TONIGHT, downtown LA--ROLL OUT, COWBOY: http://www.downtownindependent.com/events/film-courage-presents-roll-out. If you have any LA friends, please let 'em know about this. We have a chance of selling out all 220 seats.

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Auspiciously, an acquaintance of mine, Audrey Marrs, was in town last night for the Academy Awards. A movie she produced, Inside Job, won the Oscar for best documentary feature. To see a picture of Oprah handing her the statuette, click here. I recorded my first cassette tape--Witness the Strength of Sandman--in Audrey's second-floor Olympia apartment in 1993 ("Heartbreak was Her Name," "Sneakin' Suspicion," "Desperate Gigolo," "Premature Ejaculation," etc.). Her genius musician/robot-maker boyfriend, Matt Steinke, played drums and electric guitar on a few of those early oddities. Audrey was lovely to put up with our experiments.

Tomorrow I return to Tucson. Hana will pick me up at the airport and we'll drive to Bisbee, AZ, for my last show before I fly back to NoDak. Belly Dancers are practicing a couple of my songs and will join me on stage at the Bisbee Grand Hotel. Show starts at 7:30. My performance will be part of the curiously wacky FakeJan Festival.

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Weird that I arrived in Hollywood on Oscar night. Helicopters and limos are abundant. I was feeling out of place packin' my guitar around Sunset Boulevard, so I was grateful when my good old pal Bill Daniel picked me up in his orange industrial-primitive '65 Chevy sailvan. It's got a four-on-the-tree transmission that was customized by underground Louisiana cult-legend rebel songwriter Jimmy Cousins. The reverse lever is mounted to the floor under the driver's seat.

Bill Daniel is an underground Louisiana cult-legend rebel filmmaker, a fossil-fuel-worshiping mechanic, a beat-punk photographer, and a helluva a nice guy. I toured with him extensively in 2006, when he was screening his hobo-graffiti documentary, Who is Bozo Texino?. I'd play songs before and after the film.

To backtrack, Hana and I left Texas yesterday morning and drove to Arizona. Once in Tucson we got a cheap hotel where we slept for five hours and awoke to snow! Hana drove me to the airport. I spent this morning with the Roll Out, Cowboy director and producer, Elizabeth and Warner. We did a radio interview to promote tomorrow's big LA screening at Downtown Independent.

We're back from Big Bend National Park! The first day we soaked in the hot springs, and swam in the Rio Grande. The second day we hiked Santa Elena Canyon (pictured above). FYI, that's Mexico on the opposite shore of where we're standing.

Tomorrow, Arizona.

Off to Big Bend National Park for some hiking with Hana and Gilda!

President's Day!

After four weeks on the road, I'm back in Marfa, TX. Two weeks ago pipes were bursting here from record low temperatures, and many beautiful cacti froze to death. Yesterday it was 80 degrees.

I performed last night at the Lost Horse Saloon, owned by a weatherbeaten cowboy/truckdriver/oiler/mechanic/actor named Ty Mitchell. Cool guy. For some reason, it was one of the most difficult shows I've played in a long time. Maybe ever. The kind of show where I hoped someone, after the show, would steal my guitar and burn it at a pig roast. I was horrible. On the bright side, I got paid $200. The highlight of my evening was when local mariachi singer Tony Licon filled in between breaks. A true entertainer, Mr. Licon had the crowd dancing and hollering by night's end.

From Montana to Texas, the highway is beautiful . . . but my ass is sore from all this sitting.

A Red, Red Rose

(for my blue Valentine)

O, my Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June.
O, my Luve's like a melodie
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair as thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun:
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run:

And fare thee well, my only luve!
And fare thee weel, a while!
And I will come again, my luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile.

-Robert Burns (1794)

Roll Out, Cowboy screens tonight at 9:45 in the Wilma Theater here in balmy Missoula, MT.

This is probably the most special of all the screenings for me. For one thing, it will be ROC's Montana premiere. Missoula is the town where my parents met. I was conceived here, and we lived here during most of my infant years. While in high school sixty miles north of here, I sometimes escaped to Missoula for shots of artistic culture. My first two years of college were spent living here in a van in a U of M parking lot. I studied for my humanities courses in the library and worked for the University's Outdoor Program to pay tuition.

Here's a blog post from the Big Sky Doc Fest.

And a preview.

I'm having a great time here. Tomorrow, however, will be even sweeter, as I will be driving straight south to reunite with my Valentine, Hana.

P.S. Hana just created another Etsy website--she calls this one Hankarella. It focuses on her beautiful handmade jewelry. I find her latest necklaces Egyptian-inspired. Please check them out!

