Nicholas David Deep in the Heart of Texas '14: Dallas, like the T.V. Show

This Van sleeping maneuver is called the turtle.

After a brief stay at home, we left the Twin Cities during yet another polar vortex.  I guess it's good to be getting out of town during these ridiculously cold times, but loading gear in these conditions is maddening.  Getting out of Minnesota was a little dicey.  It wasn't snowing, but the wind was blowing snow across the highway and making it nearly impossible to see.  I got to drive this stretch, and it was white knuckle all the way to southern Iowa.

Dallas Tejas

We had planned to stop along the way to Dallas, but a promotional appearance on a local news show was confirmed at the last minute, so we had to drive straight to Dallas in one hump.  We made fairly good time, with one dinner break along the way in Joplin, MO.  Using the magic of the internet, we found an awesome organic, local sourced, wood fired pizza place called Mohaska Farmhouse.  If you're in the area, it is worth the stop.  The waitress recognized Nicholas and was very nice and welcoming.  It was a good rest stop among all the fluorescent light chain restaurants along the way.

Good Day Dallas

We made it into Dallas at 2am, and got checked into our hotel.  Our alarms went off at the ass crack of dawn, and we drug our weary bodies and minds out of bed and headed a few blocks to the local fox affiliate for our appearance on Good Day Dallas.  We got to work with a really awesome engineer named Dennis.  He was a true audio geek, and once he found out we were the same, he busted out some vintage microphones and a home made DI for our enjoyment.  It made this early morning rigmarole much more enjoyable.  

After the taping, we went back to the hotel, had some breakfast, and then went back to try and sleep.  As always, I was battling my insomnia, and wasn't able to fall back asleep, so I walked around Dallas for a bit.  It was cold for Texas, so there weren't many people out on the streets.  

Later that night we headed to the House of Blues.  This was a cool looking venue with two rooms.  As this was our first time in Dallas, we played the smaller of the two rooms.  The staff was super courteous and fun to work with.  I blame the lack of sleep, but we never really hit our stride during this show.  I never got immersed in the music, and was fighting the whole show.  But apparently no one in the audience noticed.  We had a small crowd, but they were rowdy in true Texas style.  Everyone loved the show and let us know it.  After the show we hung out by the merch table and met the people.  They were very kind and supportive.  One intoxicated young woman got a little handsy, first with Dylan and then with Nicholas.  She preferred grabbing junk to a hand shake.  I felt both relieved and a little left out when she skipped me over for a greeting.  Nicholas had to scold her.  

Video Game Party.

After the show, we loaded out and headed back to the hotel.  Our hotel was awesome and had an indoor basketball court and game room with an X-Box.  Dylan and I had a late night game session.  Dylan beat me, because he had been practicing with a kid staying in the hotel the night before.   

Today we head to Austin for a day off and then a performance in Luckenbach, TX.  

Nicholas David East Coast Tour '14: Wilkes Baare nice.

After our hectic schedule over the past few days, we were definitely drained and tired today.   It was Sunday, so everything seemed to be in rest relaxation mode.  After a quick morning meeting with our lovely agent and guru Mary, we hit the road and casually made our way to Wilkes Barre.  According to the locals it is acceptable to pronounce it "Wilkes Bear" or "Wilkes Berry" but NEVER "Wilkes Bar".  This seems confusing, and I think they should vote on one pronunciation.  I digress.

Our new friends at the Jazz Cafe

We rolled into the River Street Jazz Cafe and sleepily loaded in our gear.  The venue was one of those clubs that had seen a lot of use.  A classic bar/venue that focused on the sound and fun and didn't care too much about how it looked.  This place was awesome.  It felt like so many clubs that we played at home so many times before.  We set up and sound checked and settled into our dressing room to get set for the show.

All of a sudden we were alerted that T.V. crew from the local NBC affiliate was coming to get some footage for that evening's news cast.  We roused ourselves and played through a song for them to get their footage and then went right back to lolling about the dressing room trying to get some energy for the show.

Opening the night was local players Mike Dougherty and Dylan Skursky.  They were really talented and played with great emotion, especially for such young players.  They were also extremely nice guys.

This venue had a local hang vibe to it, and there were some regulars/locals who frequented the place hanging out for the show.  I got the sense that they had a prejudice against us, and saw us as undeserving people riding the wave of Nicholas' television fame.  I think this fact, along with our tiredness and knowledge that we had a few days off after tonight spurred us on.  We really cut loose, and played around with the songs more than usual, stretching out and showing the crowd what we were capable of.  The place was jumping, and the aforementioned locals loved it as well.  It was really gratifying to prove ourselves in such a situation.

Chillin' in Wilkes Barre

The staff at the Jazz Cafe was extremely laudatory and let us know how much they appreciated what we did.  After the show, we hung out with the staff and had a great time.  They are all kind, awesome and generous people.  We later went to our hotel and slept.

With today off we spent some time wandering downtown Wilkes Barre, browsing in the local stores and grabbing some local grub.  It was a nice relaxing day.  We then drove to Annapolis where we will spend the next few days before our show in the same town.   Can you say laundry day?

