Arizona missed the memo...winter is supposed to be cold.

What have I learned over these past two weeks? Arizona is warm. States in the Midwest, however, are not.

(For the record, the coldest I've ever encountered was -16 °F, with wind chill, in Boston a few years ago.)

Fortunately, I had anticipated cold weather this winter. With 2 scarves, 2 beanies, a sweat shirt, 2 sweaters, a vest and a North Face jacket, I've been more or less warm (clarification: I did not wear all of these items at once).

We spent the past two weeks winding our way North from Texas, performing in Arkansas, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan. Because we travelled mostly by car (expect for one small portion which was by plane), I saw quite a bit of interstate highway.

I was also able to see some more friends over the past two weeks! In Iowa, Ken and Carmella (parents of one of my best friends from ASU, Sarah Schultes) drove over 2 hours to come see Barrage perform in Des Moines. I was able to get dinner with them before the show, and had a great time being able to catch up with the two of them! Two of my great friends from ASU, Chad Jacobs and Josh Ybarra, both of whom now live and work in Chicago, came to the show in Skokie, IL. I had not seen them since early this summer, and they even gave me a driving tour of the Chicago area!

Josh, me, and Chad after the show.

Thanks again to Ken, Carmella, Chad and Josh for coming to see the show!

-------------

I had originally written this post back in Roscommon, Michigan, but was not able to get it online because of a poor internet connection. Currently, I'm in Copenhagen, Denmark, soon to embark on a 26 day Christmas tour of Denmark with Danish singer Stig Rossen. I'm quite excited to be back in Denmark, because it's such an awesome country. Also, word on the street is that Denmark celebrates Christmas like no other country does--I can't wait to experience the merriment and Christmas cheer!

As a sidenote, it's about 5:30 a.m. here. Why, you ask, am I up at 5:30 a.m.? I've actually been laying awake in my bed since 3:00 a.m., unable to fall back asleep due to jet lag. After a long day of international travel and less-than-desirable sleeping conditions (i.e. on a plane through the night), I couldn't help but fall asleep around 9:30 p.m. last night, which is incredibly early for this on-the-road lifestyle; since I'm used to only getting about 6 hours of sleep a night, my body had had enough by 3 a.m.

This situation is further complicated by the fact that Jason is still asleep...which means I can't really do anything somewhat productive that would require light and/or noise-making because I don't want to wake him up. Fortunately, for my mental health and sanity, I realized that I could use my laptop (which doesn't require a room light) and finish typing up this post (I'm not a heavy typer, so it doesn't make much noise).

...and that is the story behind this post.

The Last Bit of Texas: "When I was in Barrage, there was this girl named Alicia..."

This final week in Texas has been a most memorable one.

We spent three days in Corsicana, Texas, a small-ish town about an hour south of Dallas. For two days, we played 45-minute sets at the local high school, not only to perform for students from all over the area, but also to promote our show which was to be held at the Palace Theatre on our third night in town.


The theatre was a really great place to play, not only because of its small, intimate size, but also due to its history. It was originally home to Vaudeville shows when it was erected, but over the years was both an adult movie theatre and a vacated building various squatters called home.

Right next to the Palace was probably the coziest coffee shop I've ever visited in my life, appropriately called the Two Doors Down Coffee House. The owners treated us to some incredible coffee before the show and even played our new "High Strung" CD over their speakers. The quality of coffee was so high that we couldn't not return for lunch the next morning on our way out of town. (If any of you ever happen to be in the area and stop by, make sure to get the homemade granola--it's unreal.)

Two nights ago marked Barrage's return to Abilene High School, in Abilene, Texas, home of Revolution, a fiddle group that focuses on alternative styles, much like Barrage. It was a blast playing with the kids there, and the crowd was brimming with enthusiasm. More or less, it was a perfect environment for Alicia to play her final show with Barrage. Alicia's probably most well known for Asturias, one of my favorite songs to play in the show--unsurprisingly, she nailed her final performance.

Celebrating Alicia's final night in town.

Alicia--thanks for all have you have done for Barrage over the past three years. As both a fan and (now) member of Barrage, it's been a pleasure getting to perform with you and hear you play! You are a remarkably talented individual and stellar violinist, and will surely go on to great things. Best of luck to you in all that you do!

If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle (or 6) in the band.

Is there a better way to celebrate civic engagement than to update my blog? No...probably not (except maybe voting...that's a pretty great way to celebrate civic engagement too).

I had a short break back home in Arizona (which explains the lack of blog update), during which I was able to see quite a few of my friends, practice violin, pick up some new repertoire, and even get a lesson with my teacher from ASU! Also, I had the opportunity to see the Grammy-winning new music ensemble Eighth Blackbird at ASU. Though I usually prefer my music tonal, Eighth Blackbird blew my mind with their well-polished, entertaining, and incredibly insightful performances, and made this usually inaccessible repertoire very enjoyable.

Currently, I'm in Coriscana, Texas, and have performed in Austin, Freeport, and Houston over the last week.

This past week has been pretty intense, as Alicia will be leaving Barrage at the end of this week (to return to school at Vanderbilt University). In order to remedy that, Brian Hansen, Barrage's choreographer, came on the road for a week to help us re-choreograph the show for 5 violinists instead of 6. Over the past week, the 5 violinists would have 4-6 hour rehearsals during the morning and afternoon, and then we'd perform either the 5 or 6 person show at night (to get some 5-person performances under our belt while Brian was still around). As a result, the other violinists and I all find ourselves with sore arms and legs, and very mentally drained--but hey, that's what it takes to get a 5 person show ready for the road!

A few nights ago, my friend Ellen from ASU, who is now studying viola at Rice, came to the show in Houston. Ellen and I actually go way back, having both competed in the Arizona State Old Time Fiddle Contests years ago. It was great being able to see her after the show, especially because she gave me a tour of the music school at Rice!

Thanks Ellen!

The next few weeks look to be exciting as we continue travelling around the States. Then, we leave for Denmark at the end of the month, where the 5 violinists will be performing with Stig Rossen on his Christmas tour. It was difficult to pack for this tour, since I've never really experienced cold like a Denmark winter...but I hope that I've packed warmly enough.

And in other exciting news, the new Barrage "High Strung" CD was released earlier this week!!! As of right now, it's not yet available online. As soon as it's available online, I'll make it known here on this blog.

For now, it's time for me to get back to watching the election coverage!