Plenty of people go to see bands when they come through their town, but most people don’t think about everything that it takes to get those bands to their favorite club. Being on tour for a musician is both enlightening and daunting, as physically and mentally draining as it is stimulating. And no matter what, there are always stories to tell. In Tales From The Golden Road we let musicians tell their own stories of life on the road to get a behind-the-scenes, up-close look at what really goes down between each show.
The Reverend Shawn Amos has been steadily gaining fans over the last few years with his modern, soulful take on blues music. His recently released record The Reverend Shawn Amos Loves You reached #2 on Roots Music Report’s Contemporary Blues Album Chart and for good reason, as it is loaded with tunes that are as thoughtful and groovy as catchy as they are groovy. Like many artists – especially those who play blues music – Reverend Shawn Amos must leave America to fully connect with audiences who want to see him perform. European audiences have long seemed to have a stronger appreciation for American music such as blues, jazz, and country. For just under a month (10/22-11/7), the Reverend will be hitting the road in Europe for the very first time and sending dispatches about his travels and performances to Glide Magazine. Here’s the very first installment…
GOODBYE
I recently heard a radio interview with a famous touring performer who said, “musicians are always going.” For the past few years, I have been going more frequently and further away. I started this business of playing the blues in 2013 — first some local shows in my Los Angeles backyard and then a few up and down my California home state. Always back home in a day or two before going again for another 48-72 hours. Going but never gone for long. By the time 2016 arrived, the distance began to grow. The band was hitting Memphis, New York, and other US cities.
Three years later, I’m going long and wide: my first European tour. Three weeks in The Netherlands, England and France. This is an experiment on many levels. It will test the strength of my family whom I’m leaving behind. For my band, it will test our compatibility (Hannah Dexter, our bassist, has never been outside of the country; my guitarist, Doctor Roberts, last visited Europe in high school; our drummer, Rodd Bland, is last-minute sub who’s only played with me once previously in his Memphis hometown). For me, it will test my body and spirit as I juggle on-stage performance with off-stage ring leading.
Touring as an emerging artist is no frills and low budget. Our first stop is Amsterdam but the cheapest flight took us through Moscow. Go figure. We flew 12 hours, briefly saying hello to Russia, then flew another 90 minutes to Schiphol Airport. We are splurging for a tour manager for the first leg of the tour. It will save me from having to drive us to and from each gig in an unfamiliar country while exhausted (I’ve done one too many 6 hour drives through the night after performing for two hours. It’s no fun.)
We’re spending twelve days in The Netherlands so we rented a house near The Hague. It’s cheaper than booking multiple hotel rooms — and it prevents us from moving around after each gig. You can get across the entire country in less time than it takes to drive from L.A. to San Francisco. I hope having a home base will create some normalcy and ground us all. Everyone has their own room. We’ve got a kitchen. We can set up our gear and rehearse in the living room. It’s our own blues dormitory.
And so it begins. Goodbye to my California home. Hello to the road. Our first gig is Saturday — the Ramblin’ Roots Festival in Utrecht. Nice way to meet the Dutch.
Stay tuned for more!
All photos Beth Herzhaft (herzco.com)
