No grass growing under my feet
Between June and November of 2025 I spent nearly all of the time on the road. In a van, bus, plane, car, ferry, yacht, train, and my trusty Subaru. I’ve slept in every level of comfort. From fancy resorts to under a pile of blankets in the back of the van. This time period had me in over half of the States plus a wonderful week in Canada. I got to meet my new niece in San Francisco, and help my son settle into his new place in NYC. I played huge stages in front of thousands of blues fans, and dive bars in every corner of this nation. Deb and I snuck two vacations into the middle of three months of near constant touring with the Chris O’Leary Band. Boy are my arms tired.
Here’s a collection of photos from the journey. I’m a lucky dude.
The run started with the Bobby Thompson Band at the 8X10 in Baltimore. It was pretty cool to see my two show posters next to each other.
I snuck up to NYC to visit with Logan for a quick 24 hours. We walked Central Park and had a wonderful day.
The first big stop with O’Leary the end of 2025 was at the New York State Blues Festival. Great day!
It was nice to see/play with my old band after more than two decades.
Deb and I snuck out for a quick trip!
We played a killer show in Reston, Virginia. Great stage - huge crowd. Such fun.
This amazing woman gave birth to my new niece! My brother Barett and Omer had quite the journey to this day. We’re all so thrilled about Alma!
This amazing Boss Organ was waiting for me at Jimmy’s in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The Chris O’Leary Band crushed it. My friends Richard and Linda DROVE ME to New Hampshire for the gig! I have the greatest friends.
The walls on the way into the amazing green room at Jimmy’s is autographed with some of my favorite artists!
So great to see my buddy Ray’s name on this wall.
Deb met me in New Hampshire and we went up to Maine so I could play with Chris O’Leary and the gang at the amazing North Atlantic Blues Festival. It’s one of the crown jewels in the blues festival circuit.
Deb and I jumped off the Chris O’Leary wagon to continue north to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss. This was a stop in Camden, Maine on way north.
They’re either a tourist rouse, or the mafia. Because as hard as I’ve tried to see a moose in the wild, I have never seen a moose. They must be a myth.
We love waterfalls.
Quebec is gorgeous!
The Promenade in Quebec is amazing.
We found this adorable vineyard on an island 20 minutes outside of Quebec. Just gorgeous.
We went further north to see some whales!
Whale trip!
We found a beautiful little cafe next to this church in the fog after our whale watching trip.
Our ferry ride as we headed south.
Deb found a cute little cabin in Maine on the way home. A perfect end to our journey!
My oldest friend Val and I went to see some of my oldest friends Jah Works crush it as always.
Deb and I flew to San Fran to meet this little bundle of joy! What great timing. What a sweet angel.
My brother is an excellent new dad!
I love this city. I’ve never taken the ferry before. Highly recommended!
This is my fourth trip to see Redwoods. They never get old.
I mean … come on. Nothing make me happier than this image.
Deb and I took a few days to ourselves in San Fran. We rented e-scooters and e-bikes and Waymo and we saw as much of the city as possible.
I’m so lucky.
I flew from San Fran to Madison, Wisconsin to hop in the Chris O’Leary Band. I’ll spend most of my time with these lovely knuckleheads for the next three months.
One of our first stops on this run has us up the Mississippi River at one of my favorite hotels in the country. Such a great spot!
A stop in Iowa!
Chicago at Buddy Guy’s Legends Nightclub.
yea, that’s Buddy Guy. The amazing thing is that this is the second I’ve been fortunate enough to be in this situation. He’s such a legend.
A stop in Montana.
We’re now in the Northwest.
The band house near a great venue on the Columbia River an hour east of Portland. This house was a highlight!
The Tacoma Jazz and Blues Festival was a blast!
This photo of my hands is framed behind the toilet in the men’s room at my favorite local venue Hank Dietle’s. I think I’m honored?!?
While home for a week I snuck in a gig with the amazing Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band.
Headed west for adventures in California with Chris and the gang!
I’ve never seen a real dust storm before. It was amazing. This is on our way into a gig in Phoenix.
One of the highlights of autumn was playing the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas. This is my beautiful backline gear before I got on stage. The organ sounded great.
Big Blues Bender Baby
A stop in Sacramento.
