Damion Wolfe

BOOMERANG TOUR 2010:

FROM PORTLAND

Been shuffling around this cafe friendly town the last couple of days, and enjoying the chance to imbibe from its wonder. I've been really needing to get out and see some live shows lately. Martin Sexton was playing the same night I was in Seattle but by the time I finished it was too late to make it down. So last night I saw that Tracy Bonham was playing in Portland-she had the hit "Mother, Mother" from the mid-90's, a great alt. rock pop sorta piece. My ol' music partner, Drew (Wolfe-Patrick), and I used to cover it. I was pleasantly blown away by Tracy's work. It was just her solo, looping a lot of guitar and violin, but in a way that was popsensical and compositional. She's truly an example of a great, commercial songwriter, who somehow has been eluded by the mainstream. It was a very intimate show (i think there were around 40 people). As a writer I always fear subconcious mimicry of someone, or their music, who I admire so I think that's one reason I don't go to more shows. But besides the pure admiration of this great woman's talent it turned up the fire under my ass to keep pushing the boundaries and making things tighter. I find myself tending to lose sight and focus sometimes, especially when I haven't played for a couple of days, and after travelling alone for a while.

On a side note writing about Tracy made me think about how some people like to compare an artist (in this case me) to others. It used to bother me for various reasons all related to some squeamish/bullshit sense of pride, but now I find it more complimentary than anything....because more times than not they mean it in a good way. On this tour I've heard "Jason Mraz" and "Phish". I haven't heard "Keller Williams" yet, but I usually get that one a lot as well. Now that I've mentioned this I think I'll keep a running tab on comparisons through the tour for fun.

Gotta bunch of shows this week and looking forward to all of them. Thanks for reading,

Damion

PAC NW

Yowsa, Yowsa, Yowsa!!!!!.....sorry, I was channeling Richie Cunningham for a second. I'm sitting here in the beautiful, funkified Hawthorne District in Portland, OR. After I finished up last night in Puyallup, I scooted on down to do some city scouting for the next couple of days. If I can kick myself in the butt enough, maybe I'll do an open mic and/or busk....I'm still blowing off the busking thing. I really want to in theory, but it's kinda scary you know? Ok, enough excuses....I will do it soon.

Saturday night I played at Puyallup in an awesome section of Seattle-Queen Anne St....really cool vibe and met some cool folks. I opened for "Dave Hates Chico" a smooth sounding acoustic duo from the area with nice songs. I didn't have much of a crowd but the crowd was nice....Mike (Debbie from D.C.'s friend) came out, and I also met fellow East Coasters Pete and Cecile. I was embraced by the good vibes of the Dave Hates Chico guys, and the 2 young 'uns who were dancing and shaking eggs to "Choosing Matter" (and Mom of course). Later I went down the road and hung out with Mike and his pal Brian, and his pal Brian's friends, and their friends...it was a friendly night!

Sunday I performed at one of the Forza Coffee locations in Puyallup, WA. Again, not much of a crowd in quantity but a really, really quality crowd. I must say I was very unsatisfied with my performance that night...I will be doing a little practicing this week. Thanks to Carla and her kids, as well as Mark and Stephanie, and to barista Windy for taking care of me. Carla was very complimentary with her facebook and posting as well as Mark and Stephanie who offered kind remarks and insight into more local venues.

I hope some of you had a chance to hear the ParadizeRadio.com interview with DJ Duckee last week. I really enjoyed talking with her and answering questions from the listeners....I felt like a "star" (ok, perhaps a small asteroid...) for a few minutes. It was great!!

Thanks again to everyone who's been out, and been sending people out. I picked up a couple of extra Forza Coffee dates and 2 different Tacoma locations this week (Wed. and Sun.). Please check out this website for more info. Oh, and if you didn't have a chance to pick up a CD you can download songs at Itunes, Amazon, Emusic, and several other online stores. Of my pre-recorded songs getting attention on the tour they seem to be "CARRY ME", "BEAUTIFUL BETHANY BARISTA GIRL", "DO THE MATH" and "BRITTANY" in particular.

Thanks for reading,
Damion

w/Pete and Cecile at El Diablo Coffee-Seattle, WA 5/15

w/Mike at El Diablo Coffee-Seattle, WA 5/15

w/Mark and Stephanie at Forza Coffee-Puyallup, WA 5/16

Sunday I headed westward, traipsing along the 94 pass through North Dakota where I saw the Painted Canyon. Very cool and the name really states it clearly...except the several "beautifuls, and marvelouses to the 15th power" that should precede the name. I made it into Montana and then over to Coeur D' Alene, Idaho where I really had the chance to relax in this cool little town on the lake and reconnect with my guitar and the sun. The next day I had to stop in Spokane to have my teeth poked at and then it was onward to Tacoma.

