For those who were not able to attend BÜDDIESfest in Tillsonburg, Ontario July 11-13, those who might want a look back, or those who maybe want to hear what it was like from the perspective of a lower-mid-level name on the bill, here’s a summary of my road blogs from the festival and the two shows supporting Chad Price Peace Coalition leading up to it.

Road Blog
July 9, 2025
Toledo, Ohio

Welcome back – First road blog since Baltimore, on May 17th. This weekend I’m heading to BuddiesFest in Tillsonburg, Ontario for three days of music by a couple dozen great bands, and somehow I’m in that mix too, so I’m very grateful, excited, and anxious as it approaches. A few weeks back buddy Chad Price (Drag The River/ALL) contacted me about opening a couple Midwest warm-up shows he was doing on his way to Tillsonburg and of course I was on board. My pal Adam Aymor (current The Wild Honey Collective , ex-Cheap Girls) offered up his pedal-steel talents so we’re doing this run as a duo, which is a lot of fun for me and adds a little something special to the mix that I haven’t done before for these shows.

Adam arrived at my place mid-afternoon and we ran through the set for just the second time ever. It was a little rough around the edges in some parts but overall coming together. TrooperGirl22 got home from work as we were heading out and she can’t make the shows this week so we ran through “Huckleberry” for her so she could have a taste. We packed up, loaded out, and hit Taco Bell on the way to the highway. TB has been my nemesis post-Covid. They used to be amazing, then they took a nose-dive in quality and a high-dive in prices, but they seem to have the quality part mostly figured out again anyhow. The burrito supreme was just what the doctor ordered and we were southbound. Back-to-back versions of “Foolin’” by Def Leppard was the soundtrack, one live from the LA Forum, NYE 1983, which Adam loved, and the Pyromania studio version. The drive was uneventful and we pulled into Frankie’s in Toledo just after 6PM.

Chad and his band Chad Price Peace Coalition were unloading their van and we said hello’s and loaded in ourselves. We were up first so we set up in front of the drum kit and did a quick soundcheck. Frankie’s is a bar that I’ve been playing since 1991 - February 24 to be exact - and even through there was a 16-year block that I didn’t play there (returning June 2007) it always feels like home. A deep bar with the band room on the left/south and a bar running along the north wall, and pool tables and dart boards in the right/north room, where band merch is also set up. I always remember the Doughboys mural on the back wall back in those early days, which seemed so niche but so awesome to us 21 year-old fans when we'd go down and play Sunday matinees organized by John Stabb from Government Issue.

Adam and I had a whiskey and chatted with Chad and his band a bit while doors opened and we waited to go on. We played at 8pm for about 40 minutes and agreed it was our best set yet (after the two practices) and felt good about it. Top-notch sound at Frankie’s, always, and good people there. After us The Rob Matterhorn Band went on and really impressed us with fantastic songs, playing, and guitar tones. They had it all going on. The guitars played off each other, not just duplicating the parts as we see so often, the bassist Joe sang some fantastic harmonies, and it was a lot of fun. Pretty sure I’ll be crossing paths with these dudes again.

The Chad Price Peace Coalition went on around 10 and did about 10-14 great songs, ranging from sparse, slower numbers to upbeat rockers. Chad’s voice is in fine form, and his songs are awesome. The band, flown in to the Midwest for this run from Portland, Oregon, were killer, playing appropriate for the songs and laying back when called for. The guitar solo in the last song went on for a while and was great – in a “Cortez the Killer”/”Free Bird” sort if way, without any pretense. Haven't heard an SG sound that buttery and stay in tune that well in a while. I’ve only ever seen Chad with ALL, and only once, I think (not sure), but he’s got three sets at BuddiesFest and we’re playing with him again in Windsor tonight on the way there, so I’m looking forward to taking it in again.

After their set we sold a little merch, said our goodbyes and “good luck at the border,” and headed back north to Michigan. We got home around 12:30am and crashed out pretty quickly. This was my 14th show in Toledo and Chad’s first, as far as he can remember. Frankie’s is always a good time and even though the Upper Peninsula was a pretty good trade for Toledo after the Toledo War, I always enjoy playing there.

