We played at a coffee shop / venue called the Wandering Goat, which was very welcoming. They introduced me to a mocha drink with homemade chocolate which was incredible. We discovered that there was a big festival going on downtown called “Celebrate Eugene” featuring live music and food and all sorts of fun things so our crowd wasn’t huge, but it was very receptive to our music. We also played with a good local band called “On The Tundra,” which was in the style of Explosions in the Sky and Do Make Say Think. They were loud, creative, and one guy designs pedals so they had a lot of specific and unique tones. He’s going to mod and fix my wah wah pedal, which broke a few shows ago (I’ve been substituting a light phaser ever since) so you’ll get to hear his work eventually.

We also played a few rounds of Jenga. I’m normally an ace at that game, but I must admit I knocked over the stack at least three times. I think it was all the vibrations from On the Tundra.

The night ended with Achachay! checking out our couchsurfer’s band at the Celebrate Eugene fest. They were great and it was cool to connect and stay with some other musicians, even though we didn’t play on the same bill. Our host Phil, was incredibly nice and welcoming. Couchsurfing remains the bomb. I hope we play with them next time we’re in Eugene, and get to hang out some more.

His other band, __, is also worth checking out.

In the morning, I got to cap it off by consuming some wild blackberries and visiting an old friend from Spain. All in all, good times.

When you go hiking around Mt. Shasta it’s pretty funny because people don’t really use maps. We got a sheet of paper with directions to a particular trail and climbing wall that basically said find a random parking lot and a random trail and follow it…. Pretty funny. It’s even funnier that we only took one trail that was wrong and ended up actually finding the climbing wall without too much trouble. After the climbing and hiking it was time to head back to town to play our show. The Vet Club was a blast. There was a great crowd that was up to get down and well we couldn’t have asked for a better pick up gig.   We ended up making friends with a percussionist and he sat in on a few songs toward the end of the night.  Nothing like

some auxiliary percussion to aid in the funk.   Between beautiful scenery and the awesome people it couldn’t have been a better day in Mt. Shasta.

The brewery itself is this really cool, open air bar and restaurant (with the beer brewing equipment next door). They brew some awesome beers too, and we were able try each one including their specialty jalapeño beer. The first sign that the night was going to be good was that we met a fellow Austinite-musician named Johnny Barnett and his wife Eva who were also traveling the country and playing music. They were great and it’s always nice to meet another Texan on the road.

We played 2 sets, gradually getting louder and more raucous as the night went on. Actually, after our last song the cops pulled up to let us know we needed to stop playing or take it inside. By that time things were just starting to get crazy and fun. As part of our pay we got unlimited free beer, but it really seemed like everyone was getting free beer because everyone there was schwasted! I know the three of us were drinking a lot, but compared to most everyone else, we were definitely more on the level. We ended up making a lot of new friends and having a great time. Make sure you hit up the Mt Shasta Brewery if you’re ever in Weed.

-Blatt

- Amanda danced on stage during “Still Learning”

- She has a crazy signature dance, that you will see if you come to any of our shows

- Jeff, the bartender/ owner, showed us a really good time

- As per usual on such a night, we started out with one free pitcher but ended up with drinks on the house

- That pic is of Jeff sporting his new Achachay! shirt. Like I said, he’s cool people

- The band stayed at Ryan’s family friend’s place. They were very welcoming and even came out to see us late on a weekday

- The band had some really good bonding moments staying up late and talking about all things Achachay!

We played at a small club called Johnny V’s downtown San Jose. Dave and Confused from San Francisico played the show with us along with a couple other bands from the bay area. It was definitely a night of rock.

Jordan got totally over involved with watching ‘The Departed’ without sound at the bar. So basically I ended up explaining the whole movie to him while he tried to watch…. After the show we to Los Osos to stay for two nights with some of Greenblatt’s family friends. Les and Nancy were awesome. They cooked up some great food and were very hospitable.

Monday we had a day off so Greenblatt and I got to hang out in San Jose and get some much needed rest. It’s really nice to just kick back every once in a while when we are on tour. Now we are off to Sacramento!

Other highlights from SF: we feasted on the best pho I’ve ever had (props to Amanda’s friend Emily for the hookup). We played a great show and undoubtedly made some new fans!

It felt like home, and summer camp all at once. His family is big, consisting of Nick, two parents, two brothers, a sister, three dogs, some cats and a couple of chickens. Plus they have someone staying with them for the next two years, and Nick had two friends leave when we arrived and two more come that evening. All told there were 13 people sleeping in the house both nights we stayed there, and everyone was out to have a good time. I don’t even know how Nick managed to scrounge up beds for us all.

Everyone that was old enough to get into the club came out to see us that night. We played down on “Cannery Row,” site of the famous Steinbeck novel, with our friends Nada Rasta. It was the 3.5th (and last) show with them so of course we were able to sing along and pump each other up. We got Ruben on stage to do a song with us, and at the end of their set Hooch and I jammed out with them. The whole time Nick and family/friends danced like crazy and made the night a blast.

The big talk started early in the day, and continued throughout our stay. When we got back to the house the good time were still rolling. Even younger siblings Mitch and Carli were up and about and we awaited the dawn alternating between laughing, drinking scotch, and getting serious. We’d be talking about love and marriage while Ryan sang his improvised composition “Cats hate Goats.” And for once, I wasn’t the one who suggested we play “Truth!”

To top it all off, we ate like kings. We combined all the homegrown veggies from the Nada Rasta homestead with the freshly laid Hambley eggs and managed to actually eat three healthy meals a day.

All in all it was a wonderful part of our trip, combining some of my favorite aspects of life- Playing music and spending time dancing and big talking with close friends.

The Ranch is such a great surprise in a small town like San Miguel. The venue has a capacity of over 500 people, a large stage and soundsystem as well as great food. The Nada Rasta guys helped us out by bringing out a great group of people on a weeknight to dance and just get all sorts of funky. We had a little jam with some of the Nada Rasta guys before we brought the funk. The show went off without hitch and we had a blast. I can’t say thanks enough to the Nada Rasta guys and we can’t wait to play and chill with these guys again. This is Hooch over and out.

Official Nada Rasta Myspace

The show was at a bar called Sweet Springs Saloon. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall just bursting with all of the accoutrement that comes along with dive-bars. This was also our second show with Nada Rasta. They were great too, and they brought out a bunch of people to see the show. They hail from SLO, so it was great time meeting their fans and playing for them. The show was really fun, complete with some really great and enthusiastic dancers.

Another successful show!