The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass: Behind The Music Tour Diary Week One
Day 1 — Feb 5, 2023
Left at 5:01, three hours after I initially planned. All good though. Filled up the tank and hit the road. No real traffic at all. Planning to drive 4 hours, 5 at the most. Don’t want to push it too much. Tomorrow’s a travel day too. Listened to the playlist I made for the trip. Great stuff. Then finished Sami Yaffa’s autobiography. I really didn’t want it to end. So many great stories and thoughts on music. Finished listening to Michael Monroe’s Sensory Overdrive (good stuff) then Fucked Up’s David Comes To Life, which was perfect for nighttime driving through the Pennsylvania mountains. Man, there is really nothing out there. Something I noticed on my last long road trip too. Why don’t we start new cities? Ending up driving 5.5 hours because there was no place to stop. I saw a sign for a hotel at Lamar, but thought I’d keep going a little while longer. Didn’t see another hotel for almost an hour, and didn’t recognize the name so I kept going. Which made it longer and longer. Finally stopping off in Clearfield, PA. Excited for the readings, feeling good going over my talk in my head. Scoping out the vegan food scene. Might have to wait til I get to Cleveland to really get anything. There’s a cool looking goth bar there, with astrologically themed cocktails.
Day 2 — Feb 6th
Up. The weather today, all this grey, trees being bare, reminds me of those early winter drives of long ago, up to Waterbury — Brass City and Phoenix Records — to fill out our Screaming Trees collections junior year of high school. A sound I always associate with this type of desolate landscape — the cold, but the fire within… Go to Dented Keg for breakfast, two Impossible patties — vegan and gluten-free — nothing else just the patties. Which I was greatly grateful they discounted them from the full menu price. Three hour drive to Cleveland. Checking out Bobby Bland’s Two Steps From The Blues as Sami Yaffa mentioned it inspired the Hanoi Rocks title of Two Steps From The Move. And listening to the first of the New York Dolls Mark II album that Sami plays on. Finally started the latest Anthony Horowitz Bond book, With A Mind To Kill. Digging it so far. My Air BnB is three doors down from the Christmas Story house. Making soup I had brought with me for some hot food. Rehearse. See pic of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass on a shelf for the first time.
Run thru of my talk clocks in at 40 minutes 40 seconds. Thought that was rather cool. Making ramen at the Air BNB, too tired to go out, everything seems to be closed here on Mondays anyway. Doing more promo, listening to Walter Schreifels An Open Letter To The Scene. Great indierock record. Like GBV’s more mellower moments.
Day 3 — Feb 7th
First reading. Got up. Wrote. Went to Cleveland Vegan for breakfast/lunch. OMG, they’re shiitake bacon was AMAZING! Lots of great stuff on the menu, and the waitress recommended me some cool record and book shops in the area. My Mind’s Eye was particularly great. I could’ve hung out there talking to Charles all day. He took a couple copies of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass and Nick Cave’s Bar, very cool, and we talked about all sorts of stuff — Funkadelic, The One Way Street, Dave Hill, Eugene Mirman, Cleveland’s long musical history, how lots of bands played their first US shows there — Thin Lizzy, Rush, AC/DC. Back to the Air BNB to finish up something I was writing, and then wanting to grab a bite to eat before the event, well, I of course went back to Cleveland Vegan. Good stuff.
Then on to Visible Voice. Where Bo and I met for the first time in real life. We’ve known each other since 2017 from doing the Pynchon In Public podcast together and we’ve always gotten along really well. He drove two hours to come to this and support. He’s that type of guy. Was great to hang out in person. The reading was fantastic. As I was driving there, blasting White Reaper’s ‘Last Fourth Of July’ and The Jam’s ‘Going Underground’, I realized I was actually very excited about this. It had been a long time since I’d done a gig. And it was amazing! I truly enjoyed it. And people came, and bought books, and seemed to enjoy my talk. Was great to chat with everyone afterwards. Then Bo and I went to Townhall so we could actually catch up. On their water tap in the middle of the room, there was a sign saying something like ‘The Best Water You’ll Ever Drink’ and they did not lie. It was DELICIOUS. Their vegan poke bowl was pretty great too. Heading back to the Air BNB after a job well done, kicking back and unwinding with the second episode of Poker Face. Really enjoying it so far.
