someday we're all getting paid

hey, kids. hope all is well in frigid (well, i hope not) cleveland.

i´m spending a lot of time walking around, jonesing for a cigarette, and saying ´´clawd have mercy´´ every time another girl walks by. it´s downright dangerous over here.

i feel like i´m on a school trip. there´s absolutely nothing i can do on my own without my immediate family freaking out. like posting stuff on my blog, which i can do from almost any cybercafe in buenos aires--and there are a lot, over here.

tomorrow we split BA and head out to a place called Neuquen, which apparently is lovely, rural, and with not much else to do but hike. should be relaxing.

anyway, take care.

lerv,

ed

dear gang,

greetings from the province of buenos aires. it´s about in the mid-70s right now. i´m here with my folks, one of my aunts (whose house it is), a couple of kids running around (who are actually rather nice and well-behaved). imagine my shock when i found not only a computer that worked, but internet access. granted, it's a spanish-language keyboard (causing me no end of grief) and a 33.3 modem (i didn't know that could happen), but otherwise, it'll do.

the plane ride was hell. ten hours from washington to buenos aires, and sleepless, to boot. so i napped out here in this small house full of people. had dinner first--pasta and roast beef, which was really very good in a very homespun kind of way. the nap was brought on by the large quanitity of food and the two copious glasses of wine i had. it is standard issue to drink lots of wine here, but my extended family tends to look down on drunks and the like. one of these days i am going to find a group of people down here to do some debauching with. until then, i will simply have to play the role of the good kid. that also means NO smoking. every now and then i can duck away for a puff. thank the gods for nicotine gum.

i just wanted to say hello, and keep everyone posted on what´s going on. i may be able to scrape the funds to buy a digital camera on the cheap here (remember that the dollar-peso ratio comes out to roughly 3 to 1). if not, you´ll have to deal with my limited verbal descriptions. which will happen only if i have the time to adequately get online, deal with this funny keyboard situation, and get myself up to the task of describing a neighborhood which can only be described as "the second world". see, i am not in the city of buenos aires, which is nowhere as fly, dope, or european as this area. eventually i will get to the city, and then hopefully the fun will begin!

so this post is mostly to say, "what´s up!" to all my crew back in the states. wish ya´ll were here.A

NEW LOU REEDS:

Thu 3/18 Crutch Supper Tub with New Planet Trampoline

Fri 3/26 at the Beachland with the Preacher's Kids and the Volta Sound

COBRA VERDE:

Sat 4/3/04 Pittsburgh PA 31st Street Pub (anniversary show)
Fri 4/9/04 Chicago IL The Metro with Local H, Cisco Pike
Sat 4/10/04 Dekalb, IL Otto's, supporting Local H
Thu 4/15/04 Detroit MI The Shelter , supporting Local H
Fri 4/16/04 Cleveland OH Peabody’s, supporting Local H
Sat 4/17/04 Reading PA Soundwaves, supporting Local H
Mon 4/19/04 Boston MA Paradise Rock Club, supporting Local H
Tue 4/20/04 Burlington VT Club Metronome, supporting Local H
Thu 4/22/04 Philadelphia PA Khyber Pass, supporting Local H
Fri 4/23/04 New York NY Tribeca Rock Club, supporting Local H
Sat 4/24/04 Washington DC Black Cat, supporting Local H


See you guys in a couple of weeks. Be good, and do everything I/can't/shouldn't wouldn't do.

Woke up yesterday with a slight hangover earned at the Beachland, of course. Whiskey and tequila was involved. So was T-Model Ford, Richard Buckner, a chain-smoking Vassar grad (not yours truly, I assure you), and the Beachland staff. Strangely enough, I managed to hold it together until I got home. Waking up was difficult. I thought that my soft tissues and hardy bones had been replaced by warm lead and rotten wood. Are you with me so far?

Nevertheless I got it together, worked for a few hours, then turned in for a very early Sunday night--we're talking midnight in the sackeroo. Today we're in the a.m., which is unusual for me. There's plenty to do today, as I'm leaving in a matter of days (one, two?) for the vast country of Argentina. It's true! A family vacation, even. I will be gone from the 10th to the 22nd, I believe, so as far as getting a hold of me, forget it. Other than Buenos Aires or any of the major cities in that country, there isn't a lot of technological access. I'm on my own, and you're on your own, which should work out just fine.

Because of this sudden shift in scheduling, I called on my friend Ben from the Dreadful Yawns to fill in for me on bass during any possible New Lou Reeds gigs that occur while I'm away. There's only one I can think of. That takes place on the 18th of March with Ben's other band (in which he plays Farfisa organ), the New Planet Trampoline. I had the good fortune to catch an NPT practice session, in which they played me some severely rockin' songs during which I could cite the influences (pretty much every ounce of British Invasion psychedelica coupled with the British Invasion of the 90s such as the Stone Roses, et alia) yet never say that there were any note-for-note ripoffs. Like I said, it's rooted in what we might call a "garage rock" aesthetic but catchier and weirder. Ah, yes. It's like 5 psych-rock jams played frantically over the course of one song. Is that going to make you see them? Perhaps not. But keep your mind open: this is good, good stuff that'll make you rock out as well as catch trails.

I will have returned by the 26th of March, where I will resume my New Lou Reeds duties as we play with drone-monsters the Volta Sound and swamp-rockers The Preachers' Kids. I'm looking forward to this show. I think due to the amount of friends/fans the VS have and the fact that the NLRs don't play out much, we're going to be just fine on a Friday night. Originally the fabulous Waxwings (from Detroit) were going to play, but despite that, it's gonna be a good, good time for all kinds of rock music lovers, especially if their tastes prefer the content of the 60s and 70s. Somewhere floating about is a double CD of the New Lou Reeds performing live on WCSB; I’m hoping that by that point, we’ll have enough to pass out to folks who come to subsequent shows.

After that, life should return to somewhat normal. April’s chock full of CV shows to prepare for the forthcoming release, Save the Song, Kill the Singer. May might even be crazier.

And before I sign off, remember this show: PETER BROTZMANN at the Beachland Tavern, this Tuesday. Click on the above link to find out more.