07-25-10 LA CA: 1257 hrs. I didn’t get a chance to write here last week. I thought I was going to get to it but did not. The days passed quickly and I realized that there was no way I was going to get it done. I am sure you did not notice, this dispatch thing is of no real importance, of course but all the same, I am sorry for not posting anything.

     Last week was busy. I was working on a project that had me all over the place, traveling and not getting all that much sleep. I got at least seven hours last night, which was the first in about a week. It was an eventful week and when I can, I will give you all the details.

     I go back here yesterday and had enough time to do some laundry, pack up for the radio show and head out to the station to do it. I got back after that, hoping for some high quality listening time in front of the speakers but it was not to be. I was just too burnt to do it, so my big night off was not all that hot. I won’t be back here for awhile.

     The radio show was good, the music was great and it was fun to be back on the air live. I think it was about the third or fourth time this year. I ran into Anne Litt, one of the hosts at KCRW and we realized that we had not seen each other since last year.

     In a couple of hours, I return to the land of no sleep and many miles as I leave for Europe. I will be doing shows in Denmark, Holland and one in England, the Sonisphere Festival. Right after I finish my show, I head to Heathrow and fly to DC. The Evens are playing the next night at Fort Reno and there’s no way I am missing that one. I don’t know what my level of jetlag will be on that night but I am looking forward to the show nonetheless.

     The last time I wrote you, I told you that I had been working on a project that has been keeping me quite busy. The last several days were part two of that project, so there was the same amount of hustle and lack of sleep. I have been trying to keep up on things in the news but found myself unable to do much at the end of the day but try to get sleep as the next work day started only a handful of hours later. Hopefully, I will be able to see what’s been happening in the next few days.

     I am looking forward to the shows, only four of them on this little run but looking forward to the chance to get out there anyway. I am coming back to America to do the fund drive broadcast at KCRW and a few other things and then right back out to Europe for shows in Belgium and Scotland to finish the shows for the year. As much as I hate to admit it, I will need the week and half in August between the two European trips to catch my breath. I have been fairly flat out since last October and it’s getting to me a little. From September until the end of the year will probably end up being pretty busy, so I should take advantage of what little down time I have afforded myself.

     Next time I write you will either be on the plane heading towards DC or from the city itself. Should be a good bit of travel. Ok, I have to get the final-final done on the pack. Thanks for reading this. Henry

06-27-10 Wichita KS: 1702 hrs. Sitting on the bus. It was very hot here in Kansas today. Summer is really upon us now. Shows going well. A week from today, I should be off the road for a little while. The tour has gone quickly. I looked at the last tour record and at the one hundred and twenty show mark had us in October. So, this one is a bit compressed.

I am already starting to miss the tour but hopefully, there will be more shows coming up later in the year and next year as well.

Shows over the last week have been good. Great audiences. It was my first show in Jackson Hole WY, that was a good one. It’s a really amazing piece of America, the views driving in were amazing.

The last week of shows have been in wide open spaces with long drives in between. It has felt like a week in space. I have been keeping up with news as best I can. The article in Rolling Stone magazine that lead to the dismissal of Gen. McChrystal is worth reading. I found it online without any trouble. I am going to read it again before I hit stage tonight.

I wish there was more to tell you but there is not. It’s a show a night and long drives afterwards. I will update when I get more information about further shows hopefully slotting in later in the year. It’s hard to believe that this thing is almost over. Thanks for reading this. Henry

06-20-10 Boise ID: 1707 hrs. Backstage at the venue. Been a long time since I was in this place. It’s called the Knitting Factory now, I guess they bought the place up. It used to be called the Big Easy. I have done at least three shows here. Not many people show up but they’re cool people so it’s worth it.

Last night was Salt Lake City, UT. A small but cool crowd. There’s never many people at that show but I always put Salt Lake on the tour. It’s one of the first places I ever did a show.

Shows have been going well since last week. I had a few days off after the Sunday show at the Largo in Los Angeles. I didn’t know what to expect from those shows but was really happy with how they went. I should get back there sooner than later.

Not much to tell from out here. We are three shows back into the swing of things. It was strange to have three days off in LA. I got a lot of listening done, that was good. I have not been off the road much in the last eight months, so it wasn’t so bad to have a break. It was a relief to get back on the bus and head out of town for Las Vegas.

It was interesting to watch Tony Hayward deflect direct questions from Congress last week. The calm expression on his face was classic. He wasn’t having any of it. I am so glad he was gracious enough to take the time out of his schedule. When you hear his stunning lack of knowledge as the workings of BP, it’s hard to imagine what the appeal was that got him hired in the first place. Meanwhile, the crude just keeps coming. President Obama’s speech last week didn’t do much to make me feel better. I guess he had to make some kind of statement. When he said that the crude would be with us for months, perhaps years, it reminded me of Donald Rumsfeld saying that America might be in Iraq for a matter of weeks, maybe months. It’s the BP Disaster that I have been thinking about every day and the more I think about it, the more depressing it gets.

