Writings
Bob's road tales — tall and otherwise — from ten years of touring the hard way, can all be found here! Postcards from the Past is a collection of the best of Bob's monthly mailing list postcard letters — from before the mailing list went digital. Think of it as analog blogging …
Reef, Roos & Blues (& Kiwis Too) - 2007
So there I was. Less than a year after my last trip there, I was once again landing at the Sydney, Australia airport. I found myself in this far-flung part of the world in 2006 to play just one blues festival (Blues on Broadbeach), but this time, I was about to embark on a full-blown tour.
Reef, Roos & Blues – 2006
Three days after we got back from Australia, I was off to yet another time zone. I had a two-show hit and run to do in Florida, another three time zones away. Not that it mattered at this point. Well beyond jet-lag, I was now living in a dimension beyond time. Karen picked me up at LAX three days later.
Worldwide Tour of California – 2006
Time is elastic on the road. This thought came to me recently as I sat in the cellar-bound cave of a green-room at a venerable old listening room in Bethlehem, PA called Godfrey Daniels. I had played there exactly one year before, and it seemed like yesterday.
Stranded in the Lap of Luxury – 2006
So there I was. 2:30 in the morning, Saturday night, 4th of July weekend. Sitting in my dead, broke down van, waiting for Godot’s Tow-Truck by the side of the road.
Travels with Hurricane Charlie – 2004
Hurricane Charley and I arrive in South Florida on exactly the same day. Cancellations, mayhem, and a gig powered by a gas generator ensue.
Shipwrecked on the Isle of Love (A South Pacific Honeymoon Journal) – 2003
A dream excursion to Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Rangiroa. Some myths exploded and some legends confirmed. Once you’ve seen the Bora Bora town dump, your illusions of paradise can never quite be the same…
Flying Under Radar (On Being an Independent Artist) – 2002
This essay was written for a book called Working Musicians, published by Harper/Collins. Thanks to Bruce Pollock for asking me to write this, and giving it a chance to see the light of day! In the book the piece is called "Another Kind Of Musician," and is a bit shorter than what you see here. This is the full, uncut version of the essay. All disparaging remarks about A&R guys are completely intentional.
Road Signs & Broken White Lines – 2002
The tale of my longest tour ever – California to New York to Florida to Oregon. Also the last tour in which I would drive across the country and back, alone in a van. For years, this type of insanity was just another day at the office for me…
A New Jersey Yankee (Book I) – 1997
An all too true tale of on-the-job debauchery at Mardi Gras '97 in New Orleans. Le Bon Temps Roulez!!
A New Jersey Yankee (Book II) – 1999
Mardi Gras '99 - I return to the scene of the crime. It's been two years, and this time the gig is at the House Of Blues instead of The Gazebo - and instead of playing an out of tune piano on the sidewalk, I'm opening for the Neville Brothers, but the more things change...
I Went To Rome, But I Didn’t See the Coliseum – 1998
The story of my first European tour. Read about my unfortunate encounters with Italian phone technology and how I expanded my Italian vocabulary beyond "Vinnie" and "Marinara." Also includes a side trip to Venice - and I don't mean the one in California!
The Muse Is A Bitch (But I Love Her) – 1998
An essay on the agony and defeat (and occasional pleasures) of songwriting... for those who write songs and those smart enough not to.
Tokyo to Omaha (The Hard Way) – 1998
A tour of Japan followed without a break by a gig in Connecticut with Average White Band, and a Midwest tour as the Neville Brothers’ opening act. Talk about culture shock! Talk about jet-lag! All possible variations of planes, trains, and automobiles are encountered. Also included is a detailed account of what is still, even after eight years, the worst flight I have ever been on.
Crawl Across Texas (Come Back in a Box) – 1996
This was me…ten years ago. The careless, trusting, perpetually drunken, happy-go-lucky, and let’s-not-forget cataclysmically stupid guy that lived to tell this tale is all but a hazy memory now. This harrowing saga of what eventually came to be informally known as the "Plagued By Locusts Tour" originally appeared in The Angel City Voice. Many thanks to Lis Lewis for asking me to write the story - this is the first piece of extended prose writing I ever did, and it and everything that followed would have never happened if Lis had not pointed out to me that I was able to do it.
2005
• March 2005 – The Smallest Bar In New York City
• September 2005 – New Orleans After The Flood
2004
• July 2004 – The “No Cell-Phone Service” Tour
2003
• May 2003 – Malone Alone
• September 2003 – 27 Gigs In 28 Days
2002
• August 2002 – Hawaii Calls
• September 2002 – Bob Versus The Volcano
• November 2002 – Hawaii To Belgium & Back
2001
• February, 2001 – A Tale Of Two T- Shirts
• March 2001 – Porky’s Barbeque
• May 2001 – I Sail The Prairie Sea
• September 2001 – Like It Or Not
• October 2001 – After The Towers Have Fallen
• November 2001 – Shopping With Angelyne
2000
• January 2000 – Y2K My Ass!
• March 2000 – King For A Day (Earl King, That Is)
• July 2000 – Do You Miss New York?
• August, 2000 – No Shelter From The Storm
• September 2000 – Where Can I Get A Drink Around Here?
• December 2000 – Malcontent Egg Nog
1999
• April 1999 – Trailer Park Trash Vs. The Claw
• March 1999 – Greetings From Palm Springs
• June 1999 – Sittin’ In At Pappy & Harriet’s
• August 1999 – Welcome To The Neighborhood
• September 1999 – Get In Here!
• December 1999 – Horrorscope
1998
• March 1998 – Frequently Asked Questions
• July 1998 – The “Oy, It’s Humid!” Tour
• October 1998 – California World Tour
• October 1998 – Freight & Salvage With The Nach
1997
• May 1997 – Fats Is On The Stereo, and All Is Right With The World
• August 1997 – The Infamous Jewel Letter
• November 1997 – You Only Have One Liver!
1995
• October 1995 – I Got Your Vegan... RIGHT HERE!
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