Jayme in a beach cave near San Diego, California.

Water on a rock in Northern California.

Coconut on the beach in Palm Beach, FL

Jayme stands on the banks of the Smith River. Check out that blue water. Amazing.

The Portuguese Man of War.

A misty beach in the redwood forest of Northern California.

Jayme walks near the Smith River.

Parrot in San Diego, CA.

Rainbow over a field in Florida.

Red Berries along the Smith River.

The bus was photographed in Colorado in the mountains somewhere between Denver and Aspen. It could be yours…

The sun sets behing rocks and surf in Northern California.

Now for some pics from our tour with Flogging Molly on their annual Green 17 tour. This is Breezy kicking ass in Atlanta, GA.

Photos by Todd Gay Photography taken at The Chance Theater, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Photos by Todd Gay Photography taken at The Chance Theater, Poughkeepsie, NY.

Jayme tears it up in Charlotte, NC.

Breezy rocks out in North Carolina.

The crowds along the tour were extraordinary every night. Flogging Molly treated us like family every single night. When they asked us to go out with them, we had no idea how huge it would be for us. What an honor. The bands that opened for us on the tour were awesome as well. I have no good pics, but Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, The Mighty Stef, and the Cherry Cokes were all bad assed.

Dennis Casey, lead guitar for Flogging Molly, is in throwing up a cheers to the crowd. They are intense!

Dave King had me get out my guitars in the parking lot of the venue after the show so we could sing gospel tunes. It was freezing, but it was a bunch of fun.

Indiana Jeans – a kick ass cowboy store in Montreal, Canada!

What? Toronto, ON.

Nathen Maxwell, bass for Flogging Molly, joining us onstage helping us sing a song with my bull horn!

Jayme’s girlfriend, Brandi, came out with us for a spell, and they decided to get married while in Vegas. I performed the ceremony at the House of Blues on the stage after the show, and Flogging Molly was the band.

Flogging Molly played the wedding march/here comes the bride, and then some celebration music!

Nathen Naxwell introduced us to some cool fellas in at Jersey City Tattoo. We got matching tattoos of our home states. You can see a photo of it at his myspace page on our top friends. I added to it later in Phoenix, AZ. maybe the next blog will get some pics.

At the end of the night we would join Flogging Molly for their last tune, and I think this picture sums it up pretty good even though everyone isn’t in it. Photographed left to right… Dave King, Jayme Peyton, Bob Schmidt, Yours Truly, Washboard Breezy, and Dennis Casey.

After we left Flogging Molly we went to Norway. We found out that in Norway they love Trolls.

This is from inside of the hotel we stayed in. I thought this was a cool picture.

Lillehamer, Norway

American Hamburger! Smakker Som Biff indeed!

Eskimo?

The is a section of the largest lake in Norway.

A painting inside the hotel in Lillehamer.

A flask covered in seal fur!

Snow!

Tall chimney in Lillehamer.

Old Steam Engine in Lillehamer.

Needs no comment.

This fella drove all the way from Sweden to Lillehamer to see the Big Damn Band play. What an honor!

Norwegians love their viking heritage. I thought this sign was creepy, but this bar was awesome.

We were told that this church was over 800 tears old. Notice the cool viking style dragons!

How would you like your norwegian hot dog? Choose a location in the United States. Sides include Mashed Potatoes and Shrimp paste! This was at the Airport in Oslo! The Norwegians were great. They really made us feel at home, and we can’t wait to go back. Keep checking out the schedule, and we’ll see everyone out at the shows. In the next few months we are going to be in just about every region of the US. Dates are added all the time, so check regularly. Help us get the word out about the shows. Go to www.bigdamnband.com and print our posters to hang, and most important… write, email, phone, or somehow tell your friends about the shows! Thanks for everything. Sorry it took so long to get a blog up, and thanks to everyone who donated pictures!

Here is another one of T-Model’s Grandkids decked out in Big Damn Band gear! This is at Cathead – the greatest store in the world.

Gentle with his sister. She came dressed in her Big Damn Band shirt!

After hanging with T-Model we went to the Hopson Plantation to hang out with T-Model again, and some of our friends who have made appearances in the blog before like Tony and Janice from our European Blog and Blue Mike. Breezy took this picture of me behind the Hopson Plantation near this cotton field.

This is Breezy and me on stage at the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (The King Biscuit Blues Festival). We were very proud to be included in the lineup. It was really hot and sunny out. A great day for playing.

This is Fayetteville Arkansas at a big biker rally. We played at the legendary George’s Majestic Lounge for the fest.

There were two groups of people in Fayetteville dragging crosses around trying to get the bikers to stop drinking and come to Jesus. From the Indy 500 to Mardi Gras in NOLA these folks are always out there. These two seemed young to me though.

This is a dog with a Harley Davidson hat.

Ashland, WI was a cold way to start the fall.

However when some ladies at the show in Ashland decided to take off their tops, it warmed things up.

This sign was on a beach in Ashland.

This is the oil and grime on the beach. You could see the contamination.

In Oklahoma we stopped at this Cherokee trading post. I bought a knife. This is actually a giant painting that was really far away on top of the trading post.

This is on stage in Lubbock, TX. That was a special night. We love the folks in Lubbock!

More in Lubbock, TX

This is at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX. A great slice of Americana.

More at the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX.

All of the cars had been recently painted with this Hell Week stuff. Elsewhere in Amarillo we saw some windows that had been shot out, and the people at the businesses blamed this hell week stuff at the high school.

