Mile Train: Tour Blog

Hey guys! Last you heard we had just had a relaxing weekend of shows in Carrollton at some of our favorite local spots to play! The past two weeks have been full of excitement for Mile Train as we've been preparing for and playing several new and promising gigs!
Thursday, April 17 was the first full performance by Arsenic and Old Lace, our acoustic trio comprised of David, Kelley and Eva. We played for Hayley Warner's senior photography show at the Mandeville Lofts in Carrollton. This was an incredible artistic showcase as the photos centered around carnival performers. Musicians, jugglers and performance artists came together in what was a truly inspiring night.
The following Friday we were in Jacksonville again at the Mellow Mushroom on the beach where we ate ethereally amazing pizza and rocked the sun-soaked masses. We were up and moving early on Saturday to play an afternoon show at the Dame's Point Marina. Our first gig at this beautifully sunny spot was a huge success! We had a great time playing by the water and the crowd was exceptional! Quickly after the gig we hurried across town to record an interview for the NPR program Blues Horizon which will likely air sometime in August.
Gig and interview behind us we jumped up the coast to St. Augustine to hang with Mr. Tim Matlock for the evening at his new condo. After the let down of missing J. J. Grey of Mofro performing at a local festival we wandered the streets of St. Augustine until we settled at a small bar with live acoustic music and the greatest imported beer selection I have personally ever seen. We even gave an impromptu performance while the musicians took a break. Finally we ended up back at Tim's for a (somewhat ;) ) quiet evening.
The next day we played an early evening show at Bomba's on Beach Blvd where we are always treated to the best food in town! I think we all agree that this was the most energetic and exciting show we've played at Bomba's in some time. Unfortunately we couldn't hang around with our friends all evening as we had to high-tail it back to the Atlanta area directly following the show.
This past week we spent in town playing jams all week long and then picking up a show at the new Blue Steakhouse on the square in Carrollton where we played Friday night to the pleasure of both the wonderful crowd and the management. We're glad to see a spot on the square genuinely enjoying the music we play. After canceling our Saturday night show at Plates we decided to hang at the Blue Steakhouse again where we watched our friends from the Cowtown String Band serenade the masses with their own brand of country and blue grass. We do miss out on the opportunity to just sit back and watch other musicians play with our busy schedule so we relished every minute of this show!
Just yesterday, (Monday the 25th that is) we played our second show as Arsenic and Old Lace for the UWG senior photography exhibition. This started off our busiest week in recent memory. Tonight we are leaving out to Jacksonville to perform Wednesday at the Suwannee River Jam opening up for Blackberry Smoke! Then on Thursday we'll be tearing it up at Prevatt's in Middleburg. Friday we're at Whitey's Fish Camp in Orange Park and finally Saturday we'll be driving back up to Newnan, Ga for our triumphant return to Jeckyll and Hydes. Check back next week for a full report on our long week ahead!

Sam's BBQ and Blues has to be one of the friendliest places we've ever played! The staff truly loves blues music and supports us so much. Friday's show at Sam's was, as usual, a great way to start a weekend in town. Next we packed up and headed 'round the corner to play at Plates where we sufficiently rocked the college crowd. After the show we relaxed at David's house with some beat-boxing, freestyling, and the smooth sounds of our friend Raylin's new recordings.

Saturday we set up at the Moonshadow Music Hall to record for our live DVD. The crowd swelled throughout the night and we had a fantastic performance! A huge thanks is owed to Jeffery Tidwell for arranging the video recording of the night's events. Everyone was pumped after the show and we couldn't turn down an offer to hang out at Bryan and James' lake house. I'd like to extend our gratitude to these gentlemen for providing an exceptionally awesome environment for post-show chilling. Even the Snake came to enjoy the evening with us!

In other news we've begun writing and arranging songs for a new album. We threw around several ideas last week at practice and are planning on devoting much of our time to pumping out some new original music.

Look for us this weekend in the Jacksonville area! See you all soon!

