Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Here's a good review in the Missoula Independent for my new CD, Chemicals in the Wheat.

If you'd like to order a copy please send $15 postage-paid to: Chris Sand / PO Box 7 / Dunn Center, ND 58626.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

The trailer for Roll Out, Cowboy is finished. Enjoy!

Roll Out Cowboy from Roll Out, Cowboy on Vimeo.

I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please comment. Thanks!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Nima and I are having an excellent time in western Montana. Our last four shows have all been winners. First there was Basin at The High Note, then two afternoon shows yesterday in Ronan--The Red Poppy at two and Grandma Herak's nursing home at four, then The Boiler Room in Kalispell tonight. Tomorrow we'll be in Big Fork at The Raven. Wednesday, Missoula.

I grew up in western Montana but for some reason rarely play shows here. It's good to be back, where the snowy Mission Mountains watch over my beautiful Flathead Valley/Mission Valley childhood home.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Drivin' acros't Montana--Glory of the West. Our first show of this Montana leg is tonight in Basin at Aunt Bryher's house. The Rockies are snow-capped and vibrant today.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

I'm not normally a fan of work, but fixing fence with Dad today was fun. I enjoyed all the parts of it: diggin' holes, cutting and stretching wire, pounding metal posts, and clearing brush. Got the four-wheeler briefly mired in a beaver dam. It was a muddy, happy day on Killdeer Mountain.

Two days ago I was up there and found a slew of Indian artifacts--three or four hide scrapers and an arrowhead. The horses look good. Grandpa has a new horse named Freckles. He's a little skittish.

Tomorrow Nima and I drive west to Montana.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Under the weather slightly today . . . gives me pause to think about this current music tour.

In some ways my 2010 tour with Nima has been made up of many tours. First there was the New England Two-Step, starting and ending in Boston. Then came the East Coast Hitch-Hike, where we had no vehicle but still managed to get to all our seaboard shows before taking a bus back to Boston. After two weeks dancing the Boston Limbo, we did the Southbound Boogie, which put us at last in New Orleans. From New Orleans we rolled to Dallas, where began our Waltz Across Texas tour. This ended prematurely, as did our potential Southwest Twist.

Nima, meanwhile, is keeper of the flame. He solo-explored Big Bend National Park before angling east to El Paso and north to Santa Fe. Soon he'll pass through Denver and Spearfish, and finally, on Thursday, he'll arrive in Dunn Center. On April 22nd we'll resume our journey, with seven western Montana sock hops. We've saved our last dance for a May Day show in Spokane. Originally we'd planned to go to the Pacific, but other projects interposed.

Top seven tour highlights:
  1. Escaped frigid North Dakota winter.
  2. Finished new CD--Chemicals in the Wheat.
  3. Thanks to Nima and Hanon, I have two fresh new YouTube vids.
  4. Made new friends and visited old friends along the route.
  5. Recorded, with Nima's help, a gang of songs for next CD.
  6. By tour's end we'll have played a respectable thirty shows.
  7. Getting to know Nima better.
In New Orleans Nima and I renamed our tour. Everything east of the Mississippi River was the "Peanut Butter & Jelly Tour." This leg was filled with poverty, vehicle breakdowns, and unease. Everything west of the Mississippi became the "Me & My Brother Tour." This side was/is hallmarked by prosperity and comfort. Nima gained confidence. We collaborated more. We found bigger audiences. Our earnings quadrupled. Nima's pickup didn't implode. The weather improved. Nima's amazingly generous Uncle Craig bought me an airplane ticket to Minneapolis for Dale's Farewell Gathering. Hana flew back to the States . . .

Ah, Hana. . . I'll meet her in Spokane on May Day. God speed!

Friday, April 09, 2010

The last ten days have been wild. I'll be brief.

From Dallas, Nima and I boogied to Austin for a fantastic show at Baby Blue Studios. The show was set up by the coincidentally-named Austin L. Jones. He bought a butt-load of Lone Star beer, and a Texas-sized crowd magically appeared. Awesome! From Austin we rolled west.

On April 2nd, we arrived in the magic west-Texas town of Marfa just in time to see my favorite artist Camp Boswell's whimsically eerie, border-war art show--marijuana, guns, liquor, briefcases of cash, and buzzard-like spy cams, all carved from wood. See Camp's giant spur (click on it to see details).

On April 3rd Nima and I played a most pleasant house concert in the kitchen of Camp and his wife Buck. It was our best show of tour and a morale-raising way to wrap up the southern leg of our journey.

On April 4th Nima and I parted ways temporarily. He drove to Big Bend National Park, and I flew to Minneapolis. That night I stayed with my friends Brandon and Nitali, who had picked me up at the airport. The next morning they dropped me off at the Mall of America, where I met with Shawn Goodall for a fish run to Toronto.

The two days of driving were uneventful, except for some powerful storms in Michigan and Ontario.

On April 7th Goodall dropped me off in Fargo, where I met up with Mom and attended Dale Bentley's Farewell Celebration at the the historic Fargo Theater. I was listed as the ceremony's officiator. I'm a rookie Reverend, and handling a memorial service proved to be harrowing duty--especially after just climbing out of a long-haul semi. Dale's family appreciated my effort, though. I enjoyed all the music Dale had requested: bagpipes, cello, and an opera singer named Angel Lira. Dale, a fan of Scottish culture, was buried in his kilt. He will be missed by many people. I am lucky to have known him these past few years.

Now I'm home in western North Dakota. Yesterday I visited the parents and grandparents and Killdeer Mountain, where wild crocuses are blooming by the thousands, most of the snow is gone, and the beaver dams are full. I pulled ticks off the horses. Spring is here, in force!

On that note, my cousin Kirby and his wife Megan just gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Her name is Cora Bailey Sand, and she's gorgeous! Congrats, Megan and Kirby. Can't wait to meet her!