Georgetown diner Seattle. Grabbing breakfast before heading south. Seattle is seeing us off with a bright morning that lights up the signs on the freeway overpass just outside the diner window. Only two choices: north or south. We’ll take the latter. I say we because I’ve been joined on this leg of the tour by my friend Tim, writer and New York resident, lending this road trip a legit literary edge, and more importantly keeping me company on the drive south.
After last night’s show, sharing a stage with such luminaries of the Seattle scene as Jack Endimo, Portland will have to pull something impressive out of the bag to be remembered. But before moving on we kill time in one last Seattle cafe. I’m still trying to finish off song lyrics and Tim’s writing in his yellow legal pads, sketching the people around us with words
We’ve picked up a car, a big black thing that seems more appropriate for covert government operations than a music tour. We cruise down the interstate across rivers with Native American names and gaze disbelievingly at the snowy white mountain in the distance that looks like a phoney backdrop from a cheap western. The traffic’s slow and I’m worried that we might be late for tonight’s gig. We pass the power stations blazing away to our right and then drop in towards Portland. Its almost pitch black now and we settle for a Motel on the edge of the city; another 2nd floor room with paper cups and a very shallow bath.
“This room smells of biscuits.” Say Tim who is yet to learn that all good American motel rooms smell of biscuits. It’s the ones that smell of other things I worry about. The traffic noise outside isn’t covered by the TV news; as I get my things ready for the gig, CNN whips up scorn for the president and fuels the impending impeachment trial. I may dare to talk politics with people tonight. We are, after all, not only on the west coast but also in Portland, practically the capital of alternative, social minded lifestyles. Time to head to the gig…
Barton
French version published daily on the ROCK MADE IN FRANCE website:
October US tour day 9 – Portland Politics : « Cette chambre sent le biscuit »