As some of you know this tour is also a segue into a move for me to the West Coast. Not that I mean to be hystrionically and tearfully candid, but the last week and a half has been a roller coaster ride of grieving my friends, family and home that I've known for many years. I knew that there was a chance of this when I was planning it all...the doubt, the uncertainty, etc... but still it's a good journey, and I'm fortunate to have this chance. In the meantime, I'm thankful to all the wonderful new people I've been meeting along the way who've opened their ears and hearts to my music, AND to my good people back East who've been staying in touch and sending good vibes.
Along the way I've been fortunate enough to still be adding dates (see the schedule page). The people at Forza in the Tacoma/Seattle area have been very gracious to me in this regard.

Thursday, I was able to perform again at The Mandolin Cafe in Tacoma. The slow nights in Tacoma always seem to find me there, yet I still had a gracious and friendly crowd with Dennis, Wanda, Raul, Steve, Karen, Courtney, Nick, Ryan and the guys that checked me out online and came down for a listen (I think that's coolest thing!!!).

This was a semblance of the set that night:

SET 1

LITTLE TINY
OPTION OUT
GET UP GET OVER
CARRY ME
OLD GUNS
RASPBERRY BERET
97
DO THE MATH
FORBIDDEN LOVE/TREASURE

SET 2

BEAUTIFUL BETHANY BARISTA GIRL
SOME MORE
SMALL MUSEUM
BE YOUR MAN
MOUNTAIN
??

I got to Seattle today where I met up with Rudy...a super cool guy who booked me at El Diablo Saturday night. Later that afternoon I rolled over to Seattle for my first Forza show on this tour. Dave, Susan, Alan, Kelsie, Kristina, Katrina, Wendy, Allie, Bethany, Raymond, Megan, Brittany and the rest were all super cool. Logan was a super cool cat who did the opening set. Really good singing. I'm looking forward to possibly going back to this Forza location later this summer.

Here was my set:

LITTLE TINY
BEAUTIFUL BETHANY BARISTA GIRL (dedicated to Bethany, Katrina, Brittany, Kristina and Kelsie-the beautiful baristas at FORZA)
BE YOUR MAN
DO THE MATH
LOOKING OUT MY BACK DOOR
CARRY ME
FORBIDDEN LOVE/TREASURE
?

I hope you have a chance to check out the pictures I've been posting from the tour. Thanks to all of you for reading and checking in.

Damion

w/Courtney at Mandolin Cafe-Tacoma, WA 5/13

w/Dennis at Mandolin Cafe-Tacoma, WA 5/13

w/Bethany, Katrina, Brittany and Kelsie at Forza-Seattle, WA 5/14

w/Dave, Susan and Kristina at Forza-Seattle, WA 5/14

MINNEAPOLIEEEEEE

Just a quick note about Minneapolis. Had a fun show last night at Fire Roast Mountain Cafe. At first I was worried because most of the few people who were there got up and moved into the back room right as i was beginning to play-always great for the musician ego...but in all fairness (to me...lol!) it was a small place and they wanted to talk amongst themselves. My friend Christy came and brought some of her friends. Although they were mostly the only one's who showed up that night, I'm really grateful for their support. Jesse, Graham, Al and Smae were super cool and all bought cds. Thanks guys!!

Christy came with her list of requests and then I filled in the holes with this line up:

LITTLE TINY
OLD GUNS
HERE COMES LOVE
BRITTANY (hadn't played that one in awhile)
DO THE MATH
BESSIE
97
BE YOUR MAN
SOME MORE

SET 2:

3 AGAIN
WRAP YOU UP
BOOMERANG DREAMER
CHOOSING MATTER

Afterwords Christy and I got to catch up and she took me to this super duper pizza place (it was so super duper that I can't remember the name), yet it's super duperness was an explosive kaleidoscope of flavor! Dietary restrictions are part of this musician's tour regime (have to maintain the keith richards figure you know...), but I'm taking the next day to splurge and put on a couple of pounds.

Tonight I'm going to do some exploring...maybe catch and open mic or show. Thanks for reading and happy mother's day!

Damion

w/Christy at Fire Roast Mountain Cafe

w/Dave and Lisa, owners of Fire Roast Mountain Cafe-Minneapolis

Smae, Christy, Jesse, Al and Graham at Fire Roast Mountain

THE MIDDLE

If you've never done a moderate meander through the mid-west, I would advise it some day. I have a very soft spot for this part of the country...perhaps because it's still a new discovery to me, or perhaps because the mass consciousness of the peeps here seem to be a bit more genteel. Whatever seeds my new fascination, I always enjoy a visit here. The ironic thing is that I don't necessarily feel like my music is incredibly well taken to here, but the people are still cool. There is also something to be said about the serenity of open corn fields and Mother Earth's bastion of brilliance spread before you-prodigious and sublime.

