Austin - Austin has the vibe. I arrive at night, tired after a long days ride and can immediately feel Im gonna like this place even so I can see nothing in the dark that I would like. Just the vibe. Jason is my Austin host and we make friends sitting in his back yard mazed up with christmas lights and bodies of mannequins. Beautiful night, beautiful house and a cozy host - life doesnt get much better after 200+ miles on a bike. I think I might be in love with this town. The vibe, the nicest honest people I ever met in the country and its a capital of live music, what else would you want, is what Im thinking to myself walking around town absorbing it into me when in front of Texas university campus I stumble on this street musician playing ukulele with a dog wrapped around his neck. Old punk looking, rainbow colored hair, tattoos overlapping on his exposed skin and dog named Daria laying on his neck like a pretty scarf. I stop and gorge. Theres an old beat-up guitar next him an I ask why it only has 3 strings on it? He shows me how the headstock, that part where you tune guitar, has broken off. Now, if you know me at all, you will know that Im in the bests place when I get to fix something and have fixed 2 similarly broken guitar necks in my short carpentry carrier. So Im like, hey Caster, if you point to the hardware shop to get some stuff I can fix it right up for you brother. Apparently we are standing right next to shop and in 2 shakes of a lambs tale I start the operation that involves glue, some aluminum wire and love. As payment for my labour I take a few portraits of a lovely couple and head to the museum to find out how Texas is all about oil and how americans kicked out Indians and Mexicans to get the black gold. Its so pretty in Austin, I totally want to come live here. That Vibe! So I make a few friends, get a new back (it says front on it tho..) tire for me Splinter and upon saying goodbyes to my lovely host Jason, Splinter wont start. Just wont. He doesnt want to leave this beautiful oasis and drive across cactus populated deserts I guess. I get it, me neither. Good old bumpstart and we are on the way towards San Angelo. The skies of Texas is like, man. Like someone increased saturation by 36%. So huge and wast and pretty and warm. So my next host lives 20 miles south of San angelo and I arrive around 6pm. Tiny town called Cristoval on the way to Eldorado. My maps dont work in this neck of the woods so I give a call and Darren is like hey baby, whats up?! You at the church? Go right, straight up and after 8 blocks you will see a bunch of old Mercs, thats my house, come in, make yourself at home, theres food and beer in the fridge, eat it all! And if you want come over to town meet me, Im gonna be rehearsing with this band. Two words - Jack Pot. So I find his place and my jaw drops. Theres 2,5 old Mercedes parked up front, just so you know, its my favorite car in the whole world. So I walk around those babes for a bit and brave myself to walk inside already expecting to find something amazing. Door is unlocked and I let myself in. What I find inside is nothing short of heaven. Paradise. Let me try and describe. First thing I see is old guitars hanging on the walls, theres 2 walls dedicated for vinyls and cds, some more guitars, Rhodes electric piano along with some other OLD keyboards, double bass in the corner along with more guitars, banjos, mandolins, old stuff hanging on the walls and all the decorations here is like 60 american recording studio except of Apple computer. My hands and jaw drops. Theres steel guitars, lap guitars, everything I ever dreamed to play, add the sweet 6pm thick yellow light illuminating the room.. Man, it makes me seriously weak in the knees. How on earth can I be so blessed. I mean, why? Once Darren finishes his rehearsal down town we meet up and hes a sort of man you fall in love instantly. If you splice Robbin Williams and Kevin Spacey together you would get close to describing who Darren is, but on top of being one of the funniest, sharpest people I ever met hes also an incredibly gifted musician who fixes old cars and houses in the day to play music at night. I sit with my head buzzing thinking how I would love to spend weeks with this amazing man painting houses, fixing cars, playing music and laughing my ass off his non stop flow of wittiness.. But the road ahead is long and come the morning I have to continue pushing towards west coast. So we do a little tour around Cristoval in an beautiful (300TD!) old Merc and after a true american hearty breakfast + 2 coffees Im heading towards the wast horizons of Texas. Darren, you truly are the salt of this earth and I want to be you when I grow up, sir.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 14:30:42 +0000