The bright side is that I have shows coming up and that always puts me in a good mood. I am looking forward to what little is left. The tour was quite compressed and without much time off between legs, we are coming to the end of the majority of the shows in a couple of weeks. There’s some festival dates later in the summer and a few shows here and there later in the year but the majority of the shows are behind us. It’s a shame, I was just getting warmed up! Thanks for reading this. Henry

06-13-10 LA CA: 1635 hrs. In my office. Strange to be here with a show only a few hours away. The last several shows have been good and the last two nights in Los Angeles, I must say, surprised me. Fantastic audiences. I don’t do shows in the LA area all that often. It is strange for me to do a show and then be in my own bed afterwards. Like now, sitting here, knowing I have a show tonight, it’s just not what I am used to. The venue is very good and the sound onstage is great for me so I am happy up there.

It was great to be live on the radio last night. A little nervy having to leave the show and run to the stage at Largo but I did it. In a way, it was kind of cool to not have much time to think about things but just get out there and do it.

That San Luis Obispo show that I wrote you from last week, that was a great time, very cool venue and a great audience. I didn’t know what to expect but it ended up being a great night. All the other shows went well, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, all of them were good.

The detective who told me I had the complaint lodged against me wrote me back and told me that the night of the alleged incident, I was in Kelowna, Canada, thousands of miles away and that he was deactivating the case. Whatever. What, do I have to feel “lucky” that I had an alibi? Ugh, depressing.

What’s more depressing is the British Petroleum Disaster. It’s not a spill anymore. It’s a permanent problem that will, as soon as the powers that be can be so bold to admit, will be a determinant factor in how things are in this world. I understand the president’s frustration. What I can’t understand is the desire to keep drilling offshore. If you can’t fix what’s happening now, why then would you want to risk creating a similar situation? Imagine two of these damned things No earthquake or tsunami ever unleashed anything like this, it’s us. The spin is amazing though. The British are getting offended at America’s anger. Oh. So sorry. No problem, it will be with you soon! 

So, this damned tour is rolling to a close fairly soon. There is another chunk of shows in June and a few more in July, some festival dates in August and that’s about it. I still have to make it to Michigan and I will. I am sorry we were not able to get MI to slot into the tour proper. There’s no way I would leave it out though. As I sit here, I am bugged that the run is almost over and am thinking of places to do shows later in the year. If I come up with some ideas, believe me, I will act on them. I should get ready to get down the street and to the venue. Strange. Thanks for reading this. Henry

06-06-10 San Luis Obispo CA: 1837 hrs. Backstage at the venue. I don’t know the last time I was here. I checked my list of talking shows over the last twenty years and just word searched my computer to see if “Obispo” shows up anywhere and it’s not. I don’t know if I have been here since 1983.

Some fun reading, hopefully. There was our drunk in Eugene who had to be removed after wearing everyone out with his ravings. He is outraged! He wrote me this letter, it’s amazing. I left in all the punctuation. He didn’t sign it. He is one angry, drunk pain in the ass, I’ll say! I don’t know how we could have handled the situation differently. He was begged to shut a few times but it didn’t seem to work. Read on!

Just wanted to send you a quick fuck you and thanks for showing me what a cheap ass fake you are.Im “That guy” who was kicked out of your show on the 30th of May in Eugene,Or. for admittedly drinking to much and yes I probably should have been kicked out however my issue is that instead of acting like a professional or perhaps even like someone who’s  been there before at one point or another in your life you had to try humiliating and degrading me in front of your crowd. You completely instigated the crowd into a mob mentality,had me and my girlfriend(who did nothing)manhandled by probably your security, fights outside the theater because of you instigations inside,police called(whom you claim not to be a fan of however I’m not so sure at this point).Bottom line is you were a complete fucking asshole and I know that losing one life long fan doesn’t mean shit to you because you apparently are above everyone else and have never done a stupid fucking thing in your life but I appreciate you showing your true colors and saving me from wasting any more money on you. I hope that maybe next time some young fan who is completely fucking excited to go see you and perhaps parties a little to much before hand dosnt get treated with the same disrespect you showed me. Thanks again and FUCK YOU!

Interesting. So, after I sent in the last dispatch, I went to DC to host the 9:30 Club 30 year anniversary party. My plane was late taking off, making me miss some of the bands I was supposed to bring to the stage. Two of those bands were the Slickee Boys and the Evens, I was very unhappy about that. I did get to bring on all the rest of the acts and they were all excellent. Bob Mould, Ted Leo, Dave Grohl, the Pie Tasters, Clutch, Trouble Funk, all the acts I saw were great. I hung out there post show with Ian and some others and then had to go back to Dulles and fly to Oregon to resume the tour. It was a little low on sleep but it was definitely worth it. Long live the 9:30 Club.

Shows have been going well. Grants Pass, OR was a drag because of the strategically placed drunk in the front row who hobbled the show but that’s what you get sometimes. The people I met post show were very cool though.