We had the great fortune to record Chris O’Leary’s next album at the famous Greaseland Studio in San Jose. Kid Andersen kept us in stitches the whole session. He’s a world renowned guitarist and his studio is the real deal.
Shiela is full of light at Greaseland.
After Greaseland we went to San Fransisco and I got to hold my niece AGAIN!
Biscuits and Blues in San Fran is a great spot.
Next we headed to LA and I got to see more family!
Our hosts in Venice Beach had a deck on top of their deck with the most amazing views of the Pacific and LA. I spent a lot of time exploring Venice Beach.
Legendary Bluesman Kim Wilson joined us for a few tunes in LA. What a night! This is Chris, Kim Wilson, and Pat O’Shea.
Our hosts in Venice Beach took us on an amazing ride on the Pacific in their yacht. Pretty rough day for sure. haha.
The walkways and alleys in Venice Beach are so cool.
A little street art in Venice Beach
I found a glorious little cafe in Venice Beach. I ended up there a few times.
My last walk on Venice Beach
After a great show in San Diego, we drove non-stop (33 hours) to Iowa. This is one of our pee-breaks.
Driving east to Iowa.
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival in Iowa.
Me and the boss in Iowa.
Pat O’Shea looking studly.
Chuck Cotton is the man.
Last stop on this insane run brings us to the Falcon in Marlboro, New York. If you’re following along, we drove 33 hours from San Diego to Iowa, then 18 hours to New York. A little nuts.
During my quick break I took a run up to NYC to visit Logan.
Logan and I were a little competitive with our Jenga game.
We’re off for the last run of 2025. This one takes us through Florida, Texas, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and parts in-between.
Atlanta
Little Rock Arkansas is cool!
More Little Rock
Little Rock is cool. For real. Great little city.
We’re still in Little Rock
A photo of legends: Pat O’Shea, Chris O’Leary, Anson Funderburgh, and Chuck Cotton. The miles on these guys are to the moon and back.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival was a treat!
King Biscuit Blues Festival
Through the sun: Pat O’Shea, Gabe Stillman, and Anson Funderburgh.
The street music was stellar.
Getting oysters in Alabama.
We had a rare night off and went into New Orleans for some fun.
Chris and Pat used to play this room six nights a week with the great Levon Helm. Things have changed a wee bit.
The promise land
The C Boys Bar in Austin
The last stop was Texas. This is Wisconsin. This van is a workhorse.
A stop at Andie’s place in Wisconsin. It’s one of my favorite stops on the O’Leary train.
More Wisconsin
Just like that we’re at the Rusty Nail in Wilmington, North Carolina.
The club owner at the Rusty Nail pulled out some old photos of Chris and Pat with Levon Helm back in the day.
Family came to visit me at our show in Greensboro, North Carolina. That’s my sister, niece, and nephew.
More family came to visit me in Greensboro. That’s my cousin Scott and his wife Kristen. Scott’s the cousin who builds amazing guitars.
The Gulf of Mexico
Some great friends/fans on the scene: Scott and Judy. Always a joy to see them.
Our last two nights on this whirlwind three month tour happened to be at Madam’s Organ in my home town. And it happened to be Halloween so we dressed as medical professionals. Because we’re all sick. haha.
The first thing I did when I landed in the nest was to spend two days cooking for my family. The youngest was going hungry in college so i cooked up a storm.
This was my third year as one of the keyboard players for this epic production of The Last Waltz at the Hamilton in Washington DC.
The week after I returned I headed north for a night with my buddy Conrad Fisher. Conrad is helping me work on my first solo album. I’ll tell you more about that as I get closer to studio day.
Two days after being in western PA working on my album I took the bus up to NYC to see the Jason Lindner Big Band with Logan. It was a quick trip, but it was so fun!
I had a few hours to kill before my bus headed back to Baltimore so I walked down to see this monstrosity.
One of my all-time favorite bands is “calling it quits.” At least that’s what they say. I assume I’ll see them again sometime. But just in case I got there early so I could get a good seat at the foot of the master: Joe Tatton.
Robbie Cooper and I visited our friends John Previti and Bryan Reichhardt at WOWD in Takoma Park, Maryland to discuss Burt the Dirt’s new record!
I’m the luckiest of humans. Among the chaos and existential crisis’ I’m enveloped by my family and the joy that is music. This wonderful photo by David Fimbres really captures the warmth I feel playing music with my friends.