Elko, Nevada is the sort of place you need to be dropped in to film the epic internal journey of the next phase of your life. There’s a real you-ain’t-from-these-parts feeling. It would be important to winter here until you figure out the thing you never knew you never knew, and then probably move to Brooklyn to start a boutique furniture store… or stay in Elko forever after the local townsfolk have finally won you over. We’re just here for the coffee on our way to Denver.
The Rough & Tumble is keeping up with their correspondences– and yours– every step of the tour.
Other than the last 24 hours, it’s been California for days and days. San Diego, Fullerton, Pasadena, San Luis Obispo, Dinuba, Fresno, San Francisco, Mountain View, Sacramento, and the important Donner Pass. But the Donner part is only (and always) just for fun. We met up with old friends, long lost family, and a couple of stray dogs. We walked beaches and sand dunes, mountains and the Embarcadero. We also walked the fine line of being on tour and being at home– something we come across on both sides of the country.
Butter is holding up well. We celebrated her 4th birthday last night by giving her some leftover lunchmeat we found in the Motel 6 fridge in Winnemucca. The chord organ, on the other hand, has turned into a horror factory of sound when we flip the switch. Surgery is necessary at the next stop. The African rattle had a similar transplant somewhere in the Central Valley; and The Rough & Tumble themselves are still keeping together at their seams, even if a little smellier than usual.
Denver is tomorrow night at the Walnut Room, and another two weeks on the right hand side of the country. We’ll touch our toes in both oceans and all four time zones by the time we return to Nashville. If we haven’t seen you already, we’ll see you soon.