I had a great time playing at The Elbo Room in Chicago on Thursday. It was the first time I'd been on the bill at a "Music Club" in quite sometime-you know a venue that's not a straight up coffee shop but not a cover song bar either. There was actually a very cool soundman-Brad, and a light/smoke machine dude-Pat. Yes, I did a say smoke machine, and brother did that thing-a-ma-jig keep me laughing all through my set!! Every time it came on there would be a little hi-hat noise and another sound vaguely reminiscant of a pile-driver (I used to work construction). It was great! The crowd was very receptive and I ended up playing a longer set because a couple of the other bands had bailed. I want to give a shout out to Betsy, Erin and Hale for coming down to see me, and also the couple that I met who checked me out online before they came down. It's great to see that people are still willing to take a chance on new music. Much thanks to Betsy also for letting me crash on her couch! There was a great band after me from Indiana called the Ray Anthony Band. Definitely worth checking out. My set that night was something like this:

LITTLE TINY
GET UP GET OVER
3 AGAIN
99 RED BALLOONS/SOME MORE
CARRY ME
BE YOUR MAN
RASPBERRY BERET
CHOOSING MATTER
BOOMERANG DREAMER
WRAP YOU UP

Friday I was hauling butt to get to Des Moines. I'd forgotten that it was a 5 and a half hour drive, but I got there in time (and even got a 10 minute power nap in between). I was returning for a show at Amici's Espresso in downtown Des Moines. I was really glad to see Barista Tony again and the Manager, Rachel. These guys are super sweet and I want to say thanks for having me back. It was great to catch up with them. This time through we had more of a crowd- thanks to those that were hanging out and listening. I love playing that room too because of the great acoustics. The set was:

CARRY ME
LITTLE TINY
THREE AGAIN
OLD GUNS
HERE COMES LOVE
97
DO THE MATH
BE YOUR MAN
BESSIE
FORBIDDEN LOVE/TREASURE

SET 2:

CHOOSING MATTER
BOOMERANG DREAMER
BUST A MOVE
SOME MORE

Now it's upward (and over a bit) to Minneapolis. This will be my first ever show in Minneapolis so I'm a bit excited and apprehensive at the same time. Thank you all for reading and I hope everyone is doing well. Hello to all my family and friends!

Damion

w/Erin, Hale and Betsy at Elbo Room-Chicago

w/Brad and Pat at Elbo Room-Chicago

w/Tony and Rachel at Amici's Espresso-Des Moines

The Boomerang Dreamer Tour has started off with a good start. I rolled up the PA Turnpike to Pittsburgh on Tuesday....as usual a bit tired and overwhelmed at the fear of not totally being prepared for the tour. Nonetheless it was a short, but fun set at Niko's Coffee. I like Pittsburgh alot, but for the most part I seem to perform to sparse crowds there. Regardless, it was still fun as I was met by a warm greeting from the Manager, Hogan. He, his wife and daughter hung out for the show as well as Pittsburgh Esquire, Ryan Mergl, and the committed Pat and Lacey-who drove all the way down from Erie (2 hours!).

Although this is not quite the sequence, the set that night was something like this:

MERCY SWEET GIRL
GET UP GET OVER
3 AGAIN
HERE COMES LOVE
CARRY ME
BOOMERANG DREAMER
WORLD WAS BETTER
WRAP YOU UP
CHOOSING MATTER

After the show Mergl, Pat, Lacey and I went out for some grub. I forgot that I was in city of the Pittsburgh Salad (salad, french fries and steak), so I naturally indulged myself. Thanks to Mergl and Penny for letting me crash that night, and to Pat and Lacey for dinner.

Wednesday (Cinco De Mayo) I officially rolled into the midwest for the 7 hour drive to Lafayette, IN. I've never been here before but was effervescently anticipating the venture to a new town. This was a straight up bar gig-not too many originals, but alot of fun. The crowd was fun and engaging, and one the owners is a big fan of "Wrap You Up". I'd like to thank owners Dan, Amy and Allen for the booking that night. Dan is the brother of Dave, who's married to Jenn, who are both friends from the Dover, DE days. So sometimes it really is about who you know, AND, I was glad that I knew them... Thanks to Dan too for letting me crash.

So today it's off to Chicago for my first time ever show in The Windy City (at The Elbo Room).

Thanks for reading,
Damion

w/Za Squared-Hon Bar, Baltimore

w/Raymond and Debbie-Hon Bar, Baltimore

rockin' w/Misty-Hon Bar, Baltimore

Cal Bob-Hon Bar, Baltimore

w/Laurie-Hon Bar, Baltimore

Brett and Suzie-Hon Bar, Baltimore

Chris at Hon Bar-Baltimore

Mellisa at Hon Bar in Baltimore

Kathy at Hon Bar-Baltimore

w/Hogan at Niko's Coffee-Pittsburgh

w/Mergl, Lacey and Pat at Niko's-Pittsburgh

Darren and Scott-Ace's Pub-Lafayette, IN

Owners of Ace's Pub-Allan, Amy and Dan-Lafayette, IN