Day 4 — Feb 8th
Wow. Still buzzing from last night. Up and working on the next book. Well, the one after the next as the next one will be out April 2024. Leaving Cleveland at noon on the dot. Now in my Air BNB in Louisville and it’s 10:40 PM. Long day but very fruitful. Hit Columbus first. I’d been hearing about Two Dollar Radio for years. A bookshop/indie press/vegan café all rolled into one. And even better than I thought, even with all that going for it. Food was great. Eric, the owner, and Nathan, behind the counter, were both very cool, and they’re going to order some of my books and even invited me to come read sometime. Which I hope to do. A lot of great looking books on display, though my car is so stuffed already I’ve made it a policy not to buy anything this trip, tempting though it has been. Listening to the second of the New York Dolls records after they reformed, with Sami Yaffa on bass. Good bluesy rock n roll. Off to Dayton, home to Guided By Voices, one of my all-time favorite bands. First stop — Skeleton Dust. Very cool little shop. Even had a Nina Simone eight track tape. Luke, the owner, was very nice. He sells Nick Cave’s Bar and took some copies of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass. We talked about Hawkwind for a bit, seeing them in similar circumstances, and also how he was on Leaura Hoss’ podcast recently. Then hitting Blind Rage records, loving that the pic I’d seen of their front window that boasts “Dayton’s Third Best Record Store’. Hahaha. Then onto Omega, where I had also been the last, and only time, I’d ever been in Dayton, briefly during a blizzard whilst driving cross-country early 2020, before the world went nuts. The dudes behind the counter were very cool, taking copies of BBCA and NCB, and Fred gave me a cd of his band. Cool stuff — a combo of noise, free jazz, post-punk, and space rock. I listened to it as I drove to Cincinnati. Now, I have wanted to visit Cincy for ages now, being as it is where another of my all-time favorite bands, The Afghan Whigs, hail from. And I loved it. I only had time to spend an hour there but I went to Shake It, one of the best record shops I’ve ever been to. And they bought outright copies of NCB and BBCA. Great selection of albums, cds, t-shirts, and books. That part of town, Northside, had real character, the shops and buildings reminding me of old films, of the way towns existed when I was growing up, before corporations came in, trying to “modernize”, and stripping away all of the feel. It’s the type of place you can imagine soulful music coming from. The market in the center of town was cool too. I was driving around trying to find somewhere to eat, to no avail, but the road next to the river, along with the trams, felt very European to me. I’d like to go back and spend more time, and do some serious record shopping.
So off to Louisville. Where I’ve never been before either. And first attempt at getting some food was met by the white hipsters behind the bar ignoring me for five minutes — is it because I was the only one wearing a mask? — so I Happy Cow’d where else I could go eat, and found Soul Hi Vegan, and the woman there was just lovely, very helpful, no bullshit like the other place. On the map here I noticed a Penguin Street nearby, which bodes well, seeing how penguins play a part in the BBCA epilogue. Book is out tomorrow! Can’t believe it’s finally here.
Day 5 — Feb 9th — RELEASE DAY
“No matter what it is, pick yourself up and go on to the next project.” — Shelley Duvall
Book release day. Sleeping a little later after all the time in the car yesterday. Then up and promoting the hell out of it. Break to grab something to eat at Shahar Café — two Impossible patties with Just Egg and vegan cheeze on top. Then Kroger to buy water. A Chinese restaurant named Double Dragon in the same plaza. I’m a double Dragon in Chinese astrology. Back to the Air BNB to do some more writing. Feeling good about things. Around 4:45, I decide I should get out and see some of Louisville, and it’s been such a nice day, 64 degrees out and sunny. When was the last time I saw that in Connecticut? Go to Surface Noise, where tonight’s event is to take place. Awesome shop. One of the best I’ve ever been to. Neatly organized vinyl and books, art on the walls, carpet on the floor. And this awesome Funkadelic poster that came with original copies of America Eats Its Young.
