I always love getting to see people’s homes and meet their families on tour. Every house is different, every family is unique and interesting in their own way, and they each have a different approach to building a home. I’ve struggled with my idea and definition of “family” and “home” the past couple years, so getting to tour and experience other people’s families and homes has been very therapeutic and inspiring for me.

Last night’s show was in the attic of a big craftsmen style house belonging to a photographer/artist couple and their seven children (longtime family friends of Dinner And A Suit). They built and designed this house themselves, together as a family. Every wall and bookshelf and decoration in the house looked like it had been planned and placed with the utmost care and consideration. We played on the top floor of the house, a small attic-style space with slanted ceilings, turned into a cozy hangout with candles and old books and photographs and trinkets everywhere.

The room filled up quickly with friends and family. The first band, Wildebeast, is a group of guys who have been friends with Dinner And A Suit for many years. They were incredible and could easily tour and sell albums and get recognition for their music, but they have yet to even record their songs. I played second and was welcomed with kind applause and encouragement from a packed, tiny room. I was happy to see a few familiar faces who had driven an hour to see the show, making me feel like I too had family in the room. Dinner And A Suit played last and put on a beautiful performance while their proud parents sang along in the back, eyes closed, moved by the music. The ambience, the warmth in the attic with the occasional cold breeze coming through the open windows, the soft light from the candles, and the general feeling of love and camaraderie made the whole thing feel like a dream.

Today we hit the road again, and needless to say I was very sad to say goodbye to this place! I am so grateful to the Beretta family for opening their home to me, and to the Capeci and Genca families for their kindness. It’s easy to see where Dinner And A Suit get their creative, gentle spirits from.

Sometimes I feel like a lone sailor, constantly drifting in a ramshackle vessel that I fashioned together out of scraps, to the best of my ability given the tools I could find. Occasionally I come across a harbor filled with beautiful ships, and a marina where I am welcomed in for a warm meal and a soft bed. I can never stay as long as I would like, but while I’m there I get a glimpse of what life on solid ground could be like, and I leave with new ideas for how to build a better boat.

A tour can be successful because you’ve managed to book a show for every date and have no days off. A tour can be successful because you have a couch to sleep on for free every night, and you never have to pay for food. A tour can be successful because you brought ticket-buying friends and fans out to the show in every city. A tour can be successful because you met some great bands who share your values and want to play shows again with you in the future. A tour can be successful because you left a good impression on the promoter and venue staff at every show. A tour can be successful because you made enough money each night to pay for gas and expenses, and managed to come home with a little bit of money in your pocket. A tour can be successful because you put on the best show you possibly could, every night, and your music affected people and earned new fans in every city. A tour can be successful because you are reminded each night of why you love to play music, why you feel the need to share your music with other people, and why you are okay with the sacrifices you have made in order to live your life in a way that allows you to do so. Ideally, your tour will achieve all of these things.

When I go on tour, I’m constantly trying to determine if what the tour is offering at each show is worth the time, energy, and money that ticket-buyers, promoters, venues, and other bands have put into making that show happen. I ask everyone what they think about the show, the bands on the bill, the venue, ticket price, promotion, and performances. I somehow combine everyone’s feedback with my own thoughts and feelings about the show, and then I check that against the excel grid I have on my computer with a running total of expenses vs. revenue. It’s like one big science experiment.

I can’t say that I know for sure whether or not what I’m doing to make G,NA work is, in fact, working. And I won’t know in what way(s) the tour was successful until I get back home. But so far, according to my scientific calculations, I can honestly say that this tour with Dinner And A Suit offers more value than any tour I’ve done so far as Gardening, Not Architecture. I’m proud of the tour as a whole, from the quality of music and performance to the quality of the human beings who are on the tour. The bands, promoters and venues have all been amazing to work with, and the people who have come out to support us are proof that something in what we are doing must be good — because only something good could attract such high-quality individuals.