I thought this picture of the ranch at night looked weird.

This picture is courtesy of Jambase.com. This was taken at the Joshua Tree Roots Music festival. An amazing lineup, and a great bunch of people all around.

We got another flat tire in a New Mexico desert.

Here is the desert where we blew it out.

We came back to the Grand Canyon to show our friend Patrick who was on tour with us. He helped us out greatly road managing etc., so we returned the favor by showing him this.

Another pic of the canyon.

This tower overlooks the canyon in the national park.

This is our buddy Patrick at the Grand Canyon.

A desert flower at the Grand Canyon.

Jayme jumps for joy at Sunset Point in AZ south of Prescott, AZ.

This is a prickly pear. An edible cactus that is everywhere in the southwest. Know this plant. It might save your life someday.

This is a cow in the road near Meteor Crater. It was 15 bucks each to see Meteor crater, and we couldn’t swing it. I tried to get around the fence to see if we could get a view of it, but no such luck. It is like fort Knox.

Some ruins near meteor crater.

Throwed Rolls at Lambert’s Cafeteria in Ozark, MO.

In Chicago we were standing on the street when we heard what sounded like a bomb going off, and little pieces of wood and fiberglass rained down on us. It was no bomb, but actually this truck getting stuck under the train tracks.

It peeled the top off like a can of sardines, and threw stuff everywhere. I couldn’t believe how close we were to it when it happened. The guy got out, and told Breezy that he didn’t have a license and the truck was in someone else’s name. He said he was calling his buddy to come say he was driving it. Just then the cops came.

The cops hauled him off, and some special tow truck came and wiggled it backwards after they let the air out of the tires. What a mess! We are currently on tour in the Northeast, and we have been working on a new record. You all are gonna love it. Hope to see you all soon!

We arrived at the Canadian border with all the correct paperwork/permits/passports etc. The line on I-5 to get into Canada was three and a half hours long. We patiently wait our turn, get to the front of the line, and then are told to go into the customs office. There we are questioned. They pull my brother aside. We are then informed that Jayme is not going to be allowed into Canada. What?

Yes, Jayme was banned from Canada for some stupid kid stuff years ago. The Candadian border guard said it was his discretion, and he just decided not to let him in. Now before you think that my brother is a bad guy, there was even an article written in the one of the Canadian papers about Americans musicians booked at the festival being denied entry into Canada. A lot of really big names and headliner acts were turned away. We weren’t the only ones who had trouble. We will be able to get it worked out we believe, it will just cost money, and that is really what this kind of thing is all about… money. HOWEVER! Breezy and I decided to go on in and make the shows, because one thing is for sure… come hell or high water we always make the shows. We had to turn around and wait an hour at to get back into the US, drive 35 minutes to a greyhound station, and we put Jayme on a bus headed for Glendive, Montana. That is the station closest to where we would enter back into the USA.

We had to wait another 3 hours in line to get back into Canada without my brother. All in all this was over an 8 hour ordeal. Breezy and I drove all night, and got to Salmon Arm, BC at 4:30am. We stopped to sleep somwhere in the Canadian Rockies, and I don’t know if I ever felt so far from home in all the travelling I have done. We didn’t know where Jayme was, what we were going to do when we got there, or really what was going to happen. When we got to the festival we were greeted by very friendly Canadians. They were wonderful, and totally sympathetic to our woes. They helped us find a local drummer named Josh to fill in. Despite having NO rehearsal time, Josh did a great job on the drums. It wasn’t the same as having my brother of course, but he did pretty good. It ended up being the highest CD sale day of the whole summer. We couldn’t believe it.

We saw beautiful things in Canada. This is a Canadian Pacific train, which was really cool.

In Canada’s Glacier National Park it snowed on the van… in August!

This is probably my favorite picture from Canada, and Breezy took it! She demanded credit for it!

More of the Canadian Rockies while we were on our way back to the US. We still didn’t know what had become of my brother. The trip from Bellingham, WA to Glendive, MT was a 40 bus ride, but we had been away from him for more than 40 hours. The US border patrol searched our van on the way in, and held us at the border for about 45 minutes. Then let us go.

When we got to the truck stop in Glendive, MT where we were supposed to meet up, Jayme came walking out of the woods. He was out of money, and had been hassled by some of the authorities. He went into the woods to hide so he wouldn’t get picked up for vagrancy. He said, “I have never been so happy to see you two.” We felt the same way.

We made trakcs across North Dakota, but stopped to see this beautiful place.

Our giant hoosier homecoming show was awesome. The place was packed, and we couldn’t have been happier to be back home in Indiana. The crowd was one of the best crowds I have ever played for. The Vogue is a giant place, and it was an honor to play for a packed house. We recorded the whole thing for a live Big Damn Band record, and the rough mixes sound great! I can’t wait for you to hear it! Here is a video made by our friend Ryan Hupfer at Indy Mojo. And a couple of reviews of the show. Indy Star and Nuvo.

These pics from the Indy show at the Vogue theatre are courtesy of amazing concert photog and dear friend – Kristen Leep… http://kristenleep.com


Breezy at the Vogue! http://kristenleep.com

I am proud to be a Kentucky Colonel from the other sunny side of the Ohio. http://kristenleep.com

Jayme at the Vogue. http://kristenleep.com

We stopped of at Prairie dog town to see the world’s largest prairie dog. If you have read previous blogs you know we have attempted this a few times, but the place is always closed. Not this day. Here saw a lot of animals, and also this five legged cow.

This is a bobcat at prairie dog town.