Up in the rare display case is the Australian version of AC/DC’s Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, with the sketches on them on the cover. Love that record, and I even mention both these bands, and those Aussie releases in the book. Chat with Blake at the counter for a while. Then decide to go get something to eat. Something a bit healthier, with vegetables. Thinking Thai food, but when I walk in, people are coughing atrociously. I want to avoid any sort of illness at all costs on this tour. Then to a Vietnamese place that doesn’t have anything gluten-free. Then to V-Grits which I had been eyeing anyway. A vegan brewery. A beautiful brunette with gorgeous brown eyes, who, I was to find out, is named Nicole, behind the counter. Chatting with her for a bit, feeling good about things. Then time to get back to the venue.
I meet Brett Ralph the owner in person for the first time. I’ve heard a lot about Brett, a Louisville legend. And rightfully so. The guy is a total mensch. Great stories, awesome to hang with. As we did for the next three hours. Despite my no buying anything rule, I buy a t-shirt because I like the shop so much. Having such a good time talking with Brett, it seems odd that it’s gotten so late when he points out it’s 7:30. And no one’s shown up. One guy did text Brett from eastern Kentucky to buy a copy of BBCA and have it inscribed to Micah “The Librarian”. I love oddities like that. At some point a guy named James wanders in, a fellow poet who Brett knows, asking if he’s late. He would be as the talk was due to start an hour earlier. He tells me he was reading Nick Cave’s Bar last night, is really enjoying it, and wants to buy a copy for his friend. Obviously I’m disappointed that no one’s showed up, even after that awesome write-up in LEO Weekly, but how freaking cool is this? Here I am, 1000 miles from home, and this guy I don’t know at all has been reading my book and wants to get another one for his friend? That’s pretty awesome. We all hang for another hour or so. Brett gives me a Sammi Smith album, saying I should know her. We listen to it, gorgeous stuff. Country soul. Now, in writing the book, one of the things on my mind, that the band was going to experience, was like when I tried to book my first ever gig. And no one came. This is on my mind tonight. But also how by the end of that summer of 1995, we had played a bunch of gigs all around, going even as far as Pennsylvania, written a bunch of new songs, and even opened for The Vandals at the club we always went to in New Haven, where it had been our goal to play at. You can’t let these things get you down.
The quote above has been resonating in my head since leaving the shop. Though I had remembered it starting “Whatever happens, pick yourself up…” So here I am back at the Air BNB, writing this up, and gonna work on my latest Substack, before getting a good night’s sleep and heading to Nashville.
