I never in my life though I'd be sitting in Australia writing a little note to the other side of the world to say hello, but here I am, so if this is now, I must be down under.
After a week of running around visiting more radio stations in the U.S. I had a day off in Los Angeles, and soon found myself on a big ol' jet airliner heading to Australia. Fourteen hours after taking off we landed in Sydney. What a trip.
So far so good. There's a shop called Mambo here that sells really great t-shirts and stuff. I made a bee line for Mambo immediately upon arrival and bought loads of great stuff to wear this spring back in the states. Sydney is a beautiful city. It's kind of a combination of Seattle and New Orleans (just the best parts of both). We took a little boat trip around the harbor yesterday and it was just stunning.
This trip will consist of three showcases--basically me playing in really small places to the press and radio people in Australia-- and a bunch of interviews. The record comes out here in March--it's wild to see our record with "made in australia" written on it. I'll probably spend the rest of my time here trying to find Neil Finn from Crowded House so I can bow down at his feet.
TOUR INFORMATION:
I'm really thrilled to announce that on our tour of the U.S., which begins
March 6 in San Francisco, Michael Kroll and his band will be our opening act.
I've raved about his record here before, and now I get to watch him play
every night before we go on. I couldn't be happier about it, and if you come
along to a show, you'll see why.
Tour dates are up on the web page as you probably know.
NOW PLAYING:
Chet Baker "Chet Baker sings and plays from the film "let's get lost"". My favorite record of all time--just stunning--and I've been listening to it a lot lately.
Grant McLennan -- Horsebreaker Star: Somehow missed this solo record from former "go-betweens" singer last year when it came out. It's really stunning. Check it out
The Waterboys--A Pagan Place: Just picked up a new copy of one of my favorite records from college and was pleasantly surprised to see how well it's held up. It's a really emotional and beautiful record.
NOW READING:
Dancing After Hours--Andre Dubus. My favorite writer in the world returns with a stunning collection of short stories. Once again, just undeniable genious.
Any Rough times are now behind you--Dave Alvin. Singer, guitar player, Blaster Dave Alvin wrote a really beautiful book of poetry--a total surprise--I loved it.
WEll, those are my thoughts for now. I hope all's well back there in the U.S. I can't wait to go out on tour and see y'all at shows.
By the way, thanks for all the great e-mail. There's more and more of it every day, so don't be offended if I can't get back to you personally--I need to write songs sometime, you know.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I went up to visit Counting Crows where they're recording, and things seem to be going great for them. I heard a couple of songs that they're working on, and they're totally stunning. The whole band is thrilled about what's going on. It was great to see them after so long.
See you soon.
Peter