Welcome to the very first Tour Diary, where Lively gives you a peek into what life is like on the road from our very favorite artists. With weekly notes from all over the nation, and capped off with a show at the Lively Lounge, this is a chance for the world to get to know the voice behind the vocals. Our first Tour Diary: Cumulus
Cumulus is an indie rock band out of Seattle, Washington venturing out on their 2nd national tour in support of their debut record “I Never Meant It To Be Like This.”
Alex Niedzialkowski is the powerhouse voice behind Cumulus, who we recorded down at First Night Tacoma. We were taken with her pop sensibility, overlaid with sweetness that is tempered by the heady substance under those easy hooks. I’ll let her take over now with Week 1′s entry. Follow along for the rest of the tour, until she plays the Lively Lounge in March!
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Lance and I spent super bowl Sunday making a 10 hour drive from Portland, Oregon to Palo Alto California. We turned on the radio at 3:00 pm sharp. Screaming and jumping in our seats over the first quarter, we pulled into the small town of Weed, CA and found the first sports bar in sight. It was a bowling alley and sports bar, with $1 beers and .25 cent wings. It was perfect.
As I was standing at the bar ordering our first round, a middle aged man next to me who at first glance resembled a WWF wrestler asked me what team I was rooting for. I glanced around the room and noticed Bronco fans outnumbered us. When I shyly replied “Seahawks” he gave me an approving smile and shook my hand. Turns out we found the only other Seahawks fan in the room, and we became instant friends.
Back track to a few days before- we were not supposed to be in Weed, California. On the first day of our 7 week tour, one of our band mates woke up with an injury that would change the whole plan. We had to work together as a group to figure out the best way to stick to our tour schedule and roll with the punches. This first round of dates, from Spokane to Denver, Colorado- Lance and I decided to strip down the set (2 guitars, 2 vocals) and take on the road just the two of us. While the band arrangement of a duo is less than ideal, there is a lot more flexibility in venue load in/sound check/travel, and it is much easier to find accommodations for two. We also get to connect with the audience in a more intimate way, and reconnect with each other as friends. This unexpected detour is turning out to be a beautiful reminder of why Lance and I started making music in the first place, and the joy that you can find in the most unlikely of places by just shaking a hand.
Just before tour I wrote a song about the way that life changes in an instant. Pursuing music is in all honesty, an insane thing to do. Even in moments where it feels like a dream come true- there are still a million unknowns floating in the back of my mind. None of this is easy, but as I am learning every day- it isn’t supposed to be.
“Sometimes, Sometimes,
I get the feeling that this feeling isn’t going to last.
Sometimes, Sometimes,
I get the feeling that we’re waking, waking up too fast.”
