Tour Journal, September 8, 2026
For some reason I thought Swiss Air would be more organized than this. While checking in I get a notice that they have oversold the flight and are looking for volunteers to take a later flight. I consider it but they are not offering any incentive to do so - just take a later flight and no guarantee that they’d get me to Bremen the next day. I had built in a buffer for travel so I would’ve been a great candidate for that but I pass.
My bags are ridiculously heavy this year as books are proving to be more cumbersome to travel with than CDs or even vinyl records. I guess this is obvious but holy crap they are heavy. I had looked into shipping them ahead so I wouldn’t have to carry them but the cheapest service to ship from California to Germany was quoting me just under $600 for 18 books. So instead I bought an extra suitcase and I can fit 20 books in each suitcase and it ends up costing me half as much for twice as many books in the two extra suitcases on board the plane. Logistics and economics are boring for tour journals.
But if you saw the little video Tracy took before I left - I had a small backpack with toiletries and essentials, a checked backpack with my clothes for six weeks, a second checked rolling suitcase full of books and a third checked suitcase full of books AND a guitar. Physically I can carry it all with the added shoulder strap on the guitar case but it is heavy. The two suitcases of books are both weighed in at 48 lbs each (almost 23 kg - the max allowed)
I am a touring pack mule.
Landing in Bremen and I am pleasantly surprised that all my luggage arrives unscathed. My guitar is left by itself all alone no where near the baggage carousel but I find it just by walking around and spot it by the an equally abandoned customer service window. Three of the five latches are undone but the guitar is fine.
I booked myself into a hotel by the Weser river to try and acclimate myself and sleep off the jet lag before I see folks and it nearly works. Hotel Nena is nice, it’s just a room with a bed and not much space to do anything beyond sleeping. I end up sliding an end table over to the side of the bed to finalize the ordering of the next (fifth) pressing of books.
Book promo and book thinking have been in the front of my mind for a while now and I’ve been rehearsing my show at home to bring to Europe on tour but making that switch in my head has not been smooth. I know how to sing and play guitar and put on shows but my thinking keeps getting distracted by bookstuffs.
Saturday.
Jeanette has been booking me to play the Open Air Verden show for years now. I have historically been late almost every time. It’s unlike me and it really bothers me. When it first happened it was kind of because it was Tracy, Ben and I not waking up early on tour and being somehow always forgetting that Verden was just a little further away than we thought. Jeanette has had to rearrange performance times around our tardiness a few times. I even remember one time when we played unplugged in Verden square and another time when we played Verden’s horse festival.*
So today I have no excuse - I’m going to be early.
…and I show up late.
Not terribly late though. Just like, if I wanted a soundcheck, I should’ve been here at 10:30 am but I have never had a soundcheck (because I’ve always been late for this gig) and just assumed it was like plug in and play, because that’s what I’ve always done! So the show started at 11, I was here by 11:05 and in plenty of time for my noontime set.
Some freind/fans have shown up to see me and they buy books before I even start. The European Companion version of Too Many Miles is proving to be an interesting thing - it’s a 100 page, selected stories from TMM but in German just for this tour.**
Tina is doing my introduction today and she buys one of the TMM European Companion books and asks “Is there anything special you’d like me to tell the audience before you start?” “Yes, please let them know that I am an American that hates Donald Trump.”
As I plug in my guitar, Tina is introducing me and I’m a little distracted by what I’m doing but when I hear her say Trump’s name all the folks in the audience cheer at her clarification of my political leanings.
It’s a fun, albeit, short set and short visit with my friends in Verden. As I’m playing I notice a couple with a baby in the second row and the woman has taken her jacket off and I see that she’s wearing one of my t-shirts. My show gets some terrific wind gusts that make folks grab the legs of the easy up to make sure it stays put and as we start to pack up, the rain drops start falling. Pretty perfect timing actually.
Making the rounds to talk to as many folks as I can and I finally get over to the couple with the baby. The baby laughs and smiles as I say hello. “This is her first concert.” They tell me. I am honored.
I drive back to my hotel, drive my car onto the elevator and ride it down to the parking garage, return to my room and fall asleep for 5 hours. I wake up in time to walk over to MA (the name of the restaurant) that overlooks the Weser River and I order a schnitzel and a glass of Merlot. Return to my hotel room and lie awake until after 3:30 am. I use this time to Google myself and see where the latest mentions of Too Many Miles have shown up - MusicIndustryweekly.com / Canadianbeats.ca / Portalsplishsplash.com in Brazil / Spielemagazin.de in Germany / Netfan.pl in Poland / CashboxCanada.ca / Recordworldinternational.com / Tinnitist.com in Canada / Broadwayworld.com and Findyoursounds.com in Wales, U.K. !!!