I'm having a relaxing time in Hot Springs, MT, today. Just swam and soaked at the historic Symes Hot Springs Hotel where I stayed last night.

My show at Fergie's Pub was a big success! Lots of locals showed up, and I didn't feel bad taking the $200 guarantee. The weird thing about this show was that my ears were clogged up the whole night. I kept asking people if they could hear me. Not being able to hear forced me to close my eyes and go inward. Unexpectedly, my guitar playing became more focused and attuned. More than one person commented on this lyrical-to-musical shift.

Jeff and Joanne Morrow were there and did much two-steppin'. By night's end the floor was filled with dancers. A major highlight for me was having the master-cellist Lee Zimmerman sit in for a few songs: "Gorilla," "End of America," "Imaginary World," "Sugar Bank Hank," and "The Hermit" have never sounded so good.

Time to visit Grandma Herak in Ronan!

Tonight: Fergie's Pub in Hot Springs, MT! 9 p.m.

Tonight at The Filling Station!!

(Photo credit: Allison V. Smith)

I'm ready for spring. I'm ready for my fifteen minutes of fame to be over. I'm ready to finish what I started. I'm ready to draw seven lines in the dirt. I'm ready to climb the red butte. I'm ready to remember that some things aren't for sale. I'm ready to die in a snowstorm, along the interstate, in the morning.

Laryngitis has overcome me. Tonight's BIG show in Dickinson is cancelled.

Back in Dunn County for a couple days. It is lovely to see my parents after eleven weeks away.

I've had to cancel my last three shows, including Bismarck tonight, due to laryingitis. I'm praying for a miracle so I can do tomorrow's show in Dickinson.

I did manage to get through a sprinkling of songs at a Red Raven open mic in Fargo last night. Afterwards I walked down to the Hotel Donaldson where the fab Duluth bluesman Charlie Parr was rockin' the scene, and during a break I bought his latest CD. Charlie and I played a couple shows together in '03. He remembered me and intimated that we ought to play some more shows together sometime. That would be something.

I could write more about my excellent time in Fargo--the "Jell-o-Bration," for example, but I am dog beat and ready to crack in half. G'night.

The ROAD has been ROBUST.

Just played eleven shows in ten towns: Dallas, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Columbia, Champaign, Rockport, Maquoketa, Winona, Decorah, Prairie du Chien. By the last gig my voice was officially worn out. I cancelled Duluth for tonight and am burrowed in Winona, MN, with friends, drinking hot honey-water. Tomorrow I drive to my home state--North Dakota. From there I go to Montana, my other home state. I feel rich, exhausted, and ready for spring. Hopefully the durned groundhog was right.

On Valentine's Day I hope to fly back to Texas and sweet Hana.

Speaking of Hana, please take a gander at her latest offerings on Etsy: Baptuma. You may recognize some of the models.

. . . meanwhile, Egyptians revolt.

This Saturday in Dickinson, ND!

This has been one crazy week. Next week is more of the same. It's been good, though. Report coming, if I can carve out the time.

Last night in Tulsa, OK, was a GREAT time. The show was set up only two days prior, but thanks to my man Fostex, his Lunabread Cafe was jam-packed and rockin'. I sold about $200 in CDs alone. And the food at Lunabread is seriously some of the best I've ever tasted! They primarily use food from local organic farmers. No steroids or antibiotics in the meat. Free-range eggs. And Fostex makes his own butter and cream.

Midway through the set Fostex grabbed a stand-up bass and started jamming along to my country tunes. A guy named Josh, at whose house I later stayed, supplied beatbox on my rap songs.

The show in Oklahoma City was fun enough, but I only made $35. This stung quite a bit, because a careless promoter had led me to believe I had a $200 guarantee. In the morning, however, my friend Terri gave me a grand tour of the city and treated me to a most delicious lunch. Two other highlights: seeing the Oklahoma City National Memorial and doing a drive-by of Wayne Coyne's house.

I drove through the shadowy Ozark Mountains today to get to Columbia, Missouri, where I just headlined a benefit for the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. The two opening singers were both named Anna. The second Anna, Anna Duff, covered my song "Hit the Road," and did it way better than I do. Columbia always delivers.

Tomorrow: Champaign, Illinois.

I'm in Oklahoma City now at a restaurant called the Picasso Cafe. Show starts in an hour. Opening bands are Dr. Pants and Jabee (left).

Oklahoma is a good old state, home of both Will Rogers and Woody Guthrie.

Tomorrow I'll be performing at a Tulsa restaurant called Lunabread.

