Off To See The Wizard. Issue #111

I'm sitting here on my deck sipping a Red Hook Longhammer IPA, enjoying some quiet, and relaxing before I fly Wednesday to San Diego for the world's largest comic and pop culture convention, San Diego Comic Con. There I will know no such thing as calmness or quiet so I'm trying to enjoy it in spades. I say this because it will be 5 days of selling and performing and sharing a hotel room with six people...and two beds. Late nights, early mornings and talking all day to fans is a great thing, but from all accounts I've heard people think about quitting comics afterward all-together. Oh yeah, that's how we do it...



Jim and I get back in convention mode for KIRBY KRACKLE fresh off the heels of a great show at The Showbox and a great turnout from Seattle based "Krackleheads" as they're called (if you didn't know). The show felt really different to me, and in a good way. The demographic of folks was different than what I usually see at solo shows/Collider, and the crowd danced/sang along with the band and I for almost the whole set. The majority of the faces I didn't recognize, and as a performer who's been doing this for a long time, that's a special treat and validating for how I feel KK is something that is really moving into the next level. It's such a freaking blast playing these songs and I'm really excited about the future.




Mandi and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary last weekend by heading for a night to "The Kennedy School" in Portland. It's an old abandoned school house started in the 1930's that had been bought and reconstructed into a hotel/movie theater/restaurant/grouping of bars while keeping the initial structural integrity/design of the school. It's really a trip and I highly, highly recommend it to anyone looking for a close but seemingly far away destination getaway for the night. I felt like I was in a world within a world; almost Disneyland-esque as walking around the schoolhouse as we were greeted with a variety of bar/eating options.

Complimentary movies?

Swimming in the salt water pool?

It was up to you and it was great all-in-all. Call me easily spooked, but I got the creepiest feeling I think I've ever had as after we arrived and started walking the halls we saw a huge old blown up black-and-white picture on the walls of a guy in a motorcycle outfit with a girl on the back...that looked like me (the guy, not the girl...hopefully). Anyways, it was freaky as hell and spooked me. Maybe doesn't look like me exactly right now, but enough to make me see that's exactly what I looked like in high school. You be the judge...


Because I love this Twitter thing, I'll be keeping up to date on the convention happenings and adventures via my Twitter blog at www.twitter.com/kylestevensband for all interested in following my slow but sure to happen mental breakdown. We love to watch them fall...and by fall I mean little kids. Not really.

Thanks for reading and see you on the other side!

KS