The Progress so far on 50 Days in 50 Days ’09-11 States down……39 more to go.

As I write this we are rolling up the 55 in Missouri after our show in Caruthersville, Missouri on the mighty Mississippi. Sean put his pinky in the Big Muddy just to say he had……I don’t know why just his pinkie. but anyway.
We are now 11 days into the 2009 50 States in 50 Days tour. We have played Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri in that order. Those are tough states in terms of driving distances, and we all are just now starting to feel normal as we enter some easier driving distances. For the past 13 days……..remember, Sean and I got off a plane in Los Angeles from Tokyo…….built a bed in the back of the Suburban, and then drove from Los Angeles to Seattle…..hopped on a plane to Alaska, and then back again to start the official tour.
I just looked at the mileage we’ve done since Seattle and we’ve done 5,490 miles. Most nights we’ve slept 3 hours, and on a really extravagant night……5. A major snowstorm hit Wyoming on the day we were scheduled to play in Laramie………I was determined to make it happen, so stayed on the phone with 511 travel info all day while driving listening to the road closures………they closed I-80 and parts of I-25, so I had to find the one road into Laramie and take a detour…………I was later told it is the most dangerous road in Wyoming, probably because no matter how bad it gets they never close it. At 2am, when we left after the show…..it was an ice rink, and the blowing snow was pretty intense……..took me 5 hours to drive what should have been a 2ish hour drive. I was doing 30 miles per hour in a 65 mile an hour zone……using the markers on the side of the road as my guide. We made Fargo, North Dakota 17 hours later…….just in time for our show there.
Anyway, we are finally caught up now with the videologues, and intend to post daily for the rest of the tour. Here they are with a brief story surrounding the date.
Wasilla, Alaska-Oct. 24th, 2009-We arrived at Seattle airport at about 4am on Oct. 24th after a very long drive from Los Angeles. We made good use of the bed we built in my suburban for about 3 hours and then boarded the 10am Alaskan Airlines flight to Anchorage. Our host, Ana Hartman let our date slip her mind……….finding this out the day before we were arriving. She was our host there last year and is a lovely woman, but simply forgot that we had confirmed the date a couple of months before. She scrambled around and found a place called the Schwabenhof Pub in Wasilla to let us play. It is a pretty famous place there in Wasilla, and we were treated like royalty when we arrived.
We had a small, yet hardy crowd of around 25 or 30……..rowdy, but listened, and bought cds. I’m looking forward to going back there when I can have some time. Got a few offers to come fishing sometime. I probably will. Here is the videologue:

Gig Harbor, Washington-Oct. 25th, 2009- We flew from Alaska to Seattle on Oct. 25th, and played in Gig Harbor, Washington that evening. My friend and fellow singer-songwriter Michael O’neill and his lovely wife Mindy hosted us. What an amazing ranch they have…….incredible house. We played to a collection of their friends, and then did an interview for his radio show “Who’s Bad Now”……….great people. Here is the videologue:

Portland, Oregon-Oct. 26th, 2009- The story behind this gig is one of my favorites so far. Oregon was the first gig I booked for the 2009 50 States tour, but that person fell away months ago. Then I had a facebook friend confirm over facebook, but when it came down to the nitty gritty……..about two weeks out………she “decided” that she and her “arts council” wanted to focus on local artisans/artists in their local beach community…….annoying, but whatever.
So, I had to find a Portland show. I turned to Twitter. I tweeted out that I needed a house concert host in Portland, Oregon. Minutes later I got a reply from a woman named Francine Raften with something like “I’m intrigued…tell me more”……..I did, and in a matter of two or three emails we had the details ironed out, and the date confirmed.
She was amazing. She got local press involved and secured an amazing venue at the Andina Restaurant…….an amazing place with Peruvian style food. We ate the best pork tenderloin i’ve ever had there, and we made great friends with the staff. Very cheerful, lovely people. We needed that meal.
The people were lovely, and Francine and her friends have already spoken up for next year’s 50 States tour…….the power of twitter made this date happen. Here is the video:

Boise, Idaho-Oct. 27th, 2009- Boise was simply awesome. We played a tiny place called the Shangri-La Tea Room. We arrived there to find a very kind couple named Toni and Bob. They served us homemade lentil and mushroom soup, salad, and a falafel sandwich………another badly needed meal. I was annoyed that we got there too late to really enjoy the food, but it is hard to have time while we are out here.
The show was fun. We had a group of what I call “festival dancers” in the back during “Tennessee Girl”……….it was groovy. They gave us herbs to keep us healthy, and send us away with homemade ginger cookies. Kaci ate mine. I wasn’t pleased.
I cannot wait to see them again. Look them up if you are ever in Boise, Idaho. Tell them I sent you. Here is the video:

