Summer Tour journal 2011

[J.Paul]

I've been making summer tour journals for the past few years.I started doing them to help my girlfriend (who never comes on the road w/ us) feel more included. There can be a whole cast of people (Gwen's parents, super fans, other bands we run into all the time....) who are regular to me but are foreign to my girlfriend. I felt that the tour journal would help her feel more connected to this other world I'm always in....since we broke up in the spring I don't have a reason to keep doing the journals, so I decided to post a (public) version in harmony central.

 

We are still doing cover circuits to pay the bills but are also doing lots of artist shows festivals, fairs, radio shows, and opening slots (Sugarland, Luke Bryan, Phil Vassar, Taylor Swift...) which doesn't pay the bills for those of you that don't know how it works...so we are in a strange place career wise (we're straddling both worlds). The band has been together about 8 years. We've been doing about 200 dates nationwide for the past 4 or 5 years, but this year it's gonna be a little less at around 120.We got our singer (Gwen Sebastian) a solo deal with an indie and have released 2 singles so far (both stalled in the 40s).The 3rd single has been test marketing for a couple of months so we'll hopefully drop that before the end of the year.There are some things I can't disclose which will make it make the public journal less interesting~no biggie.... I didn't notice any rules like in the other forums; so I suppose ActionSquid can intercede if something's offbase.....

[J.Paul]

June 30th ~ we left Nashville and stayed in Salina, KS the first night. The next day we left for Meeker, CO but stopped in Vail for dinner. It's unbelievably beautiful there.

 

 

 

July 2nd~Meeker, CO.

The next day we had lunch w/ the promoter and got the call that Danny Gokey's (the headliner, from American Idol) bus had broken down so he would be late. We loaded in and checked. A George-L cord went down on my pedalboard during soundcheck and the entire production waited for me to troubleshoot (they'll be replaced w/ Monster/Canare and Switchcraft when we get back to Nashville). We went back to the hotel to shower and change, while we were gone a massive windstorm blew over our product table and my guitar vault. It also tipped the suntent over onto the FOH (analog) board moving knobs around at random. Our set was not horrible although it was cut by 10 minuetes.

[J.Paul]

July 3rd-July 6th ~ We stayed w/ friends in RockSprings, WY until the next dates in Iowa. We ate meat and blew stuff up cause that's what Americans do. I spent the time putting my pedalboard back together, dealing with some ASCAP issues, and screwing around on Harmony Central.

 

 

 

 

[J.Paul]

July 7th ~ Hampton, IA Relay for Life Cancer Benefit.

This was the first time we would load-in, use, and load out full production with new crew. Thankfully it was the archetype for an inside venue.We had issues w/ the lighting dmx, but got a decent soundcheck. Meet an greet w/ the promoter at Godfather's Pizza. Had great help from the locals w/ load in and load out, will shave 20 minuetes off both ends (by next week). Missed a call from 212 area code during soundcheck...ASCAP (New York) has my issue resolved...I got a warbling distorted sound through my Aura Spectrum DI during the show on "Blackhorse and Cherry Tree" and had to switch the piezos to electric to finish the song.Afterwards I did some trouble shooting and the guitar sounds fine through the DI with my IEM plugged directly in which tells me that I'm gained up too much at the board through my ears....not sure why we didn't hear it at soundcheck.... am getting a new pitch sheet next week and will have a few days to start some worktapes and focus for pitches to the plugger.... the promoter brought Subways to the hotel afterwards and everyone hung out by the (inside)pool. I can't breathe in there so I stayed in the hotel room to watch the Casey Anthony debacle.

 

July 8th ~ Eagle Grove, IA / county fair.

These folks had us back from last year. It was the archetype for an outside venue. We are using tiki torches for the bugs this year and hadn't burned in the wick. Fail. They had a trailer for us to air off and change, very helpful. Talked with the opener about his sponsorship. We loaded out, and left directly after the show. Driving through the night put us at the Sebastian ranch (in North Dakota) about 11am the next morning.

 

Everyone slept about 3 hours and we loaded into The Wet Spot in Glen Ullin, ND early afternoon....