Today we head to Windsor, Ontario, with the only thing between being the stressful Canadian border crossing. Knock on wood it’s been fine the last few times, so I’m trying to be chill about it. Any Detroit Buddies who can should come over for the show tonight at Meteor (another great room), and support Chad and us while we make our way to BuddiesFest. They’ve got a great scene in Windsor too, and it’s been a couple years for me. Dean George is playing too, we're up first. See ya there! Xx

TOLEDO GALLERY:

Road Blog
July 10, 2025
Windsor, Ontario

Adam Wild Honey Collective and I left the house around 2pm and headed for the Ambassador Bridge to Canada. It was smooth sailing until we got to customs, where the line of cars was 20-deep. 30 minutes later we were finally at the front of the line where the customs agent was pleasant enough and curious about the music festival we were heading to. Just as we the thought we were going to be released into the beautiful Canadian wilderness, he slapped the yellow slip under the windshield wiper and sent us to immigration for what he called “a routine search, nothing to be worried about.”

The agent in immigration was also fairly pleasant and a bit chatty while a stern blonde woman and short but bulky French-Canadian dude gave our vehicle a pretty good once-over. She wasn’t messing around and seemed overly curious about my Claritin stash and the ear-plug holders on my keychain. They seemed almost frustrated that they didn’t find anything, but there was also a non-aggressive “just doing our job” aspect to it as they told the chatty agent who was now giving Adam his employment history with the Canadian government that it was ok to release us. I’ve never been turned away at the border, knock on wood, but it’s always stressful as hell and huge sigh of relief to see that “Welcome to Canada” sign on the other side of customs.

We stopped for some gnocchi pasta (Adam) and Indian Butter Chicken (me) at a place called Fusion Pasta and Bowl where the owner and sole human in the place was (justifiably) complaining about how difficult it is right now being in a border city to the hostile and irrational US government, and how until a couple months ago he would go to the U.S. every week for groceries and other goods, but now it’s too difficult and too expensive. After that we stopped at the LCBO (Liquor Control Bureau of Ontario) for some motel hooch and there wasn’t a bottle of American whiskey to be found. The manager explained that it’s a reaction to the tariffs and hostility from the U.S. in recent months, and how the Jack Daniels plant in Louisville that was solely distilling for Canada has closed. A little research shows that this isn’t really the case, and he has his facts and details a bit skewed, but it’s still a sign of the strained relationship the U.S. has created with our best neighbor. I had to begrudgingly settle for Jameson’s. Any way you look at it, it sucks.

A quick stop at an Asian supermarket (a debacle of a detour of its own) and were chilling out in our AirBB for an hour or two before the show. It’s a nice, but sparsely furnished basement apartment in a multi-unit building just off downtown Windsor. Some modification to the lighting was needed, but it was perfectly acceptable accommodations for the night.

We loaded into Meteor a little after 7pm, again, as in Toledo, pulling up just as Chad Price Peace Coalition were finishing their load-in. It’s a great room, above a sushi restaurant and across from the Phog Lounge, where the Tucos have played a couple times. Troopergirl22 and I saw The Sadies at Meteor a year or two back and I was happy to play there. The bartender Jessie is an old friend of mine from the band Black-Eyed Susan, who the Tucos played with at the Windsor Beer Exchange around 2018 or so. We got caught up on our group of common friends (T.J, Casie, Mia) and it was nice to see her again. I took a walk to a nearby convenience store to get some Rolaids on account of the butter chicken and called TrooperGirl22, who is keeping the house standing and our new baby opossum visitor fed with fresh apples.

We went on at 9pm to a slightly better crowd than we had in Toledo and played what we thought was our best set yet. Adam’s got the songs down and we’re starting to get into some more advanced dynamics and playing off each other. We had a good time up there, got a good response, and left the stage content. After us Dean George went on, a 3-piece with no drummer, and played some quirky and fun indie-pop and punk songs. He’s got a great voice and a fun self-deprecating humor on stage, and the songs were strong. He closed with a solo cover of “Sorrow” by Bad Religion that had the crowd singing along on the choruses – it was great! Chad Price Peace Coalition went on around 11pm and played a looser, slightly more rocking set that they did in Toledo, equally killer, just a little more raucous last night, if that makes sense. When they wrapped up we sold some merch, took a few photos with Trish, and headed back to the AirBB for a nightcap.

Adam and I have no shortage of touring and traveling war stories to share (he has me surpasses x10 in that department), and theories and thoughts about songs and the approach to playing and the music biz in general, so the hours seem to pass quickly behind tales of this crazy girl in Berlin or this bathroom incident in Akron, or the dynamic of that one band back home, on and on. We’re a couple cackling hens at the end of the day. Before we knew it, it was after 2am and time for nighty-night. I crashed pretty hard, which I probably could have just as well four hours earlier on a normal night. Perpetual exhaustion isn’t a great way to go through life, but I just don’t want to miss anything.

