Howdy folks.We're here with Roscoe's parents getting fed, watered and recuperating after the last non stop week of travelling, rehearsing and gigging.
Whatever expectations I had of this trip have been eclipsed by the kindness and generosity of everyone we have met. For people whose experience of America is shaped by media and geopolitical forces, you may not know the genuine warmth and friendliness of the average mid westerner.
Many of the styles of music that we play originated, or at least germinated, in the midwest. It's the land of Dorothy, wide flat fields of corn, long straight wide highways, water towers with the names of towns dotted like sentries along the freeways, and our totem, the great and terrible Tornado.
Midwesterners have an openness to them, a willingness to share the stories of their lives that would horrify most Aussies (welll....sydneysiders anyway). We're a little harder to crack open, (but well worth the effort.), but here, the openness starts with their greeting and doesn't diminish.
To be truthful, some elements of life here seem at face value, a little harsher than back down under. They work longer hours for less pay, less health coverage and some of their struggles seem more fierce. It's close to the bone.
Balanced against that is an optimism and pride, a desire to know each others name, an honesty and a sharing that is remarkable to observe.
Back in the last century, Mark Twain spent a little time down under and wrote despatches and essays as he travelled in and around Australia. In some way I feel like we are reversing his course, returning to his birth state with equally wide eyes and a sense of wonder and engaging in that myth.
We've had a chance to share the stories of those people who we write songs for, and to play them for others who find a commonality, a corresponding resonance in their own tales.
No matter who is on TV shaking their fist or raising their voice, the people that make up the fabric of this place are cut from the same genuine material as anywhere else in the world and it is humbling and touching to be a part of their lives, however briefly.
Tonight we'll be playing on a stage that has been graced by the likes of Los Lobos (personal heroes) and a long, long list of notable musicians. For a couple of blokes from the inner west of Sydney, this is a pretty special moment. Tomorrow we do a special thank you benefit for the people who helped local legend Danny Cox and his wife Mona rebuild their home after a fire.
This is the reality of the Midwest, rebuilding from the ashes with the help of friends and neighbours. This heartland is still strong, still pure and still capable of extending it's goodness into the presence of America in the world