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It’s been one week since the tour of a lifetime came to a close, and I still feel like I haven’t quite assimilated back into regular society. What’s this oversized, cushy, clean rectangle I’ve been sleeping on every night? Where’s my smelly sleeping bag and tiny camping pillow? It’s a little bizarre and oddly unsettling not driving 500 miles everyday, but we’re all coping.

We finished the tour strong by packing New Orleans’ Neutral Ground Coffeehouse to the brim. Afterwards, we spent the final night at the greatest imaginable place — the one and only DeWitt Wonderland. It was like coming home as we drove onto the storied grounds. All kinds of good times ensued, and when we woke up, it was time to hop in the van one last time for one more haul…back to Memphis.

It was a bittersweet moment as Pancho took the exit onto Madison Avenue, marking the end of our life-changing 18-day trek. Of course it was great to be back home in Memphis, yet sad to be done with one of the greatest tours in Star & Micey history. 

A few final stats on the tour —

Miles driven: 5,227

Shows played: 14

States visited: 9

Memories made: Uncountable

It has been an absolute honor, privilege, and delight to have been in the trenches with Star & Micey for the past three weeks. Each day strengthened my faith in this exceptional band. The road is hard, but we conquered it, ready for more. The golden age of Star & Micey is swiftly approaching, and I’m loving every minute of the ride.

Thank you all so much for reading the blog and sending us your love. We appreciate every single last one of you, and couldn’t do any of this without your support.

Until next time…swirl on.

- Connor

So we woke up in Vegas, left behind what happened there, and made our way to sweet Californ-i-a. As we crossed the border into the Golden State, everything just got a little better. LA’s smog couldn’t stifle the Baressi Crew as we rolled into the city of angels. We landed downtown outside of the Redwood Bar, which was (appropriately) pirate-themed. We played a swirly show on the lower decks, and then headed to our California homebase — the house of Ron and Carol Pekar, the parents of Jonathon Pekar, newly appointed head of the Ardent Film Department. Jonathon served as our enigmatic tour guide of the city, pointing out the normal tourist attractions — Santa Monica Pier, Sunset Boulevard, the Hollywood Sign, Amoeba Records (where we did some busking) — as well as plenty of off the beaten path points of interest.

Ron and Carol’s story was inspiring. In short, they worked in the Memphis real estate game until they saved up enough money in the mid-80’s to make the move to LA. Carol worked her way up the ladder at Disney, and in doing so got Ron a job in the creative arts departments. The stories they would tell were out of this world, from stopping planes to designing Prince’s tour set to building countless statues. We stayed up all night listening to their life story. They were wonderfully accommodating hosts, and we can’t express our gratitude enough.

The next morning, we awoke to the task of scaling one of the city’s surrounding mountains so we could get a bird’s eye view of the city and so Jonathon could get some footage of the band. To say the least, it was absolutely breathtaking.

Sunday night, we played a fun show in Sierra Madre with Fatso Jetson. Then on Monday, we made our way south down the coast to San Diego. We made a point of swimming in the Pacific, which was simultaneously humbling and fulfilling. From there we stopped by Geoff’s uncle’s house for some chicken, steak, and sunshine. That night, we put on a phenomenally fun show at the Tin Can Ale House.

A few burning questions of the tour thus far…

Will Geoff ever find the perfect pair of gas station sunglasses?

Will any of Josh’s jeans make it home without first becoming jorts?

Will Nick manage a backflip at every show without breaking an ankle?

Will Jeremy ever track down the cowgirl of his dreams?

Will Adam ever run out of fun facts and/or great music to share in the van?

Stay tuned for the answers and more!

