Mahogany Ridge

Steamboat Springs, CO July 23, 2008

Steamboat Springs is the home of Souleye and his fiance: Jen Fritz. It has always been a favorite tour stop for us... Unlike many of the cities we play on tour, we have always played the same spot: Mahogany Ridge. They are a restaurant by day and a music venue by night. They have an extensive menu, but every one of us always orders the same thing: buffalo steaks with porter cream dipping sauce. It will not fail to disappoint! The steaks are great on their own, but they fact that Mahogany is a brewery and they make a sauce out of beer they brew themselves makes for a meal that I have dreams about.

On this visit, we got invited to do a radio interview at KFMU, local Steamboat radio. It was a great opportunity for us to promote the show, and they were kind enough to play a few tracks off our new album Music For People, as well. Thanks guys!

Once the interview was over, we went outside to find that one side of the trailer's axle had completely dislodged itself. It didn't actually come as a surprise, as we haven't been looked upon kindly by the trailer gods over the years. This was our second trailer, and third trailer axle. Trailer 1 died when we were driving back from Yosemite and a kind passer-by noticed the left tire looked "a little wobbly." When we stopped and jacked up the trailer, the tire completely fell off! Trailer 2 (New and Improved!) eventually had the exact same problem, only we replaced just the axle, not the entire trailer. With these wonderful experiences under our belt, this current dilemma came as no surprise. I was honestly surprised it hadn't happened sooner!

So we ever-so-carefully brought the trailer down to a safe place, then picked up a rental for the rest of the tour, and reloaded the gear. You can still go visit our old trailer somewhere in Steamboat, where you will likely find moss growing into the axle's cracks by a nearby sulphur spring.

The show at Mahogany Ridge that night was a great one, and that's saying a lot, considering how awesome the crowd is whenever we visit. It was a little bit sad since it was the last time we'd be there while Souleye and Jen lived there, but I'm psyched to go back in the winter.

And I'm definitely excited to have Souleye in San Francisco.

By: Tripp Bains