North America Guitar Tour - spin off
Chesham
July 23, 2008
Early in the morning, I took my first shower in England, and headed to Liverpool Station with Ms. H by bus. When you ride a local vehicle, you can feel the daily life of the place. At first, I was worried because I couldn't use my cell phone, but in the end, I had a very meaningful time. After thanking Ms. H for her help, I headed to Euston Station in London on the same train I took on the way here.
I arrived at Euston Station just after 1 o'clock, stopped by the flat where I stayed on the first day to pick up my luggage, and then headed to Marylebone Station with Mr. Domon, where the train to Chesham departs. During our conversation in the subway with Mr. Domon, who said he would meet me after taking care of some business in London, we talked about how I hadn't seen any of the famous sights, such as Big Ben or London Bridge. I stayed at a guesthouse in Chesham that day, and the next day I go to Cologne, Germany via London, so I didn't have time to do any sightseeing. He told me that if I went outside at the transfer station (I forgot the name), I would be able to see the top of Big Ben, so I left the station and climbed the footbridge to see the top of the building that I often see in photos among the trees. This was where I said goodbye to Mr. Domon for the time being.
I had about 30 minutes until the train was due to depart, so I found a public phone to call Mr. K in Chesham, but I didn't know how to make a call. In Japan, you can make a call by putting in 10 yen, but I didn't know how much to put in. Then, a station cleaner came over to me and asked, "What's wrong?" When I explained the situation, he said, "Show me the coins you have." For a moment, I was wary, but I had no choice but to trust him. He counted the coins with his eyes, said, "This isn't enough," and took out some coins from his pocket and handed them to me. I felt sorry for being wary, but after thanking him, I called Mr. K and told him which train I was planning to take. Since I had been communicating with Mr. K through email, this was the first time I had actually heard his voice. When I finished the phone call and looked around, I saw the cleaner standing and talking to another staff member a little distance away, so I thanked him and told him that the call went through without any problems. I saw a cigarette in his breast pocket, so I gave him a half-full Japanese Kent as a token of my gratitude, and he gladly accepted it.
As the departure time approached, I checked the platform and found that the train was not the one lined up at the end of the ticket gate, but the one at the very end of the platform, so I had to jog with my luggage, but I managed to make it in time. The train was like a rapid train in Japan, which doesn't stop at all stations but doesn't require a limited express ticket. I looked at the train map inside the car and checked Amersham station, where Mr. K was coming to pick me up, and saw that it was in Zone 9. I had only bought a ticket up to Zone 6, and in Japan, you can just pay the fare after getting off, but there was a warning next to the map that said "Fine for over-boarding," and it was quite a lot of money. Domon said, "There is a possibility that the station is unmanned if you go that far away from the center," so I moved while praying that it would be so.
Contrary to my expectations, Amersham was a small station with a staff and a ticket gate. I waited until the flow of people died down, and told the station attendant on the other side of the ticket gate that I only had a ticket up to Zone 6. He asked me, "Why?" When I answered, "I heard that from someone I know," he looked at me a little harshly, then said, "Next time, ask a station attendant," and let me through.
When I went outside, a car stopped in front of me, and someone opened the passenger side window and called my name. It was Mr. K. We chatted about guitars for about 10 minutes on the way to the guesthouse where I was staying that day. I had heard that he was not able to attend CAAS held in Nashville in early July due to poor health, so I was a little worried, but I was relieved to see that he seemed fine.
The accommodation was an ordinary house, and the three rooms on the second floor were guest rooms. I was advised to lock the door when I leave the room because there were other guests besides me, and I was asked if I wanted to leave my luggage and go straight to the venue, or if I wanted to take a rest for a while. I was quite sweaty from moving around with my luggage, so I decided to take a shower. Mr. K would come to pick me up in an hour. After getting out of the shower, I sat on the bed and looked out the window, but I started to doze off, so I set my alarm and lay down for about 15 minutes.
I went outside with my guitar and luggage when I thought Mr. K would be arriving soon. It was a quiet residential area with houses lined up on both sides of a long slope, and the house I was staying was just before the top of the slope. Mr. K arrived shortly after, and the two of us headed to the venue. The venue was a little outside of downtown Chesham, and several of Mr. K's friends were moving tables and arranging chairs. They were all fairly old, so I helped them out after exchanging greetings. There were about 50 seats, and I was worried that so many people would come to such a quiet place, but Mr. K told me that they had received several inquiries in the past few days, and that it would be almost full. I was grateful. When I tried to sit on a stool on the stage, Mr. K told me, "Tommy and Muriel also sat there." Needless to say, I sat down more carefully than usual. The sound check was over in about 5 minutes because it was a simple setup where the sound picked up by the microphone was output from the AER amplifier, and as I was warming up, I played whatever songs came to mind that were not included in the program for that night, and at the end of "Ragpickin'", someone approached me with a book. It was a tutorial book by Richard Suslow that contained the song (I also had the Japanese version). Since it was a guitar club, it was not surprising that there were such niche books, but seeing the happy face of the person made me happy too.
Soon after, I saw Mr. Domon looking in from the window, so I stopped practicing, went outside, and headed out into the town of Chesham. However, it was after 6pm and downtown was deserted, with hardly anyone walking around. I wanted to make sure I had water, so we went into the supermarket to buy a large bottle of water, and when we returned to the venue, there were more people than before, and just as Mr. K had told me, the venue was almost full. It's strange, but the more people there are, the more calm I can play. I can confidently challenge myself even with songs I'm not confident in, and I don't have to worry about making mistakes.
As I was tuning up before the live performance, I looked around and saw that the venue was full except for some of the seats for the staff who were still standing, and there were seats lined up along the wall like auxiliary seats. So I took a commemorative photo from the stage side. After that, Mr. K gave a greeting, and with a break in between, I played very comfortably for about two hours. I was little worried about talk between songs, but ended up talking little too much.
After the show, I had time to chat with the people who came. After all the customers had left, I helped the staff clear away the chairs and tables, and then Mr. K took me back to the house I was staying. We parted ways, promising to meet again someday, and then I went to my room, lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling and soaking in the afterglow for a while, but I couldn't afford to be too relaxed. The next day, a taxi was supposed to come to pick me up just after 6am (arranged by Mr. K), and in order to arrive in Cologne, Germany before 3am, it was a tight schedule that didn't allow me for any missed transfers. I set my alarm for before 5am and went to bed.
*The 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