Breezy feeds a goat at prairie dog town.

And yes here Jayme and Breezy stand with the world’s largest prairie dog.

Jayme at prairie dog town.

Jayme feeds prairie dogs.

A rattler at prairie dog town.

A cafe sign in Minnesota.

This is the view from the stage at the Broken Axe in Moorehead, MN (Fargo, ND). This picture is not very good, but notice that the stage is 13 feet off the ground and above the bar. The crowd is vary far down and away. It is the most unique set up I have ever seen. There are some really nice folks there.

Here are some pics from our show at Red Rocks in Denver for the Monolith Festival. This was taken by Laurie Scavo. Here is a fun You Tube Video of the show.

Breezy Rocks out at Red Rocks.

Jayme at Red Rocks.

Another great Red Rocks pic taken by Laurie Scavo.

Monolith Festival, Red Rocks, Denver, CO.

The amazing crowd at Red Rocks for the Monolith Festival.

A Rainbow shines over the van in Carbondale, CO. This was the brightest rainbow I have ever seen. The pic does it no justice. Below the purple you can see more colors, and it was a double rainbow!

Part of a burger king billboard flew off in a windstorm in Kansas and hit our van. Thanks for a great summer, but be on the look out for an even better fall!

Some mailboxes in New Mexico. In the background you can see an “Indian Jewelry” shop. We stopped at that same one on a previous tour.

We performed at Club Ebony in Indianola, MS for a fundraiser for the venue. The place is legendary, and it was a supreme honor to be the headliner of one of the nights. Look it up. Everyone has played there.

The folks at Club Ebony were really kind to us, and we left town feeling really good about the whole thing. I am so glad we were able to be a part of it. I wish I had a picture of Mary Shepard the owner of the club. She just wrote a book about her life running the club.

Whenever we go to Indianola we stop by the Holly Ridge Store in Holly Ridge, MS to say hey to our friends. They have pictures of us up in there from when we played the Holly Ridge Blues Festival. They even had our CD out on the counter because they had been listening to it! You can see pics from that in previous photoblogs.

My patron saint Charley Patton played at the Holly Ridge Store, and he is buried about 500 yards from the place. To the left sits the railroad tracks. The Cotton Gin is behind the camera. It is one big giant mississippi blues cliche, but of course, because Charley Patton was the first blues star. It is fitting for him. He died years before Robert Johnson ever recorded a note.

Next stop New Orleans, and wouldn’t you know it we walk up on them making a movie here – just like before in LA, CA.

We played at the world famous Maple Leaf. This is where they had the first live music show in New Orleans after Katrina. This was our first show in New Orleans since Katrina. It was beautiful playing this club. The Oak Street crew is legendary! It seemed to me that New Orleans was making a comeback. The oldest parts of the city weren’t hit that hard by the storm. There is still a long way to go though.

These pictures were captured by James a fan who drove from North Alabama with some buddies to see the show. What an honor!

More at the Maple Leaf.

We stopped by the Maison Bourbon to see Jamil Sharif play. He played Back Home Again in Indiana for us.

This is one of my favorite places in New Orleans… The Columns Hotel. We couldn’t afford to stay there, but we ate there. Maybe next time.

I snapped this picture of a weird fortune teller machine on Bourbon Street, and the building across the street reflected so much in the glass it came out clearer than the creepy skeleton.

Bourbon Street hasn’t changed since Katrina.

We drove out to the ninth ward, and we saw images like this everywhere.

The signs show the kind of businesses thriving out here.

Almost all of the buildings still have paint like this on them. I really don’t know what is going to become of the neighborhoods that were hit the hardest. People don’t really seem to be living in most of these houses.

This was taken inside St Louis Cemetery 1.

This was also taken inside St Louis Cemetery 1.

This was also taken inside St Louis Cemetery 1.

Ida, Louisiana.

Trucker Chapel at a truck stop in Beto Junction, Kansas

We played a festival in Kansas and they put us in the Wyatt Earp Inn. It was nice of them, but it was especially cool for us, because of the Otis Gibbs song about Beto Junction and the Wyatt Earp Inn. Haven’t heard the song? Well it isn’t released by Otis yet. These pics are for him!

Snake River Canyon, Twin Falls, Idaho. Can you believe it? This is Idaho. Beautiful huh!

Here we are on stage at Pickathon in Portland, OR. This festival turned out to be awesome. The lineup was outstanding.

For our late night Pickathon set in the barn I got dressed up. I decided to keep it real in my string tie. Much love to all my Kentucky Colonel brethren!

This is Breezy going to town in the barn.

The barn show was a highlight of the summer for me!

Jason Webley joined us on stage for the last half of the show, and it was really great. Here we are playing the song Mud, a song off of Big Damn Nation. We of course had to play Two Bottles of Wine! It was perfect. The record we released with Jason in May is sold out! Jason promised it would be limited edition, and I apologize if you didn’t get one. There is always ebay…

The crowd was awesome in the barn at pickathon. I mean awesome. We do our best to bring it whether there are five people or 5000, but man it is so easy with a crowd like this.

On the way out of Oregon we played in Ashland. Another fantastic crowd in Oregon. We got these great pics courtesy of Clint from the opening band Pater Familias. It was great sharing the stage with them!

That Ashland crowd makes things easy!

Jayme is rocking out in Ashland.

I think Jayme and Breezy are helping me sing the song Mud here too!