Nicholas David East Coast Tour '14: D.C. Rockin' the Capital. Not the Capitol.

The Piano

After getting some much needed sleep, we took the short drive to The Hamilton.  We got to park in a cool underground loading area, and it made me feel special, and happy we didn't have to hunt for street parking.  The Hamilton is a beautiful venue, and the sound crew was extremely awesome to work with.  The club has a house grand piano, that they ask all of the performers to autograph.  There were some legendary names in there including Allen Toussaint, John Cleary and Billy Joel, among others.  The last hands to play it were none other than the legendary Dr. John.  We are all huge fans of his, and often cover his tunes.  Needless to say, Nicholas was very excited to absorb some of the Doctor's energy from the piano.

Soundcheck

The audience was extremely receptive, and we made a great connection with the audience.  We had people crying, laughing and dancing.  It was the most connected I've ever felt with an audience at a live show before. It was truly magical.  After the show, in the dressing room it suddenly hit me how exciting this whole adventure is and how special what we are doing is.  Many times you don't realize this until you look back with the clarity of hindsight, but I definitely felt how special this moment was while I was in it.

Nicky D with his face in his phone.

The people that came out stuck around to meet Nicholas and a few of them chatted up the rest of the band.  Everyone was extremely supportive and showered us with praise and adoration.  It was so uplifting.  The goal of music, in my opinion, is to emotionally connect with people and provide them with hope, inspiration and love.  We are doing just that.  Mission accomplished.

 P.S.  Nicholas now also has a blog.  Check it out here.

Nicholas David East Coast Tour '14: Ardmore for me.

Nick in Ardmore

Tonight we made a short drive to Ardmore, PA.  We got to drive through some quaint little Pennsylvania towns on the way to the venue.  It was beautiful and you could definitely feel the age this place.  Ardmore itself was a cute little town.  We arrived early, and had some time to kill.  We walked around town and found an awesome local place to eat called Firinji.  Fresh, delicious food prepared with love.  What more could you ask for?

Greenroom pre-show

The Ardmore Music Hall was a nice intimate venue.  Our show was a dinner show and it felt very cozy.  Our opener was Sami Hope.  She had a very distinctive voice and her songs put pictures in my mind.   Check her out.

Sami Hope

We had a listening crowd tonight.  This allowed us to really connect emotionally with the audience and feel their energy in return.  Here's a video clip from the audience.  Following the show we got to hang out and meet the audience.  There were a number of people who had been at our show in Philadelphia the night before, and I was humbled to know that they followed us to Ardmore.  So many people shared stories of how the music touched them and was one of the best live shows they'd seen in  a long time.

After the show we loaded out and hit the road to D.C., arriving in the early morning hours.  We are in the seat of power, ready to change people's hearts and minds.

Nicholas David East Coast Tour '14: Philly

We set out for the east coast in the middle of a Polar Vortex, which the 24 hour news cycle assured would bring our doom.  We raced ahead of our snowy death towards the coast.  It was a long, snowy, blowy bleak drive. By the time we arrived in a much warmer Philadelphia, we were ready to get out of the van and play some music.

Our venue tonight was the World Cafe Live, which also has a radio station in the building.  It was a beautiful venue with a huge stage, great sight lines and cool art all over the lobby walls.  Tonight we opened for the legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band.  I've idolized Kevin Harris, their tenor player, for years and list him as one of my top 10 favorite living tenor players.  Needless to say, I was excited that we got to open up for them and loved listening to their sound check.

Following our sound check, we went upstairs to the restaurant and got some dinner.  Oddly, there was a doctor giving a presentation on hip replacement surgery.  We couldn't talk as it would interrupt his speech, so we ate in silence while listening to a very sterile (pun intended) presentation.  When the speaker opened up the floor for questions from the audience, I offered a $10 reward to anyone in the band who would  ask him "What is Hip?"  No one got the $10.

After dinner we got to hang out with the guys from Dirty Dozen, and got to hear some fun stories and laugh a lot.  They are fun guys, and they like to bring the party.

We had a good set, and the audience was extremely receptive and the Dirty Dozen fellas cheered us on from the wings.  It felt great, as we hadn't played live for a while.  We had a short opening set and got to sit back and watch the Dirty Dozen do their thing.

Dirty Dozen plays funky, fun New Orleans brass band music.  During their set we were dancing, singing and yelling our asses off from the side of the stage.  Their trumpet player signaled to me to get my horn.  I nearly shit my pants, and then went into an excited panic, as my horn was put away on the other side of the stage.  I raced through the audience and put my horn together.  I was really nervous, which I haven't been in quite a long time.  I walked out on stage, and it was a blur.  I don't really remember what happened while I was on stage, but once I got off stage, I got really giddy and started shaking with excitement.  The realization of what I just got to do set in and I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning.  A true dream come true.

After the show we drove an hour to our hotel, and hung out at the bar while I waited for the adrenaline to wear off.