Greetings from AMTRAK.
By the time you read this, I’ll probably be somewhere in Washington, train-rocked and coffee-jittered. So far I’ve met two Matts and two Mikes, and yes—you’re going to hear about all of them.
Kansas City: 3/3.
Great downtown, super walkable, and it rained the entire time. I hit up The Rino for an open mic and it was off the chain. Total chaos in the best way.
Chicago: also 3/3.
Another off the chain rating. I made a new friend: Matt, a 24-year-old Aussie law grad on a post-uni gap year. We met at the hostel, hit the nicest city beach I didn't know existed, and attended the open mic at Jarvis Square Tavern that night. The scene? Dogs and actual snakes (yes, pythons) just vibing. It was trans night, but they still let me play a tune. Shoutout to that whole room for being the coolest.
Twin Cities: bark-level off the chain.
I found a new home base. My host, Laarni, was a sweet Filipino woman with two sons—one of whom was painting a hyper-realistic still life of some pears. Off. The. Chain.
I went to a blues open jam at a place called Showtime and—MAN—it was the coolest place I’ve ever played. The stage and lights transformed everyone into a psychadelic psychadelic rockstar. Real magic.
Matt (a different Matt) runs the place and booked me for an afternoon slot the next day on his psychadelic little stage in the cafe (see photo below). Off the chain.
Matt’s employee Mike joined us for a park walk and a meal, and they even sent me off with a bag of apples and a ride to the station. Legends.
The other Mike took a photo of me in an orange shirt playing guitar on the train.
That shot?
Off the TRAIN.