Big thanks to Ian and Shawn at Meteor for being awesome, and to Chad and Dean for a great show last night. We’ll see ya tonight in Tillsonburg for the kickoff of Buddies Fest! xx

WINDSOR GALLERY:

Road Blog
July 11, 2025
Tillsonburg, Ontario

The drive from Windsor to our AirBB just southeast of Tillsonburg was fairly painless, getting off the 401 and onto county roads through endless corn fields after about an hour. We were greeted in the driveway by a herd of goats and our Dutch married couple hosts who were VERY Dutch and about as sweet as can be, warning us not to use the microwave and toaster oven at the same time lest we’d kill the power. After a half hour trying to decipher her terrible handwriting we decoded the Wi-Fi password had a short downtime window to catch up with the world.

We headed into town in time to get some dinner at The Mill and see our pals Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price play in Drag The River. I saw the organizer Ben and the owner Mandy right off with big hugs and thanks so much for having me. As I inhaled my amazing turkey club and Mill IPA Greg Norton (Hüsker Dü/UltraBomb!) came over to the table for a quick chat, then owner Patrick stopped by to say hello. These are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Downstairs in Paddy’s Underground it was packed to the gills and about 100°F and sticky as hell down there, but gloriously awesome, kinda like seeing ALL and Doughboys at Blondie's in Detroit in August of `88, only in a significantly nicer setting. DTR went on as a duo and played an awesome set to kick off the festival. I said hello to pal Trevor, Detroit pals Michael, and Rebekah and Vancouver bud Brock (SLIP~ons/Doughboys) then headed outside to catch the next band.

The next couple hours are a bit of a blur, seeing friends, meeting new ones, watching bands, drinking beers. Did some major bonding with SLIP~ons guitarist Rob over the first two Motley Crue and Cinderella albums and the genius of Jake E. Lee.

Then it was time to get to work. I grabbed my Reverend Guitars PA1 and headed back downstairs into Paddy’s and strategized the Hüsker Dü setlist with Snodgrass. At 7:45 Jon, Greg and Rad Owl drummer David took the stage to the packed room and went into “Do You Remember” then “Celebrated Summer.” A couple songs in I strapped on the guitar and Greg kicked off the bass chords into “It’s Not Funny Anymore,” then into “Flip Your Wig” next, which I sang. Various people came up and down to play guitar and sing - too many to mention - and Brock played drums and sang “Green Eyes,” which was great. I did, I dunno, 6-8 tunes, three of which I’d practiced a little based on the early plans, the rest I didn't, and didn’t F `em up too bad except a chord here or there. Not gonna get all mushy on ya, Princess, but it was a big fuckin’ deal for me to be up there. Ex-Ultrabomb singer/guitarist Finny McConnell made a surprise appearance on closers “Makes No Sense at All” and “New Day Rising” and it was cool to see him and Greg play again.

After toweling off and texting every person I’ve ever met in my entire life and some I haven't yet about what had just gone down we headed back down to the main stage and hung with The Flatliners guys and watched Dillinger Four play. Adam Wild Honey Collective pretty much knows everyone from his touring days with a previous band so he’s no stranger to this group either. There’s no whiskey out there so we wrapped up The Mill portion of the night back at Paddy’s and caught a GREAT set by Christy Hunt before heading into town and checking out a couple killer punk bands at the Copper Top – JSM from Calgary and The McBains from right here in Tillsonburg, with pal Trevor on guitar. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a punk show like this. It was amazing.

Adam was Designated Driver and got us safely back to the goat farm in a downpour where we chatted over a nightcap and crashed out after 2am. What a day. So many people I didn’t even mention. See y’all in a few hours for day two. Adam & I play tonight at 7:30, in Paddy’s, right when ALL ( Scott set ) finishes, and I know you ain’t missing that, so please get your asses down there quickly. I’m going on about 14 total hours of sleep over the last four days, so doing good over here. xx

BUDDIESFest / Tillsonburg - Night One Gallery:

Road Blog
July 12, 2025
Tillsonburg, Ontario

Day two of BuddiesFest kicked off with a mid-level hangover, ringing ears, and the bleats of the goat heard under a pulsating sun, 90°+ temps, and high humidity. I called home to check on TrooperGirl22 who seems to be enjoying some peace and quiet in my absence. The hosts of our AirBB were cleaning out their massive RV they’d just sold, and the nice Dutch lady Nellie said in her very thick accent “Do you have a headache today, hahaha!” And I explained that yes, I had a headache and I wasn’t driving last night so I overdid it a bit with the partying, and she so nicely said if we both wanted to party tonight she would come into town to get us. That was amazingly kind, and I actually pondered it for a moment, but it doesn’t really work that way with gear in the vehicle and all that.