[J.Paul]

cast, crew, and toys

 

Tony (FOH sound)- Tony runs sound for The Wildhorse in Nashville. He took the summer off to sit in a hot van, stand in a dust bowl, and wonder how his girlfriend was doing back home (since his Sprint service doesn't seem to work in 80% of the places we play).

picture pending

 

Mike on the right(Lights, Merchandise) - Mike also plays guitar, some of you might recognize him. All I can say is that he's just chillin' for now and will probably not continue playing in the biz

 

Louis (drums) - son of Tony Newman (T Rex, David Bowie, Jeff Beck, Emilou Harris, Everly Brothers, Whitesnake, primary drinking partners w/ Bonham and Moon)

 

Jason (bass) - ex 3 Minuete Hero (Minneapolis, MN.)

 

Gwen (vocals) - artist and all around mood enhancer, ex Jason Jones bgv

pic pending

 

J.Paul (guitar) - your harmony central poster and op

see signature

 

guitar vault containing (Variax 600, ElGuapo, Fender mexican Strat, Taylor 414 ce)

 

ElGuapo - mexican Fender Tele modded to Nashville Tele w/ Fishman piezos, Semour Duncan dual stack, Lace Sensor gold, Dimarzio vintage, Hipshot dropD

 

Dr Z Max 38 NR (airbrake currently on "0"), Radial PB1 buffer

 

pedalboard (radial efx, boss line selector, tod, tone press, timmy, bb+, Vwah, visual sound visual volume, tu12, time factor, rc booster, aura spectrum, pedalsnake, pedaltrain)

 

Ford Excursion

 

Dodge Sprinter

 

big ass trailer

[J.Paul]

This year's summer tour setlist looks like :

 

Baba O Riley

Roll Down Your Window (original)

Gimme All Your Lovin'

Jump In (original)

Hard Rain (original)

Dixieland Delight

Long Live Love (original)

Need You Now

Blackhorse and Cherry Tree

acoustic medley

Soul Sister

Lover Lover

Go Girl (original)

Black Betty

Don't Stop Believing

VIP (original)

Feel Your Love (original)

Perfect /Paradise City/Little White Church/Paradise City

 

It's way easier playing the same setlist. The rest of the year we use a "suggested setlist" and Gwen calls or drops songs according to requests or what type of crowd is in the room at any given moment...all while maintaining the illusion of playing song to song or at least keeping the in in betweens to just seconds (while I rotate between 3 guitars) . I need to be 1)tuned, 2)watered, and 3)wiped and there is no keyboard player to tinker or other guitarist to noodle or start songs yadayadayada.

I'M IT.

So one or all three get sacrificed in the name of pacing....it's alot easier playing the same set all the time (even outside in bugs and in 105 degrees).

 

This is also the new live DVD (other than "Go Girl" and "Lover Lover"). It's the only new product she has this year, but it's also something where fans can take the exact show home w/ them (rather than remember it from their crappy cam/phone).

[wardjames]

I like this kind of thing. I've got 4 kids at home so I'll probably never get to do a "tour" per se but I've always loved reading road blogs on indie artists sites and looking at pictures. It let's me get a peek at areas of the US I'll never get to see.

 

Jeez your pedalboard is full!

[wheresgrant3]

This is cool! I really dig stuff like this. Touring is never easy. It takes a toll on your relationships, your gear and often times you're state of mind. I think it's cool you've posted this. Keep on with the updates.

[Vito Corleone]

Thanks for the report! Love the pics! Keep us posted.

[J.Paul]

July 9th ~ Glen Ullin, ND/ The Wet Spot

This was an outdoor show. There was a family reunion nearby and lots of Gwen's relatives would be coming. They rock. We love them. The band had played street parties and "all class reunions" in the neighboring towns of Hebron and Glen Ullin a couple of years in a row so there were lots of other folks that were coming to see the band that were not related as well. I lost a contact after soundcheck (due to an insect repellent-sun block fiasco) and had to spend the rest of the night w/ 1 contact so I wasn't able to fully appreciate all Gwen's hot friends and relatives (I call them the Hot Shantzs)

Dana and I

 

The club had us on a flatbed and had understimated the size and quality of production, so another flatbed had to be rounded up. It was a different height so the band was upstage and Gwen was on the downstage flatbed. Very awkward. I basically just stood in one place with ZERO visuals all night. The instability of the trailer added a risk that wasn't worth bringing full rock power to the show (a tennis match in a desert isn't as good as a tennis match on a tennis court) so they got a cabaret version of the show. We played two 70 minuete sets instead of the 75 minuete artist show. .