I got an e-mail from a Los Angeles detective telling me that a complaint had been lodged against me by a woman from the night I was in a bar in Pico Riviera CA called Iguana’s. Interesting. I asked the man what the date of this night was and a day later he told me. I was in Northern Canada at the time but that doesn’t stop some people. A great welcome back to California. Remind me to leave more often. Things like that are very unsettling. You think you’re relatively free and then someone out of nowhere makes a move like that and you see that you’re really up-for-grabs at any time. What if I didn’t have solid alibi? Who cares if I have never been to this bar and never to my knowledge, ever met this woman?

It has been interesting to me, at least, to read the things coming from BP’s apologists over the last several days. If I am to believe some of these people, the oil spill is not an ecological disaster, there’s nothing to worry about, it happens naturally all the time and the oceans will take care of the rest. Wow. It’s fairly incredible to read this stuff. This week, if I have time, I hope to gather the best quotes I can and make a list of people who are trying to downplay the magnitude of this thing.

I will be live on the radio next week, the first time in months and also there are the three Largo shows in LA Fri. - Sun. Should be an interesting week of blurred activity! Thanks for reading this. Henry

05-30-10 Eugene Oregon: 1701 hrs. Sitting on the bus, around the corner from the venue. Since I last wrote here, I have done another seven shows, three in Canada and four in America. The shows have been going great. The last few nights have been fantastic, Seattle, Bellingham and Portland last night, all were some of the funnest of the tour so far.

It’s been a week since I have written here and still, the oil leak in the Gulf goes on. An estimated twenty seven hundred gallons a minute. I am not a scientist or an engineer so I don’t know the particular ins and outs of all of this but I have to think that we are not being told the truly bad parts of what will be the outcome of this. Common sense gets you a good way there, Knowing that BP will be doing their best to make it not look as bad as it is certainly factors into what is being reported and of course, there’s always the apologists who will somehow stick up for them and make anyone calling this disaster what it is be somehow the real problem. I don’t know how far the oil will get out into the sea but the coastlines are going to be incredibly affected, that can’t be spun away or denied.

Tomorrow morning, I will fly from Portland OR to Dulles International and go to the 9:30 Club in DC to host the 30th anniversary of the club. Many bands will hit stage and do short sets. I will be bringing them on and off stage. I got the list of acts sent to me yesterday but the e-mail said that I am not at liberty to disclose any details, which is odd, you would have thought they would have wanted to get the word out as best they could. The e-mail expressly asks that none of the acts or set times, so I won’t. Should be a good night. I don’t know what one needs to do to get a ticket but it would be worth trying if you are in the area.

It will be a sleepless couple of days for me. I will do the show at the 9:30, go back to Dulles, fly back to Oregon, get a few hours of sleep and then get onstage for the show in Grants Pass.

I had some good times at the 9:30 Club. The old one, on F street holds a lot of memories for me. Here’s a nice shot of the front of the old one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rock_creek/3445082168/. I saw a lot of good shows in there and played there a few times as well. The new one is a very good venue but holds none of the sentimental value the old one does but this is something I couldn’t say no to, so several hours from now, off I go to the east coast for about fifteen hours and then back again.

Interesting that the president isn’t making an appearance at Arlington Cemetery this weekend. Apparently he went to the Abraham Lincoln Cemetery in Elwood IL and did a speech there.

I am looking forward to the shows coming up. I will be in California soon. I have been getting a lot of letters from people about the Los Angles shows at the Largo June 11, 12 & 13. The venue makes things challenging as to getting tickets. If you go to MusicToday, you can get tickets online. I don’t think the venue holds many people. You might want to check it out if you’re interested in going as the tickets might go. We will be raising money for the West Memphis Three and the Holly Grove Children’s Services Center, so you might want to be a part of that. I’m going to have to jam on Saturday’s show, one hour between getting off the air on KCRW and getting to the venue. I can do it. Will be a long night but a good one.

Should be a good week of shows. I will see some of you at the 9:30 soon, and some of you even sooner than that tonight here in Eugene. Thanks for reading this. Henry

The shows have been going well for the most part. Billings MT was a bit of a drag with the intermittent drunk ravings but that’s life. From there, we crossed into Canada, where we have been ever since.  

I am sure some of you have checked out Rand Paul’s take on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He seems to have some reservations about certain aspects of it. He’s getting tagged as a racist, an accusation I don’t necessarily agree with. What’s interesting is that in 1883, the Supreme Court knocked down the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The Supremes said that it was in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, this is basically the problem that Rand Paul has with it. That can be seen as racist or at least making it easier for racism to exist in society, that’s what bugs me about what happened in 1883 and about what Rand Paul said. It will be interesting to see what Kentucky makes of him. This will be an interesting week of press as Mr. Paul will no doubt be a big part of it.  

It’s depressing to see the destruction that the oil spill is wreaking on America’s coastline. I wonder if this won’t end up being a much bigger catastrophe than what’s being portrayed on the news. The reportage seems to be noticeably scant, considering what is at stake. I guess the facts will emerge when they are too large to conceal.  

I have never been to Kelowna before. I have been told it is a vacation town. I don’t know what to expect tonight. Thanks for reading this. Henry