Tour Recap: what we learned and what we’ll miss

I know it’s been a while since the tour, but here’s a summation. This is actually the exact kind of email you’ll receive if you join the Achachay! Mailing list:

As most of you know about a month ago Achachay! completed our first
tour ever. It was a smashing success, the smashing part being mostly
the HO Bus’s transmission getting smashed and causing us to leave it
by an abandoned power plant on the wide and dilapidated streets of New
Orleans. The success part, albeit possibly less entertaining, included
significant crowds at most of our 18 shows (we often performed to at
least 15-20 strangers), a definite break even (still debating whether
or not to buy accounting software for a Mac to really run the
numbers), extremely positive feedback about our music, high merch
sales, and the opportunity to spend quality time with countless
friends from our previous endeavors -Austin, Houston, Rice, Tulane,
Ghana, and Spain.

The vast majority of the tour is well chronicled via vignettes on this site. Click on “blogroll” to see the previous posts.

I am humbled and grateful for the support we received from you – our
fans and friends along the way. We had people at our shows and pillows
under our heads because of you all scattered far and wide. Thank God
for Facebook too- how else could I remember where people are when I
can hardly even keep track of my mom’s birthday? We’ll certainly
continue touring, most likely back along I-10 in September and up the
West Coast in early 2010.

WHAT I LEARNED:

- Old buses are not reliable
- Veggie oil is still badass
- The most useful feature on the iPhone is probably Google Maps
- Tight living quarters bring out quirks, irritations and judgements
that I’m often unaware of; this is good because it provides me with
the chance to acknowledge them and get past them
- Pack your own equipment so nothing gets left behind
- Have more than one key
- Small towns and small town people are so friendly
- Maintaining a consistent physical and spiritual practice is harder
while on the road, requiring planning and intense dedication

3 THINGS I’LL MISS:

- Playing every night, in front of a new crowd
- Getting to see long distance friends, make new ones
- The purpose and direction that comes from the intense schedule
That’s a laconic update on the tour. Since we’ve been back we’ve
been working hard to (a) get a good time slot for a CD release party
in Austin, (b) book a bunch of other shows around town and around
Texas, including a weekly Dizzy Rooster gig on Mondays, (c) get our CD
reviewed by any and all publications we can think of, (d) get our
songs on the radio, and (e) compose new music, amongst other things.
As always, if you can help us with any of these things we appreciate
every bit of it.

We are seriously shooting to sell 1000 copies of our CD “A Preachy
Catfish” so you’ve got to tell people about it. Right now we’ve sold a
little less than 100.

Keep in touch y’all, and
thanks for your support.

Love,
Achachay (c/o Jordan)

Discussion questions:
(1) What do you rely on your friends for? What would you feel
uncomfortable asking them for?
(2) What have you learned in the past month?
(3) How do you keep from losing things? How do you keep from getting
lost?

P.S. I just cut my hair all off. .