CT & MA with Elisa Peimer!
In April 2004, I set out on my first real mini tour with fellow singer-songwriter Elisa Peimer (http://www.elisapeimer.com).
Things got off to a dubious start a few weeks prior, when I failed my first road test. This was a drag, since Elisa and I had planned to share the driving. One day I'll scan the results of that first road test and post here for your enjoyment. Suffice it to say that in NY, you're permitted up to 30 points worth of deductions before you flunk the test. I had 90. I had failed very very....very badly. :-/
Elisa was initially worried about the great driving task before her, but began to enjoy it...more or less:
Our first night we performed at Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT. We had a nice time and met some great people. We stayed at a somewhat dodgy but serviceable budget hotel a few miles away, then got up the next morning to go to beautiful Western Massachusettes.
Here we stayed at a much more quaint bed & breakfast called the Lupine House, so dubbed because of the prioprietor's affinity for the flower of the same name. We shared a cute little suite called the Miss Rumphius Room, named after the title character of a children's book about a woman who makes the world a more beautiful place by planting lupine. Here's a picture of Elisa in our Northampton digs:
Our first night in the Northampton area, we played at the Black Sheep Deli in Amherst. We had some technical difficulties in the form of a PA system that went on the blink, but our audience was gracious and sympathetic, and listened attentively to our performance, which ended up being completely unplugged.:
The next day we walked around downtown Amherst. While in the cemetery, we stumbled upon the grave of poetess Emily Dickson:
The evening brought us to S. Hadley, where we played at the Thirsty Mind for some very cool students from Mount Holyoke College:
The next day was largely free for us, so we decided to explore the surrounding areas, and had a great time hiking up Mount Holyoke!
Let me just say now, for the record, that I would not advise climbing up a mountain while wearing polyesther! Live and learn.
Elisa at the observatory, at the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, we noticed people gathering around a man who was balanced rather precariously at the edge of the drop-off, taking a picture of a smokey, convex lens. The object he was photographing is called a Claude glass, and they were apparently used by painters of the Hudson River School to help them to paint landscapes. He kindly invited us to step out and appreciate the reflection on the lens from his vantage point, but it was a little too close to the precipice for my tastes, so this picture will have to suffice:
All of this mountain climbing tired me out:
Later that night, we stoped by Sister Spit Northampton, which was a fantastic evening of mostly spoken word.
The next day, we made our way over to Chelmsford, where we had a lunchtime performance at the Java Room. I can't begin to tell you how staggeringly gorgeous the scenery was along Route 2, which runs from West to East in northern MA. The Java Room is a great cafe run by a friendly woman named Candy. Her daughter's impressive photographs line the walls and there just happens to be a baby grand piano. What more can you ask for?
Many thanks to all the venues we performed in and the terrific folks we met. We really had a great time.
:)
Things got off to a dubious start a few weeks prior, when I failed my first road test. This was a drag, since Elisa and I had planned to share the driving. One day I'll scan the results of that first road test and post here for your enjoyment. Suffice it to say that in NY, you're permitted up to 30 points worth of deductions before you flunk the test. I had 90. I had failed very very....very badly. :-/
Elisa was initially worried about the great driving task before her, but began to enjoy it...more or less:
Our first night we performed at Cafe Nine in New Haven, CT. We had a nice time and met some great people. We stayed at a somewhat dodgy but serviceable budget hotel a few miles away, then got up the next morning to go to beautiful Western Massachusettes.
Here we stayed at a much more quaint bed & breakfast called the Lupine House, so dubbed because of the prioprietor's affinity for the flower of the same name. We shared a cute little suite called the Miss Rumphius Room, named after the title character of a children's book about a woman who makes the world a more beautiful place by planting lupine. Here's a picture of Elisa in our Northampton digs:
Our first night in the Northampton area, we played at the Black Sheep Deli in Amherst. We had some technical difficulties in the form of a PA system that went on the blink, but our audience was gracious and sympathetic, and listened attentively to our performance, which ended up being completely unplugged.:
The next day we walked around downtown Amherst. While in the cemetery, we stumbled upon the grave of poetess Emily Dickson:
The evening brought us to S. Hadley, where we played at the Thirsty Mind for some very cool students from Mount Holyoke College:
The next day was largely free for us, so we decided to explore the surrounding areas, and had a great time hiking up Mount Holyoke!
Let me just say now, for the record, that I would not advise climbing up a mountain while wearing polyesther! Live and learn.
Elisa at the observatory, at the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, we noticed people gathering around a man who was balanced rather precariously at the edge of the drop-off, taking a picture of a smokey, convex lens. The object he was photographing is called a Claude glass, and they were apparently used by painters of the Hudson River School to help them to paint landscapes. He kindly invited us to step out and appreciate the reflection on the lens from his vantage point, but it was a little too close to the precipice for my tastes, so this picture will have to suffice:
All of this mountain climbing tired me out:
Later that night, we stoped by Sister Spit Northampton, which was a fantastic evening of mostly spoken word.
The next day, we made our way over to Chelmsford, where we had a lunchtime performance at the Java Room. I can't begin to tell you how staggeringly gorgeous the scenery was along Route 2, which runs from West to East in northern MA. The Java Room is a great cafe run by a friendly woman named Candy. Her daughter's impressive photographs line the walls and there just happens to be a baby grand piano. What more can you ask for?
Many thanks to all the venues we performed in and the terrific folks we met. We really had a great time.
:)