Hello America, Rob here.
It’s been quite a week. Our weekend started off with some sad news, so that is how this entry will start as well. Last Wednesday, I delivered a half-serious eulogy to our beloved first van, Vandalf. In light of that, it feels strange to write a genuine memorial less than a week later. But, as with most things, death does not tailor itself to our convenience, and last week the world lost a wonderful woman in Derinda Soigner.
The Revivalists came to meet Derinda when her son, Jason (a fraternity brother of mine) invited us to her home for lunch near the beginning of this year’s October tour. As a host, she was kind, energetic, and relentlessly determined to put her guests at ease. After providing us with a three-course meal, Derinda showed us her original artworks, which were inspired and diverse. From bright, kaleidoscopic watercolors to statuettes made from painted driftwood, her art mirrored her personality: vibrant. She was one of those rare people who, from the moment you meet them, is obviously genuine and kind.
Our hearts and thoughts are with Derinda’s family during this difficult time.
Wednesday, The Revivalists got an early start towards Charlotte, NC, where we would be playing the following evening. It’s a good thing we did, because it gave us some extra time to discover that the charlatan who sold us our awesome new van sold it to us with four defective tires. What was wrong with them ? Just a minor defect that causes the tread to come loose and fall off of the tire while you’re driving on the highway. No big deal.
Fortunately, we had time to fix the van (or sleep in our hotel rooms while Dave and Ed fixed it) we made it to Charlotte just fine, and had a great time with a group from Asheville called Big Daddy Love. Friday was a relatively short drive to our sorority gig in Columbia, South Carolina. After the show, we decided it would be for the best to tough it out and drive straight back to New Orleans. Thanks to all the sleeping room in our newer, larger van (which, I remind you, actually works at this point in the story), it wasn’t too hard to leave a show and drive from 2 AM to 11:30, and we and we actually had a few hours to recover before our gig on Tulane’s campus on Saturday.
As if that wasn’t enough, last night we opened for Perpetual Groove at the Howlin’ Wolf. It was a lot of fun, but I kept wanting to go home and get a decent night’s sleep and I couldn’t because they kept playing awesome music notes. Jerks.
Seriously, I thought it was over, but instead it was time for them to cover “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve. How cool is that?
As if there wasn’t enough to say already, today is drummer Andrew Campanelli’s 24th birthday! Huzzah! And then tomorrow is my 25th birthday! Huzzah again! I need to finish writing this so I can post it and get on over to the AndRob CampanellIngraham birthday potluck that Camp is hosting, so I’m not really going to proofread this entry. Sorry. Here are the shows we are going to play between now and next Blog Wednesday:
Thursday: Blazzues – Pensacola, FL
Friday: Funky Blues Shack – Destin, FL
Saturday: Little Willie’s – Tuscaloosa, AL (with our dear friends The Blue Party)
And last, a nice bit of news for the jerkbags in this band who know how to play stringed instruments (everyone but me): The Revivalists are now proudly sponsored by Martin Guitars. We are very excited about this, because Martin is like, totally rad. I’m probably the worst person in the band to have write this because I completely don’t understand how guitars work (where do you breathe to make it make noise?) or what all the fuss is about (they get you chicks), but even I have been around long enough to know that Martin makes some high-damned-quality instruments. They’re a great company, and you can learn more about them by clicking on these words because they are a link to Martin’s website.
Okay, goodbye friends!
PS: What should we name our new van?
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Perhaps Vanessa or Savannah? Or van Gogh if your feeling particularly…Dutch.
So you played a sorority gig and then left instead of staying to party with them??? Disappointing.
I don’t know about a van name but Four Detective Tires sounds like a great album name.
Rob,
Thanks for the kind words. I was great to see you all in Shreveport. I wish Mom could of been there again. Will see you soon.
Blue