Gwen called "House That Built Me" as a last minuete (not on the set) because she was home near the house that had built HER. She must have forgotten that her dog had died 2 months ago so when the 1st verse payoff "my favorite dog is buried in the yard" came, she bawled her way through the 1st chorus. Her parents (Midnight Ride) sat in with us on a couple of songs (Under the Boardwalk, It's a Heartache).I'd heard some compliments from a few random people that we were better than we use to be, but this isn't true, our sound and production is better, clearer w/ more headroom (we started w/ Mackie, went to Danleys, and are currently using EAW w/ a Digidesign-Avid Venue SC48).We encored w/ Whitesnake "Still of the Night"...... 800 people, one toilet.

 

me and Julian

 

soundcheck

[pinkfloydcramer61]

It's good to see someone here still reaching for that brass ring. I'm hoping you "grab aholt"! Good luck!

[Dancebass]

HA! I knew you were from Nashville halfway through your third sentence!

 

YA'LL SO CRAZY! I'm not knockin ya man, it's just funny to me. Most of my buddies from Nashville are pretty similar in their ways. Being all nice to your girl and stuff. Such a bunch of sweety's.

 

Here's the way an Atlanta band's tour journal goes:

 

7:30 - Just got to town.

9:30 - are you kidding me? all they have here is METH!!!

12:30 - has ANYONE seen our drummer?

2:14 - any public postings by a girl named Amber are lies!

 

NEXT DAY

 

7:30 - Just got to town.

9:49 - ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

[J.Paul]

July 10-12~Hebron, ND (the ranch)

 

 

We had a few days off and spent it at the ranch. I restrung and cleaned my acoustic and Tele with Gorgamyte http://www.gorgomyte.com/ I'd forgotten I had it....it really makes the fretboard and frets much smoother. I like it better than steel wool. I had found out about it through my friend Scott Appleton who techs for Def Leppard and got some last summer....I rode horses,played golf, screwed around on HC, cleaned the van, ran a Sarah Majors song w/ Gwen that we're thinking of adding .... they wanted a Z-bar on the Maz 38 so screws were drilled into the top of the amp to act as brackets for the Z-bar.....can't wait to see if it will actually turn on for Friday soundcheck....

 

 

I'd been skewered at the last soundcheck for my "Kick Ass Mixtape". We have a bad habit of setting up for hours everyday w/ NO music playing. This has been happening for years, so I finally started playing my ipod during soundcheck, somebody plugged in a speaker and we were setting up to The Marvelous Three, Donnie Iris, Wings,Spacehog and other powerpop jems.... unfortunately a smattering of steve perry, toto, ambosia, and other yacht rock mainstays creeped their way in....seems that Steely Dan (and their ilk) doesn't go over well w/ the working class peeps wearing AC/DC shirts standing around watching us setup.

 

 

July 13th-14th

We left the ranch for Sigourney, IA and stopped in Fargo for lunch at the wet noodle. There was a street fair.We slept the night in Desmoines, IA.

[J.Paul]

Randomness I found along the way so far

 

 

those North Dakota floods you heard about on the news were real

 

where we play

 

pink handcuffs used by Maricopa County (Arizona) sheriff's dept (recently modeled by rapper DMX while incarcerated)

 

hotel eggs

 

in the van

 

Iowa

 

just visiting

 

 

 

[J.Paul]

July 15th Sigourney, IA.

This fair is another repeat client. Outdoor ampitheatre. Good help in load-in, waited an hour for the electrician. The show was OK, although my A string had slipped a half step for the opening song (that will be the YouTube that will probably generate a million hits of course). Kids 10 and under responded within 11 minuetes, adults needed more beer and didn't join the kids at the front of the stage till 47 minuetes later .... not exactly a rock show....Encored w/ "Chicken Fried" and "Livin' on a Prayer", rained for load-out .....I didn't put the strat in the vault, it went in the softbag ~ gonna reinstall the straplocks and file the nut (the E string is going sharp when the Hipshot is disenaged)....

 

Somebody had found a couple of our singles on karaoke the night before (this is bordering on bizarre).....

 

some of the acoustic medley about 45 minuetes into the show

[video=youtube;f_uof54U4yA]

 

Gwen's (after show) signing sessions have been tough. Larger acts (Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride) can do a formal meet and greet before the show but we're not big enough to get away w/ that yet, so she has to do it after the show when she looks like she's been rode hard and put up wet. To a dude this is no big deal, but to a woman who's sweaty after show pictures will permanently be on the net, it could be an issue. People browsing 18 months from now don't know or care if the photo was after an outside show in 103 degrees~all they see is a picture of a ravaged Gwen before they move on to a photoshopped Jessica Alba on the cover of In Shape magazine....at this point the lesser of two evils is for her to at least have contact w/ the people that come to the shows~quality control can be enforced later on.

