I Am The Queen Of The Divan

I’m recuperated now finally after a full day in and out of bed trying to come back from a long night at the Honky Tonk in Brielle. Whew, that’s some smoky bar! My poor little wheezing lungs, throat, nose, you name it. Woof. Pretty little town, with some nice folks who came out expressly to hear some good Texas honky tonk music, and we were glad to oblige.

But it seriously took me most of the day to recover.

Then tonight we were back in Brussels, just down the street from L’Archiduc at L’Archipel- similar name but totally different style bar. Again though, cool owner, great crowd, and finally! Our pal Eddie showed up to sample the latest and greatest Snakehandlers lineup. We played a pretty rockin’ show, and put a smile on Eddie’s face, and that my friends, is what counts- pleasin’ those who know. And Eddie brought Kris from De Nieuwe Snaar (The New String) along for the ride- it was awfully nice to see him again too. I have to say, I do love Brussels- it’s a big, noisy, beautiful, aging city, a bit like San Francisco. You never know who’ll turn up it seems, and so far, we have always had a great time there. I can hardly wait to go back already!

Oh and there’s great Chinese food there, something Austin could definitely use.

Another thing, one of the best parts about touring- aside from playing the actual shows that is- is the time we spend shooting the shit in the van on the way to and from gigs. Sometimes we laugh so hard I almost pee- can I write that here?! And it’s not just one jokester- it’s every one of us taking appropriately hilarious jabs at just the right time. Like the other afternoon when we had the day off and spent it hanging with friends in Turnhout, drank too much of many type beers at the Sorry Devil, and then serenaded our pals as they drove us home from the back of their van, singing songs like ‘Sedated’ by the Ramones, ’20 Flight Rock’ by Eddie Cochran, and Folsom Prison Blues, performed as chickens (squawking and all). Silly stuff.

Oh, and Jorge came through in flying colors tonight as THE MAN. Adams kick pedal spring broke halfway through the first set, and Jorge whipped out his Leatherman and a pair of plyers and proceeded to perform as perfect field mechanic on the fly with expediency. It was a beautiful thing to see, and we were back up and running again in no time! He deserved a Hapkin for that.

We’ll be breaking out a new, never heard before tune this weekend- potentially at Cooperville, so hang tight ladies and gents, we sure hope to see more of our friends over here we haven’t run into yet. And meet up with new ones too, of course!

Until then, I am the queen of the divan! Ruby Dee