Thank you to Richmond: The Camel, Breton, Nathan, Tribe Of Soul, Emma, Brett, James, Jason, and all our new friends there.

Thank you to Baltimore: Ottobar, Craig, Cindy, Rob, MusicBox Productions, Boy In The Well,  Survival Society, The Baby Grand, Ben, and all our new friends there.

Thank you to the Beretta family.

Thank you to Rockville Centre: The Vibe Lounge, Anthony, Dan, Travis, Sean, Club Loaded, Signal For Pilot, Family Lumber, Liars Etc, Giovanni, and all our new friends there.

Thank you to Alex Mohler.

And of course, thank you to Adam Kreeft of Kreeft Booking.

All of you have helped us get to Danbury, CT, today with gas in the tank and food in our bellies, and the feeling that there is a good reason for us to be doing what we’re doing!

Love,
Sarah

I put the last of my money in the gas tank today somewhere near Roanoke, VA. Depending on how things go in the next two weeks, this may be my last G,NA tour for a while. However, it will definitely not be my last time playing with a full band; after this past week of rehearsals, I’ve realized how much I want (and need) to add live players to G,NA’s live show. So, regardless of how long I stay off the road, I will definitely be focusing on putting together a band somewhere in the southeast, and I’ll be playing locally and regionally until I can afford to get back out on a longer tour.

I’m so grateful to DAAS for doing this tour with me. I see great things for them in the future, and I’m honored that I get to tour with them at this early stage in their career. Check out their music on Facebook!

Their full-time drummer, JD, couldn’t do the tour with us because of school, but luckily the drummer who did DAAS’s last tour with them was available for this run, and he’s been killing it on my songs this past week. He’s currently listening to the songs in the back seat in preparation for tonight’s show. Meet Jeremiah:

More updates to come from the road this time around, for sure. There’s a lot of stuff on my mind.

Come to a show if you can: facebook.com/gnadaas

Love,
Sarah

Otherwise it’s been about eight years since I played on a stage as part of a band. I’m curious to see how it’s going to go over for G,NA fans, especially to anyone who has seen my solo show. It will be a much different experience from the light wall, that’s for sure!

As far as the set list goes, I’ve decided to keep it simple on this tour and only perform new songs from “Saboteur.” If I’d been rehearsing with a band for a few months and playing local shows while learning and perfecting a set list of old and new songs, that would be one thing, but for now it’s all about baby steps. First I want to try out a handful of songs with a full band, then I want to decide how to handle upcoming tours for this “Saboteur” album cycle as far as live instrumentation goes, then I’ll start looking for people to work on the songs over a longer period of time, to perfect them with me and be the official touring band for G,NA. It’s definitely going to be a year of baby steps.

The Kickstarter Reward fulfillment, which has become my full-time job in lieu of an actual full-time job, is slooooowly approaching the finish line. WOW. I have definitely learned that I am a terrible judge of how much work and money goes into my ridiculous ideas for handmade merchandise. I don’t know how my brain comes up with its calculations, but I think it’s time for my brain to go to math college, because what I thought would take two months at the most and cost around $700 is actually going to end up taking closer to four months and costing closer to $1000 after all is said and done. It’s all turning out beautifully, even better than I even imagined it would, and I am glad I’m taking the time not to cut corners, but still… wow! Of course, I would never complain about my “full-time job” being handmade merchandise and art projects! I just need to get better about creating the budgets for my time and money going into this stuff. I think this is why bands have managers and accountants.

Currently, of the Kickstarter Rewards, I have sent out:

- all of the digital download packs
- all of the free downloads of the new album
- all of the photozines
- all but five of the posters
- all but twelve of the handmade shirts
- none of the instrumental or collected demos CDs

I’m so close to finishing the shirts, and when I get back from this east coast tour I’m hoping I’ll have enough money to finish up the instrumental and collected demos CDs and get those out.