As always, swirl on…

- Connor

We shoved off early on Thursday morning for our eight-hour trek to Ft. Worth, Texas. Once there, our first stop was the office of KTCU on the campus on Texas Christian University. The lovely Janice McCall hosted a broadcast featuring an interview and performance with the band. Summertime found the campus quiet, but Star & Micey livened things up with a jaunty show, reaching all kinds of airwaves across the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. From there we headed to the nearby Moon Bar to play the first show of the tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vElMXECDBdc

Friday morning, we headed south to Austin. The active city welcomed us with open arms. Jody Stephens was kind enough to set us up with an in house performance at the esteemed ad agency GDS&M, with whom he had worked for the South by Southwest Alex Chilton Tribute Show in 2010. The company’s offices were beautiful, boasting exceptional architecture and a plethora of visually stunning artwork. They were great hosts, and we are extremely grateful for their hospitality. We played an intimate show in the agency’s in-house theater, and were humbled by their enthusiasm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqlfr3pmebg

 To save a little cash on the road, we brought along the official Baressi Crew camping survival kit. GDS&M tipped us off on a great spot just outside the city called Krause Springs. After trying some Texas barbeque, we went and check it out. The park was an absolute oasis. The spacious campsite had abundant shade, and the people were very friendly. But best of all, it had a natural cool springs lagoon complete with waterfall that was perfect for swirly swimming.

After an afternoon in paradise, we headed back into town for the night’s gig at The Hole In The Wall. After the success of the show earlier in the day, we wanted to create the same kind of intimate atmosphere we had achieved at GDS&M in the venue. To do so, the strategy taken was to set up all of the gear in front of the stage, and play unplugged with just two microphones up front. It worked like a charm, and the discerning Austin crowd received it extremely well. We headed back to the campsite happy, woke up in time for another quick swim, and headed south to San Antonio.

We’ve been here all day, eaten great Mexican food, seen the Alamo, and been resting in a motel before tonight’s show downtown. So far, so great, and I think it will only get better as we head further west.

More soon.

- Connor

HELLOOO Star & Micey fans! It’s lil karen here. Some of you may know me as Nick’s better half, but I’m also the official artist for this wonderful band!  I have to admit it’s a really great gig, especially considering it’s pretty much the reason Nick and I met. Anyway, I thought I’d just blog a little bit about how it all came to be.

Welp, I met Josh working at a little-known coffee shop, and that’s when I first heard of Star & Micey. Back then, their gigs consisted of just Josh and Geoff playing shows to hardly anyone at places like Otherlands Coffee in Midtown. And I was instantly hooked. (How can you not be, right?) Well, one day as I was coming into work, I spotted Josh putting up a flyer for an upcoming show.  The flyer was a stick figure drawing on a piece of notebook paper and I thought, ‘Okay, I know I’m no great artist, but I know I can do something with a little more pizzazz than a stick figure!’ So I asked him if he’d mind if I drew up some flyers for them. He was gracious enough to let me, and I just never stopped. 

Since then, it’s never out of the ordinary to get a random phone call from one Josh Cosby, “Heyyyy lil karen. I was just wonderin if you could draw up something for an album cover for us?  I don’t have anything specific in mind, just maybe something uplifting and light? The only problem is we kinda need it today by 5 o’clock.” My response? “Agh, no problem! I’m going out of town today and need to be at the airport by 5, but that leaves me like… 2 hours to whip something up!” What I’m really thinking? “Crraaaaaaaaaaaapppp!” But Josh knows I work best under pressure. So it wasn’t long before I thought uplifting = balloons pulling clouds into the sky!! And so I got to work. 

After that, I started doing smaller paintings for them, some of which you can see in their beautiful merch case.  Some got turned into t-shirts (like the milk carton thinking about being poured into a glass. It’s his destiny!) and others into single covers (like the tiny pirate ship in a bottle!) I’ve dreamed up stickers, buttons, postcards, cd covers and t-shirts.  They keep me knee deep in creativity, and every day I just thank my lucky stars that they like it enough to keep me around. 

Waters are rising here in the legendary town of Memphis, TN. We want to send out our dearest hopes that everyone can reach higher ground. Despite the damage and inconvenience to many residents, the city is busy as usual. We’re just proud to be able to call the Great Mississippi River our neighbor.

June will be a really busy month for us here on Star & Micey island! We have shows scheduled all over the mid-south and gulf coast, and there are still more in the works! Then… in July…

WEST COAST!!!!

Check the calendar, you never know what you’ll get when we’re playing in YOUR town.

Farewell and See you soon!