Nothin' Like a Roller Coaster Ride

Life's a fickle mistress. If she ain't building you up, she's pulling you down. And so I awoke today with mystery aches and pains that I only seem to get on the road; aches that went away when I got to moving a bit.

I had discovered the night before, to my pleasant surprise, that job number 2 was literally next door to job number one. Job number one was a job that could have been done in about 45 minutes without the large amount of paperwork, but they were very thorough on making sure everything was done right. I guess someone missed a few steps in a prior job.

And so I rolled out of Las Vegas, and as I passed the last exit saw a hitchhiker on the onramp. His sign said "Santa Fe", and I was heading to Santa Fe, and so I figured it wouldn't hurt to have some company. Good company, as it turns out. He is a folk/punk musician (I didn't quite get his name), and although he wasn't thoroughly versed in Woody Guthrie, he was hardly illiterate in that area. Pretty good musician, actually, and a decent busker, so I extended an invite for him to make his way to WoodyFest next year and told him about the rideshare site.

My main purpose in going to Santa Fe (my only purpose, really, was the busker's permit (above). I am happy to see it gives me access to public areas outside the Plaza as well, but I did go to the Plaza to get the vibe and figure out what kind of setlist I want to prepare.Unfortunately, although the permit does allow a person to register a group, each member must register separately, so it could be fairly pricey for a band. I had hoped to register as a band and then bring along anyone who wanted to play along with on future gigs, but I guess they're onto that.

It was a slow day as far as people went on the Plaza, and I didn't get a lot of listeners. But I did get a cameraman for a travel show out east to shoot some footage, so my face may be popping up in parts out east. If it makes it into the final cut and someone sees me, I would be beyond tickled to see it. I thought about bringing out an original tune, but wasn't sure what I would do anyway.

And so it's on to Roswell. The second job in Hobbs didn't pan out, so I'll have some free time tomorrow, in Roswell, which might be a little frightening, depending on how you want to look at it. I start the day Wednesday in Hereford, and the free campsite formerly listed in Hereford has been taken off the map, so I'll probably wind up holding over in Clovis.