june leg: music, viddles and pavement

Well, the mercury is edging its way towards new heights once again, which means Mingo straps in for 5 or 6 or 7 thousand miles around these United States…

The first leg of Summer touring for 2011 kicked off in what, technically, was still Spring. A return to the Olathe Summer Concert Series outside Kansas City got us off and running. Lovely to see old friends from KC and meet so many new folks from all around the Great Plains! The weather was much kinder than the last stop at the series, when it was topping out at 105º! Beautiful night and good peeps!

We made sure to hit Gates BBQ before the state line for some burnt ends bandwiches. A little fatty this time around, but we’ll let it slide… “HI. MAY I HELP YOU?”

We made our way to Des Moines, IA for the first ever Mingo show there. Many thanks to Big Red Dog Music and Brian Holtz & Ron Sorenson at 99.1 KFMG! Dane’s Leslie stopped wanting to switch to “slow” in Des Moines, and I’m pretty sure Hotel Fort Des Moines was haunted – but in a good way.

 From Iowa, it was off to Chicago. Holy pizza coma, Batman. Got asked to come down to Buddy Guy’s Legends Monday night jam session with Jimmy Burns. Not usual for a whole band to come do their thing, so a thousand thanks to Jimmy and the standing-room only crowd. Oh, and of course the Real Deal himself, the fantastic Mr. Buddy Guy, was in the house! How cool is that?!? It’s pretty cool, that’s how… We had a day off for some train riding and sight seeing, pizza eating and beer drinking. Can’t wait to get back to Chi-town!

Bill Straub, Chip, Kevin Eubanks, Steve, Dan, Roger

After a visit to Niagara Falls, we made a beeline for The Rochester International Jazz Festival in beautiful downtown Rochester, NY. Beautiful architecture and a killer diner just a couple blocks from the hotel! Yeah! Home to the prestigious Eastman School of Music, Rochester has itself a HUGE festival in RIJF. The talent was impressive, and it’s worth noting that while there are a lot of “jazz festivals” out there, this one actually had a healthy dose of its namesake. Every night, jam sessions broke out in the hotel lobby with some very serious cats doing their thing. We got to make the acquaintance of Kevin Eubanks (formerly of Jay Leno) and his amazing band, as well as Will Lee (of the CBS Orchestra), acclaimed bassist and all around badass musician. 

Mingo’s first show at the festival was nothing short of crazy. The band was pumped and it was rocking set. Rumor has it that the crowd set some records, and I can believe it – deafening!  

International Jazz Festival, Rochester, NY

The second night, we moved into the Verizon Big Tent and delivered two shows to capacity crowds. Our Eastman-grad friend Bill Straub joined us on stage for a killer solo on "Jangle When I Walk". We can’t thank the festival and John Nugent enough for having us!

Back in the van and a detour to DE. One of the cool things about touring out east is getting to visit with the V’s, Chip’s family. Mama V & Wrangler Pete have graciously taken us in time after time. After thousand of miles in a van with eight guys and mostly truck stop fare, a couple days at the V’s is always greatly anticipated. Some home cooked deliciousness and spirit-fueled, Extreme Croquet were a welcome respite from travel days. Thanks as always to our Delawarian family!

Leaving the home of tax-free shopping behind, we made our way down through VA and towards our next show in Nashville; a return to Bourbon Street Blues & Boogie. We hit some nasty weather in TN, had to pull the rig over several times due to hurricane force winds and machine gun-like hail. A side note: when truckers are pulling off, get your butt off the highway! The nasty stuff stuck around a good part of the day and finally cleared out a bit as we made it into the city that night. This was our second time in Nashville and I gotta say, I think we like it! Hehe…We’ve got so many good friends there nowadays, the vibe is cool and laid back. Many of our musician friends were in the house, which always ups the ante! We played an early show and had time for a quick cocktail and a few songs from Stacy Mitchhart before we had to skeedaddle and get a bit of rest before the haul to St. Louis.

The Gramophone, St. Louis, MO

We hadn’t been to The Lou in a couple years, so it was great to add The Gramophone date to the schedule. Very cool place and a happening roster. The Gramophone has a bit of a juke joint vibe and apparently some serious soul food at Sweetie Pie’s across the street, which we will most definitely be partaking of next time. We slipped onto the bill with Eric Lindell, who we’ll be seeing again on Delbert McClinton’s Sandy Beaches Cruise in January. Eric and the band were great guys and took the stage to an adoring crowd. We will definitely be back at The Gramophone, so all you folks in the shadow of the Arch, keep checking the Mingo site for a return! A big shout out to John and Eli!

The next day brought a fairly sketchy drive on I-70 back to KS for a show at Uncle Bo’s in Topeka. We skirted the darkest clouds by the hair on our collective chins and called it “safe” as we slid into town. A full house for the show and a good night’s sleep led to breakfast in the atrium. Apparently, there was a junior high girl’s volleyball tournament or something – and they were all staying at our hotel. That’s a lot of high-pitched school spirit. It was every man for himself at the buffet, and though they were a formidable opponent, never get between a band and the bacon. With the day’s swine quota met, we aimed the old grey mare towards home.

Dan Mochica has been a part of the Denton music scene for decades and a part of the Mingo story for many years now. First, at Dan’s Bar and these days at Dan’s Silverleaf. A touch of nostalgia and far too many Fuzzy’s Tacos are part of the equation when we’re back in Denton, TX, where the band was formed originally. Thanks to all the folks who came out and to Dan for continuing to give us a home in Little D!

After the Denton show, we hightailed it back home to Austin for the sleep of the dead.

July sees the band mostly in TX, with shows at the Levitt Pavilion in Arlington and 4^th of July at The Woodlands. The 8^th we return to the Bass Hall’s McDavid Studio in Fort Worth & on the 16th one of our favorite TX joints, Sam’s in San Antonio. The 22nd we'll be at Threadill's in Austin.

We’ll be back on the road in August, so click the tour schedule and keep checking in, as we’re adding dates weekly to that run!

Lunch.

Endless thanks to all of you who came out and supported the band, we hope to see you again soon!

~ rog