2004-07-11 - 9:06 a.m.

I broke my accordion in Madison.

I've never been to Wisconsin. I love cheese and there's a place to get some at every major highway stop. Me and Rotation split some cheese curds, which are hard to find.

I got picked up at the airport by my old roommate's sister, Jess. She showed me the Oscar Mayer factory and as we passed by, it smelled like sweet cooked meat. I shit you not. It didn't smell like I thought it would.

I met Common Rotation for the first time at this show. It was like a first day of school with them for I would be sharing the car with them for the whole trip and didn't know what to expect. They're all nice fellows.

My accordion broke during sound check. I had just had it serviced the day before. I took it downstairs and opened it up and the reeds on the bass side had fallen out. My guy didn't put the pins back in and he'd given me a lecture on how I need to have a real service done to my axe if I'm gonna be a professional. So, he half-ass fixed it. And that part wasn't broken.

You learn how to fix accordions as they break. Linnel and Finch told me that and I've been learning a lot lately.

I put the reeds back in and waited til showtime. I was gonna eat but I remembered that I've thrown up during shows with meals. So, I left it out.

During the first song, I noticed something wrong. And I noticed that it was still messed up. Awesome.

My chord buttons weren't working right. So, I played only songs that used root notes in the bass. It definitely affected my performance. My confidence level was down and so was my poker face. I did best I could at being the greatest entertainer possible and from the crowd's response it was working but I was definitely off by playing a broken accordion.