North America Guitar Tour
Georgetown
July 1-2, 2014
I arrived in Georgetown just before 3 o'clock, and after translating for about an hour at a Starbucks near the home of Mr. D, who I was staying with that day, I headed to his house. When I parked my car in front of the house, someone who seemed to be Mr. D came out and asked, "Are you Hiroshi?" I think this was the most common pattern of first encounters on this trip. In terms of minimizing the burden on the people I was meeting, it was worth spending nearly half of my money to get my driver's license.
After taking my luggage out of the trunk and carrying it into my room, I carried my guitar and amp to the room where I was going to play that night. On the way, there was a huge amount of food spread out on the kitchen counter and table, and it was crowded with people who seemed to be family and neighbors. For a moment, I lost track of the day of the week, but since I had gone to church in Oklahoma City a few days earlier, there was no doubt that this day was a weekday. I couldn't help but ask, "Is there something going on today?" and he replied, "It's because you came."
Not fully understanding the situation, I walked through the narrow corridor and found a larger room one step below, where several people were already drinking beer. Then I went out to the backyard, where I saw several motorcycles. I returned to the room again, and without knowing who was who except for Mr. D, I set up the amps and microphones and started the party. Suddenly, there was a barrage of requests, and I answered almost all of them, saying "I'll play what I can, but I won't play what I can't." By the way, there should have been a considerable number of people based on the amount of food earlier, but there were only about 10 people in the room at any one time, and people were constantly coming and going through the door leading to the backyard. After about an hour, I stopped playing and went out through the door, and about 20 people were chatting with beer in hand, and some of them were already happily drunk.
I went outside to get fresh air, and as soon as I got out, everyone went into the room under Mr. D's command, "Everyone, let's listen to Hiroshi's performance." I wondered if I would be able to eat the food. I went back to the room and continued playing until late at night. However, there was no way that a group of drunk people would listen quietly. It was very amusing to hear Mr. D's "shhh!" constantly.
It was about time that everyone started to leave to prepare for the next day, so I went out to the backyard again, where the wild party continued for a few more hours, and I was able to eat. His wife seemed to have been drinking quite a bit, and started complaining that she "rarely cleaned up." Apparently, Mr. D had been looking forward to my arrival, so she cleaned the room where I was staying for him. Indeed, my room was strangely tidy. She had a bad mouth, but she had a smile on her face. I could really feel her love for Mr. D. By the way, Mr. D is an emergency helicopter pilot. I think it was past 2 o'clock when all the guests had gone home. After such a hustle and bustle, there was no time to translate. I also fell asleep immediately in the only room that had been cleaned.
The next morning, as Mr. D was leaving for work, I headed for our next destination, Dallas. At the very least, it was the most exciting night so far, but if it continued like this every day, I wouldn't be able to keep it up.
*People who appear in the text are listed by their initials until their identities can be confirmed.
Contents
Introduction
Until Departure
Seattle
To California
Day Off
Sunnyvale
To La
LA 2 Days
To Tucson
Albuquerque
To Colorado (beginning of Miracle)
Berthoud
Denver
to Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City 2 days
To Texas
San Antonio
Georgetown
Dallas
Houston 2 Days
Benton
Nashville (CAAS)
Roswell
Tampa 2 Days
Miami
Orland 2 Days
Myrtle Beach
Chapel Hill 3 Days
Kingsport
To Indiana
Indiana State Fingerstyle Guitar Festival
To Staten Island
Manhattan
Phillipsburg
Nazareth (Martin Guitar Factory)
To Massachusetts (end of Miracle)
Methuen
To Montreal
To Buffalo
Meadvill A Day Before
Meadvill Ghost Hotel
Detroit
Chicago
Minneapolice
Spin Off #1
Spin Off #2 "EU Tour IN 2008 / Until Departure
Czech 1
Czech 2
London
Liverpool
Chesham
To Germany
Lemgo
Ingolstadt
Bregenz
To Italy
Florence
The Last Gig
Going Home