I forgot to mention, but my once-and-maybe-future tour pard Austin L. Jones had to back out of this tour due to lack of funds. His decision came on Thursday night, which left me three choices: 1) buy a funky old car, 2) rent a car, or 3) talk Hana into letting me drive the Subaru.

Choice number three won out. I'm happy to have the heated seats and all-wheel drive as I head to the icy north. Hana's not quite as pleased. : (

Greetings from the Barry Whistler Gallery in Dallas, TX. There was a bustling and dynamic art opening here tonight. I've got the space all to myself now.

Last night Barry and Allison V. Smith hosted a very sweet house concert at their place. Today Allison, with help from assistants Jessica and Rex, treated me to a photo shoot all around Dallas. Allison's generous and spontaneous shoots are becoming an annual Dallas tradition for me.

Here's a photo she took with her iPhone's Hipstamatic app.

I love Texas.

Tomorrow: Oklahoma. Northbound and up.

Got a theater? Know somebody who runs one? Email: info@rolloutcowboy.com and inquire about setting up a screening of Roll Out, Cowboy in your town!

The drive from Washington to Texas was cold and long.

Hana, Gilgamesh, and I thawed out at last when we arrived in New Mexico and soaked in Spence Hot Springs in the Jemez Mountains west of Albuquerque.

As we were leaving, Hana accidentally dropped the non-waterproof camera into the pool. It still works!

I've been hunkered down in Marfa booking shows for my upcoming tour, which starts this Friday in Dallas. Spending ten hours a day on the computer is NOT awesome, but the shows are rolling in, slowly and surely. So far, I have about fifteen confirmed gigs. Lookin' for ten more. I'll be touring with a young Texan named Austin L. Jones. He's a multi-instrumentalist and a fresh songwriter. I'm hoping he'll back me up (banjo, mandolin, etc.) on a few of my songs. We'll be traveling many miles in his pickup. Adventures!

It's insane to be leaving the sunny desert and sweet Hana (and Gilgamesh) for the sub-zero north country, but I've got cash to earn and movie screenings to promote. Hopefully next winter I'll relax, read some books, and get a tan.

Marfa really is magical, and tonight the moon is full. The temperature yesterday hit 76 F!

Have you heard of the Marfa Lights? Two nights ago Hana and I saw them. Odd phenomena, indeed.

Well, I still have lots to say, but it's late. Hopefully tomorrow I'll catch you up more.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day from Marfa, TX!

Hana, Gilgamesh, and I are on our way to Lubbock, TX. Tonight we're nestled down in Price, UT. Last night we stayed in Twin Falls, ID. Tomorrow night maybe Santa Fe, NM.

Hopefully, I'll soon have time to recount adventures. The four shows I just played were all memorable . . .

Update on Dad's broken leg (email from Mom): "Surgery went well, and he now has a titanium rod running the length of his left femur, right through the bone marrow, holding the femur together. The leg is still swollen and painful and will be for a while."

Upcoming Shows (my homepage is still broken)!

Olympia, WA - Tonight! At the Loft on Cherry (508 Legion). 7:30. $5-10 sliding scale.

Corvallis, OR - Tomorrow (1/7/11) at Interzone, Inc. 7 pm.

Portland, OR - Saturday (1/8/11) at Bar Bar Apartments above Mississippi Studios. 9 pm. $7 in advance / $8 day of show.

Kennewick, WA - Sunday (1/9/11) at Richard & Kim's Garage! 7pm. $5.

Lubbock, TX - (1/14/11) House Concert at the Hedges.

Marfa, TX - (1/15/11) The Marfa Book Co. 10 pm.

Two days ago, while attempting to get his pickup out of a snowdrift, Dad got smacked from behind by a sliding tractor. The force of it hitting his leg broke his femur. He lay in the snow for half-an-hour before the ambulance came. Surgery happened yesterday, and the doctor says he'll be walking normal again by April, but he'll always have a metal rod in his leg.

This is a game-changer for me. When I get back to North Dakota I plan to step up my role in helping to finish the house he and Mom are building.


Dad and I hiking up the Lochsa River in Idaho ten days ago on our way to Jerry Johnson's Hot Springs. Photo by Hana.

Hello from one of my many home-away-from-homes: Anacortes, WA, at the Crowe-Lunsford residence. In an hour I catch a ferry to Orcas Island to play my fourth New Year's Eve show at the Doe Bay Resort & Retreat. Blue skies and 25 F. outside. Can't wait to soak in the hot springs above Otter Cove.

The holidays have been a-jinglin' for old Sandman.

And tomorrow I turn 40. Lordy, lordy.