The Band That Ate Their Way Down the West Coast: Ivan & Alyosha Tour Diary

Local rock group Ivan & Alyosha took a West Coast mini-tour last month from Seattle to LA. Taking their name from The Brothers Karamazov and citing influences from Frank Sinatra to Wilco, the group was originally founded by singer-songwriter Tim Wilson and guitarist Ryan Carbary, but expanded this year to include Pete Wilson (Tim's brother), James McAlister and Tim Kim. As part of their recent tour, Wilson kept a diary of their performances, meals and RV parking trouble.

Doodling before a show.

Welcome to the Ivan & Alyosha 2010 West Coast Mini Tour blog. May 6 through 18, we were on the road from Seattle to Eastern Washington, Oregon and California, playing for new friends and fans, and catching up with old ones.  

May 6, Seattle, WA @ The Tractor Tavern w/ Pickwick

Got to play a great show with our old friends, Pickwick, at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. As always, a night at the Tractor would not be complete without a trip to Snacks [also known as "Ballard's Bodega"]. Anything you need, they have it. It is a hole-in the wall joint with amazing brats, beer, wine, skittles, and moon pie ... so good.

May 7, Kennewick, WA @ Red Room Coffee House

Left Seattle around noon and had a beautiful drive through the mountains into Eastern Washington. We are heading to Kennewick to play The Red Room Coffee House. Been chatting with some folks (Kathryn Chavez) for quite some time about playing East of the mountains.

We got a chance to chat with Davey Ingersoll who books the Red Room and drink an Americano or two. Some lovely ladies at the venue prepared a wonderful meal that we thoroughly enjoyed (the salmon burger was off the hook), then off we went to the bowling alley next door for some pre-show Mac & Jack's.

The opening act, Forest Sun, is a boy/girl acoustic duet with some fresh harmonies from San Francisco. Our set was super fun on a small stage with loud sound — everything felt really good. We haven’t played an all-ages jam in a while; the young people respond to and share their appreciation for our music more so than the 21+ folks in bars.

Read more after the jump

We end up leaving the venue just after midnight. True to form, there is a good amount of stopping on the drive home so people could pee. It usually starts with Ryan (Ivan's guitarist) saying, “You’re not going to believe this, but . . .”

One particular stop in the desert that night found all five of us getting out of the car, walking a short distance into a dark field to relieve ourselves. We unknowingly spaced ourselves equidistance from each other in a perfect line and with headlights at our backs and a beautiful starry sky above the most glorious cloud of steam rising up from the cold ground. Can you see it? Amazing. We should’ve taken a band photo.

May 11, Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge w/ Turin Brakes

Ryan gets stuck in the middle seat.

Off to Portland to play The Doug Fir! This will be our second time playing Doug Fir, and it is by far one of our favorite venues on the West Coast.They treat us so well — free food, free drinks, friendly staff, discounted hotel rooms for bands and a great sound. For some reason we have been having really great shows in Portland as of late (Mississippi Studios with Basia Bulat) and the Turin Brakes show was no exception. Highlight of the evening: big, muscular dude on the right yelling, “Play ‘Easy To Love’!” which was recently chosen as NPR’s “Song Of the Day."

Read more tomorrow on CAB when Ivan & Alyosha head down to Oregon and gain a new member, a 1990 RV packed with bikes, beer and old school Mariah Carey.