Binge & Beloved at the Raleigh Marijuana March May 1st after our show. Akin to Seattle's Hempfest. If May were a soup it would be minestrone -- lots of little beans and grains. This month finds Binge and Beloved engaged in many different pursuits and activities. Except not skydiving.
Picture taken by the awesome Jeremy of Effingham. Rob Beloved debuts with Joy in Red this upcoming week on May 19th at a house show (songs & info here). I'm not just saying this as Ms. Beloved: JIR are simply amazing. Something about the combination of Matthew of Sequoya's banjo + mountain screams and Rob's guitar glued together with longtime musician but newer drummer Mike Wright (Cairo & Byproduct. He also recorded, mixed, and mastered the songs on MS) makes JIR powerfully rich and, I think, lasting.
Fittingly, the group began on our porch as an acoustic jam of Rob and Matthew, interrupted at 1:00 am only by the incessant honking of a neighbor's Aunt (who later returned and did a 'drive by honk' to spite us). The first output incorporates as much mountain (Lazareth's Mountain) as 'hood (Mama's Milk). Invite.
This moment finds me typing in Weston, returning from our first show in Athens. We played an early show at the Go Bar with Black Balloon --
and Brer Paladin.
I'll be uploading videos soon at my Youtube channel. Though there were more people who arrived late for the Karaoke following our show (no comment) we enjoyed playing and meeting the kind Chris of Black Balloon. He was so sweet that he offered us money to film his show the next night since our show was less than profitable. How awesome is that?
It seems to me, though, that touring, especially new cities, is initially about the hand shake. There is a power to in-person that cannot be recreated online or from a distance. Only in the showing up, half the battle according to Woody Allen, is something planted for future return harvesting (it's Spring, so forgive the banal gardening analogy).
Even with low-turnout shows in new cities, you get to meet both venue reps and/or bands, they see you play, you catch their show, they talk with you. Typically, we've found, that it is in these meetings that future arrangements for better shows are created. Or just call me Polyannabinge and continue to sulk over these sad shows.
In addition to the hand shake, we got to eat at the infamous Grit, which has outdoor seating convenient for dog-traveling. My favorite thing about the Grit are the wide and delicious selection of vegan cakes. However, I've been off sugar for almost a month excepting the Rosetta's controlled lapse. What's a gal to do? Sometimes pictures speak more than words.
I shared.It was only one slice, but per Beloved, he noticed an increase in temper and irritability. Is a study accurate when only one person is the participant, and the other the evaluator? According to my college statistics course, not so much, but in this case, I'd say Beloved has a solid study finding. In addition to a black eye. Kidding!
Tonight we're playing and screening in Charlotte at a nice place called Pura Vida. But first it's off to the Leeanne-recommended Zizi's -- which boasts my *dream menu* and is exactly what I'm talkin' about when I'm blabbering for the 1,000th time that Durham needs a 'down home cooking cheap eatery' for the veg & veg-option wanting community.
In addition to Rob's show on Wednesday, Beloved Binge's first show in Chapel Hill for a loooong time is this Thursday at the Reservoir. We're so very happy to be playing with our favorites Ponchos from Peru out of Wilmington, as well as Actual Persons Living or Dead. Come check out the show! Invite. Hosted by Rod Serling.
This week Binge Cafe will host a friend from DC, participate in outreach at the APS walk for animals and, the next day, the Bull Days of Durham, and take part in the Cleveland Holloway first ever Block Party organized by the awesome Catherine of Midtown Dickens. We'll be BBQ'ing and hanging out on Primitive Saturday after 1 pm.
Speaking o' outreach, if anyone of you wanted to give Rob a present or me (just because?) you can most certainly and happily do it through this event we're participating in, where we have been transformed into Team Triangle. Your $ will go to an org that works at reduction of suffering most strategically, philosophically, and effectively -- an org we would leave our house to in the event of death. See our team profile here, complete with Syba adorable-ness, and donate a few bucks if you can! Your donation will be good for at least 10 birthdays/holidays.
At the end of the month, we're heading down to Wilmington to camp & play WE Fest, and annual festival of mostly DIY bands from all over the US taking over the Soapbox and other nearby stages in the city. At $1 per day, the fest is one of the most affordable around for 12 hours of music. That's like less than .10 per hour. Cheap!
In addition to part time work, I continue to work on compiling & writing Tales of a Greek Father and setting up screenings (locally) of Seeing Through the Fence.
In the book category Rob is reading Edward Abbey's Monkey Wrench Gang, and, to keep with the animal-title theme, I am just about finished with Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals, a highly entertaining and accessible (as well as devastating) read about the state of our current food industry as it pertains to the raising, transporting, and killing of animals for food.
He writes frequently about our forgetting and remembering, critical to sustain the current factory system. I encourage anyone to read it who cares about the treatment of animals. I know you do.