Day 6 — Feb 10th
Waking up, can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that no one came to the reading. But the only thing for it is to get to work. The mission of being on this tour is to get people to know about the book. So get out there and do it. There’s more shops I can hit. Went back to Shahar Café for a vegan breakfast, took a while but I got my writing done while waiting for the food. Then set about it. Went to Better Days Records. They don’t carry books, so I left some flyers. They recommended Fat Rabbit down the road. So I went. But first I see Underground Sounds with Miles, Jaco, Herbie, Bowie, and Spacemen 3 all in the window. So I had to stop in there. Had a great conversation with Craig, the owner. We talked about music for a long time. He told me some awesome stories, having worked in record shops all over the country. He said he used to work for Aquarius Records in SF, which I mention in the book! So of course I had to give him one. He said he would read it, told me his collection of music books alone is 1800 books. And he still subscribes to all the UK magazines. I really enjoyed hanging out there and a bunch of others joined in the conversation at various points. He also recommended I go to Fat Rabbit. So I went, it’s just a few doors down, really cool shop — records/used books/vintage clothes — and I gave him a book too. Both of them recommended I go to Carmichael’s, the indie bookstore in town. So I go there, they took my info for their book buyer. I left a bunch of flyers and also grabbed a copy of that week’s LEO Weekly with a full page review of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass. Yeah, felt great to be out there doing this. Felt strongly that refusal to be defeated that comes from the Fire Horse in my Chinese astrological chart. Not that I was defeated, I did have a really good time just hanging out at Surface Noise, but the mission is to get people to know about this book. Then I went to Guestroom Records. They only carry the 33 1/3 books, not any space for others, but they had a really cool mauve hoodie that was comfortable as hell. They let me leave some flyers there, very nice people. But I keep thinking about that sweatshirt as I walk back to the car. So I went back in with a few books and asked if they were up for a trade. Even gave me $10 along with the hoodie in exchange for my books. Awesome. Setting off for Nashville. Things are looking up again. I will not be defeated.
Get to Nashville. Head straight to the chiropractor. So much time in the car taking its toll. Then to Sunflower Café, one of my favourite resturants in the world. All vegan. Get the Tahini Ginger Tofu bowl with kale and rice. And a side of Sweet Potato Casserole with carmelized apples. So. Freaking. Good. And they have the Immortal Monk tea back in stock. Pop in to Grimey’s to say hello. Awesome to see my posters all around. Meet Jason, the book buyer, who has been great to me the past couple of years, since Nick Cave’s Bar came out. Say hi to Will who is on his way out, but was the one to introduce me to Charly Bliss on my first ever visit in 2018 when I was driving cross-country. On to my friend Mike’s house, where I’m staying. Catch up with Mike. His dog Wilbur remembering me and wanting a lot of love, which I was only too happy to give. Great pup. Sleeping the sleep of the just.
Day 7 — Feb 11th
Up at at 9:30. An incredibly sound night’s sleep. Heading over to Graze to grab a delicious vegan breakfast bowl. Doing the day’s writing with Wilbur sleeping across from me. About every 20 minutes he’d get down from the sofa chair and lie down directly in front of it, to 20 minutes later hop back up and resume his previous position. Stopping in to Vinyl Tap, a record store/bar to leave some flyers, then to The Groove, a very cool record shop in a house that does shows in the backyard. They bought outright two copies of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass and two of Nick Cave’s Bar. Awesome. Hoping to grab an All-American Burger (vegan, of course) from Sunflower Café but didn’t have time to get there and then back to Grimey’s on time to load in. So went to Sunflower Bakehouse instead. Which I didn’t know existed. Very friendly staff who informed me it’s an all gluten-free bakery as well, besides being vegan. Grabbing two blueberry muffins. I do love a good muffin but so hard to find ones both gf and vegan. Very good. Heading to Grimey’s. And everyone there being really wonderful. Jason, the book buyer, has been awesome to work with these past couple of years. Informing me that Nick Cave’s Bar is one of their best sellers. Great guy. I really liked hanging out with him. Jackson too, behind the counter, was great to meet and chat with. Cillea showing up at 4:30. Great to see her. It’s been four years. And she really did an excellent job interviewing me. She told me right before she’d never done something live like this before. I knew she’d be stellar at it though, I mean it’s what she does for a living and I could also just tell. The only ‘in conversation’ event of the tour. And it was a lot of fun. Felt I was talking too fast, but there was so much I wanted to talk about and they said we should go about 25 minutes then I’d read. In the end, the sound guy Tyler told me we clocked in at 19 minutes. The crowd was great fun. Emily & Michael from Taxiway came and introduced themselves before I went on. I’ve been friends with Emily on IG for years now. And it was so cool when she commented way back when that she bought NCB from seeing it at Grimey’s. Their friend Amy laughed throughout the whole show which was awesome. You want people like that in the crowd. I’m glad everyone seemed to have fun. A young guy came up afterwards and said that he hadn’t come for this, was just record shopping, but he thought it sounded really cool so he bought a book. There were pre-orders too.