Ok… I promised you all a story about a close call with a hitchhiker, so here goes… We picked up a hitchhiker on the way to our show in Eugene, OR. Hitchhiking in Oregon is legal, so everyone does it to save gas money. We realized this guy was a psycho about 2 miles down the road – it was too late. After going around and around with the guy, he fesses up that he is an escaped con. Apparently he escaped from some kind of prison camp for drug addicts in Oregon. Later we found out that he had four pistols in his bag and a stolen cell phone. He said he robbed a bank. He called Breezy’s phone so he could get the number of the stolen phone. I was driving, and he was watching me like a hawk in the rearview mirror. I had the mirror trained right on him, so the feeling was mutual I guess. Well at one point he is really shakey, and he reaches into his bag and looks at the mirror to see if I am watching. My first instinct is to go for my pocket like I am carrying a gun. He put his hands up and said, “Easy man, I am just reaching for my bible.” He pulled out some kind of book after reaching farther into the sack. I am no idiot. There was no way that was his plan, but at this point I am feeling pretty good. Now he thinks I have a gun.

Now he really changes his tune and wants to be our best friend. He was trying to lead us way out in the cascades. The closer we got to the exit the more excited he got. He kept yelling for us to turn up the music, and he was rocking back and forth. We all got the feeling he was working up the adrenaline to try another run at those pistols. Pretty sure it would have ended up bad. I told him we needed gas. He said, “You don’t need gas, don’t stop the fucking van.” I lied real quick and told him the guage was broke. We pulled into the gas station with a lot of people around and that is where we left him. A gas station in Pleasant Hill, OR. He got real pissed when I told him it was the end of the line, and he tried to push me. It had little effect on account of the fact that I am a large fella. Anyway I just reached in my pocket and told him to get lost. Bluffed him again. I need to start playing cards again. This picture was snapped by Breezy as we drove away. He is right inside the door of the gas station. I kept trying to get her to get a picture of him, but she was too scared.

I don’t have any pics of the shows in Utah, but they were fantastic as well. The crowd at Burt’s is always so kind to us.

The Big Damn Van is still runnin’, we are still runnin’, knock on wood. Canada, Washington, Indiana, you name it – we are comin’ for ya. Thanks to you all for making these shows so special. We really appreciate it when you all send in pictures from the shows. We obviously can’t take them while we play, and we love putting pics from shows into the photo blog!

We came upon this fox in Brown County, IN before we left for the summer tour.

I did a little fishin’ in Southern Indiana too, but I just caught a little one.

This is where I caught it.

This is a picture from behind Breezy and Jayme at Summer Camp, a large music festival in Chilicothe, IL. Our crowds there have really been growing, and this year it really felt like the word was out. I can’t thank these fans enough for helping us kick off the summer right.

Breezy went out on the subs at summer camp to get closer to the crowd.

This is Jayme yelling during the song MUD.

This is Jayme backstage with Cara, one of the Summer Camp crew members who always treats us like family.

The next day we played at Hookahville, a big festival in Ohio.

This young lady is wearing paint instead of a shirt.

The crowd at Hookahville was really awesome too, so it made the show easy and fun.

We headed east from there, and this pic is from our show in Brooklyn at the Luna Lounge. This show was really special, and I wish I had more pics to help do this show justice. We got to hang out with a bunch of old friends in NYC as well.

This pic was taken in the subway in NYC. These fellas are performers that dance for tips. The blur in the middle is a guy flipping over and over.

This is our old friend Mary Prankster. She has retired from making music, but she is doing very well making NYC her home. It was really great getting to see her. We couldn’t convince her to come out of retirement though.

This is looking out at Lake Champlain in Burlington, Vermont. Vermont is beautiful. This was our first time there, and the people really made us feel at home. The terrain is really amazing. I was impressed.

This sign was posted near the water. I laughed out loud. They are anticipating a lot of kite flying I guess.

This pic was taken in New Haven, CT. We had a great show there at Club Nine, and we found out that even the drunks are well read in the same town that holds Yale University.

This pic is of a sailboat on Lake Champlain.

Chestertown, MD is an old town. We played at Andy’s, and had a great time. Before the show we wondered around and found this sculpture dedicated to a senator of old. We couldn’t help but think it looked a little familiar. And well… maybe appropriate.

Check out the year on this house.

A boat out of water in Chestertown, MD

The Forkman came to our show in Chestertown too. We met him in Mississippi in the spring, and his stuff is amazing. Check out those bracelets. They are just forks that have been bent. He makes all kinds of sculptures and jewelry out of forks and spoons.

This gentleman was on the street in Wilkes Barre, PA. He added all kinds of stuff to his bike, mainly made out of foil. He was waiting outside of this video store hoping to sell them some old videos. He told us that the reason he has a bike like that is so he can ride around and collect cans to sell.

This is a couple from Ohio, named Don and Margerie who rode their bike out to our shows in Missouri and Kansas. They are inspiring people who love life, art, music, and food.

In Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas they have been getting a crazy amount of rain, and there has been flooding all over there, while the rest of the country is in a severe drought. In fact California seemed to be on fire everywhere. This pic is of Manhattan, KS. The dam had to be opened to let some water out, and it was violent.

Jayme said, “Hey get a picture. This book is stuck on my head.”

The Continental Club in Austin, TX was definitely one of my favorites in a while. I only have this pic from it – I wish I had more… as always if you have pics from shows, please send them in. I might use them for a blog or otherwise. We appreciate it so much, and we appreciated all of you who were out in Austin, TX. What an amazing night. Notice the ELVIS sign on the roof. They light it up on his birthday. We were told that The King himself played there in the 50′s.

