I’m going to be perfectly honest here, I haven’t showered in five days, and I stink. I’m usually pretty clean, but there have been a lack of showers so far on this tour. Even if there were a shower somewhere I probably wouldn’t have time to use it. Usually it’s hurry up and wait, but lately it’s been hurry up and hurry some more. I’ve been damn busy now that my workload has doubled, but I’m not complaining, I’m just adjusting. This tour is a different kind of situation. We have an entirely different crew than the last time around, so my time is spent teaching the new guys the routine of everything and trying to remember some things myself. We also have a bus full of people, 13 to be exact, and that is a slightly difficult thing to get used to all in itself. Tonight is the third night of tour, and as of yet, the coldest. It’s around 20 degrees and snowing like crazy here at the infamous Metro in Chicago. I really didn’t get to see much of Nashville or Columbus due to me being busy and tired, and the same will most likely happen again tonight. On top of the previously mentioned excuses, we’re in a slightly ghetto area, about a block away from Wrigley Field, and the only exciting places I’ve seen all day are a Starbucks and a hot dog stand, maybe I’ll get lucky and Steve Albini will come by and want to get a drink and hang out.

Newport Music Hall wall of fame

soundcheck

Meet and greet behind the scenes

Charleston, South Carolina is…. pretty damn nice right now.  I thought I was going to leave my dreary, rainy town of Chico, CA to come to an even rainier, colder and much more depressing place, but I was completely wrong.  This town is amazing.  It’s been sunny and warm; the locals have been out walking the town, enjoying life, not too bad in my book.  When we’re not in downtown Charleston rehearsing we’ve been spending time at a vacationers dream beach house.  I am literally twenty feet from the ocean, and it’s beautiful.  The days have been long, but surprisingly stress free, despite all preparing we need to do.  Besides the flaming amplifier everything has been routine for me.  The band, on the other hand, has decided to practice songs they haven’t played in over year the day before the first show, but everything is sounding great.  I’m sure some sort of last minute detail will need to be worked out, but we’ll tackle that when it comes up.  Tomorrow I get to visit my second home, and the town where my car resides, Nashville, Tennessee.

view from our back porch.

seagull feeding

rehearsal

I don’t know if any of you have ever heard a person in a successful, touring band say what a tough life they have, how it’s hard to adjust to being home and thought to yourself, what a fucking asshole, it must be really hard to be making money and playing shows for tons of people every night. Well, it is. Granted, it’s definitely one of the best jobs ever, you get to see so many different things and even when you’re not in the band, just with them, it’s amazing to see people that love to come to shows and watch music. But I sometimes wonder what I’ve done to myself. Why have I chosen a career path that calls for me to be gone nine months out of the year, put my personal life on hold and risk my health and sanity? The best answer to that question is really answered best with another question. Why would I not do this? In the coming eight weeks I will be making my way across the country in a tour bus with some of my best friends, and some soon to be new friends, and will be documenting as much as humanly possible here. Come to a show, hang out with us, join in on one of the many after show dance parties and support touring bands, gas is damned expensive now.

Emery Headlining Tour
w/ Mayday Parade, As Cities Burn, Pierce The Veil & Cry Of The Afflicted

January-
29- Nashville, TN Rocketown
30- Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall
31- Chicago, IL The Metro
February-
1- Cleveland, OH Agora Ballroom
2- Detroit, MI St. Andrew’s Hall
4- Madison, WI Majestic Theatre
5- St. Paul, MN Station 4
6- Omaha, NE Sokol Underground
7- Lawrence, KS Liberty Hall
8- Denver, CO Marquis Theatre
9- Salt Lake City, UT The Avalon
11- Seattle, WA Showbox (At The Market)
12- Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
13- Orangevale, CA The Boardwalk
14- San Francisco, CA Bottom Of The Hill
15- Los Angeles, CA The Troubadour
16- San Diego, CA SOMA
17- Pomona, CA the Glasshouse
18- Las Vegas, NV Jillian’s
19- Tempe, AZ Marquee Theater
20- Albuquerque, NM Sunshine Theatre
22- San Antonio, TX White Rabbit
23- McAllen, TX El Rey Theatre
24- Houston, TX Meridian Red Room
25- Dallas, TX The Door
26- Tulsa, OK The Otherside
27- Sauget, IL Pop’s
29- Cincinnati, OH The Underground
March-
1- Buffalo, NY Xtreme Wheels
2- Pittsburg, PA Mr. Small’s Theatre
3- New York, NY Blender Theater
5- Worcester, MA The Palladium
6- Towson, MD Recher Theatre
7- Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
8- Richmond, VA The National
11- Ft. Lauderdale, FL Culture Room
12- St. Petersburg, FL State Theater
13- Orlando, FL The Social
14- Orlando, FL The Social
15- Pensacola, FL American Legion Hall, Post 33
16- Little Rock, AR Juanita’s Cantina
17- Joplin, MO The Foundry
19- Louisville, KY Headliners
20- Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
21- Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall
22- Greenville, SC The Handlebar