Pre-Tour Round Up

Odds are, as you read this, ole John P. is hurtling off through the Illinois wild on his way to Memphis. I'm hitting the road tomorrow with Crystal, headed to Nashville, where we'll meet up on Monday to officially launch the filmed part of the tour.

We're making stops all over the place, and this got me to thinking about one of the things I just love about John Porcellino. I grew up in a town of 900, and the closest city was Syracuse, NY (a teeming metropolis at 140,000). As a kid, my friends and I would drive up there for basically any show we could get our grubby little hands on, and I always loved the bands who'd play Syracuse (or Utica/Albany/Binghamton) because you knew they were really out there workin' it for the fans, which I appreciated.

And I still feel that way. It drives me crazy when bands play NY-Boston-DC-Chicago-Seattle-SF-LA. Or authors. As a comic shop owner in an admittedly tier two city (Denver), it drives me nuts that the 'big names' don't come out to our neck of the woods (or Albuquerque/Salt Lake/St. Louis/KC). Frankly, the kids in Brooklyn (God love 'em) don't need YET ANOTHER COOL THING TO DO. But the kids in Broomfield do.

And that's why I'm super excited to go to Norman OK, Houston TX, Gainesville FL, and Savannah GA on this tour with John 'keepin it real' Porcellino.

Couple other neat things before we hit the road --

Good write up on Chicago Zine Fest in the Chicago Huffington Post.

Another short write up on the documentary project in Monsters and Rockets (still referring to me as Daniel, which is bizarre and funny at the same time).

NY-based artist/musician/writer Summer Pierre has an interview coming out on Monday with John P., with a little teaser bit here. And, there's a contest!

Lastly, it turns out our Houston event is the same night as the first game of the NCAA Final Four. How funny is that?

Ok team -- interviewing Anne Elizabeth Moore this am, and then getting some work/sleep.