And of course it was soon uncovered that Adam Wild Honey Collective and I were musicians (pro-tip: don’t tell your potential Airbnb hosts you're musicians in advance if you don’t want your reservation cancelled). “Ooooh zere is a music fest in Tillsonburg?!” Pretty soon the husband joined in, who’s English isn’t quite as good, and within moments she’d face-timed her son in The Netherlands who is also a musician. “It is the heavy, how do you say…Heavy…” Metal? I asked. “Yes! Ze heavy metal! I do not like it so much but he has fun.” So a moment later, at her insistence, I’m on her face-time with this dude in the Netherlands and he’s in his practice space and shows me the kick drum head “Rearviewmirror.” They’re a major Pearl Jam tribute band, so much so that they’d recently had a call with PJ’s management and legal team who has been “watching them” and they had to change a couple things around with their branding, but ultimately got the blessing of Eddie Vedder & company. Anyhow, sounds like they’re kind of a big deal as tribute bands go and he was a pleasant dude and it was just one of those crazy life experiences on the road that was out of the ordinary from the day to day. Check out RearViewMirror and tell `em Nellie sent ya, via Jeremy Porter.

We headed into Tillsonburg and immediately got the records and guitars out of the steamy vehicle and had a great chat with sound engineer Billy and his fiancé/co-helper and also an amazing person Amanda, then headed upstairs, said hi to Jon Snodgrass, and met up with buddies Jason (Detroit) and Woody (Toronto via Newfoundland) and had some great conversation over vegetable juice and poutine. Woody is a vegan (he'll tell ya himself within eight seconds of an introduction) and had a list of requirements for the kitchen staff that was literally longer than the Bible and twice as complicated. You could see my eyes roll from Kitchener. As always, the staff at The Mill was absolutely aces and made his falafel plate almost perfect (like, 99.999%) on the first try and absolutely perfect on the second try. I gave the waitress a wink and a nice tip for her trouble. I love Woody but can't let an opportunity to give him some shit pass by unexploited.

Chad Price Peace Coalition, who we’ve been playing with leading up to BuddiesFest, went on the outdoor stage at 4:30 in the sweltering heat and sounded great, as they did in Toledo and Windsor before. We’re grateful to know those dudes and spent lots of time chatting & hanging with bassist Anthony and guitarist Cory who also play in a band we all dig from Portland, Oregon called LiquidLight.

After Chad’s set we watched most of Jon’s set (with punk-legend drummer Bill Stevenson and his son on bass), then Adam and I worked our way back to Paddy’s Underground and checked out some of the acoustic acts that were on before us and then got our stuff set up. We sound-checked with Billy and I got to hear a few ALL songs (the Scott Reynolds set) down at the main stage before it was time for us to get ready. I wish Janet was here with him but she didn't make the trip. We went on at 7:30 sharp, which was basically the moment ALL wrapped up, which means our room was nearly empty. By the end of the second song we at about 25% cap and after the third song it was a great crowd in numbers and engagement - attentive & responsive, and quite possibly enjoying the A/C down there just as much or more than our songs, if I’m being realistic. We played well, had a blast, and even got to get a few extra songs in while Scott made his way over from the main stage for his solo set right after ours. That set was the catalyst for the whole run. The Toledo and Windsor shows with Chad and the Husker set with Greg Norton were just (albeit awesome) add-ons.

We watched Scott’s set, sold some merch, helped sweep some water from the flooding greenroom into the floor drain and made sure no gear back there was getting damaged, and headed out to see a few Flatliners songs. Those guys were awesome, and new to me, though we’d met briefly the night before.

Finally, back at Paddy’s, pals Rad Owl from Minneapolis, we I’d met in April when The Tucos played with Snodgrass in Detroit, went on and played a great set. One of my favorite moments of the whole weekend (so far, anyhow) was when they pulled up pal Brock Pytel to sing “Home Again” by his old band Doughboys. I haven’t heard that song in a live setting since 1988, and like Woody, it nearly brought a tear to my eye it was so great. Rad Owl is an awesome band. Jeremy and I get along great, and I also feel it necessary to say that - besides being a standup dude - David is one most bad-ass drummers, and everything he plays on is better for it.

