I'm Coming To Your Town!
Here's the plan. In mid July, I'll be headed back to the States, as in The United States.... Of America. But, I'm not just going back to the States. I'm going to all 52, err, I mean 50 of them.
My plan is to travel to all 50 states, performing at least once in each state, and doing at least one podcast from each state, featuring musicians that I perform with and different people in the industry I meet along the way. I'll be sitting in with other bands, playing open mic nights, performing my own music, as well
I'll be documenting everything on this website, as well as my Youtube Channel, Instagram Page, Facebook page and my podcast.
I'm looking for as much help as possible with this endeavor. You can help in one of several ways....
1) If you're a musician and you'd like to perform with me, my goal is to perform at least once in each state. I'm a super versatile guitarist, so could easily sit in with your band, back you up on lead guitar if you're a singer/songwriter, etc... I also write and sing my own songs, so if your band wants to back me up, we could do that as well. Everyone I perform with will be featured on my podcast, Youtube Channel, Instagram, etc....
Here's a couple recent clips of me playing guitar...
My plan is to travel to all 50 states, performing at least once in each state, and doing at least one podcast from each state, featuring musicians that I perform with and different people in the industry I meet along the way. I'll be sitting in with other bands, playing open mic nights, performing my own music, as well
I'll be documenting everything on this website, as well as my Youtube Channel, Instagram Page, Facebook page and my podcast.
I'm looking for as much help as possible with this endeavor. You can help in one of several ways....
1) If you're a musician and you'd like to perform with me, my goal is to perform at least once in each state. I'm a super versatile guitarist, so could easily sit in with your band, back you up on lead guitar if you're a singer/songwriter, etc... I also write and sing my own songs, so if your band wants to back me up, we could do that as well. Everyone I perform with will be featured on my podcast, Youtube Channel, Instagram, etc....
Here's a couple recent clips of me playing guitar...
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2) If you can host me in any of the cities I'll be visiting (see below), that would be super helpful as well. In exchange for your hospitality I can teach you about things like music licensing, help you out with your guitar soloing, or perhaps cook dinner for you. (ask me about my specialties) My goal is to spend the least amount as possible on hotels and connect with as many of you as possible at the same time. Please, no psychos or crazy people. I mean, you can be a little crazy, just not dangerous crazy. Got it? Good.
3) You could also refer me to people you think I should connect with, interview for my podcast, perform with, etc... I'm open to all suggestions and possibilities. If you listen to my podcast and want to connect with me, and live near any of the areas I'm visiting, email me and let me know and I'll do my best to meet as many of you as possible.
If you think you can help in any of the above ways, please email me here with your proposal. (See my itinerary below, to see the cities I plan to hit and the approximate dates.)
Why Am I Doing This?
Hopefully the appeal to doing something like this is pretty obvious. Besides simply the sheer adventure of travelling to, getting to know and performing in all 50 states, I also hope to connect with as many of you as possible, bring more exposure to my podcast, my music and my guitar playing.
I've had several different variations of this idea floating around in my head since probably 2013 or so. Recently my life has changed in ways that have opened up the possibility of actually doing something like this (I became single and saved up a little money). So.... why not? Not like I have anything better to do. Or at least, I don't think I have anything better to do. Let me check. No, I really don't have anything better to do.
Itinerary
My plan is to break up this trip into three 90 day long legs, and one shorter leg at the end, with breaks of a month or more in between to rest and recuperate from so much time on the road. Travelling to all 50 states doesn't sound like that big of an undertaking on the surface, but when you start to do the math, it becomes clear that travelling to all 50 states and spending at least a few days in each state will take considerable time, effort and planning.
I don't want to simply spend one day in each state and then speed off to the next. I'd like to spend a few days in each area I visit to get to know each place and meet as many people as possible. So, my plan is to average 6 days in each state, which will allow me to visit 15 states during each 90 day leg of my journey.
Here's my initial plan for the first leg of my podcast/music "tour". I fully expect these dates/cities to change somewhat as I proceed, based on people I meet, proposals for places to perform, etc... I may end up spending more or less time in each state, based on how things unfold. Will I really last 6 days in Mississippi? Maybe not. Or, maybe I'll love it and want to stay longer. Part of the fun of this project is the uncertainty and adventure in simply not knowing exactly what is going to happen in each place.
I'll post specific venues for performances on this page and on my blog as I find out about them. Although a lot of the performances will likely be last minute things like sitting in with a band at venue x, or playing an open mic at city y. So be sure to follow me on Instagram to find out about last minute shows and performances. This is not a pre-planned, I'll be playing at this venue on this date tour. This is more like, I'm going to show up in these areas, hit the ground running and see what happens sort of "tour". It's part networking, part performing, part business and part adventure.
Here are my tentative travel plans
July 15 - July 21st - Jacksonville, FL
July 22nd - July 29th - Atlanta, GA
July 30th - August 6th - Somewhere In Alabama
August 7th - 13th - Jackson, MS
August 14th - 20th - Nashville, TN
August 21st - 27th - Charleston, SC
August 28th - Sept. 4th - Asheville/Charlotte, NC
Sept. 5th - 12th - Louisville, KY
Sept. 13th - 20th - Chicago, IL
Sept. 21-28th - New Orleans, LA
Sept 29th - October 6th - Austin, TX
More dates TBA...