I RIDE THE N JUDAH BUT I DREAM OF TRAINS

Okay folks,

Coming to you live from the back of the Mission Express touring van. James is passing around some pineapple he bought earlier and I’m feeling energized. This might be a good time to start working up a newsletter. Or,, then again, a nap would solve all my problems, until I woke up. Speaking of James. I’ve been meaning to address this. People are always asking me how I met him. And I always tell them the same thing. What happened was I ordered a shredder off Amazon and about five days later James showed up on a skateboard playing guitar. Damn, that was a great day for CP Inc.

Gigs have been a blast (even when they suck) and even though the band won’t let me duck out of sound-checks we’ve still found time for our new passion: Swimming holes. I kid you not. They’re everywhere. [Dig Swiminghole.org for your guide]. Panther Falls in Virginia was ridiculous.

And we’ve got some more gigs coming up. For one, we’re heading to Austin for a two night stand at Thee Continental Club with Charlie Sexton. And keeping our tradition of playing two nights during the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at the MakeOut Room in San Francisco: Oct. 4,5. Later in Oct., I’ll beheading out for some solo shows in the Great Northwest. Maybe with a little luck I’ll road test some new songs.

Another thing I want to share is an idea I’ve been seriously thinking about. Getting my own cooking show. I’ve been watching a lot of cable and I’m thinking how hard can it be? Here’s one concept: Me in the van eating cantaloupe and prosciutto from the package. And then another is maybe me crying eating a sandwich while getting a tattoo. Or: a band member pouring a jar of salsa into a bag of tortilla chips and shaking it up. [It’s like a salad but without all the annoying salad stuff.] What do you think? Those are just ideas for the pilot. It could be so much more.