It's cold in the Midwest...

Hello lovelies,

So we've confirmed our status as great and mighty idiots choosing a week of record setting cold to book a tour. We hit record lows in IN, 15 below in St. Louis, and a snow drenched Chicago. Check out the photo of Sam in Indiana at a gas station where the wiper in antifreeze fluid is a solid brick of blue. Woof!

But the cold has snapped for which we're quite thankful as we were dreading spending time in Minneapolis at -20 degrees F. It was pretty amazing waking up this morning in Chicago with the temperature at 15 degrees F and feeling like we could run around in our underwear!

We've had some really great shows so far in Indianapolis and Bloomington, for a gaggle of excitable Erkers in St. Louis, and last night for a full house at the Beat Kitchen in Chicago. Our buddies The Feed have been our constant companions and have been impressing crowds with their brilliant musicianship.

We've hit our fair share of challenges like the inevitable car problems (record setting lows, right?), the occasional gear problem, beat down immune systems, and exhaustion, etc - but every time we take the stage for these great crowds, all that becomes miniscule and we're grateful to be doing what we're doing. Blessed, even.

Plus, on the drive to St. Louis we got to pop Danny's Soul Coughing cherry and blow his mind with what's probably one of Sam, JB and my favorite albums ever: Ruby Vroom. Relentless bass and drums, abstract rhyme poems, and lots and lots of noisy goodness floating over top.

Last night in Chicago, 30 minutes before hitting the stage, my cell phone exploded with some kind of virus that sent a text saying "call me when you get this message call me when you get this message call me when you... etc" to tons of folks in my phonebook and even some numbers I didn't recognize. I turned into a total freakshow trying to handle all of the incoming calls and texts from friends and contacts that were responding (my inbox and voicemail filled up in 2 minutes flat). I was frantically pacing back and forth trying to change my voicemail to alert people to the virus in the Beat Kitchen greenroom while Danny and Sam were doubled over laughing as everytime I started to change the greeting I'd get another call and my frustration would mount. The virus sure wasn't funny, but my reaction was so over the top it was pretty hilarious.

We'd been chatting with the owner of the Beat Kitchen when my phone exploded and he called Danny and Sam into his office to play a joke on me. After I got the greeting changed I turned off my phone so I could concentrate on the task at hand (rocking Chicago!). We play, load out and when we're driving away i turned back on my phone to deal with the deluge. Sam of course, sets me up perfectly by telling me i should make sure and read all of those incoming texts as maybe they'll illuminate the cause of the virus...

So i come across this text from an unknown number that says: "everywhere you go i will be there fucking with your life. wait till you see tomorrow's text. you fucked with the wrong walter." I immediately go red and show the text to Danny and Sam in the backseat and say, "What in the hell am i supposed to do with this message?" They're beside themselves with laughter but somehow keep it in check and let me stew for another 3 minutes before finally letting me know the message is from the owner of the club. The van erupts with laughter and I turned a shade of red that could rival any Hull family Christmas sweater. Eep. What a bunch of jokers.

So if you got a text from me that makes no sense and doesn't seem like my style: ignore it!

Onward!!
w