The tour. What a ball. Not only did we cover 10,000 miles in a month, but we also did it in fine style. The best news: the music itself. The band made a fine fabric woven by Doug Lunn on bass, Eric Gardner on drums and special one time member Jim Wilson on keyboards and guitar. They played their nuts off every night. The music was uplifting - as well it should be. Sometimes touring can become a real task, almost a burden to endure. This tour was as drama free as I've ever done with special thanks to all in our office that gave us the support and tweaking as needed throughout the trip. Playing night after night was effortless for me.

Although we're setting up additional US and European tours, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play in town and sleep in my own bed at night. As much as I enjoy touring, it is great to work in a club, once a week, as a residency for a month or two.

Kick-off was at the Troubadour in LA where it was a treat to see so many of my friends come out and hear the new record played live. We moved on north to San Fran, Seattle and Portland, seeing the sights of Mt. Shasta and the forests of the great northwest. Portland rocked big time.

It was nice to spend some time with Terry Currier at his Music Millenium record stores in Portland. Terry is a record man in the best sense of the word and it was good to kick it with him about the state of the business. Clearly, records are too expensive. I see a future that includes the return of the $10.00 record. $18 to $20 is just too much to pay for a record, especially when there are only one or two songs on it that are any good. Today times are just too tough to drop $20, $40, $60 on a few new releases. With downloading and home burning, the business is changed forever. We need to rethink how we're doing this and it seems to me the answer is in better, cheaper records and more of them.

From the northwest was the long drive to Denver and a benefit show at the Blue Bird Theater for the West Memphis 3. You may have heard about this case on HBO and other news outlets. Three young men are in prison in the Deep South for a murder that I don't believe they committed. Check the story out at www.wm3.org. Denver was the beginning of a 100+ heat spell that lasted 'til we returned to LA three weeks later. From Denver came another marathon drive up to Clear Lakes Iowa. The venue was the famous Surf Ballroom where Buddy Holly, Bib Bopper and Ritchie Valens played that last fateful night before the final plane trip. My special guests opening up on tour were Mother Superior. The only road problem we had on the entire trip was during the drive up to Clear Lake when they blew a tire. I opened for them that night so they had time to get their tire fixed and make the closing set.

Quick jaunt up to northern Minnesota for a radio festival and then down to one of my favorite cities, Minneapolis. 7th Street Entry is a real basement rock venue. Good sound and great crowd. On to Chicago, where we had a most cool band, Cane Corso, open. Playing "Nelson Algren stopped by" had a completely new resonance to it that night. The song is set in Chicago so it made for a particularly interesting take. Funny thing about that song, folks ask me "who is Nelson Algren?" er&ah&duh. I hadn't thought about it before, but I guess it works even if you don't know who he was. That makes it a story about a real cranky friend who got screwed over after he died. Works for me.

Detroit was next and as usual, it was a blast. Motown always brings out the "prodigal son" feeling for me. The Magic Bag has excellent sound and sightlines, although it was a little off that night. The main thing is the love that comes out and goes back in that city. I also got to spend some time with old comrades-in-arms from back when dogs could talk. At one point there were three generations of roadies sitting at the table. We were like old soldiers kicking around war stories and appreciating the fact that we're still here. Big time gratitude was the order of the day. Also got to spend some time with Elizabeth Tyner, Rob's youngest daughter. She is a gift in my life and being able to share with her about my time with her dad is one of the high points in my life these days.

Cleveland came next. Mark and Cindy from the Beachland Ballroom were gracious hosts and provided a great home cooked meal&one of the few on tour. There was a remarkable free jazz trio in the second room at the venue called "Birth" and it was thrilling to see a room full of college kids listening attentively to music that in another time would be "too advanced" for young people. It was very encouraging.

A long drive to Boston was next rolling us onto the East Coast with a major groove on. Cambridge was a strong show and then we dropped down to NYC. I haven't been there since last September 8, when my partner and I both stayed at the Marriott Hotel at the World Trade Center. The big town has changed. I know I've changed too. Walking around the lower East Side (my old neighborhood) just didn't feel the same anymore. I used to come back to New York and long for the old days, but I'm just not there anymore. I think my life is in Los Angeles today and that's where I feel most at home.

The show at the Mercury Lounge was fun and I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing my protégé Alex Sniderman and his new band open the show. We had an interesting group on next, "The Plastic Fantastics." Mother Superior tore the roof off as they did throughout the whole tour and when we hit it was like a hot knife through butter. It was really good to see so many of my dear old friends in NYC.

Baltimore was next and the show featured a performance by the Motor Morons. Hands down the most fun band I saw on tour. More like a factory with instruments. They were a clanging, banging, cacophony of sparks, beats, shrieks and hollers. The two women, four man, one grinder, two driver drills, one circular saw and one industrial blower equipped band were a joy to behold. Doug Lunn votes them "best in show".

We jumped back north to New Brunswick, NJ's Court Tavern. This was another basement club with a great feeling and motto: "Cruel, But Fair". Love it. I had the honor of meeting two of Red Rodney's nephews that night. They were fine fellows who only learned of the connection between their uncle and myself by going online and searching around. We had a great time talking about what a great character and musician he was. That was another gift.

