Friday, March 6, 2015

JB Tour 2015 update....

Hi groovy people,

All is going great out here on tour with Joe Bonamassa. We did a relaxing week out at sea on Joe's "Keepin' the Blues Alive at Sea" cruise.

It was great to see some good friends and meet lots of new friends as well. My good buddies from LA were on the cruise. Travis Carlton, Kirk Fletcher, Josh Smith and Lemar Carter were all playing together. Their's was one of my favorite shows. The best was a jam session we had in the big theatre with Joe and Simo as well joining in. I hope we all get to do it again next year!

Then it was off to Germany where we've been since. We've done shows in Munich, Bremerhaven, Dusseldorf, Oberhausen and last night a great show in Nurnburg. The crowds have been wonderful and REALLY love Joe. He has really built up a ravenous fan base who is very supportive of whatever he decides to present for them. He does a great job making every tour both different and stellar.

Our day usually consists of getting to the hotel late at night so we can sleep in if need be or grab breakfast. Then mid afternoon it's off to the venue for set up and soundcheck. There is catering at the venue for us which is really nice and usually GREAT with healthy food, cooked with love from Zoe and Jillian.

Afterwards we usually split up and have a few hours of time to kill. I have been pretty diligent about finding a quiet place to practice (sometimes not so quiet and I'm sure I wear out the nerves of some folks somewhere) I am really trying to keep to good habits on this tour, practicing, eating right and exercising. So far so good! I'm down about 20lbs since January!! Yay!

We have dinner starting at 5pm and the shows are ON TIME right at 8pm. Then right after the show, we either pack up and split to the next town or  head back to the hotel. Rinse and repeat. It's a well oiled machine with a great crew of nice people. I very happy to report there are no "people problems" or drama out here. It makes traveling and working so much nicer.

The buses are very comfortable and time for us to go over music ideas or just yuck it up for a few hours. Touring with veteran players with a sense of humor is one of my favorite things to do. It usually involves so much laughing that I forget that these are some incredible musicians! And any of you who know me well, know that I LOVE to laugh....A LOT!!! So I really treausure the guys and their sense of fun and humor.

The horn section is great to work with. Nick Lane and Lee Thornburg are a couple of guys who have done so much and done it all at such a high level that it's a joy and learning experience for me every night. Not to mention that they are both really great to hang with and we have many a laugh in the "Horny Toads" dressing room. We've discovered countless youtube "stars" like the Tourettes Karaoke Guy who keeps us laughing til our guts hurt. Lots of good times.
































So that's kind of a run through of our days out on the road. Here are some photos as well of some of the venues and things along the way. Gonna go out and see Nurnburg today and try to get some photos. I hope you are all well and most of all, HAPPY!

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