California Dreaming Tour - Kyler's European Bathing Suit (part 2)

It has been just over 3 weeks since the Gravenstein Music Festival and I am still recovering from the incredible experience. It was.. let's just say one that I'll never forget. If you read the last blog then you know how I was feeling jumping into this California Dreaming Tour. It was a total leap of faith. Starting from the top!

Day 1:  So Pete, Tyler, Kyler and I landed at LAX on a hazy Tuesday morning, hopped into an overpriced mini van and booked it for the Pacific, cue music . We all stared in awe and wonder at Kyler's European Bathing suit (he had recently gotten back from Barcelona), we plunged into the refreshing water at Hermosa Beach, played a song for two pretty ladies on the beach, then ordered Monkey Style at In N Out (I convinced the California rookies that it was called Monkey, not Animal Style Ha!). That evening we played an intimate house show at a family friend's house in a quiet suburb of LA called Melrose. My mom mailed down some of my brother's wine for the show and Michael (the host) went above and beyond to make us feel welcome and create a warm environment for people to truly enjoy the experience. It was the perfect first show to the tour. I reconnected with college friends, professors, rugby coaches, saw my brother Cooper and we finished with a backyard aftershow, jamming until late at night. It was truly a magical evening. The Nashville Yacht Club had a strong start to its maiden voyage (this was the first tour for our songwriter's collective group).

Day 2: We woke up at 6am and booked it for San Diego. Shredded the gnar (kinda, but not really) on a sunny SoCal beach for several hours then made our way to my friend Greg's house for some of the best BBQ ribs of my life made by his incredible girlfriend, Sam. After our taste buds descended back down from heaven, we left for Grotto rock climbing gym, our venue that evening. Playing in a rock climbing gym presented the unique challenge of having to lure avid climbers to listen to us. We began by playing very quietly to bring them in close. Our small beginning crowd of 5 or 6 increased by the end to around 15-20 dedicated listeners. While playing we just focused on doing our thing and the four of us didn't miss a beat. Every venue we played besides the festival we did the Nashville writer's round style so all four of us were in front with one person playing an original song as the others accompanied. Then the next person would go. That evening I got word from my friends in San Luis Obispo that they were not able to secure a location for us to play at so we had an interesting challenge before us for the upcoming day of trying to find a place to play with such short notice.

Day 3: We left SD and on the ride up the coast we started calling all types of venues we could think of. Peter decided to call churches and got scolded by multiple old ladies telling him that to book a venue you are supposed to do it weeks ahead, not the day of. He replied with a kind "Yes I understand but our show for tonight was cancelled, that's why I'm doing it hours beforehand". Kyler emailed a popular restaurant/brewery called SLO Brew and we fortunately got a quick response back. Kyler being the king of cool secured the deal and the boys were back in business! We grabbed burritos in Santa Barbara for a late lunch at Freebirds, serenaded a random guys girlfriend with "Let Me Love You" by Mario because it was her birthday, then enjoyed the beautiful California coast and rolling hills until we arrived in San Luis. We barely found parking because the main road was blocked off because of a parade happening downtown. Rushed in to SLO Brew, played a two hour set and lit the place on fire with dancing and singing. Sometimes you can quantify how much people really enjoyed the show by how many beer glasses were broken from people dancing their hearts out. Our tally for the night was 2, which I'll say was a success. Our aftershow that night was a moving aftershow. We played on the street featuring "Give me the Beat Boys", "Bailando", and "Barefoot Blue Jean Night". When we played Bailando the guy was from Mexico and did not expect one word of Spanish to come out of my mouth. After the song he shoved a handful of one dollar bills in the body of my guitar (A first time experience for me). We ended up sleeping in a canary yellow RV named La Tortuga that my buddies Pat and Riley so generously allowed us into. It was parked with a slant so I had to create a hitch in my blanket to keep me from rolling off.

Day 4: We drove up the beautiful PCH, Highway 1. We had some of the best conversation in the car that I've ever had. And it was every day. I was challenged, we each grew and it was nothing but real honesty and openness. Our jam was this catchy tune as we soaked in the rustic beauty of Big Sur and the waves crashing on the shore. We made it up to San Francisco to pick up our friends Cody and Justin (The magician), then safely arrived in my hometown of Sebastopol. My mom had prepared an incredible steak dinner but before I had to run into the apple orchard and eat a fresh Gravenstein Apple. It was everything I had remembered it to be and then some. I was in my happy place, apple in hand as I gazed at the red sky over the hills of wine country. What tomorrow was to bring I had no clue but I was content and knew God was good, He had brought me this far and all I could do at this point in anticipation for the festival was relax and with palms open.

To be continued…

May your love be strong,

Joey

P.s. If you want a t-shirt or crewneck with a design from the apple fest and you live in Nashville message me. I can get one to you for only like $10-20ish!