Another first day of a tour, another
day I'm running hopelessly late. Like the sun rises in the east, so
am I late for my first show. I accomplished about 10% of what I'd
hoped to get done before hitting the road. Opening QueerSpawn? Check.
Finishing mixing “Let's Get Lost EP?” Check. Laundry? Mostly
check. Cleaning up after the apartment flooding? Checkish. Oil
change? Uh... Buying the materials and packaging the new EP? I mean,
there are only so many hours in the day... Stopping by Kyle's house
warming? He'll understand... Sending off my latest piece for
Afropunk? Well, the thing about that is... Mailing off my contracts
for some of my summer gigs? What do you take me for? Dude, being a
grown-up is hard. This is Pen Pen packaging the new EP by the side of
the road like a professional.
Velvet Lounge is a cool space in DC. I
made it down just barely in time. The nice thing about being an
acoustic act is that it's not like I need much of a sound check. The
show wasn't huge, about 20 folks or so. That's how Sundays go a lot
of the time. But they were definitely the right 20 folks. The other
acts were great. I feel like I'm finally finding my people n DC. For
some reason it's taken a really long time. After the show a few of us
hung out at Becka's place (Mary Mary Quite Contrary). We ended
staying up until 3 chatting life, the universe, and everything
(intersectionality!) over beers and Twix. Anyone who thinks touring
is about making money, or getting famous is doing it for the wrong
reasons. Touring is about going somewhere you would never have gone
otherwise and making art there. It's about meeting people you
wouldn't have met otherwise and collaborating with them. I got up
unreasonably early and hit the road towards Chapel Hill, finally
getting that oil change like a grown-up. I don't know that this will
be the most successful tour I've ever had, but after being cooped up
writing non-stop without sleep the past month it definitely feels
like one of the most necessary. This is Pen Pen being a grown-up and
keeping the Hatchback of Notre-Dame from dying.
This is a song I wrote one time. You
should download it and share with your friends.
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