It’s been two long weeks, but we’re finally home. After some of the most grueling drives in band history, including multiple tornado scares, one 7:00 AM bus (okay, van) call, and, most recently, a twelve-hour overnighter from Fayetteville, The Revivalists are home. We park on the same block as always, just around the corner from Dave’s house. Soon we’ll be piling into our separate cars and driving to our separate homes so we can rest up for the big CD release tonight…

That was the dream I dreamt last Friday morning in Shreveport, between 11:00 and 11:10 AM, when I hit the snooze button in vain hope that five hours and ten minutes’ worth of sleep would be substantially better than five hours flat. This was before the twelve-hour overnighter from Fayetteville. And the seven-hour trip to Fayetteville, made with just enough urgency that we were able to keep our 6:00 PM radio slot to promote our 12:30 AM show on a local radio station (thanks Dave Jackson and all the good folks at 104.9 the X!). And when we finally did get back to New Orleans, we had to drive straight to Blue Nile and spend another three or four hours setting up for the CD release.

What I’m getting at is that if I’ve missed a call from you in the last few days, it’s probably because I was asleep.

But hello, friends! Rob here.

Other than the sheer insanity that was the home stretch of this tour (and subsequent amazingly fun CD Release Party, thank you), there is little fresh news to report.  We’ve just been catching up on real life stuff and gearing up for South By Southwest. Because thorough is awesome, I’m going to take this as an opportunity to go back and touch upon some minor plot points that slipped through the cracks, got lost in the shuffle, or have otherwise verbed preposition the metaphor over the last few months:

Blowfly – In my haste to discuss the great time we had watching Quintron & Miss Pussycat at The Stage in Miami, I forgot to mention that there was another act that came on after them. The group was a funk act fronted by a man who came out wearing a sequined cape and a luchador mask which, when removed, revealed him to be about seventy years old. The man, and the group, were both called Blowfly. The man himself is, during the daytime hours, a songwriter named Clarence Reid who penned songs for many prominent soul acts in the ‘60s and ‘70s, including Sam & Dave and KC & the Sunshine Band. However, by night, he adopts the persona of a filthy, filthy, filthy funk frontman. As I write this, I am torn between my obligation as Band Historian to leave a sufficient impression as to just how profane this live performance was and my desire to keep the blog relatively family-friendly. I’ll try for a compromise: Much of Blowfly’s act involved pointing out women in the audience and humorously suggesting that they assist him in addressing the needs of certain anatomical features of his, the dimensions of which were subjected to hyperbole for further comedic effect. Also there is a band playing funk grooves.

This Whole Taco Bell/Doritos Thing – Is going to be one of those things that we all look back on during the collapse of American society and say, “yeah, that probably didn’t help.”

The Burning River Ramblers – Are a cool band based in Athens, Ohio. Over the last couple of years, we’ve done two or three shows with them in Athens and Cleveland, and what’s been really cool about it is that, because our encounters have been so spaced out, we get to see these huge, discrete leaps forward in terms of how awesome they are as a band. In actuality, growth is a gradual process, but it’s really cool to get to see a band we know, then see them eight months later and get blown away all over again. I’m already looking forward to next time. In conclusion, check ‘em out! Their notes are good.

The End of the World – Is now only 281 days away, so go ahead and order dessert.

Josh & Mike & Josh’s Award – Our friends Mike and Josh are pretty cool dudes. They live in Cleveland, they sometimes travel to Key West, and they even know some of our friends in Lafayette. A few weeks ago, in Hamilton, Ohio, Josh posited that he has likely seen us play in more cities than anybody else, and may therefore be entitled to some kind of major award. But not so fast, Josh! I’m not just going to hand the “Seeing the Revivalists in Lots of Different Cities and Then Talking to Me About It” award over to the first guy who sees us in lots of different cities and then talks to me about it! We live in a democracy (okay, republic), and nobody runs unopposed. Fortunately, the opposition came all the way from New York to surprise us that very night in the form of Zack’s father, the irrepressible Glen Feinberg. By my count, Glen and Josh have both seen us in New Orleans, Hamilton, Pensacola and Key West, while G-Fein’s holdings in New York (city and state) cancel out Josh’s Cincinnati and Lafayette. Which means they’re neck and neck!  The race is on, gents!  Who’s gonna take home the prize*?

And Speaking of Glen Feinberg – I found out a while ago that he used to be an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. Knowing that my dad was an A.D.A. in Manhattan in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s, I asked Glen when he worked there. It turns out (caps lock, because get this: ) ZACK’S DAD AND MY DAD WORKED IN THE SAME OFFICE TOGETHER FOR TWO YEARS. It was a huge operation, so they never met each other, but they remember some of the same people. Isn’t that weird? They worked in the same office, they never once crossed paths, and now, thirty years later, their kids work in the same office (okay, van).

Our Trailer – Suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

*:  There is no actual prize.