South of Truth or Consequences, NM we had a tire blowout. It was 4am, and we were beat.

Arches like these dot Southern Utah. I was proud of myself for climbing up this high to snap a pic through the hole.

Breezy took our picture at another Arch while the sun was going down.

The grand finally of the 4th of July fireworks in Portland, OR. We got in just in time to see the fireworks before the Waterfront Blues Festival in Portland. We played on the Festival’s main stage, and then later that night we played on a boat.

Multnomah Falls the second largest waterfall in the US. South of Portland, OR.

More of the beautiful falls.

Breezy in front of the falls.

I think that is Mt. Hood in the distance along the Columbia River. To the right is Washington and on the left is Oregon.

This is a picture from the High Sierra Music Festival taken by Andrew Quist. I think it sums up the energy of the festival. We had four shows, and all of them were great. High Sierra is definitely one of the best music festivals we have ever been a part of.

Here is Breezy at High Sierra – also taken by Andrew Quist. He is obviously a great photographer.

Our friend Matt Hopper, a singer/songwriter from Alaska came along to be our “crew” while he had a little time off from touring. At High Sierra he got sunscreen in his eyes, and he had to be taken to first aid. His eyes got RED! Thanks to the High Sierra first aid for fixing him up.

On the way out we decided to stop along the Feather river and check out the beauty. This is a beach we found and hung out at for a while.

I thought this bridge across the Feather river looked really cool.

This is our buddy Matt Hopper up on a mountain looking majestic. I figured I had to show a nice pic of him since I included his red eye.

This is Jayme battling the Feather River.

This is a waterfall along the Feather River.

The Feather River from on top of one of the mountains. You can see the railroad tracks too.

In LA we saw this movie being filmed. I have no idea what it is about, but there was a little kid and an ice cream man. The kid was paying with a fifty dollar bill.

This picture was taken along Hollywood Blvd. This guy had been dressed like spiderman. People stand outside on Hollywood Blvd and take pictures with people hoping to get tips. This guy had been one of them, but he stopped for a break.

Check this LA advertisement out. At first glance I thought “Kapoors” were sunglasses. Nope… Fake boobs. It was a plastic surgery ad. I thought this was pretty terrible on a lot of different levels.

And finally Phoenix, AZ at Club Red. Another Hillgrass Bluebilly Entertainment production. It was an honor to be back, and the crowd was great. HBE has something special going on there. From here we head East for a while, and then we head west. We will almost be doing a coast to coast run again before the summer is out. If you have pics from any of these shows send ‘em in. We’d love to check ‘em out, and thanks for making these shows so great. It really is the fans that make all of this possible and so special.

This blog starts in Clarksdale, MS at the Juke Joint Festival. This year was a great year at the Juke Joint, and we had a great time. The fest is like a family reunion in a way.

Here I am hanging out with Clarksdale legend… Mr. Tater. His music is as raw as it gets folks. We are hanging out in front of Cat Head the coolest place in the universe. If I had a store – it would be Cat Head.

This pic is really for those who know Mr. Tater. For some reason he had perfectly flattened this 40 ounce beer can and placed it in his pocket. I don’t know why.

This is Stan Street has is a painter who plays harmonica too. He set up a studio and gallery in Clarksdale, and his place is one of those great places that makes the world a better place.

On the way out west we played some great shows, but on the way to Aspen we stopped back by Glenwood Canyon. Where Grizzly Creek meets the Colorado River.

I decided to wet a line.

But catching fish there was not to be. A swarm of flies came in. This is what the whole river looked like. A bunch of fisherman showed up and left. I stayed. It didn’t matter if I caught anything anyway. It is a beautiful place.

Aspen was a great show. During the second song this young lady got to dancing so hard she split her head open. I hope she is ok. They took her away in an ambulance.

On the way to Phoenix we saw some great places in Southern Utah.

This is kinda a tourist destination, but it is worth a stop.

There are all kinds of folk art sculptures around.

Of course the main attraction is a whole house built into the mountain.

This sign was on a stuffed goat, and made me laugh out loud.

This bull is entirely just found scrap metal.

More great americana.

The Hole in the Rock even has a petting zoo.

Before we made it to Phoenix, we stopped off to see the Grand Canyon. This picture is almost an insult to it. Nothing could do it justice. When we walked over a hill to it… the sight of it about knocked me down.

I was really in awe of it. If you want a real holy pilgrimage forget churches or other religious places. If you want to be close to God, then go there. I never felt so small. One sad note… they said that all of the haze that has settled in the canyon used to not be there. It is all pollution from LA and Phoenix.

Here is an interesting picture. Maybe someone out there can explain. This picture was taken by me out the side of the window as we pulled away. We were stopped first by border patrol at this check point in the middle of a desert in California. The led us over through some cones to where that white truck is parked. Some armed US military officers forced us all out of the van, and then the arm that is coming off of that unmarked truck was ran around the van and then back and forth across the van. I said, “What is going on.” One of the camo’d officers said, I cannot tell you.” Jayme said, “Is that an X-Ray machine?” His respomse was, “I cannot tell you what the machine is or what we are looking for.” Then they sent us on out into the desert.

We met up with our old friend Chris Francis. Check out earlier blogs to learn more about this legend. Here he is holding his girlfriends dog.

In LA we played at the amazing Safari Sam’s. That show kicked off the tour with Jason Webley, and it was awesome… However we have no pictures from the show. (If you do send ‘em in!) What we do have is a picture of this meat bearing our name. We bought it across the parking lot from Sam’s at a dollar store. Somewhere we have relatives making meat.

