerp as well but that’s pretty much it as far as non festival Belgian dates.

All the UK dates are behind me now. Wolverhampton was last night. Great audience. Actually, the Irish, Scottish and UK shows were all a great time. The weather was kind to us, no snow and no delays.

Touring can be an exercise in tedium. I wake up on the bust and stagger out to the front lounge to see what the new day will bring and go from there. I usually have press to do and then I head out to a gym if possible and then back to the venue or a record store if one is around. Then, it’s sound check and get ready for show time. I hit stage, finish, sometimes get a shower, sometimes not, check some mail and then get out to see who is by the bus. After everyone has left, I get on the bus, hopefully there’s some food waiting for me. I eat, unwind and get into the bunk. That’s touring pretty much in a nutshell for me. Things happen in the day to break things up and I am always working on other things but that’s the basic thing of it. I do my best to keep on things in the news. I get newspapers if I can and read things online. Often there’s a time lag between breaking news and actually getting the information so I do the best I can to keep up.

The recent Supreme Court decision to open up campaign financing is fairly breathtaking. I think it will make future elections interesting to say the least. The idea that Democracy is ours to lose comes to mind. I would hate to think that politicians would be nothing more than an arm of multinational corporations but perhaps they are to a great extent and there won’t be a noticeable change. I am interested in seeing how all this plays out.

I have to get onstage soon. Looking forward to doing shows on the continent. Tomorrow is Brussels, some great record stores to go to. Thanks for reading this. Henry

01-18-10 Norwich UK: 1536 hrs. Backstage at the University of East Anglia in Norwhich UK. I am several shows into the tour now. So far, things are going well. I am glad to be back on tour and doing shows every night. I have been out of Africa for about a week now. I got to Dublin a week ago, went to Scotland from there and then into England have been here ever since. So far, the snow has not gotten in the way of travel and I have not really seen any so far.

I have been waiting for this tour to start for a long time. I always start tours with a great deal of anticipation. I don’t like being away from the stage for too long. Also, I wonder how the material will hold up in front of an audience so I am always eager to get out there and see how it’s going to go. So far, the material stands up, the audiences have been fantastic and there’s a show almost every night, so I am where I should be.

Last night, post show, we watched The Cove. One of the better documentaries I have seen in a long time. It was hard to watch at points when they show the footage of massive dolphin slaughter but nonetheless, when you see what the team that made the documentary went through to make it, it’s worth checking out to check their bravery at least. http://www.thecovemovie.com/ for more information.

I have been not been around television news much in the last several days but what little I have seen going on in Haiti is jarring to say the least. I read what Rush Limbaugh and Pat Robertson had to say about the earthquake and wonder what their fans think.

The last week has not been eventful besides the shows and meeting people afterwards. I hit the gym and try to keep up on news and then get ready to get onstage. I am hoping to get out to check some record stores in the next few days.

I think the tickets for the Australian dates go up soon. We will post second leg North American dates when we get them.

I wish I had more to tell but with gray skies, shows nightly, that’s all I’ve got in front of me and sitting here as the sun plummets from view, I again prepare for another show.

Thanks for reading this. Henry

01-10-10 Bamako Mali: 1608 hrs. In a hotel room. I am between flights. The first of three flights is over with. I have done Timbuktu to here. I have Bamako to Paris and then onto Dublin, Ireland still to go. Getting out of Timbuktu was hopefully the most difficult. That’s always a dodgy transition. Schedules change radically, your name magically falls off flight lists, etc. I was lucky to get my ticket without too much hassle, although there was some hassle. That’s Africa. If I can get wheels up to Paris, I think I will be ok.

I just finished three days in a boat on the Niger and three days living in a tent in the Sahara desert. The boat ride was for the most part, really great. There were a lot of people on it, so you have to hope that there’s no one on there who is hard to get along with, including yourself. The others on the boat were fine. One young American rarely stopped talking and drove a few of us nuts but he seemed like a good enough guy, just a little too much of him. We chugged along the river by day and camped by the river at night. Great sunsets and sunrises. Just pulling the boat over in a place that looks good was a very liberating experience. There was no worry about being one someone’s property, you just pull over and you’re done.

