She was at my door within minutes, her hair still wet from a shower with some flowery shampoo. “You okay?” she said, and I wished she hadn’t. “You seem really jittery.” “Anxiety is my normal state,” I said, which came out sounding serious rather than a joke. “Let’s go out somewhere, see some bands or […]
When we finally arrived in Boston the next day, after some mishaps with bad roadsigns, or maybe just bad roads, Remo was waiting for us in the lobby. He was talking to the Musician reporter again, a hand-size tape recorder on the table between their chairs. They stood up when they saw us coming. Waldo […]
The show in New Haven was nothing special—good, but not special. Everyone seemed to have blown out so much extra energy in New York that there wasn’t much left for this one. Backstage, when the packing was done, Martin was the only one with any pep. He drummed out a pattern on my shoulder. “Hey, […]
I came to life about an hour before soundcheck, soaked myself in the shower and went down to the suite to see who was around. Carynne was there, the per diem book in her lap while she took notes from someone on the phone. I heard her give some complex-sounding details about tour logistics. She […]
I was in a pretty foul mood when Remo knocked on the door the next day. I had been awake for hours, watching TV and staring out the window. “Want to sit in on the Musician interview?” he hollered through the door. I went and sat in the suite and kept my mouth shut while […]
I left her standing in the open doorway as I turned back to the window, looking down onto the busy street. The afternoon sun glared off the windshields of passing taxis. “What are you doing?” she shut the door and sat on the edge of the bed. “Nothing.” That was true. She sat there waiting […]
We were done with airplanes now and traveled to New York in an honest-to-god tour bus, with a giant mural of some tropical island painted on its side. Inside were bizarre little berths adorned with stickers warning “Do Not Sleep With Head Toward Front of Bus.” I was sure Carynne could tell me all the […]
I slept most of the way to DC and woke up on the East Coast. We were trucked straight from the plane to a soundcheck. Before I knew it, I was pacing around backstage, waiting for the lights to dim. It didn’t seem possible that just this morning we’d been halfway across the country. As […]
Matthew was under the covers reading when I came into the room. I rushed toward the bathroom to wash the salt off my face before he could see me, but I was still carrying the sandwich. I put the plate on the dresser and turned back to the bathroom as fast as I could. But […]
The first time I sang on stage was one night at Maddie’s in 1980, when I was thirteen. Let me revise that. First time I sang lead on stage. This was before Remo had put me into the regular gig; I was just getting up there once in a while for a thrill. At the […]