Andrew's blog

As I step into the final hours of the Sing For Your Supper Tour I would be remiss not to write and say thank you to all who came out. This has truly been one of the best road trips of my career. I can't say enough about the quality of the musicians and people out here with us for the last month. From the amazing support of everyone in the Jack's camp, to our exceptional opening acts in Vedera and Fun. It seems so appropriate that the last of the major touring on The Glass Passenger be met with a feeling of completion and peace.

This week would have been surreal just considering the company I've been lucky enough to keep, but add three mornings before sunrise and about 5000 miles in the sky and it's starting to feel like a waking dream. I'm sitting bleary-eyed on our bus in the middle of a Milwaukee freeze, flashing back to the first time I heard Pinkerton in my best friend's bedroom back in high school. It's hard to explain what it feels like to look down and know the band who authored some of my favorite songs of all time is now the name on the back of my tour laminate.

It's early here on the west coast
The giant sleeps
Los Angeles in an hour of deceptive calm

I am not the type of person who wears sunglasses inside, but I would like to be. I dabble in this art from when traveling by plane. I am not certain why I have chosen sky machines and airports as my exception to this unspoken rule, but I will say, unlike most people, I always look forward to flying.

I leave you with a quote from Mr. Bukowski's "portions from a wine-stained notebook"

Why do you write?

"I write as a function. Without it I would fall ill and die. It's as much a part of one as the liver or intestine, and just about as glamorous."

This Saturday as I was preparing to leave for Denver and the beginning of the solo tour, I received a phone call that I had hoped I never would. Matt Cwiertney, a dear friend, and an unrelenting symbol of hope, had lost his long and hard fought battle with cancer. It is not common for me to tread such heavy ground on this page, but Matt was not just a close friend of mine, he was a champion for the causes I fight for and an inspiration to so many of my friends, family and fans. Over the course of the past year or so that we've come to know each other, Matt and his family have taught me more about perseverance, positivity and strength than I can ever put into words. In the midst of his battle, Matt's family rallied around him and the idea that something so difficult could be turned into something beautiful and positive. For two years in a row the Cwiertney family has raised 10s of thousands of dollars for the Light the Night walks in honor of Matt. As he fought for his own life, he and his family selflessly fought for so many others that were suffering. I was honored to get to spend a couple of great days with Matt over this past summer. Even as his condition became more unpredictable, he was unbelievably focused and exceedingly positive. He shot pictures in the barricade at our Orange County show with the Fray and weeks later, despite having received news that he had developed a brain tumor, our families walked side-by-side together at Light the Night. Towards the end of the walk, Matt and I got separated and were unable to say goodbye in person, a reality that leaves me with great sadness. Still, in the midst of this sadness it is impossible not to celebrate the spirit of this incredible Man. The skinny, sweet kid with a huge heart who loved music and taking pictures and just wanted to be well. As I embark on this month of shows, raising money for the Dear Jack Foundation, Matt's story gives me great pause. It is for him and for the countless others who have not been as fortunate as I have that we started the foundation. I would like to dedicate this next month of my travels to Matt and his memory as well as the incredible love and strength embodied by his family. Thank you all for taking a moment to read these words.

I'm writing you from a black sand beach beneath the steep pitch of Canadian forest. I knew I needed an ocean today and I was right. As the fates would have it I found a security guard somewhere outside the tour compound, who, while performing his task virtually in vein happened to be the first of many guides on my path to a rare and excessive peace. It wasn't until I was further down the road that I found a man with a long set of locked dreads and skate board of similar length that I asked again, where I might find this beach.

R I P M J

Boarding the plane today I was a head full of noise. Forced to process some everyday business disaster in the midst of what I'd intended to be a peaceful slipping away; A quiet departure from the brutal, beautiful capital of my endlessly expanding homeland. I felt myself disengage. With my thumb to the red button, pre-flight beverage in hand, and the routine safety belt check nearly completed, my digital Walkman emerged. Discretion is key in moments like this. You know what you need; you need songs.

As a matter of practice for several years now I have commonly documented my day to day in a handful of forms. Obviously in songs, but also through journaling and keeping home movies as well. Its fairly rare, but sometimes I'll use garage (mac's nifty little recording program) or my cell phone answering machine to leave little audio journals, Again, these installations are usually about the mundane details of the every day.

A pair of shoes
A pair of sunglasses
And my mind...

Things I lost on tour

Okay, maybe not my mind, but it read better that way. Thank you to everyone for making it out to the farther from earth tour. We're taking some quality memories home with us in our suitcases today. Big thanks to Matt and Erin and their bands, as well as the Low Vs. Diamond dudes. Taking a few days on a beach to decompress. When I get back Ill get some polaroids from the tour scanned in and online, if you're into that sort of thing.
Peace