After a rousing Austin show, the Small Ponds split the scene to try and cover a few hours of our long journey to Georgia. In our humiliatingly sober state, we were pulled over in a town called Chandler, Texas due to a rear light outage. The officer was kind and only gave us a warning. He asked what kind of music we play, which Jesse's responded to with "Ummm…it's pop!" Then I immediately poked my head around and said "but with heavy country influences." After which Caitlin popped HER head around and said "plus violin!" The officer smiled and said, "All you had to say was violin." He totally genre profiled us, and we were on the right side of his taste-o-meter.
The Tyler Express Inns & Suites gave us a good deal on seven hours of blissful, bedbug-free sleep before we hit the road, headed for Carollton, Georgia, a mere ten hour drive. There we will play a well-attended house concert at our good friend Chris Laney's, followed by an evening show at a local spot where we'll share the stage with his band.
Texas was an experience. It's probably the most American place that you will ever experience. It's big, dumb, and beautiful. In a place where they execute the most number of people in the country, there's a church on every corner. And across from the prison, there's a prison museum, honoring the system. And they fucking hate government. Which I guess is somewhat understandable, except the roads are terrible, and because of a lack of signage laws in a lot of places, it looks like you let your drunk Aunt Tammy decorate the joint so it ends up looking like a cross between an Applebee's and a junkyard. The contradictions ARE the intriguing part. And a Texas sky is one of the most beautiful sights you've ever seen. Just like a rambling conservative Baptist, it goes on forever, and you're not exactly sure why.
