Day 1: NowHere


I'm heading out on the road for a 10 day musical tour of Arizona and New Mexico. I left San Diego at 8pm last night. This morning I am camped out in my Toyota Prius somewhere in the middle of nowhere, aka NowHere, just west of Yuma. 

It felt good to pull into this spot I'm parked in, last night, just off interstate 8. There were so many stars above. It was very dark. I always feel like I can hear my own thoughts better when I'm out in the middle of NowHere. Maybe I delude myself, but I think I'm fairly psychic and when I'm in a crowded city, like San Diego, I can hear the thoughts of all of those around me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think it's overwhelming, sometimes. I felt my whole body relax when I realized that I was out here in the middle of NowHere, in the pitch darkness, with occasional trucker lights driving past on the freeway in the distance. 

Why am I going on this tour? Because it's what I do. Birds migrate, bears hibernate and I go on a musical tour of Arizona and southern New Mexico every spring. I'm not great at getting myself high paying gigs because I always wait too late to book. I'm not great at promoting the tours because I have a ton of other things to do as a full time musician. However, I go on my annual SouthWest tour because it's what I do. 

I'll be honest, with the pandemic still lingering, the state of the world, gas prices at $6/gallon and being a 45 year old man, setting out on the road with little to no prospects of making significant amounts of money feels a bit forced and unnecessary. I could just stay home in San Diego, play my farmers' market gigs, busk, make good money and spend way less energy, but that's not my life vision. My life's vision entails going on a SouthWestern tour every year and that's what I do. Maybe one day I will revise my vision, where I cut out the SouthWest tour unless I am getting paid a ton of money, but for now this is what I do. 

Here is my itinerary: 






 

Leave a comment