Here are the ingredients. YUMMY!

One of the highlights of the tour with Jason was Gilman St. Project in Berkely, CA. This is a picture of the place when we were loading in.

This is what it looked like when Jason was performing. (If anyone has any pics from these shows please send em in!)

Here we all are together on stage.

Jason decided to get a Pinata for Cinco de Mayo for the Gilman show. We filled it with Ramen, Bisquick, Toilet Paper, Artichokes, and all kinds of wierd stuff.

Here is a still photo of the bisquick getting beat out of it.

This sign is painted behind the stage at Gilman. It also made me laugh.

Here are some zines they were selling inside of Gilman. It is an Anarchist collective that is all ages and all volunteer run. Not many places like that for kids to go see live music. I wish I had had a place like that. I had to make a fake ID when I was in High School so I could go see bands.

The record that we made with Jason is really fun, and this picture shows all of the volunteers at UC Davis who helped us assemble them. This project was so DIY we had to hand insert the records, CD’s, inserts, and dictionaries. Special thanks to this awesome team of volunteers that made this possible. Especially Rob Roy who is the guy in the red shirt.

This is us mailing out all of the pre-orders in Arcata, CA. We had to hand stamp them. But it was awesome, because 1/3rd of the records were sold pre-sale before the thing was released.

On the way to Oregon we passed through the Redwood forest. These trees are amazing. It looks like a fairy tale land. I felt like a gnome.

It makes you almost believe that Paul Bunyon could exist. The trees are spectacular.

Jayme really loved the forest. He especially liked this moss.

This is the coast through the Redwood forest. Pretty neat.

Jason climbed down on this rock, and it looked like he belonged there. Like he was part of the rocks.

Here you can see the forest in the mist. The little red car in front of us is Jason’s Tomato car.

This is my favorite pic in the blog. I know it is kinda blurry, but Breezy had to zoom way in. I snuck up on these Elk, and hung out with them. I know you probably shouldn’t do that, but I did and it was awesome. At one point they kicked at the ground at me and snorted at me. I thought the big one was going to charge, but then they seemed to get used to me. I posed for this pic and then slowly walked away.

Jayme wanted nothing to do with sneaking up on the Elk. He figured me for dead. He stayed on the other side of the road.

This is the Smith River. Pretty unbelievable.

The water is beautiful.

It looks like pool water.

The rocks got real narrow here, and it was so fast and loud. I wanted to drink the water.

This is Jason Webley’s dad. We stayed with him in Seattle for a night. He makes these abstract sculptures out of rocks.

I thought they were pretty cool.

This is where Jason Webley lives. In the little house boat behind the Saint Joan. We didn’t stay here over night, but we hung out here before we parted ways.

Jayme is standing in front of Jason’s house boat.

This is inside the Iowa 80 truck stop. The largest truck stop in the world.

The floor below the truck spun around.

Here is the sign.

This is Breezy riding a giant Jackalope at Wall Drug in Wall, SD.

This is also at Wall Drug.

This is where the blog should end. This guy is hilarious. I kicked Jayme’s cymbal a bunch during the show in Seattle, and it broke and fell off the stand. This guy bought it from us and sent us these pictures. Check out his page for the rest. They are awesome.

If you don’t have the record and you want it, then you better act fast. Only 1111 will ever be made, and almost 900 have been sold.

Big Damn Tattoo – We have made it…
Current mood: jubilant

BIG DAMN TATTOO

Well I think one way or another we have made it.

Yes Gang that is the tattoo of Craig a Big Damn Fan from Pekin, Illinois. He took this…

And he modified it to make the tattoo. We love it of course, and we couldn’t be more proud. We have some amazing things happening this year, and the last few weeks have been really special. Be on the look out for another BIG DAMN photo blog coming in about a week. We have a busy week coming up, on tour with Flogging Molly, SXSW, etc. Come out and say hello if we are in your town, and tune into Sirius Satellite Radio on March 15th for the My Old Kentucky Blog Radio hour. We are performing live, and talking about some stuff coming up.

If you have fan pics, tattoos, fan art, photos, etc., please send them in – we’ll put them on our blog and love you forever.
]]> http://bigdamnband.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/flogging-molly-sxsw-pinetop-perkins-and-more-april-02-2007/feed/ 1 flavadave http://bigdamnband.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/robbed-in-tn-and-pics-from-co-to-ga-photo-blog-february-15-2007/ http://bigdamnband.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/robbed-in-tn-and-pics-from-co-to-ga-photo-blog-february-15-2007/#comments Fri, 18 May 2007 14:00:48 +0000 flavadave http://bigdamnband.wordpress.com/2007/05/18/robbed-in-tn-and-pics-from-co-to-ga-photo-blog-february-15-2007/ ]]> Yes we were robbed. The bastards stole Breezy’s purse in Knox County, TN with a lot of our tour money in it. Don’t worry we are all right. There are a lot of good people out there, but there are some bad ones too. We have a lot of great things happening in the coming months, great tours, recording, and more! Scroll down to see the latest photo blog and get the details. What we need from you all is to just keep doing what you are doing. Keep telling your friends, keep coming out to shows, and keep buying Big Damn Nation! If you are on here on myspace add a song to your profile, and if you have any kind of web page feel free to add the new clickable graphic “badge” that is on our myspace page as well! Oh and Hooded Sweatshirts are now available for sale at www.bigdamnband.com. And now some photos from the last few weeks in no particular order…

Somewhere in Colorado coming around a bend. They got a couple of feet of snow, and it was -17 degrees a couple of days we were there. I tell ya what – the people sure were warm to us.

