My Summer Vacation by Bob

Remember when you were a kid and returned to school after summer? Remember how you had to give a presentation on what you did over summer? Well, it was probably an excuse for your teacher to phone in the first day of class so they could shake off their hangover and get their business together after a long summer of procrastinating.

In the case of this blog, we've for passed procrastination and have been phoning in doing anything with the blog at all. So I'm going to phone in our lack of effort by doing a 'My Summer Vacation Story'. Replace 'Summer' for 'The Last Year and a Half.' Then replace 'Story' with 'Cell Phone Photos with Captions'.

Budweisers at Walker's

Shrimp Scampi at Big Nick's

Tim Barry at Alex's Bar

Breakfast Burrito and Corona at some restaurant in Sedona, AZ

Frosty beers at a really old bar in Jerome, AZ

Spirit Shirts purchased in Sedona, AZ

Chili and Cheddar at Pacific Diner in San Pedro

We didn't eat here, but I heard the portions are small

We saw The Gaslight Anthem. Mainly because Tim Barry was opening, but Gaslight turned out to be a great show

Fartbarf played in downtown San Pedro. You can see a video here.

The wall-o-boots at Robert's Western World in Nashville, TN

Tots and a dog at The Dog of Nashville

Two Cow Garage killing it at the Basement in Nashville, TN

Glossary was epic too. Probably one of my top 5 live shows.

Al enjoying her supper at The Loveless Cafe. This place was amazing. Really off the beaten path in Tennessee.

Home of the best biscuits I have ever had. If you don't believe me, you better book a flight.

Turkey, fried green tomatoes and mac and cheese / Pork, sweet potatoes and hush puppies.

Faith No More at the Palladium.

It seemed like they never broke up...

The presentation was better than the flavor. Some chain restaurant.

Dogs, a Mexican Coke and a Mexican Pepsi at the Corner Store in San Pedro.

Old Crow Medicine Show playing in 'Pedro. I spent most of my time at the beer tent since I wouldn't be able to see anything either way.

Food trucks a been comin' to 'Pedro...

... Maybe we'll write about it.

That's a hell of a Monte Cristo. Rex's in San Pedro.

Niko's in San Pedro now has a Greek section in their menu. The above was delicious.

The Pine Hill Haints played on the Rocket Boat in Long Beach. It was crowded and the boat did not rocket.

So that was what happened the whole time we weren't writing. Nothing more, nothing less. We are planning on bringing back normal stories, recipes, bands, adventures, etc., etc., etc., so keep yer eyes peeled.

Lucero Giggin'

Well, I'm a little late on this post since things have been pretty busy over here at The Tasty Morsel.  Since we got back from the east coast, I can promise you that we've been having tasty culinary adventures, imbibing a bit and generally carrying on.  In that time, I've been sitting on writing this article for our gig-going adventures at a few Lucero shows.  So, I figured since I'm (Bob) taking time to slow down for a bit while doing a cleansing fast (isn't it funny that I'm slowing down on a fast?).

Let's rewind back to May 14th at Alex's Bar in Long Beach where we caught Lucero.  Opening for them was Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears who were really something else.  They played southern blues with horns.  I think there were about 8 dudes in the band.  Must be tough when getting paid, although I don't think they're really in it for the money... it's always about the music.  With these guys, I would believe that to be true.  Watching them is a ton of fun, now I just have to get some of their records to really understand what's going on.

Lucero came on shortly after and played their usual long set, but this time with a few songs that were new to us.  The new tunes sounded a wee bit different, a more evolved Lucero.  I didn't have my camera with me that night, so I missed the boat on my photography duties.

The second night was on the 15th at the Troubadour.  The gig went much the same way.  Lucero did pretty much all the new songs from the night before with a bunch of requests mixed in for good measure.  The one truly fun thing about Lucero shows is that they'll play almost any request you can throw at them (their own tunes).  The gig was packed with a lot of kids and the band was having fun and drinking plenty, a good fuel to a good show.  We sat in the back behind the bar where we could sit on our asses and drink $6 Buds.  The Troubadour really needs to work on their prices.  After the gig, we were able to talk to some of the guys from the band and hang out a bit.  They're pretty cool about that and it's always nice to meet the artists that you're into.  Hell, they're just people too.  Enough of my rambling.  Here's a few photos:

Lucero will sometimes pull out the accordion.  Do you like accordions?

Here's Ben Nichols.  He's lit well, or well lit...

Ben going to get a sip of Jameson (what did we tell you about Lucero coupled with Jameson and Budweiser?)

Tim Barry Weekend

"I write standard, boring songs with standard, boring chords...",  but Tim Barry's music is anything but standard.  It is not easy to write songs that cover topics like friends that have passed, gentrification, and hopping freight trains in a way that you understand the complexity of his messages and experiences yet can still party, drink a beer and sing along with fists in air.

Like people in general there are a lot of musicians that just don't seem approachable, but Tim is the exact opposite.  Tim needs his fans; he needs his fans to have a drink and a smoke with and he needs his fans' energy when he is on stage.  The louder and more excited the audience gets the better Tim plays.  When you are at a Tim Barry show you really feel what music is supposed to be; a shared experience between musician and audience.

This weekend Josh Small, Tim's long time touring mate and friend, called him 'Papa Barry' and it stuck with us because, yes, Tim's band is family (Josh and usually sister Caitlin) and once you go to one of his shows you feel the same.  Tim and Josh always seem to recognize your face and are more than happy to bullshit about music, the tour, etc.  The other fans also feel like family.  Over the years, you start to see the same faces and at every show you are likely to make friends.  After the show at the Casbah, in San Diego, on Friday we partied well into the night with a couple we met during Tim's set.

On Saturday the gig was at Alex's Bar in Long Beach, a venue very close to home, and we brought friends who have never seen Tim Barry perform before.  They had much of the same experience we had when we first saw Tim at Alex's Bar years ago and so it happens...  Tim's family continues to grow.

The other great thing about Tim is the musicians he surrounds himself with.  On this tour Tim brought along Josh Small and Austin Lucas. As we mentioned before, we have known Josh for awhile since he has been on many tours with Tim.  Josh has a really strong voice and usually switches between banjo and steel guitar.  He also backs Tim with vocals and guitar during a handful of Tim's songs which really adds a great depth to the music.

Austin Lucas, who was also on the bill, is a musician we'd never really heard too much about besides a few tracks that Suburban Home Records had put out online.  This guy's a real talent.  He possesses a great voice, some crazy guitar skills and lyrics that are strikingly well-written.  Needless to say, after seeing him we spent some time at the merch table stocking up on Austin's records.

We had a hell of a weekend watching these guys play music and sitting down to write this post is depressing since we won't be able to have this kind of fun until the next time Tim and crew come back to town.

Heading South and fueling up on Sandwich Saloon

Tim had some technical problems so he just hopped into the crowd and played

Mr. Josh Small

Austin Lucas