Yes we're all on-board with this Great American Road Trip for our trio, Cosmo's Dream.  Who coined that phrase?  It keeps popping up in various ads for such items as music compilation CD's, books, maps, and on-line forums.  I guess it's just one of those trendy phrases of the year.  Oh, now (thanks to the great G in the sky) I see; it was a TV series begun in 2009.  That would explain all that followed.  I'm so out of touch.

For now, the preparations are logistical but always emotional too.  I'm still in that typical period of swooning that follows the addition of a new band member.  Steve's not the only one singing the praises of Gen Obata.  What I especially appreciate is his willingness to take on the driving nature of what we consider the necessary nuts and bolts of being ready to take this thing seriously.  His continuing concern matches ours in looking at all the boring details of promotions and day-to-day realities of travel preparations.  Sharing feels quite wonderful to me at a very personal level and at the very least.  This swooning thing usually doesn't last this long with a "new" band.  I've heard a band's average longevity is six months.  We're up to a year now and going harder at it than ever with the plans for touring.  Let's hope we'll withstand the test of a month in a car together, traversing the snowy Rocky Mountains.  I'm done with publicity releases for six cities including Tacoma.  After all, our CD release party here at the Swiss Tavern counts for the official beginning of our tour.  Enormous thanks to Matt Nagle for printing our photo on the front page of the Weekly for that one.  Kristi Worthey told me she sees press releases in print media much like throwing spaghetti noodles at a wall.  You send the stuff out and never know what will stick.  So we'll see what gets published elsewhere. In the same vein we're sending the CD to around 15 radio stations and programmers en-route thus-far, with another five or so to local reviewers.  It's all a big guess as to what will come of all these efforts.

Anticipating the Road and Where it will Lead or Is It Really a Long and Winding Road?

Hey!  Check it out.  This is one of our new videos.  It was shot at King's Books in Tacoma.  It is our title song from our CD.  Gen wrote it.  I really love playing this song both as a guitarist and as a backup singer.  Ya gotta love this.  I'll speak for myself.  I love this video!

Wow.  Blogging.  How exciting!  We can only hope huh?  I woke up this morning with nuts and bolts of preparations for the Cosmosbigdream tour of 2016.  'Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here we come" etc. via Spokane, Bozeman, Missoula, Rapid City, Lincoln, KC, St. Louis, Boulder, Cascade, and multiple points in between.  In the meantime we have been communicating with the International Folk Alliance Conference.  We're going to share a table with the great Seattle guitarist Rick Ruskin.  Nuts and bolts include labels for CD envelopes; getting press releases out to our destinations with enough lead time; getting reviews of our new cd; making arrangements at our performance points; and booking places to stay (Gen has taken care of that).  

There is a road that I must follow

I'm not sure where it will lead

I will strike out unprotected

I am following my dream

The road runs right through mountains

Over deserts and the plains

It will ride us past lakes and rivers

Until we come home again.

I have faith in my fellow travelers

We know that we'll all share the load

From the rise of sun in morning

To the evenings golden glow

It's a road that we must follow

We've all followed it for years

We accept the joy and laughter

As we accept the pain and tears

So I am writing to you

That you might ride along with us

As we follow rainbows where they fall

And the footprints in the dust.

If you should choose to follow us

Whether lose or we shall win

You may know our story

And when we'll hit the road again.

One thing I look forward to is increasing our repertoire.  There are a lot of songs even now that I look forward to performing every time we play.  I don't know if I'm exceptional this way, but I truly love being in a "band" which is more than two.  It's not that I don't experience a lot of joy playing with Kristi as a duo because I do.  I'm able to be more personal with our duo than I am with the trio which is an important component in our performances.  I think there's also an earnest quality to our duo performances. 

I love playing with Kristi and Gen because both of them are accomplished musicians who have your back, and I hope I provide the same kind of comfort to them as they provide me.  Both Gen and I write songs.  You can look forward to hearing material you've never heard before although it takes time, and we have material that we need to keep together right now which limits the amount of time we can spend on new material.  I'm looking forward to more material that we have a capella parts in.  It is just a thrill to have confidence in a sound that doesn't rely on instruments.  It is a thrill as well to play instruments and have them provide strong support for the vocalizing.

I think that all of us have been thinking about the road conditions around the country and how they are going to be in the month of February.  Kristi and I have quite a bit of experience driving in snow and ice.  I suppose that I sound a bit arrogant sometimes when talking about it.  The truth is that when there is a shortage of friction between your wheels and the road, it is a crap shoot whether you will arrive at your destination without incident.  I was talking to someone recently about an incident where they had ended up in a median after hitting a patch of ice on a freeway.  In the winter those kinds of incidents happen in the hundreds, or probably thousands or more every day.  

We have been lucky.  That's all I can say.  I have slid off of roads on occasion, spun out, come close to collision etc. but never had a really serious accident.  I have distinct memories of driving in Northern B.C. and Yukon Territory in the middle of the night.  I would be sleeping in the back of our big white van and I'd awake the the vehicle shimmying a little.  I would look up over the driver's seat and see the reflection of the headlights off of a sheet of solid ice on the highway and Kristi driving at a speed between 50-60 mph and marvel at how fortunate I was to have such a strong, directed person to drive on these highways with.

Nonetheless every year when the snows fall and the roads get icy I get jumpy until I am out on the road feeling the tires, testing the friction, and doing it all again.  So it is with some trepidation that I look forward to our journey.  I know that whatever happens I will be protected by the aura of camaraderie that surrounds "Cosmo's Dream" (what was that guy thinking?).  Be careful out there.

Steve Nebel

  

Big Sky Blues

     We got our new CD back from the manufacturer a week ago tomorrow.  It has been exciting all along.  We've just been playing together for a year.  Now we have a solid product to promote.  The group generates automatic enthusiasm as it is.  We all hope that after a couple or ten tours the enthusiasm will actually lead to some good gigs.

     We'll be playing our first CD release gig on Thursday the 28th of January at the Swiss in downtown Tacoma.  Gen's other band, Barleywine Revue has a steady gig there and we will be the opening band so-to-speak.  It is a good place to play simply because it has a reputation and lots of people can come to see you there.  

     I especially like to sing with the group.  Gen and Kristi and I get a nice blend, and all of us are good capable singers who can hang onto a harmony and more or less sing on pitch.  We also have a good energy.  Gen pushes us to be high energy, which can be a challenge, but at the same time it generates a flow of energy that goes out to the audience.  

     We will be going on the road in February, which may present some challenges for us. 

In the end though, we are going to have lots of opportunities to play together which is sure to make all of us stronger. The trip is on all of our minds. We have been sending the CD out to radio that is in the vicinity of our tour route.  We have a pretty good schedule going for us, and the International Folk Alliance Conference should help us gain some traction.  We'll see you on the road.  Steve N.