Livingston, Montana-Oct. 28th, 2009- This was set up by my friend Julie Gissler. She contacted her friend in Montana, and asked her if she would host us. Jane said yes. I did not know her, and she didn’t know much about us either, but she opened her amazing home up to us, and we had a house concert. Amazing setting on the side of a mountain just outside of Bozeman and Livingston.
We went to bed at 3am, and woke at 6:30am for our journey to snowbound Laramie………….but what an amazing setting to wake to. We woke up to mountains all around, and eggs, bacon, and french toast. Heaven. Here is the video:

Laramie, Wyoming-Oct. 29th, 2009- We got up at 6:30am………drove, and drove, and drove. Sunny skies all day……..then it started getting darker. I stayed on the phone to 511-the travel condition and road closure hotline-all day……….was not looking pretty. I thought I had my route down the I-25 to Highway 34 into Laramie, but then they closed I-25…………I had to find another route. I did. We found the ONLY road into Laramie, and took it.
Kaci’s facebook friend Gabe Cook hosted it. Gabe is a rancher, photographer, sometimes singer-songwriter, and all-around nice guy. We lost some people to the snow, but had a great time.
We left after the show at about 2am…………back down that lonely road…………an icerink, and blowing snow. Here is the video:

Fargo, North Dakota-Oct. 30th, 2009- Once again, Twitter came through for me. I tweeted that I needed a North Dakota house concert and, Jeremy, one of my twitter friends tweeted back saying that his sister might be interested in something like that. Now, I was in London……he was in Oslo……and she was in Fargo. Within two or three emails we had the date booked. I love it.
Monika and Rick were lovely. She just left microsoft a few months ago, and he is a trucker. We got to take a look around his truck in the morning. I’ve often said that I’m a trucker that does music at night. This time I got to check out a real truck. Cool. Huge on the inside, and the sleeping space was awesome. Here is the video:

Pierre, South Dakota-Oct. 31st, 2009- As we rolled to Pierre we saw the most amazing sunset develop……….totally stunning. Ryan Beck was our host there. He hosted the South Dakota date last year, too. He saw my video on GAC, or CMT, and emailed me out of the blue a couple of weeks before the start of the 2008 50 States in 50 Days tour. He has hosting down. He got 10 businesses throughout Pierre to buy 10 tickets apiece……..basically co-sponsoring the event. He came dressed as a pumpkin. We played our set, and then I sat in with his band…………he is a great drummer! Here is the video:

Lincoln, Nebraska-Nov. 1st, 2009- My friend Vickie Piper enlisted her very reluctant brother, Brad, as the Nebraska house concert host. After some convincing……he actually got really fired up and pro-active, and got a great article in the Journal Star. Vickie and friends drove up from Iowa, and we had a blast. They fed us homemade chili after the show and we hit the road. Here is the videologue:

Hutchinson, Kansas-Nov. 2nd, 2009- Twitter came through again. I tweeted that I needed a Kansas house concert and Cody Heitschmidt (@codyks) said, “I got ya covered in Kansas”………..that easy. I checked out his blog www.codytalks.com and liked what I saw. He enlisted his buddy Nathan to hold it at his house………was a great night.
As you can see in the video…….it was a raucous crowd……pretty much descended into silliness when Bobulele appeared in his pajamas…….carrying a Ukelele. He was pretty much in bed for the night when Cody called him…….and I think scared him into coming down.
It was fun. Here is the video:

We just checked into a hotel just south of St. Louis. We are all very tired, but we are feeling good about the tour, and how it is shaping up. We do need emergency help with booking the following dates though:
Friday, Nov. 6th-Wisconsin-our confirmed host pulled out a few days ago. Do you know anyone there?
Sunday, Nov. 8th-Indiana-know anyone?
Monday, Nov. 9th-Michigan-Know anyone?
Friday, Nov. 13th-Connecticut-thoughts?
Tuesday, Nov. 17th-Maine……thoughts?
Wed, Nov. 18th-Rhode Island……….?
Sat, Nov. 21st-Maryland??
Tues, Dec. 1st-Louisiana??
Wed. , Dec. 2nd-Mississippi?!?
If you want to host a house concert in one of those states, or have a friend, or family in those states……then please email me and let’s figure it out. We have to keep the streak going to fulfill the 50 States in 50 Days commitment. Last year some of the BEST house concerts were booked the day before, so i’m fired up to see what transpires over the next few days. Just email me, or call me on 615-713-2124………but not early………smile.

The 50 States in 50 Days tour will see us driving about 22,000 miles in my truck, and flying a few thousand as well. I estimated the fuel costs today, and it came out to $2494.70 for the entire tour! If you’d like to help by buying a tank of gas, or a gallon, or even the whole darned $2,494.70…..then please click on the photo below, and it will lead you to paypal! Thanks!

If you can find me phone, then you can find me. Here is our real-time location………..pretty wild, huh!? If I’m near you…….get in touch by emailing me at kevinmontgomery at yahoo.com. It comes right into my blackberry.
Share my location with your facebook friends that might be interested in coming to a show on the 50 States in 50 Days tour!

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Ok, it’s 3:44am here in Missouri…….we are all beat……..going to sleep now. Please share this post with your friends……and come to a show on the tour if you can…………goodnight.
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