Afterwards, Jason told me I got a 25% discount if I wanted to buy anything. Which was great because I really wanted Jen B. Larson’s Hit Girls: Women Of Punk In The USA 1975–1983 and the new issue of Maggot Brain with Pharoah Sanders on the cover. They gave me a rad Grimey’s baseball tee in grey and black which I love. And I was tempted to buy that new Bowie boxset for Hunky Dory, but had to remind myself that I originally said I wasn’t buying anything on the trip. I had spied Ari Surdoval in the crowd, which was great, and as I was talking to my old landlords, I saw Ari again heading downstairs so I excused myself and went to say hello. Great guy. His Double Nickels is one of the best novels I’ve read in recent years. I’ve said before that it’s the stuff that the best Paul Westerberg songs are made of. Highly recommended. And he brought me a signed copy. Very cool.
Saying goodbyes. It was really nice that people came and enjoyed it. Signing more copies to leave at Grimey’s. Packing up. Giving Jason a copy of BBCA to show how much I’ve appreciated his support over the years. And one to Jackson too, as I think he’ll dig it. Heading back to Mike’s to charge my phone. Then over to Sunflower Café to get that All-American Burger. And the BBQ fake meat side was delicious. And why not, I was hungry, had some chick’n strips as well. And an Immortal Monk tea. Back to Mike’s. Hang out some more. I am exhausted. Pressing on to Asheville tomorrow.
Day 8 — Feb 12th
A long, lonely day. Raining for the past few hours, on dark roads, to emphasize the challenges and difficulties of this tour. Up early, hoping to make Asheville early enough to get books into stores. Saying goodbye to my new bud, Wilbur. Such a loveable pup. Then to Graze for a repeat of yesterday’s breakfast bowl. D-LISH. On my way out of town, I spied a bookstore that was open so I of course popped in. That’s the mission. Gave them a flyer to check out The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass and noticed Danny Caine’s How To Resist Amazon And Why on the counter. This has popped up lately and I’ve been curious. Maybe one day I’ll write about my issues with Whole Foods as a company and me quitting a month ago. But that’s a whole other thing. Back at my car I felt the pull to go back and get it. Glad I did. Mr. Caine works at Raven Books, a very cool shop I stopped at in Lawrence, Kansas last time I drove out to California in Feb 2020. It was a different world then. Very cool record shop there too, Love Garden. I wish they’d answer my emails about stocking my books. Then hitting the road. A 4.5 hour drive to Asheville plus the time change. Made it to Earth River Records with a half hour to spare until closing time. I had been talking to the owner about taking some books on consignment. I spotted the 4th Edition of the Trouser Press Record Guide amidst their book selection. A good sign, as that was my music bible when I was a teenager, I would scour its pages and make tons of lists of albums and bands to check out. Of course it influenced the Discography at the end of BBCA.
Was supposed to meet up with Jess B but she wasn’t feeling well. At least she had the courtesy to let me know, unlike some other people on this trip. We actually talked on the phone for over half an hour. How retro. Nice to catch up. She recommended Rosetta’s Kitchen, which was a pretty cool place. Vegan soul food. My waitress was very pretty and a cool punk rock chick. They let me put a flyer on the wall. The Portobella burger was pretty good too. Hoping to drive another hour or so to cut down on time to travel tomorrow. Listening to the new James Bond book, still not sure about it. Horowitz did such a good job with his last two, but this one is… a bit odd. Listened to Lou Reed’s Coney Island Baby after Brett Ralph was talking about it the other night. Not finding a hotel until after Statesville, a little longer in the car than planned. Second half of the tour starts tomorrow. I hope people show up.
