Making friends is easy.
When you uproot your existence, and carry it to a new part of the world, one of the things you can’t take with you is your friends. We like our friends, they give us a peace and unquestioning lightness of touch that band mates and family simply can’t offer. Being in Austin Texas, all of 4700 miles from the damp pastures of home, has certainly left a lot to miss on the friendship front, but saying that we’ve met some interesting characters too. There’s a guy called Brad who fronts a band called The Tenant. He’s a local hero in downtown Austin, you’ll see him hopping between the bars on 6th street, greeting everyone who passes him and preaching about an imminent house party in the rough part of town, thats gonna be so much better than the one last weekend. He’s your go-to-guy for anyone looking to party/hang-out/spend the whole night searching for the great shindig in the sky. We love him and he’s saved our skins from at least a couple of tight situations. Have a listen to The Tenant.
Lauren’s a girl we met at a bar on east sixth street. We were sat at the table next to her’s, trying to summon the collective courage to talk to her when she suddenly turned to us and introduced herself. She’s a photographer by trade and too quickly her, Blaine and Kapil began a long discussion into the night, covering their love of tattoos, unicorns and the differing merits of Maker’s Mark and Sailor Jerry’s. The courageous girl came back for a stay at Radlands (not that she had anything to fear….) and showed us what Bourbon drinking was all about, she then extinguished the evening’s last spliff and stumbled off to claim the queen-size bed in the master bedroom…Here’s her website.
Nearby to Radlands is a riverside cafe called The Ski Shores. It’s the sort of place where you can pass the afternoon with a basket of fried pickles and a carafe of iced margaritas, watching the river life pass you by. On the weekends theres a guy who strums sad songs on the little stage, and between his set they’ll often play Sublime records, which is a plus. One of the guys that works here is called Chaz. He’s been very good to us, topping up our drinks for no extra charge and spinning yarns about the reptiles of Texas. There’s many things about water moccasins and armadillos that we’d never know had it not been for Chaz… So making friends is easy it seems, and Austin has become a place where we’ve managed to make a few. Strike up a conversation in any of it’s watering holes and night spots and you’re sure to encounter a little warmth.
love
W.