During October and November, while I was just getting into the designing, planning, ordering, and making of the Kickstarter Rewards, I also mixed, mastered, designed, promoted, and released my second full-length album: “Saboteur.” I hosted a listening party for the album at Liberty Bar in Seattle, which I streamed online via Ustream, on November 21st. The album came out on Bandcamp and iTunes on November 22nd, and soon after I began taking pre-orders for the limited handmade CD version of the album.

Meanwhile, during the month of November, I was also selling and packing my things in preparation for my cross-country “migration” tour and temporary(?) move to Florida, which kicked off in Seattle on November 25th and ended in Pensacola on December 10th.

Just writing that paragraph made me sweat; I really do wonder sometimes if I might be addicted to stress.

Anyway, now I’ve been in hibernation and recovery for a little over a month. Although, it hasn’t been either, really, since I’ve been spending this time finishing up the cutting, folding, sewing, signing, numbering, bleaching, folding, packing, addressing, and shipping of the handmade “Saboteur” CDs and the handmade G,NA shirts for the Kickstarters. Still, I’ve managed to find time to visit family for the holidays, go to the beach, and even watch a few movies on Netflix. I’ve gotten the bulk of the handmade stuff done and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is the point at which I could very easily get nice and comfortable and never leave the house again.

So it’s a damn good thing that I’m getting back out on the road, even if it’s just for a short while. Heaven forbid that I relax!

And even though I tell myself that once I get done with the tour, and send off the last of the “Saboteur” CDs and Kickstarter Rewards, I’ll finally slow down, take some time to recoup and maybe settle in for a few months — I know it’s a lie. For example, I recently launched an Etsy shop that I have several ideas for, and I’m already trying to figure out the goals for the Earn It Yourself community in 2012 — particularly our involvement with this year’s Vans Warped Tour, which would be our fourth or fifth year working with the tour in some capacity. There’s also talk of teaming up with Chris Staples on another tour in the spring, perhaps collaborating with him on some songs, and I’m already trying to decide when the next G,NA full (or partial) band will hit the road again this year.

The icing on the cake is that I will be working the Coachella and Stagecoach festivals again this year, for my third year in a row as an on-site sponsorship coordinator. I love working in the heat and sun of the California desert for a month each year, and it’s also a sort of family reunion for me, since many of the people who work those festivals have also worked the Warped Tour and other events that I have worked in the past. Not to mention that it’s a solid paycheck that will allow me some breathing room over the summer to continue working on the projects I enjoy.

So while I have some idea of how the first half of this year will go, I still don’t really know what to expect. I feel good about the fact that I am still afloat, by some miracle, still living this artist/Bohemian lifestyle one month into the third year of doing so. But there are a lot of holes, and the water is filling up the boat. At the end of 2012 there is a fork in the road — one that I put there for myself in the beginning of 2009. I told myself that I would dive in whole-heartedly and swim as fast and far as I could, but that by the end of 2012, if I couldn’t keep swimming, I’d do what was necessary not to sink.

Tomorrow I leave for Nashville with $65 to my name. I’m taking a box of Clif bars and Cup-O-Noodles with me for the week before we get to the first show in Richmond. We had to take a rain check on the Myrtle Beach show because it would be financial suicide to drive from Nashville 580 miles with no show on the way there to help pay for the gas. I’m hoping beyond hope that Richmond comes out and enjoys the show, so we can continue on to the next show, and the next, and complete the tour we’ve all been working on so hard these past couple months — myself, my booking agent, and Dinner And A Suit. It’s amazing how much time and work goes into these things, with so little financial return. But we all do it because we love it. We love the music, the challenge, the ideas, and collaborating with like-minded people to tackle problems and find solutions. It’s a feeling that can’t be bought, sold, or simulated. If only that feeling could also feed me and pay my bills…

For now, I keep moving forward. Keep putting the music out there in the hopes that new people will discover it and like it. Keep collaborating with people on ideas and keep trying to do and make good things. I see lights at ends of tunnels and forks at ends of roads, and both are reasons not to give up.