The festival was good. I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as last year though. The location of the festival had been changed. This time around, it was only ten minutes or less from Timbuktu, so I never got the feeling that we were really out in the desert. You could see the city lights from the site. Also, the festival felt the need to mix in western acts. Three killer African bands play and then at prime time, Deacon from Animal Collective goes onstage and sings three or four songs using a lot of effects. He starts the set by saying, “This is experimental music.” It wasn’t, and it wasn’t at all bad and I’m not trying to put the guy down but talk about a vibe killer. If he went on first, the context would have been totally different and the whole thing migt have gone down better. I was sitting amongst a lot of African people and they got up and literally started power walking out of the place when he was on, he cleared the place out in ten minutes. I was the one yelling “Kill whitey!” and “Free Huey! Black Power!” after every song. The main acts hit stage well past midnight when the crowd had thinned out considerably. Tinariwen goes one past one in the morning when it’s freezing. Really long set changes, very poorly considered. The festival needs a real stage manager to keep the energy up. The music for the most part was really good. A lot of great people at the festival. They came from all over. I met many and some of their stories were so great. Epic journeys. I met one young guy who is jamming with different musicians all over the world. His schedule sounded damn near impossible but he’s going for it. He’ll be out for a year. It’s people like the ones I meet at this festival that gives me hope for the future. They are so interested in the world, so ready to experience life to the fullest, extremely inspiring. I hope the festival returns to Essakane next year. If it’s in the same place it was this year, I don’t know if I will go back. I really enjoyed living in tents and using my sleeping bag for a week. I also didn’t mind the shower I took a couple of hours ago. I got a bit of sunburn on the right side of my face, I am sure it will look crazy for several days.

So, all the solo travel is over and the tour is hours away from starting. Road Manager Ward is en route to Dublin and soon, we’ll be rolling down the road. I have a lot of good material from all the travel and the happenings in the world so I think the shows will have the required density. I can’t wait to start.

I have to unpack, shake out as much sand as I can and get it all back together and make it back out to the airport soon. I am sure I will be finding sand in my gear for months to come. I was careful to ziplock bag all my camera stuff. It seemed a little over the top when I did it but now I see that was exactly the way to go.

I have spent the last couple of hours catching up on e-mail. Thanks for  all the cool letters. I am looking forward to getting out to your town, hitting stage and hanging out afterwards. I live for this stuff as you know. Thanks for reading this. Henry

01-03-10 Sévaré Mali: 1948 hrs. In the lobby of this small hotel. It’s not much of a lobby, more of a small room with a desk. I am about a minute’s drive from the airport, Mopti is down the road a small ways. Last year I was staying there, this year, here. I am leaving at some point tomorrow for Timbuktu by a boat up the Niger. I don’t know what time I am leaving, I am just hoping that the people who are taking me to the boat know that I am here. Travel in Africa is always a little loose. The flight here from Bamako left over four hours later than it was supposed to. It wasn’t late, they just changed the time. If you got there on time, you had plenty of time to wave away the mosquitoes.

I have been here about a day and a half. The sun is bludgeoning until about 1600 hrs. and then it allows you to walk around some. The roads here are red clay and when the setting sun hits them, they are amazing. I went walking until about dark today. Not much to see, most people are off the roads, I guess because of the temperature, I don’t know.

New Years in Dakar Senegal sounded like a missile strike. The size of the fireworks being sold on the streets were of the blow-your-arm-off kind and when detonated, the sound is substantial. This kept up until about 0500 hrs.

A few days ago, I flew from Dakar to Bamako, Mali and from there to here. I am in one of the most utilitarian rooms I have ever been in. The water comes on now and then so you have to get while the getting’s good. One florescent light, more ants than I need but the door locks and I will get at least a few hours of sleep later on so I can’t complain.

At the airport in Bamako, I met some other people who are going to the Desert Festival, very cool. I think you have to be a pretty cool person to want to go to all the trouble to get to the festival. It’s not an easy journey. I am back for my second dose.

Good news, Mahmoud, the guide from last year just walked out of nowhere. He said hello and told me that we are heading out at 0900 hrs. So great to have some hard information on that. Will definitely make sleep easier, knowing there is a definite go time. Mahmoud seems the same, intense, polite, thorough.

I don’t know what this river trip will be like but hearing so many good things about it last year from people who had just arrived in Timbuktu via the Niger, I had to give it a shot, so off I go in the morning. I should be back on the grid in a week and then from there to Ireland and onwards.

Thank you for all the letters about the upcoming dates. I am looking forward to getting them started.

I have lined up several cool pre-tapes for the radio show. Engineer X and I started working on them last summer. I will do more in February when I get back to Los Angeles. I will be working on them from the road and will put together some great ones. While I was back in LA last week, I loaded all the incoming CDs that had arrived into my hard drive, so I have plenty of new sounds to draw from.

I will hopefully have a lot to report on when next I write you from Bamako. Until then, I hope your holiday, what little is left of it was good. Thanks for reading this. Henry