Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Friday October 11, 2024 - Boise, ID

Road Blog
October 11, 2024
Boise, Idaho

I left the rugged Rugged Mountain Inn in Pendleton, Oregon around 10:30 and headed east towards Idaho. The stereo in my rental is a fickle wretch, and we haven’t come to terms yet on how she’ll behave between the phone and the iPod, and I’m still cursing my Dollar Car Rental beat-down. Just so we all have some closure there, here’s how it’s played out. I made that rental through AAA and they took my complaints back to Dollar who said “he booked through a third party and they should have told him he can’t leave Oregon or Washington” so AAA passed that back to me, and I was like…”um you guys realize that YOU are the third party here, right?” and they (Dollar) offered me a $30 voucher so I told AAA to pass along to them that they can stuff their worthless voucher where the sun don’t shine and just wait till my new road blog comes out – you may go bankrupt. So here we are.

Eastern Oregon is new territory for me and it’s basically patches of plains and patches of mountains, but really pretty mostly. I crossed into Idaho and checked out the Snake River Overlook Rest Area for a minute as I navigated a digestive event and promptly texted my bandmates back home who are sorely missing and patiently waiting for my digestive reports and were glad to hear things are copacetic on the road. I checked into my dive motel near the airport in Boise, organized my merch, which was a hot mess from the Portland show, and had just a few minutes to chill before I had to head out for the gig.

The Spring Creek Brewing Company is in the hills about 8 miles north of Boise in a new community that seems to be slowly turning into a city of its own. I met Andrew, the manager who’d booked me, and Katie, the server who got my delicious porter, Bavarian pretzels, and steak tacos. The room was cavernous and empty, and I was gearing up for a weird night. About 10 minutes before I went on a steady stream of people came in and sat down and by the time I started my set I had a respectable audience. Still, people were ordering food and it seemed like music was at best an afterthought, and at worse, an annoyance. I’ve been to this dance before. So I eased into it, holding back on the “punk” a bit and things seemed ok, and a couple songs in I had people engaged and nodding heads and clapping so I ramped it up to my usual velocity as I went.

One couple, Wayne and his wife, saw some guy from Michigan was playing, did a little research, saw I was from the Upper Peninsula, and had to be there. Super nice folks with Michigan connections and stories and they were locked in all night. Another lady asked me if I knew any Fleetwood Mac, and I told her that I really mostly do my own songs, and I work really hard on them, but, actually, I do occasionally for a Fleetwood Mac tune, but it wasn’t anything she would know. “Try me…” she said with an air of confidence. So I explained that it’s a deep cut from their self-titled white album called “Blue Letter” and she looked at me like I’d just peed in her pool. So I didn’t do that tune, but I did “Beth” by KISS and dedicated it to her and she put a few bucks in the tip jar, even though she wasn’t after that one. I think she just felt bad for asking a songwriter to play “Second Hand News.” For whatever it’s worth, Rumours is one of my top albums of all times and one of these days I’ll learn “Never Coming Back Again” for these Fleetwood Mac people.

As the second set was rounding the fourth curve I was trying figure out how I was gonna wrap this up for the 9 people remaining, and I thought – “oh yea, I got this Stones song I been working over the summer…” so I did “Mothers Little Helper” and if I’m being honest it was ok at best, it’s a lot of words that my brain can’t organize cleanly, but it got the two old timers at table #1 excited – “that was OUR generation!” they said as they threw a couple Lincolns in the tip bucket. (Maybe now is a good time to explain that the tip bucket is a giant orange bowl with a jack-0-lanternn face I got for $2 at WalMart. Anyhow. Despite the early warning sings, it was a good night with friendly, vested people who were generous with their attention, patronage at the merch table, and tips.

I wrapped up at 8:30 and chatted with everyone and sold some tee shirts. They are in shock that I’m doing this – off to SLC, then Denver, Laramie… “Do you have a bus?” hahaha actually no, it’s in the shop, but thanks darlin.

So I loaded out and headed into the city to check out a couple places TrooperGirl22 had been to and assigned to my itinerary. First was the Whiskey Bar on Main Street. I like whiskey, and especially after spending the night in a joint with only beer. Traffic was a little intense downtown but I found a great spot and walked in to “Rocks Off” by The Stones and ordered a Pikesville Rye rocks. It’s a rock and roll bar with big black and white prints of The Who, Henrix, Soundgarden, AC/DC and more hanging on the walls. After “Rocks Off” it was “No One Like You” by Scorpions and I was sure now that these were my people. I was tired and I had another stop so I paid and tipped out and headed back to the vehicle.

Next up was Barbacoa Grill, an intensely decorated Latin/Mexican restaurant with a slightly gothic, almost castle feel with torches and giant wooded doors and the whole deal. I ordered an order of guacamole and chips to do and a High West Rendezvous Rye while I waited. A dude came over me to discuss his guacamole making strategy and asked me how I dig my guac – heat? Heavy citrus? Light garlic? Cilantro? “My man,” I said, “don’t be shy with any of that shit!” He smiled, gave me a fist bump, and said “You got it boss – have it out a minute.”

Back at the room I got into the guac and have to confess it’s quite possibly the best I’ve had. Intense flavors and perfect lumpy/creamy texture. For the first time since I got out here I didn’t have a long drive after the show so I was able to chill for a bit, do some accounting/paperwork, watch a little TV, and crash out at a semi-reasonable hour.

This morning it’s some instant oatmeal and coffee from the motel breakfast room, get this blog out, and get on the road to Salt Lake City. I’m playing at the Tailgate Tavern tonight at 9PM til Midnight, so it’s the longest show of the run, and my first time ever to SLC. Hope to check out the city and maybe the lake for a minute this afternoon.

THANKS to Andrew, Katie, and everyone at Spring Creek Brewing Company for a fun set. Boise rules. See ya soon. xx