Cleveland

So I started off strong with this blog, writing three or four entries a day. Those days also involved travel, which gave me plenty of time to get bored and pull the laptop out for some writing time. From when we arrived in Cleveland till when we departed, something fun was going on.




We had booked a gig Monday night at a bar called Brindaliers, which is Browns, Indians and Cavaliers combined. Can you guess if they liked Lebron James? I don't think I heard the word "James" without the phrase "Fuck Lebron" in front of it. Brindaliers has a great patio that was perfect for our acoustic duo. Erica's mom invited all of her friends and the Cleveland family to come watch us play, which was a lively and fun group to play for. As the first set went on, dark clouds were moving in. Aaron and I began to realize that rain was eminent so we asked the manager to prepare the inside for all of the guests to move in, as well as our pans so we could keep playing. A few minutes later, a strike of lightning was close enough for us to stop what we were doing, grab the big metal pots that were in front of us and run indoors.




The manager and staff of Brindaliers did an amazing job setting up the main dining room to accommodate everyone on the patio quickly, which is impressive given that the family table was 15 or 16 strong. We were continuing our set in a matter of minutes. On one of our set breaks, the Brindaliers owner let us know that he would like us to come back on Wednesday night to play again, filling up our Cleveland dates. We enjoyed our time on Monday so much that we stayed at Brindaliers until they locked up the doors.




Tuesday morning we woke up and drove to Akron, Ohio to get our pans turned by Steve Lawrie. He was incredibly welcoming and hilarious. He tuned our pans in about 3 hours and now they sound better than ever!

Tuesday night, Aaron and I played for a house party at the Kosilesky's. Their patio, pool and cornhole setup was the ideal scene for steel drums, IMO. Once the cornhole boards were going, Aaron and I joked about not playing pans again until we lost a game. Everyone laughed. Aaron and I didn't. Though not ACA (American Cornhole Association) approved boards, we took on the task of playing for keeps. The quick set break went on for about 30 or 40 minutes before we realized we should get back to playing pan, not cornhole. The party lasted until it was candle lit for a only a few guests which was pretty awesome. When it was time for the music to stop the cornhole boards came back out. Aaron and I didn't lose and only stopped because it was 12:30 am. The Heat also went on the win their game that night which stirred some damning comments from some of the nicest people I know.

Wednesday was another hard day of eating lunch, swimming in the pool, watching television and eating dinner. We played at Brindaliers again, this time in perfect weather that lasted the whole night. It's always a good feeling when the audience doesn't want you to stop when you go to pack up. It's not always the case, but when it happens, it makes you feel like you did something right. While hanging out after playing, we discovered that there were cornhole boards already set up in the party room. After getting really excited to play some indoor cornhole, we were quickly saddened by the lack of other willing participants at the bar. We were about to ask a table of people our age if they wanted to play but their topic of conversation involved a story about stabbing someone. Which I instantly imagined to go something like this:


Scary Guy #1 to Scary Guy #2
"...So then I stabbed the guy for interrupting me..."

Scary Guy #1 interrupted by Tyler Swick (Played by Himself)
"Hey, you guys want to play cornhole?!"

or

Scary Guy (Jack Nicholson) to Scary Friend (Anthony Hopkins)
"...So then I stabbed this guy who had the nerve to ask me if I want to play cornhole..."

Scary Guy interrupted by Tyler Swick (Jonah Hill)
"Hey, you guys want to play cornhole?"

or

Scary Guy (Al Pacino) to Scary Guy #2 (Danny DeVito as the Penguin)
"...I only got to stab 7 of the 8 people I was supposed to stab toady..."

Scary Guy approached by Tyler Swick (Brad Pitt from Interview with a Vampire)
"...Hey..."

And so on.



Thursday morning was difficult because we knew we had to pack up all of our things again and head to Toledo. We were excited about seeing Aaron's family but sitting on the couch instead of making the drive just seemed easier at the time. Aaron and I both had an amazing time being a guest in the Kosilesky house and felt the love from all guests and family that came out to see us play. Special shout out to Grandma Laffey for being amazing.