writing from vienna. the last few shows have been really great, but mostly all of them have been…last night we played in wendelstein, germany in the upstairs gymnasium of a kindergarten. a really cool old building and at night they set up chairs and tables. it was sold out. after the show we fingerpainted and then jack showed everyone his butt…apparently, the quartet got airplay on indie 103.1 in los angeles, so all of the l.a. people reading this, call and request the record (the song they played was “los angeles”).  we sold a bunch of records last night and it was really a fun show. vienna is super super cold, but jack and i just walked downtown. great city. tomorrow we’re off to munich and then to switzerland for the remaining 5 shows. amazing that it’s coming to an end. not much more news, but i’ll hopefully write again in the next day or two…best to everyone.

writing from tuttlingen, germany which is basically this beautiful little ski town of some sorts. the show we played here last night was really fun, but a little odd as it was in basically a restaurant lodgey sort of place. in cologne jack and i had no show because eleni’s band was opening for a supposedly “beloved german pop star” who i swear not one person whom we asked had ever heard of. anyhow jack and i had made plans with a couple of people we met in munster to meet in cologne by the cathedral (they live in cologne, but had come to munster for the show). we were late, but through a very weird series of events involving the cathedral tower and a unicycle, we ended up finding them (not true about the unicycle) and they showed us around cologne and we had an incredible time. so thanks to florien, claudia, and andreas. they were so cool. that night we all went to a club downtown for a record release party of another trocadero records artist (fink). we met the owner of trocadeo and had some drinks and then left to go to another bar. very very fun…we’re off today for our first show in austria. we have a long drive ahead, so i’m signing off for now.

writing from frankfurt where jack and i are playing two shows.  the shows in munster, bielefeld and geislingen were great. in munster the venue promoter and a small group of folks there took us out after the show to a little pub and we had a great time with everyone. the venue in frankfurt is super cool, but really small. they had to turn away people at the door last night, but we’re playing again tonight so hopefully they’ll get a chance to see it. it is basically in a cellar and it was so crowded that it took a few minutes just to get to the stage to play. the crowds have been really responsive to us and are coming up to us after the shows and voicing their support…it keeps us going in a big way. two days ago, jack and i took off for the day by train to ulm where we were picked up by the daughter of the family i lived with back in 1990 (the schreibers). she drove us back to the town, munderkingen (where i lived), and we spent the day with the whole family. it was strange to be back after 15 years.  but it was so much fun and they are really wonderful people. we had great german food and beer all day, went sledding and walked around the town. the children, heike and frank, are now in their mid 20’s and are really great and tons of fun.  there are only 5000 people in munderkingen so it was a great depature from the cities we’ve been playing in. the only thing is that it made us pretty homesick being with a family and in a home.  at the end of the day we took another train to frankfurt where me met up again with eleni’s band. tomorrow we’re off to cologne. jack and i are meeting a couple of people we met in munster at the cathedral in cologne which is supposed to be incredible. we feel like we’ve been on tour forever, but we’re just reaching the half-way point. we miss everyone, and appreciate all the e-mails etc. i will write again hopefully from cologne. we send our best to everyone…

writing from brussels. we played last night in ghent. what a beautiful city it is. we have been in brussels for two nights now and just took the short trip to ghent last night for the show and then returned to brussels. tonight we play here, and then tomorrow back to germany. the show last night was a lot of fun. my humor, or lack thereof, was completely lost on the crowd and at one point i turned to jack and just as i said “man i’m getting killed out here” he said “there’s no stopping you, hillman.” at which point we almost started laughing hysterically and really had to fight to keep it together. the crowd warmed as the set progressed, but i think it was more of a cultural personality because in the end they were really supportive. it was the only show so far where everyone sat in chairs for both our and eleni’s show so the whole vibe was a bit subdued… when we get to geslingen, jack and i will take a day and travel by train to ulm and then on to munderkingen where i lived with a family there for two months in 1990. they are still in the same house and they are all coming in (the kids are now grown and live in other cities) to see me. it’s been so long and i can’t wait. we will then train up to frankfurt in time for the next show… after 7 shows we’re pretty much in the swing of things. we miss having the whole quartet together, but hopefully next time. our best to everyone.

hello to all… we are in brussels and i cannot find an apostropohe on this keyboard to save my life.  had a couple of really great shows in dresden, halle, and last night in hamburg.  we have our first day off since the tour began, and we are spending it walking around the city.  i have not had nearly as much time to sight see as i thought i would.  pretty much moving from city to city pretty quickly.  having a day off is really needed…we hope all is well with everyone. we miss our friends and families… p.s. jack is able to bust out some pretty impressive college french, and i am kicking some low level ass in german. just thought everyone should know.