Well jeez, isn’t everyone in Oxford really awful nice? We had such a great time, and everyone we met offered to take us out to dinner, or have us over for drinks, or marry us to their beautiful daughters. On our day off we had two (TWO!) barbecue lunches and then fried catfish at Taylor Grocery, which was accompanied by the music of the extremely well-bearded Tate Moore, whose CD I look forward to listening to when I have a freakin’ moment. Then some Taylor residents built a giant bonfire in their backyard for us (not to burn us you understand) and we all had beer. Thank you various Mississippi residents! Tonight: Book People in Austin, TX.

You know, I had every intention of blogging all about all the stops on this book tour, but for some reason the world has conspired to keep me away from the internet. It’s been a long series of places with no (or broken) access. I’m currently at Square Books in Oxford, MS, sipping coffee on the porch high above the town square. John and I are staying with the mayor of Oxford: a generous host, by all accounts a wise and beloved mayor, and the owner of said bookstore. We’ve got a day off, so I intend to catch up on email and website stuff, and hopefully eat some barbecue and drink some beer. Monday Austin, Tuesday home.

Here’s a dull summary of a really fun week:

Baltimore – we played Multi Function Room 5 at the student center of Baltimore University. A couple Spizzwinks showed up, and then we ate burgers somewhere. Wifi was in and out at the hotel.

DC – kicked it at the Warehouse Theater with the always funny Adam Mazmanian, our old friend from New York, now pretending to live in DC.

Richmond – another great time was had at Chop Suey books, where I picked up a copy of “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins, which I have begun to read and enjoy. Richmond gadfly and bookstore owner Ward took us out for good food.

Chapel Hill – another multi function room, this time at UNC. Some strange audio trouble with the PA, though it didn’t really matter. There was sheet cake, as it was David Rees’s father’s birthday. Sheet cake! And after, I hitched a ride with Paul and Storm to our show at The Pour House in Raleigh. We feared a tiny crowd, but it was relatively well-attended, and certainly very fun.

Baltimore again – I split off from David and John to fly to Baltimore for the National Association of Science Writers. Did a 20-minute set for an audience of geeky science writers who for the most part had never heard me before. Always a pleasure to be introduced to that kind of crowd. Again with the bad internet access in the hotel – it didn’t work at all this time, and nobody ever came to fix it. This is where the inbox really started to feel out of control. David flew home after he and John did what sounds like a really fun show in Durham.

Oxford – yesterday I had an early flight to Memphis where I met up with John again, we drove to Oxford and did our thing at Square Books in the afternoon. Gumbo with the mayor and his friends last night. And now – actual wifi! I will answer your emails soon, I promise…

I’m going to break with tradition here and give you at least some advanced notice on a few gigs I’ve got coming up (with the exception of the ones that are coming up right away, which will receive the standard last-minute treatment).

First, the book tour. For the rest of October I’m traveling around with John Hodgman on his paperback tour, playing songs about hoboes and lobsters, wearing a funny hat. Up through and including the 27th, we’ll be joined by our friend David Rees, author of the comics Get Your War On and My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable – he is not to be missed.

10/25 7 PM: Chop Suey Books in Richmond, VA. With David Rees.

10/26 3:30 PM: Bull’s Head Bookshop in Chapel Hill, NC. With David Rees.

And here we sneak in a little Coulton show:
10/26 8 PM: The Pour House in Raleigh, NC. With Paul and Storm.

10/27 7 PM: The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC. Unfortunately, I won’t be at this one, I’ve got to fly back to Baltimore to play at the National Association of Science Writers convention. But David Rees will be.
10/28 4 PM: Square Books in Oxford, MS

10/30 7 PM: Book People in Austin, TX

And then the book tour is over. At this point Coulton Craziness begins. Here’s a Novemberish schedule:

11/4 9 PM: Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore, PA. I open for Derek Chafin.

11/10 10 PM: The People’s Improv Theater in NYC. I’ll be doing a couple of songs as part of The Sound of Young America’s live shows. These will be star studded nights of studly stars.

11/27 8 PM: Birdy’s Bar and Grill in Indianapolis, IN. With Paul and Storm.

11/28 8 PM: Schubas Tavern in Chicago, IL. With Paul and Storm.

11/29 8 PM: Intersection in Grand Rapids, MI. With Paul and Storm.

11/30 8 PM: Wilbert’s in Cleveland, OH. With Paul and Storm.

12/1: Maybe something in Columbus? Working on it…

12/2 9:30 PM: Canal Street Tavern in Dayton, OH. With Paul and Storm.

And there’s more to come in December, but I will save that for another posting. Details about all these shows (all ages, ticket prices, etc.) can be got from the shows page.

I’m putting together a more complete list of what’s coming up, but since this show is TOMORROW I thought I’d mention it here first. I’m playing at The Pour House in Raleigh, NC Thursday at 8 PM, followed by Paul and Storm at 9. Tickets are $8 purchased in advance and $10 at the door. It will be a good show, provided there is some kind of an “audience.”

I’m also looking for a merchandise helper, so if you want some free stuff and eternal gratitude, email me.

I’m on this AM, probably about 10ish. I’ll be following Ask A Ninja and Chris Anderson. One bad thing about going on late in the program is that you get the chance to see how brilliant everyone else is, and then you start to think that maybe songs about zombies aren’t enough anymore. But hey, everybody likes a singalong, right?