Cheers To Fall SXSW Tour
My first time to Austin and first time touring as a guitarist with my friend Anthony Farina‘s band Cheers to Fall.
Travel Dates: March 11, 2011 – March 21, 2011
Trip Time: 10 Days
Distance: 3,693 mi/5,943 km
States Visited: 12
Vehicle: 2000 GMC Savanna Conversion Van
Top Played Songs: Cheers To Fall – There Are No Witnesses At Night
This trip came about when a friend living in Brooklyn messaged me randomly on facebook one day. He asked if I’d be interested in playing guitar on his bands tour from NYC down to SXSW in Austin, Texas. So being one of the biggest items on my bucket list, this was a no-brainer.
We started out of Brooklyn, heading through New Jersey traffic to our first show in Philadelphia. After Philly we cruised down to North Carolina for a show and then into Athens, Georgia.
Athens is an awesome small city with a vibrant downtown full of restaurants and bars. After we ate dinner at a restaurant, our waitress ended up coming to our show that night and even let us stay at her house that evening so we didn’t have to sleep in the van. So needless to say, our experience with people in Athens was incredible.
We left Georgia and headed towards Mississippi for one last show in Pascagoula before Texas.
When we finally arrived in Texas SXSW was in full swing. Bands and musicians everywhere you look. We only had one show so after we were done playing we got to enjoy the next day exploring Austin and listening to new music everywhere.
After we left Texas we took turns driving and headed straight back to New York. Luckily we decided to stop in Philadelphia for a famous cheese steak sandwich. If you are ever there I strongly suggest Jim’s Steaks. Even though Geno’s and Pat’s are the most popular, I still dream about the one I had at Jim’s.
We had a ton of the fun on this journey and got to enjoy the rock and roll lifestyle. I enjoyed Austin so much I ended up deciding to move there after a second visit on my USA 2011 Roadtrip. Checkout a video featuring the music we performed and all the shenanigans I captured on the trip from my iPhone:
