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Sunny says this time we're close. Really close. She should know. She's been there. To the top, that is. Or near the top. I know for a fact that she's been on the mountain and that's more than I can say for most people. The way I've always figured it, if someone like Sunny could just get us out of Bellingham at least then we could start climbing. I mean, how do you get lost when the only direction is up? Of course if you're Ollie the answer is easy, but I didn't ask Ollie to play drums for The Cosmic Poets because I thought he was the next Edmund Hillary-I asked him because in spite of his madness, he's quite good.For that matter, we're all quite good. In fact, Sunny says we're the next big thing.
You've probably already read the following press release issued by Sunny telling the world about our big West Coast tour but in case you haven't, here it is:
Bellingham's own musical sensation, The Cosmic Poets, launch a major twelve city West Coast tour to promote their incredible new demo to major labels. This tour will be the last opportunity to see this phenomenal group in an intimate setting as they are currently negotiating with several record companies and it appears that a bidding war to sign them has begun. See them tonight at Boundary Bay Brewery so they can thank all their fans for the support that has made this historic occasion possible. According to their manager, Former RCA Record's President Frank Strong, a contract should be signed by early August and that negotiations are going extremely well. Move aside Pearl Jam and make room for the next big Northwest band...
Did I tell you that one of those gigs is with Bonnie Raitt and Neil Young in Arcata, California-to save the Redwoods? Sunny says that we'll be signed to a major label and on the road with U2 in a few short months. So long Bellingham. We're outta here.
Don't get me wrong. Bellingham's not a bad place to live. If you love drum circles, suicidal poets and lots of rain, you'll love Bellingham. Just don't move here and tell us all about it. We've been trying to get out of here forever.
The plan is to tour south to the Bay Area and perhaps even as far south as Los Angeles, though I do have a slight confession to make: we actually have only five gigs lined up on this tour, two of which are in Seattle and one in Bellingham. None of the jerks booking the California clubs even bothered to call me back. I must admit, though, these gigs do look good on paper. To hell with 'em I say. I remember some famous musician once saying that it's not whether or not you book a lot of club gigs in California, it's whether or not you have Frank Strong on your side. Or something like that. Besides, you can't expect everything to go just the way you plan it and if Sunny and Frank do their job we'll have A&R reps drooling all over us as we rock the masses in Arcata while saving the Redwoods! At that point, the rest of the tour won't even matter. The way I see it the job of a leader is to act like he knows what he's doing and to keep group morale high at all costs. If that means stretching the truth a little from time to time then so be it. One thing I've learned over the years is that if you look and act busy, people actually think you are.
Tonight we rock Bellingham. Tomorrow it's off to Seattle where we'll be opening for the late Janis Joplin's legendary band Big Brother and the Holding Company. From there we'll swoop on down to the Oregon Country Fair and after that to Arcata for our date with destiny...
But first things first. We have one last practice this afternoon. Tolstoy himself proclaimed that unless the uncompromising standard of complete perfection was laid out before humanity, there would be no motivation for any enlightened endeavor. Since the making of music is an enlightened endeavor and since it is a known fact that a minority of people believe that rock musicians are indeed part of the human family, it makes sense to practice. After all, practice does make perfect...