Someone hauling a snowmobile and an elk in Wyoming.

A little slice of Americana from Missouri.

We felt like it was a good idea to obey the sign here in the Savannah Wildlife Refuge.

Photo of the show at Fiery Ron’s in Charleston, SC taken by Merideth Garrigan.

Another fun photo of the show at Fiery Ron’s in Charleston, SC taken by Merideth Garrigan.

This photo taken by Merideth Garrigan shows head chef Taylor showing us the smoker at Fiery Ron’s BBQ. He said, “when people ask what kind of sauce I use, I say none… I cook the meat for 16 hours. It doesn’t need sauce.”

A little civil war era reenactment at Fort Jackson in Savannah, GA.

FIRE!

The sign says stay off!

Jayme is riding a cannon at Fort Moultrie, SC.

This is Jayme wielding a spotlight of historical significance at Fort Moultrie.

Can you see me? A great tree in the Savannah Wildlife Refuge.

This is Walter and Marion. They were busking by the river in Savannah, GA. Marion had actually worked out full dance routines for each of the songs. It was pretty fun to watch.

Walter broke a string, so I went and got him one while we were hanging out. So they asked me to play a few. They watched me for a while, and then joined in on an old gospel song.

The Peyton Brothers in Colonial Park Cemetery Savannah, GA.

Jayme running on the beach in Charleston, SC.

A church somewhere between Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA.

A very disappointing lighthouse on Sullivan’s Island, SC

A cool lighthouse on Tybee Island, GA

We passed a sign that said Wildlife Viewing area and found this spot near Beaufort, SC.

We had some time off and no money. We decided to loiter around near Savannah, GA for a couple of days. That is why there are so many pics from that area. In Savannah you could tell that spring was coming before too long, but this tree was still holding onto fall. The leaves were still stuck on the tree, and they were glowing orange in the sun. The whole thing was bathed in Spanish Moss.

I snapped this of Breezy in Forsythe Park in Savannah.

The Fountain at Forsythe Park in Savannah.

Another picture inside of Colonial Cemetery in Savannah.

Breezy took this one looking up at some spanish moss.

What more can you ask for? Off of highway 17 in South Carolina.

We heard about this lake where there was great fishing. We caught nothing. Here Breezy is giving it her best effort.

Found these goose eggs while fishing.

Charleston Harbor.

Superbowl night we decided to pool our money together and get a room because we had the night off, and we needed a shower. Jayme snapped this picture. He said put it in the blog and call it “Super Bowl Party ’07.” I am sitting on the edge of the bed eating ramen noodles.

Swamp in South Carolina

Swamp in Georgia.

Another picture inside of Colonial Cemetery in Savannah.

This goose is ugly.

Jayme is fixing the van in Winston-Salem, NC. We had some good times, and we were really taken care of by the people there. Can’t wait to get back. North Carolina has always been good to us.

We were at a Krystal in Knox County, TN, and someone stole Breezy’s purse. It just happened to have all of our cash from the last few days in it. Well we have since changed that policy, but it was too late then. The staff at the Krystal was suspicious and not helpful at all. However, Officer Babaoglu was very kind. He jumped into the dumpster behind the Krystal with his pocketknife and tried to see if it had been tossed by the people that worked there. No luck, but I promised we would give him a good word in our photo blog for being so helpful. Cops have hassled us a little from time to time, they have helped a little from time to time, but we found the one cop in Eastern Tennessee who was a Widespread Panic fan. I have nothing but good things to say about him. As for us, well we’ll chalk this one up to life on the road and move on. On a side note – we would have been completely stranded if Breezy hadn’t found a 100 dollar bill the day before. (all of our cards had to be cancelled) She put the bill in her back pocket instead of the purse. The 100 dollars was exactly the amount of money we needed to pay for the gas. Sometimes the universe has a way of looking out for you. We have some great things coming up. Be on the look out.

This is King Coffee, drummer for the Butthole Surfers. I was so glad he came out to our show in Austin, TX. We owed him a GIANT thank you for making us so many friends in that town and at SXSW.

This fine couple made us some great BBQ inside the Continental Club in Houston, TX. That show was a highlight of the tour for sure, and this man seemed almost like a shaman to us. He blessed our van and the tour, and I think it is working.

Peyton Brothers remembering the Alamo.

This is Ward Johnson a street preacher singing in San Antonio, TX.

A Tumbleweed blows past a Lincoln Continental with a Kinky Friedman bumper sticker – Van Horn, TX

The sun sets over Mexico just east of El, Paso.

Jayme is feeding deer somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix, AZ.

Jayme is feeding an Ostrich somewhere between Tucson and Phoenix, AZ. (Same Farm)

Onstage at Club Congress in Tucson, AZ. This show was so much fun, and the people at the Hotel Congress really took care of us.

More at Club Congress in Hotel Congress.

Onstage in Phoenix, AZ. The Hillgrass Bluebilly boys promoted this one, and it was fantastic. Their shows always are. They have a special thing happening in Phoenix.

Our show in LA was huge. We played on Sunset at Safari Sam’s. Big Sandy of Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys came to the show. What an honor. I am a huge fan of his.

We opened for Wanye the Train Hancock, and he was great on-stage and off.

The real hero of the night was Sam himself. His heart is huge, and he is a legend among real music fans in LA. Safari Sam’s is back with a vengeance.

