I just returned from the amazing Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco- three days of amazing free (!) music in Golden Gate Park. The weather this year was incredible... sunshine all three days! T-shirts and shorts, bare legs, mom and dad and grandma and babies and dogs and hippies and magic brownies... the park was about to lift off the ground from the good vibes.
One of my favorite acts was Dr. John and the Lower 911. It was my first time seeing him live- and what a venue to see him in! Dr. John is from New Orleans, and he brings all the fun and magic and musical tradition of that city to his work. He had the (very willing and able) crowd in Golden Gate Park partying their booties off on Sunday!
This is the song that first hooked me on Dr. John:
This video for the Scott McKenzie song "San Francisco" has some footage that could have just as well been shot this weekend- dancing girls! headbands! bare feet! and a parade of kooky characters on Haight Street, where we went on Saturday night. Remember, if you're going to San Francisco... be sure to wear some flowers in your hair.
People don't always get why Chris and I love Reno so much.
To most Californians, Reno is a trashy little city that you pass through on your way to all points East (it is on the Highway 80), maybe stopping to eat bad food at a casino buffet and watch people gamble away their social security checks.
I used to feel that way, too, but things changed after I lived in Grass Valley for a few years. Suddenly I saw Reno in a whole new light, and now I am an ambassador for The Biggest Little City On Earth.
So here is my official rundown on Why I Love Reno. Let me make a convert of you!
1. It really IS the biggest little city, if not on earth, certainly within driving distance of my house. The other closest major city, San Francisco, is also one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., and you will never, ever get a hotel there for under $100 a night. In Reno, you can have the grit and glamor of a big city (live music, shows, people on benders, people on vacations, conventions and bachelor parties and cowboys and showgirls) and stay right in the middle of it all for as low as $20 a night. We have even gotten free hotel rooms during the off season.
2. Reno is not pretentious. As a Reno resident put it, "this is the only place where you will see a cowboy, a hipster, a gangster, and a homeless person standing side by side on the street- and they are talking to each other." If Reno was ever cool, that era is long past, and these days it pretends to be nothing that it isn't. Once we played a show in Reno and afterwards we walked to a sports bar with a friend to get a drink at 3am, and I was wearing a red dress and I had a huge beehive (for the record, Amy Winehouse, RIP, totally ripped off my stage 'do), and Sports Bars have never been welcoming to me in the best of circumstances. Chris and our other friend looked like total Indie Rockers.... in any other place, this would have been a Very Bad Idea. Instead we walked in and no one in the entire place batted an eye. Reno has seen it all. Reno is not moved by your exterior.
3. Reno has no Last Call. The party can go for 24 hours. Even if you are not up for it, there is a certain air of excitement just being in a city where the fun doesn't have to stop. This also means that the annual Santa Pub Crawl is the largest and the craziest in the West. People actually fly in to witness the spectacle.
4. Reno actually has a lovely River Walk (see photo below), and the river has been set up so that people can learn kayaking and rafting on it. Right in the middle of town!
5. Reno has the biggest Whole Foods I have ever seen. We have a great Co-op in Grass Valley, but come on- vegan donuts. Enough said.
6. Reno has the best vintage clothing store in the world, Junkees on South Virginia.
7. Reno has the best guitar store on the West Coast, Bizarre Guitar on Odie Boulevard (right next to Bizarre Gun). The key is to talk your way into the basement, where they have every rare and amazing guitar that you have only heard about or seen in a guitar magazine centerfold.
8. Reno has almost no ambient humidity at all, so if you have curly hair (like Chris) you will look like you have just ironed it straight and it's grown four inches. I think this is considered a fashion advantage.
9. Things are legal in Nevada that are illegal almost everywhere else in the U.S., namely, gambling and prostitution. This gives it an edgy, lawless feeling that is unmatched by any other city on the West Coast. That's why we call it the New Orleans of the West!
10. New discovery: Reno has these amazing murals along the River Walk.
I hope I have won the heart of at least one of you out there... Reno is just waiting for you to fall for it. It won't let you down, brave voyagers!
On our most recent Reno weekend getaway, we made a Horoscopes video for the demo of our song "Triphopscotch" (we are working on our EP right now in a real studio! Hooray!.) This is filmed in the window of The Sands hotel in the heart of downtown (our favorite place to stay).
