As epic as this tour was, it's always good to get back home to Texas! We saw lots of family and good friends on this last leg, which is what it's all about. 
The first in-state stop was Chuck's hometown of Amarillo. We stayed with two of his best buddies, Brandon King and Angie DeWitt, and we had dinner at his sister Jonnie's house for the best dang cabbage tacos and scotchies this side of Abilene (trust). Then we played to a packed hometown crowd at Leftwoods on Route 66, which was a blast!
Next we headed south to Lubbock, where we played a show with cowboy songster Andy Hedges and singer/songwriter/folklorist Andy Wilkinson at Caprock Winery, which is a beautiful space with delicious wine. We stayed with my good friend Kathy Kelley and got a surprise visit from Brandon "Brand Iron" King, who drove down from Amarillo to catch the show! We closed the night with a song circle at the Hedges' house. It was an honor to play songs with these guys. Andy Hedges has a new album, Cowboy Songster, Vol. 2, coming out in January, which y'all should definitely check out!
We had a night off between shows, so we headed east to Fort Worth to hang out at the Fort Worth Stockyards (Chuck had never been), and we got to hang with Chuck's brother Tommy too!
The next night, we played the amazing Texan Theater in downtown Greenville, east of Dallas. This is a meticulously and beautifully restored 1890's opera house, which has seen performers such as Houdini, the Marx Brothers, and Souza take the stage. Today, the Texan Theater is home to nightly performances of curated up and coming as well as legendary artists. A full, 4 course dinner, drinks, and all gratuities are included with every ticket, and the staff goes above and beyond to make this a first class experience for the audience and the artists too. If you're anywhere near the Texan, you need to check out a show at this truly special place, post haste. It was an honor to play their stage, and I hope to get back there in 2016!
The home stretch! It was SO good to get to Austin and play a show at the Saxon Pub! This is one of my very favorite, best sounding rooms to play in Austin or anywhere else. My dad surprised us at the show, and it was awesome to see the Austin gang all together again!
The next day I headed back to Houston and met some buddies at good ole Kenneally's Irish Pub, where I told them all the stories from this trip and they convinced me it was high time to start
writing a blog to tell y'all some of the road adventures that go beyond the social media posts. Hoping to keep this going with more updates from the road, studio, and wherever else this crazy thing goes.
I'd like once again to thank all the generous family and friends who opened up their homes to us on this ambitious journey of a tour, whether for lodging, a house show, a hot meal, or a cold beer. We literally couldn't do this without you. Also, a big thanks to my main man Chuck Hawthorne, for making this journey with me and for still liking me by the time we got home! Looking forward to more adventures.
To read up on the other installments of the Tour Recap, you can click the following links: Southeast, Midwest, Mountain West. For a full size picture gallery with captions, visit the Photos page!
The first in-state stop was Chuck's hometown of Amarillo. We stayed with two of his best buddies, Brandon King and Angie DeWitt, and we had dinner at his sister Jonnie's house for the best dang cabbage tacos and scotchies this side of Abilene (trust). Then we played to a packed hometown crowd at Leftwoods on Route 66, which was a blast!
Next we headed south to Lubbock, where we played a show with cowboy songster Andy Hedges and singer/songwriter/folklorist Andy Wilkinson at Caprock Winery, which is a beautiful space with delicious wine. We stayed with my good friend Kathy Kelley and got a surprise visit from Brandon "Brand Iron" King, who drove down from Amarillo to catch the show! We closed the night with a song circle at the Hedges' house. It was an honor to play songs with these guys. Andy Hedges has a new album, Cowboy Songster, Vol. 2, coming out in January, which y'all should definitely check out!
We had a night off between shows, so we headed east to Fort Worth to hang out at the Fort Worth Stockyards (Chuck had never been), and we got to hang with Chuck's brother Tommy too!
The next night, we played the amazing Texan Theater in downtown Greenville, east of Dallas. This is a meticulously and beautifully restored 1890's opera house, which has seen performers such as Houdini, the Marx Brothers, and Souza take the stage. Today, the Texan Theater is home to nightly performances of curated up and coming as well as legendary artists. A full, 4 course dinner, drinks, and all gratuities are included with every ticket, and the staff goes above and beyond to make this a first class experience for the audience and the artists too. If you're anywhere near the Texan, you need to check out a show at this truly special place, post haste. It was an honor to play their stage, and I hope to get back there in 2016!
The home stretch! It was SO good to get to Austin and play a show at the Saxon Pub! This is one of my very favorite, best sounding rooms to play in Austin or anywhere else. My dad surprised us at the show, and it was awesome to see the Austin gang all together again!
The next day I headed back to Houston and met some buddies at good ole Kenneally's Irish Pub, where I told them all the stories from this trip and they convinced me it was high time to start
writing a blog to tell y'all some of the road adventures that go beyond the social media posts. Hoping to keep this going with more updates from the road, studio, and wherever else this crazy thing goes. I'd like once again to thank all the generous family and friends who opened up their homes to us on this ambitious journey of a tour, whether for lodging, a house show, a hot meal, or a cold beer. We literally couldn't do this without you. Also, a big thanks to my main man Chuck Hawthorne, for making this journey with me and for still liking me by the time we got home! Looking forward to more adventures.
To read up on the other installments of the Tour Recap, you can click the following links: Southeast, Midwest, Mountain West. For a full size picture gallery with captions, visit the Photos page!