Philly was a ball. Great turn out and good music all night long. Next we headed south to Atlanta where we did the TV show "Good Morning, Atlanta", a very early morning gig for touring musicians. It was pretty square but fun and a chance to reach thousands of housewives and insomniacs. It was a busy day for this reporter as I did a series of demonstrations at Apple Mac Stores all along the tour route and Atlanta was one of them. I had put together an outline for the demos that I hoped would be both entertaining and informative. At my first presentation in Glendale, CA, I discovered the Apple credo on the wall in the store and found this remarkable connection between my history and Apple.

Here's the Apple credo:

"The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that's never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones that do."

This thing knocked me out. This was simpatico with who I am and what I'm all about too so I used this as the context on which to introduce myself and the music I have made in the past, as well as the music I make today, on the Mac. It was an easy hop, skip and jump to bring folks from the days of MC5 rebels and round pegs in square holes, to red planets and laboratories on wheels. I'm a tool guy and the Mac is a great tool. It was a lot of fun showing people how the power of both the Mac and Digidesigns Pro Tools could be used by average folks to create art in their own home. I recorded a simple beat, then a guitar track, and then a bass showing them how multi-track recording is done. This is where the real fun began. I wrote a line or two of lyrics right on the spot that referenced an audience member and recorded the lead vocal. Then, I had the audience sing out in unison on the backing vocals. They had a ball! Hearing themselves back on the playback, they seemed truly amazed at how easy the whole process could be. I demonstrated some mixing techniques and finished up with some thoughts on the importance of art and creativity in our lives today. Everybody who attended had a good time and I hope the experience advanced the cause of people's unique ability to create and contribute to the world. Special thanks go out to the superb Apple staff in each city. Thanks to my friends at Apple and Digidesign for the opportunity to be of service.

Atlanta is where I also had a chance to spend some time with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Tim Shafe. Tim and I go way back and have a great deal of history together. Tim is also a monster bass player and we played together back in my Detroit days. We're all getting older and some of us are fading quicker than others and seeing him and sharing how much we love each other was another gift. Life long friends are a special blessing.

Birmingham, Alabama was next and then down to the big easy, N'Awlins. One hundred and ten degrees! Now we're talking some good radio. WOZZ-FM New Orleans is one of the best stations on the air. Great jazz 24-7. New Orleans is also home of the big chief, John Sinclair. John opened for us and regaled the crowd with his "music and verse" explorations of the blues and told the crowd "if someone would have bet fifty cents that Wayne Kramer and John Sinclair would be playing together at the Shim Sham Club in New Orleans in 2002, no one would have taken the bet." Great food, great music and great company. It just doesn't get much better.

The Big Lone State was next and I have to tell you, I wasn't looking forward to it much. Except for Austin, I have never been able to draw much of a crowd in Texas. I was pleasantly surprised when both Dallas and Houston gigs were much better attended than ever before. Even better was the sense I gained from talking to everybody after the shows that there is a grass roots core of folks out there that really "get" what it is I'm trying to do. One of the best parts of the tour was being able to talk to all of you after the gigs. You were very kind and gracious with me and I appreciate it. I got to reconnect with Pat Burrows in Dallas. Pat was the original bass player in the MC5, pre-MC5 actually, the days of the Bounty Hunters - way, way back in the day. He's doing fine and still playing a funky fender bass. Another gift. Emo's 10th anniversary party in Austin was a grand event. The Detroit cobras played along with the Makers and of course, Mother Superior. The woman singer in the Cobras was great when she announced, "you won't hear anything new up here tonight, and I love to drink, I love to smoke, I love to fuck and I love Jesus!" Good stuff.

Albuquerque, N.M. was a good club date. I'd never played there before and it was nice to meet some new fans there. Next was Phoenix, AZ. Our promoter there, "Fun Bobby", was on the job and made it a good show. "Fun Bobby" was one of the few true promoters on the tour. My experience has been that "promoters" don't really exist on the club level of touring. Mostly there is a "booker" and a "club" which is really a bar. Not many bars really "promote" a show. They might run an ad, open the room up and see what happens. It's understandable when you have 3-4 bands a night, 6 days a week and hundreds of bands out on the circuit trying to get something going for themselves. We all do the best we can, but having someone to put the energy and time into actually promoting is a rare and much appreciated.

San Diego was the final stop and we slid back into LA at 4:30 in the morning safe and sound. 10,000 miles, thousands of fans, and way too many Motel 6's. Folks ask me "wasn't that hard?" But the truth is, if you remove the Jack Daniel's, the heroin, the cocaine and the attendant bad behavior from the equation, touring isn't really that hard. It's sure easier than putting in 40+ hours a week on the assembly line or mopping floors or working the field in the Central Valley. It is a lot of sitting around in vans and loading gear and suitcases in and out of hotel rooms. It's also a lot of greasy road food. But there was no rose garden promised and I'm ready to head out again. I asked for this and am grateful to be able to do it.

Special cool points go out to my touring party including Mother Superior: Marcus Blake, bass, Jason Mackenroth, drums and Jim Wilson, guitar. Jim gets an extra gold star for working double duty as a member of my band on keyboards and harmony vocals. It was a joy having Jim on the band for the tour and he really helped me see the potential in expanding my working line up to four pieces. Now I have the difficult job of finding a replacement to take over for the future. Our tech squad on tour included Jonathan Austin at monitors and Jake "Iggy" Danielson on stage management. Both guys worked their asses off and did a fine job.

The very best of all was done by musicians Eric Gardner, drums, Doug Lunn, bass and Jim Wilson on guitar and keyboards. These men made the tour a dream gig for me. The most valuable thing I have is the fellowship and mutual respect of the people I work with.

Til next time.

Best, w