It’s strange trying to understand what the online world can mean. I’m still primarily an in-person musical salesman but I checked my website analytics to see if there’s been any change since all this publicity. Typically my website gets 20-30 visits per day. September 4th saw an uptick to over 1000 visits - just that day. Folks getting downloads and what-not. I offer the digital versions of my music as a “pay what you want” and it’s nice to see that being utilized but I only get notified if someone pays for the downloads and I didn’t get any notifications.
What else is strange is the locations of my top viewers (40+ visits) - Virginia, USA. San Jose, CA. Iowa. Paris, France. Amsterdam, Netherlands. Dublin, Ireland. Toronto, Canada. Wales U.K. and all over Australia.
I don’t pretend to understand it alol and I think it would be a brag if it also corresponded to lots of sales. Instead I’m left with a strange feeling of being seen that I feel grateful for but also like…what does this mean?
Then I get an interview request from Tofu Dave for his show “Between the Covers” on Chapel Hill, NC’s WCOM radio and a request for music as well. I look it and him up and it’s a great, in-depth interviewer who is known for researching his guests and having great conversations. So that’s cool.
*There was even a very funny picture of Tracy, Ben, Julian (our drummer on that tour) and me watching a pantomime horse rolling on the ground in front of us - and the picture was the front page of the local newspaper!
**Shoutout to my cousin Natalie for the German translation!
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Tour Journal. September 8, 2026 (part two)
Sunday.
I am always excited to return to Heike’s Garden. It’s like a homecoming in Bremen for me with lots of fans who are now friends coming out to see me.
The last time I played the Garden it was super hot and humid and I remember being a sweaty mess before we even started playing. Today is absolutely beautiful weather, about 70 degrees, partly cloudy and perfect weather.
Heike greets me with some freshly made raisin bread that she made for me to toast. The stage is set up and the garden starts filling up. Mona is going to join me today on some songs and we don’t exactly go over songs or practice but we do discuss what songs she is going to hop up and sing on. It’s enough prep for us.
Folks are buying some books before I even start and it’s a great feeling of knowing people are excited for this. I set up the stage and plug in my pedals. The Sparkle Drive works, the volume pedal works but the Line 6 M9 pedal is dead. Ok, no spacey effects today. The looper on my other side works so maybe I will do a couple little loops in songs.
The stage is set and as I step up to the microphone the sun hits me square in the eyes as I set up too far forward from the canopy. I slide back and have a great first set with Mona joining me on a few songs. I go to use the looper and it stops working on me too. One show, two broken pedals. My gear page friends are right: #BobboSmash.
I take a set break and when I start back up again I play one song in the PA and then unplug and play acoustically in the garden and I love it so much more. A few songs in and I am feeling my voice settle in to where I am liking the sound coming out of my mouth more. It’s so different not using a microphone.
Norbert is up front taking pictures, Hans is to the side and Johan and Heinz are on the other side also taking pictures. I’m feeling very special, lots of photos are taken of me today.
Whenever I see the camera lens’, all I can think of is a Replacements bootleg I used to have where you hear Paul Westerberg tell the lighting tech on the gig “No spotlight tonight, I’m not feeling very pretty.”
I don’t need a spotlight today, the sun is right overhead and shining down on my melon. Knowing they are taking pictures I actually try to get my face a little bit in the shade to help them out. I mean, I can’t do nothing about my face but I can move out of the light.***
I tell some more stories and it’s a good show. I like the no PA shows best. Lots of folks line up to sign my guitar. Petra has brought me some chocolate as per tradition.****
I get extra clapping at the end letting me know that I’m not done so I finish up the set by playing a couple of extra songs and then I put my guitar down on the merch table and invite anyone that wants to, to sign their name and a line forms immediately.
A younger me dreamed of playing stadiums. Now when I write new songs I imagine playing them here in Heike’s Garden.
It’s a great post gig hang and we share some wine and chocolate and we say Tschuess to everyone.
Sleep comes easy and I don’t wake up for over 9 hours.
Moin.
***Move out of the light Carol Ann!
****Petra has given me the chocolate from the Hachez factory for years. Her grandfather worked in that factory and she told me that giving the gift of that chocolate is how she keeps the memory of her grandfather alive.
#toomanymilesbook