Dreadfully low on sleep and longing for a nightcap, we said our goodbyes, loaded out, and headed back to the AirBB with the sold RV, goat herd, and the Dutch parents of The Netherlands best Pearl Jam tribute band, where we did some damage to the Jameson’s we bought at the LCBO in Windsor and crashed out again around 2am, despite our intentions to get more sleep.

It was another awesome day at BuddiesFest. I keep expecting that I’ll be exposed as unworthy to be here (not fishing for validation, just that great things like this usually don’t happen to me). One more day, kicking off with a couple cups of some godawful raspberry chocolate Keurig coffee (do they drink this shit in The Netherlands?) then lunch with pals and the SLIP~ons outside, then heading back to Detroit later in the afternoon. See ya there for day three! xx

BUDDIESFest / Tillsonburg - Night Two Gallery:

Road Blog
July 13, 2025
Tillsonburg, Ontario

Day Three of BuddiesFest kicked off with a goodbye to the goat heard, neighboring turkey flock, and our Dutch AirBB hosts, and heading into Tillsonburg to pick up Jason and Woody for a day-trip to Woodstock, Ontario for lunch and some record shopping. We had dinner at a brewery where my medium-rare burger was well-done but the poutine (yes, again) was awesome and the pints were refreshing and cold. Woody did his usual talk-to-the-kitchen-staff-and-dictate-terms bit and turned a bit green when some garlic toast with real butter (gasp!) was placed before him, but he managed to get the rest of his meal down okay without further incident or catastrophic vegan calamity.

After lunch we hit The Record Works where they are now selling my GTG Records Dynamite Alley album. I nearly got the Alcatrazz album with Steve Vai and Graham Bonnet but passed on it in favor of The Records debut. On the way back to the vehicle we passed a nice couple who grabbed a photo of us and I got rid of the formalities immediately by telling them that Woody was a vegan so he wouldn’t have to announce it in 30-seconds time.

Back at The Mill we said hello to a bunch of buddies and I touched base with Brock and Rob from SLIP~ons about their set, and they kicked off around 4:30. I got up and helped with back-up’s on their song “Graystone,” about the legendary Detroit punk venue. It was a thrill for me to pay with them, and get up on the main stage, and to also make an appearance on each of the three days of the festival. They were at the top of my list of bands I needed to see and did not disappoint. Awesome set. I was able to check out some of Kendra (from The Creepshow ) and Chuck Coles that really moved me, and some of Jim Bryson’s set that was fantastic (though as a metalhead his banter was not always up my alley – jk, it was funny and awesome).

Around that time, Adam Wild Honey Collective and I had to start working on our exit plan. We said goodbye to Brock and Jon Snodgrass and Greg Norton and way too many other buddies to name in one post without getting flagged for spam. We hit the road a bit after 7pm and zig-zagged our way back to the 401 and into downtown Windsor where we stopped at Meteor, the venue we played with Chad Price Peace Coalition on Thursday and in a rare lapse, I left a small camera bag.

The border crossing was easier than getting into Canada, but the dude kept asking us where our CORPET form was. I’ve played Canada once, sometimes twice a year for the last decade & a half (except the covid year), sometimes with a van full of gear, but never with no gear. I’ve never once been asked about this CORPET form. Turns out you’re supposed to document the valuable things you’re bringing into Canada so you don’t have to pay taxes or declare them as new purchases on the way back into the states. Who knew? Anyhow, we were out of there pretty quickly. I think he knew we were cool, but it would have been nice to have been informed in a more “for future reference” tone rather than an accusatory, scolding one. Always an adventure getting in and out of the country.

Back home it was nice to see TrooperGirl22 and, with Adam, give her the lowdown of the weekend. They had some quinoa salad and I had a whiskey, then Adam was on his way back to Lansing and I was off to bed.

Not sure what else to say except that this has been one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long, long time, and probably ever. Traveling with Adam was awesome. He’s an amazing person, fantastic musician, great travel-mate, and close friend. He elevated my songs and show way beyond what I could do without him. The vibe at BuddiesFest, from every last one of the owners, organizers, staff, musicians, and attendees, was nothing but positive, loving, and embracing. It’s gonna take a minute to come down from this high. Special thanks to Chad Price for having us in Toledo and Windsor, to Ben Andress, Billy Gibbons, Amanda Babcock, and Mandy Pattyn for making The Mill feel like home, and to Jon Snodgrass for bringing me into this circle and subsequently changing my life.

Thanks for reading. See ya in September. xx