In LA we picked up our friend Chris Francis. You want to talk about a legend, this guys has done it all. His artwork can be seen on the covers of albums by Otis Gibbs and Utah Phillips, etc., he lived on Freight Trains for 6 years, he has been a tree topper, a sword fisherman, you name it. He is hitching a ride back to Kokomo, Indiana (his place of birth), and acting as our merch guy/stage manager. A little over qualified… yes.

When we got to Frisco I took this picture, which made these people in Chinatown really mad. Upon closer review of this pic, I was able to read that sign and we knew why.

China town in San Francisco is an interesting place. Here clothes hang out to dry in an alley.

While walking around in Chinatown, we ran into a store that sold live chickens, pigeons, quail, and other live birds for eating. I eat chicken, but the small confinement of the chickens really made us upset, so we decided to buy one and rescue it.

We fell in love with it, and it travelled around with us in SF while we had three shows there. Originally we planned on trading the chicken to some nice hippy kids we met, who raised chickens for eggs in Oakland. However they flaked out and never made it to the shows. We were stuck with caring for the chicken on our own.

The Chicken went to the gigs, and we kept it outside on a leash,

We named it SUM YUNG HEN since we purchased her in Chinatown.

The chicken rode the trolley with us as we travelled around Frisco.

The chicken got to go to the beach for the first time, and really seemed to enjoy it.

When it was time to head to Vegas for the show at the Double Down Saloon, we knew the chicken just couldn’t come. It was heart breaking.

These nice kids we met at Haight and Ashbury said they would see to it that the chicken would be safe.

So we hit the road and took the long way to Vegas via Route 66. Here you can see the steer horns on the front of the Big Damn Van.

Chris Francis wanted us to see Oatman, AZ.

Oatman, AZ is famous for having wild donkeys that roam the streets. They were abandoned when the silver mines closed.

The Donkeys thrived though, and the people in Oatman look after them now.

These donkeys are amazing and friendly. We hung out with them, hugging them and petting them. They love people. The Big Damn Band loved them right back.

We had good times in Vegas. I think gambling is for suckers, but be that as it may… we won 40 bucks, and had Vegas Buffet food!.

The folks at the Double Down saloon were awesome, but it was time to head out toward Joshua Tree. Here the Big Damn Van can be seen travelling down a dirt road somewhere in Joshua Tree National Park.

Here I am walking in Joshua Tree.

This guy was busking outside the Wal-Mart in Yucca Valley, CA. He was pretty good, and really friendly.

This is us onstage at the world famous Pappy and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, CA in Joshua Tree.

I had to get my picture with the horns onstage at Pappy and Harriet’s.

Joshua Tree is a beautiful place, and the trees are really something to see.

On the way toward El Centro, CA we stopped off at the Salton Sea. These birds attacked Jayme.

Here Jayme and I are on the beach at the Salton Sea.

A volunteer at the Salton Sea state park told us about Salvation Mountain in Slab City, CA. It is the largest piece of folk art in the world.

This is Leonard Knight. He built Salvation Mountain, and not only is he a kind hearted and wonderful human being, but we got to hang out with him, and he showed us how he built it, and then we sang songs.

Washboard Breezy stands on top of Salvation Mountain.

Breezy snapped this photo of Jayme, Chris Francis, and myself.

This is how the mountain looks inside made entirely out of adobe, hay, and sticks and items found in the desert.

Here I stand inside Salvation Mountain.

I snapped this one of Breezy and me at the mountain.

Chris Francis stands proud.

This is more inside the mountain.

Another view of Salvation Mountain.

Leonard let me play his guitar, and we sang gospel songs.

Here we are picking and singing together an old spiritual song.

Leonard and Rev. Peyton at Salvation Mountain.

This woman and her friend came to see the mountain and stayed to watch us sing. She began to cry and then wanted to hug me. I am not religious, and I especially don’t like organized religion, but art and blues and music and old spiritual songs are very dear to me. There was something powerful there that day, and we all felt it. My eyes watered up a little bit. The women didn’t say their name or why they were there, but somehow I felt like maybe we all were there for them.

The face of Chris Francis pretty much sums it up here.

When the sun went down it was time to head to El Centro.

El Centro is right on the border, and the place was electric. People danced on the bar. I didn’t see any fights this time, and I think everyone danced. It was a special night for sure.

This was the view from the stage. The faces have been removed to protect the innocent. All in all it was a hell of a day.

Here are some random pictures from Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, and more!

Someone is raising their kids up right.

Custom BIG DAMN BAND Harley Helmet. Photo taken in Kalamazoo, MI.

Jayme hanging out with our friend Patrick (on tour with us helping to sell merch)on the coast of Lake Michigan in Chicago, IL.

Is it Maine? Florida? Is it SoCal? Nope – Michigan City, Indiana.

This Bison is sticking his tongue out at us in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Jayme and Breezy sitting on the bank of the South Platte River in Bailey, CO.

Here is a pic from the Uptowner in Charleston, IL.

Eat Here Get Worms on a VERY cold day right where the Illinois River meets the Mississippi River.

Wall at the same place.

My secret fishing spot, Southern Indiana.

A Bass that was a team effort catch by Breezy and I. It bit on her pole, but broke the line on some reeds. I jumped in the lake to get it. I claim the catch since I actually brought it to shore, but Breezy technically caught it on her line. I just didn’t want it to have to live life with a hook in its mouth. We just catch and release so we can catch again another day.

This is a shot out the window of the van somewhere in Iowa.