Les Racqueteers,
We rolled into North Carolina blasting Petey Pablo from the mini-van speakers. Windows down; volume up. It felt right… especially due to the marvelous weather that we’ve been having. It was actually warm enough to take your shirt off and twist it round your head, spin it like a helicopter. Our first North Carolina gig was in Greensboro at a place called THE BLIND TIGER. Legend has it, Ben Folds Five made their debut at the previous location of this venue, which was a local dive at the time… until last year when they moved and expanded! Two massive stacks of JBL speakers greeted us as we walked in. Beautiful stage and sound.
The following night we drove to Raleigh, NC to play a bar called “THE DEEP SOUTH”. Now Raleigh is smack dab in the crossfire of a local war that has been raging for generations. Very close to Raleigh is both Chapel Hill and Durham, home of the UNC Tarheels and the Duke Bluedevils respectively. As we played THE DEEP SOUTH, UNC and Duke faced off and Raleigh didn’t take its eyes off the game… which was a nail biter. Doc Rivers’ son hit a 3-point buzzer-beater to give the win to Duke, by 1 point. We rocked out for the sound guy, the other bands, the door guy, the bartender and a few patrons of the bar. It was a lot of fun and we gave our new EP to each and every one of em!
We had yesterday off so we drove into the mountains of Boone, North Carolina. A friend from Kenny’s and my hometown lives there in a house reminiscent of a 60′s San Franciscan hippy commune. Spray paint graffiti and quotable nuggets of wisdom scatter and splatter every single inch of wall space. The house is inhabited by 11 people and 6 dogs. In the basement, the stage is set with vintage Fender stacks, guitars, basses, drums, keys and other percussion. PERFECT! Each housemate invited a few friends over and before we knew it we were playing the most well-attended, energetic, and supportive set we’ve played thus far in North Carolina. Our Les Racquet family has expanded significantly! We’re all going to carpool to the show in Asheville this Saturday… if you’re in the area, you wont want to miss this; a grand show of support that I thought only existed in rock n roll fairy tales.
Before that happens however, we’re going to Winston-Salem for a set at THE GARAGE. Our friends Leaving Venus will again open up for us. We’re really starting to like these guys! Very Eric Clapton influenced blues and “woodstock” styled rock. Give em a listen. Still waiting on your emails telling us about all the great opportunities to play music in the south that you know about. C’mon, give it up! Just hand over the codes and everyone goes free. Alright, enough from me… BE WELL!
Best Regards,
Patrick William Carroll