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE! Thursday, March 31, we made our way down to Jacksonville to prepare for the George's Music Springing the Blues Festival where we were to perform the following day. We were greeted at Enid's house by Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues via Enid, Rocky and Brittany. After relaxing around the fire we got a good night's sleep and made our way towards the beach Friday afternoon picking up two of our biggest fans, Sue and Terry, for a Mile Train excursion. We checked into the Marriot and traveled to the festival. Even after having performed at Springing the Blues last year the scope of the event was breathtaking to say the least--thousands of people, hundreds of businesses, vendors, photographers, musicians we look up to. We were immediately whisked to the main stage by the event staff where we unloaded our equipment and signed in. 30 minutes later we were on stage performing, feeding off of the energy of the sea of people forming in front of us. Tides of applause after each number emboldened our resolve, encouraging the sonic electricity we created. The main stage show blurred by and soon after we said goodbye to the largest crowd we've played to with our current lineup we were golf-carted to the West stage where we were the headliner. After the more blues oriented main stage performance we were ready to let out the remainder of our energy rocking out our heavier numbers to an awesome reaction. Thousands of people gathered around the stage dancing and singing. To our amazement we were asked to do an encore, finishing our set with Chain of Fools. No sooner did we get off stage were we asked by the Springing the Blues officials to play an acoustic set at the Jax Beach Train Museum down the road, again being rushed by golf carts to our destination. After a more intimate show at the museum we raided their buffet table and headed back to the hotel for our well deserved celebration. The nights festivities included, but were not limited to: musical encounters, balcony conversations and an impromptu acrobatic performance by yours truly. All in all an unforgettable night! We were saddened the next day when we had to travel to Albany, Ga for the Tystanic Wet on Wet Car Show as we would have loved to spend another day enjoying the festival. We would have especially liked to see our friends from Rocco Blu in their first Springing the Blues performance. We're incredibly proud of them and can't wait to hook up for some awesome support shows with our sister band, but for now I think we'll take a breath and relive this past weekend in our minds. See you all soon!
-Kelley

Returned home from a long weekend on the road. Played an audition at Archie's Oyster Bar in Auburn, Al on Thursday Mar. 3 with very positive feedback. Special thanks to Dwayne and Tyrone for their hospitality and encouragement! Traveled back to Cowtown for an encore doubleheader on Friday the 4th at Sam's Blues and BBQ and Plates. Spent Saturday traveling to Jacksonville, Fl where we got to have a rare night off. Checked out Brown Bag Special at Prevatt's in Middleburg then spent an awesome night (pinky promise) at Cuz and Theresa's hanging out and playing some tunes. On Sunday we auditioned at Rockin' Rods for the Suwannee River Jam. Though we didn't win the competition, (congratulations to State of Mind) we DID receive some exciting news from the judges which we can't release quite yet. After the audition spent the evening at Steve and Bonnie's house where we were treated like kings. Pulled pork, good drink and stogies aplenty! Spent most of Monday lounging around Chez Corren and eventually made our way to David's dad's house to stay the night. We had to be up early for a press conference for Springing the Blues at George's music on Tuesday and Pippin Sr.'s place is close to the beach. Awoke at 8AM for the press conference (a new Mile Train record) and loaded in by 10. Met Delta Dave who performed as well, had some awesome grub from Mojo Kitchen, and got to view the 2011 Sprining the Blues poster and t-shirt. Afterward we bummed around the beach for a while, checked out the main stage where STB will be held and treated Eva to her first taste of crab legs. All in all a very productive weekend! Looking forward to a new show this coming Friday at Bellazaa Pizza in Peachtree City, Ga, and our second show at the Moonshadow Music Hall in downtown Carrollton! With Spring Break over we hope to see all you Cowtonians out and partying this weekend!

Home from Jacksonville with a great feeling of satisfaction for the weekend's events. It's been so long since we've seen our friends in Florida! Phenomenal shows at both Prevatt's in Middleburg Friday and Saturday, and Bomba's on Sunday.
Saturday night was a particular treat as it was Cuz and Theresa's 34th anniversary! A personal favorite moment from Saturday was Cuz's rendition of "Mr. Breeze."

Sunday held a special treat for Mile Train as well with Rocco Blu taking the stage during intermission. Can't wait to see these amazing musicians again soon! Check them out at roccobluband.com

With Springing the Blues looming close and several other festival shows in planning, Mile Train is excited for the coming months.

We are happy to announce that we were asked to perform at Springing the Blues again this spring 2011, opening up for the Friday night headliner on April 1st!

As many of you know Mile Train has been accepted into the Springing the Blues Festival in Jacksonville, Fl this year. Springing the Blues is an annual event that showcases up-and-coming blues and rock artists from around the Southeast. This is a huge step for the band! We are more than excited about the exposure and opportunities this event will place before us and we owe so much gratitude to all of our friends who have supported us. Without the love of our fans we could never have made it this far or have the strength to carry our music to the next level. Thanks to each of you and remember we'll always play for you!!

Train Tea: 6 oz. sweet tea, 3 oz. Moonshine, 2 oz. Triple Sec, 1 oz. Cointreau. Mix over ice and shake the hell out of it.
Created 11/7/09 sometime in the wee hours of the morning by David Pippin and Tim Mattlock.