I’ll end this update with a request for help from you, the reader, in spreading the word about the shows I have coming up and the new (and old) music I have available for pennies on Bandcamp and iTunes. Even if you yourself can’t be at a show, or can’t afford to buy a song or an album, just the act of talking about it to friends and relatives could mean another ticket or download sold! Thank you in advance, and in retrospect, and in every moment, for taking the time to care about Gardening, Not Architecture as much as I do.

Love,
Sarah

FOR INTERACTIVE MAP, GO TO: http://g.co/maps/6sjtb

VISIT THE TOUR’S OFFICIAL FACEBOOK PAGE: http://facebook.com/gnadaas

Love,
Sarah

If I never intended to play a show, then I certainly never intended to record a second full-length album! And that’s probably why I had no problem investing my entire life savings into recording and self-releasing the first album, “First LP,” in 2009 — followed by over a year of near-constant touring and couch surfing. I never really thought past any of that; I was doing it because it made me happy. I wasn’t concerned about album sales or record labels, so I didn’t consider the fact that maybe people would like the music and want… more.

This past summer in Seattle, where I was temporarily living and working to save money, I launched a Kickstarter campaign with the idea that if a second album was meant to be, it would make itself happen. Well, apparently it was, because it did: I surpassed my Kickstarter goal by over $1,200, and in the fall of 2011 I headed to sunny California to record “Saboteur” with Steve Choi of Rx Bandits fame. Over the course of three weeks, I completed not only a brand new G,NA album but also an incredible mental and emotional journey that reminded me of all the reasons I committed to this pursuit, this lifestyle, and these ideas. It’s not about making money and getting famous; it’s about making my own contribution to the world and getting the most out of every moment of every day.

Shortly after returning to Seattle from recording, I released my second album, “Saboteur,” on iTunes and Bandcamp. Then I put all my stuff in storage (again), got in a van (again), and hit the road (again), this time heading south for the winter on The Migration Tour with Chris Staples. Now, based in the southeast for the next few months, I am once again in gypsy mode. I have a new album and plans to tour the east coast with a full band — for the first time since the first two G,NA shows waaaay back in 2008.

This brings us to today’s announcement…

I’m so so so excited to announce that I’ll be kicking the new year off with an east coast tour alongside one of my favorite unsigned band discoveries in the past few years: Dinner And A Suit. I met these guys when we were both performing on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour, and have stayed in touch with them since. They’re one of those bands that reignites one’s faith in the underground music scene. Together we’ll be traveling from Florida up to New York and back, going as far inland as Indiana! It’s going to be one heck of a tour package, if I do say so myself!

The full list of tour dates can be found on the Events page at facebook.com/gnadaas, and at gardeningnotarchitecture.com/shows. Please RSVP to your local show, and come experience G,NA as a full band, get to know my new album, and check out one of my favorite unsigned bands Dinner And A Suit!

Love,
Sarah

Love,
The Migration Tour

(Full update tomorrow.)

Love,
Sarah

My new album, “Saboteur,” came out on November 22nd on iTunes and Bandcamp, and I’m making 100 handmade, individually-personalized CDs as the first physical edition of the album! Get it now at gardeningnotarchitecture.com/saboteur!

It always takes me a few days to get back into the “tour mindset.” The transition is a whirlwind of emotions, physical and mental exhaustion, routine disruption, and a general sense of discomfort and uneasiness as I struggle and fumble to quickly create a new system and routine for daily life that makes things feel manageable. Like jumping out of an airplane and rushing to piece together some kind of parachute mid-air, out of whatever I have on me, before I hit the ground.

Taking my first shower of the tour (tonight) helped a lot.

Starting tomorrow, after the Chico show, I’m hoping that parachute will be finished and I’ll be able to start posting nightly updates for the rest of the tour!

Sweet dreams,
Sarah

Information about the digital release and a possible pre-order for a handmade physical release!

Love,
Sarah