 

before

 

after

 

July16th-18th

The next show was 38 miles away BUT we had 3 days off. It was cheaper for us to drive (10 hours) back to Nashville than it was for us to stay. FAIL. We usually stay gone for 3 months w/out coming back.Also, the air stopped working in the Sprinter (did you see the journal entry date?It's hot). There had never been a summer tour without a major vehicle fiasco. FAIL. The theory was that all the van "air" had been used by Gwen during yesterday's preshow, show, and aftershow~but we wouldn't know for another two weeks. The closest certified Sprinter tech (that hasn't screwed the last two vans up) is in Indiana.

[kgilb]

Loving the journal, living vicariously through this thread.

[joshmac]

Killer harmonies on the end of that first song. Really dug it

[J.Paul]

July 19th

We left Nashville and stayed in Hannibal, MO (home of Mark Twain) for the night....saw Harry Potter after we checked in, pretty decent flick.

 

July 20th Washington, IA

This was the 2nd time we played this fair. They had us outside on a concrete slab directly behind the rodeo which was being bulldozed into a motocross track. No water, no trailer, no electrician, no load-in help, and perhaps a last minuete change to another location at the fair. We wait. 103 degrees.Some fairs are on top of it and some not so much, sometimes it doesn't matter how thoroughly the date is advanced.....

We got load-in help and soundchecked then went back to the hotel to shower. There had been an objectionable 100 millisecond click slapback from the bleachers 80 feet in front of us...

 

 

 

When we come back for the show everything is caked with dirt, it seems that they finished the track behind us and decided to run some bikes over it to test it out....may be no show. There was concern about the air intake for the power amps. We were using the Digi Venue SC48 for FOH, monitors, and outboard FX ~ It was covered. Since we were now in show clothes we were unable to clean. The fair staff got blowers, vaccums, rags, and brooms to do a thorough clean up of everything. I had the lid on the guitar vault so all the guitars were safe and pedalboards were protected with the covers from the mains (many of these venues are not covered and once soundcheck is done protection from direct sun light is imperative)....and hour later when the stage and equipment was clean we played the show.

No load out help.

They started with the dirt bikes again while we were breaking down and were disgruntled when we shut them down (apparently WE are the asses now??)....well over $200,000 of equipment and product on the road with us ~ being pelted with motocross dirt. This wouldn't happen to JayZ....

The agent called the next morning..........

[J.Paul]

July 21st (Thursday) Wichita, KS

Today is a radio show 8 hours away (at a car dealership). Our producer, Chuck Howard, use to do this with another act of his called Bomshel. Radio stations get large advertising revenue from car dealerships. Chuck would offer a free show at the dealership and they would advertise their business, the show, and play their music in the ads. Granted it's not ideal but it's promo and exposure for a brand new act w/ little airplay. Everyone wins.

 

We drop the trailer and leave our merch guy and use the Excursion (the Sprinter sill has no air)~ it's 105 degrees today. There's limited room so I only bring a soft guitar bag w/ toiletries, clothes, mac, power, charger, DI, cord....on our way we visit the site for the American Gothic painting and take some pics.

 

 

 

The radio station takes us for mexican at Margaritas where Martina McBride use to be the house band. The PA at the dealership was a Behringer Peavey combination. Our soundman couldn't gain me up enough from their board so my tone was lacking...show was fine...had a singer/songwriter opener that was pretty good (his changes were too quick and was too reliant on the circle of fifths) but will be fantastic very soon.

Inspiring.

Saturday's club calls, they have changed the showtime. Gwen has already sent Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, newsletter invites and there is a party bus scheduled- for the wrong showtime now.

[wardjames]

 

July 21st (Thursday) Wichita, KS Today is a radio show 8 hours away (at a car dealership). Our producer, Chuck Howard, use to do this with another act of his called Bomshel. Radio stations get large advertising revenue from car dealerships. Chuck would offer a free show at the dealership and they would advertise their business, the show, and play their music in the ads. Granted it's not ideal but it's promo and exposure for a brand new act w/ little airplay. Everyone wins.

 

 

Great marketing...Look at this thread...great stories, marketing advice. Where's the pics of all the groupies???

[J.Paul]

July 22nd

Up at 8, watch GooGoo Dolls on GMA while eating hotel eggs, leave at 9 for Madison, WI.

 

We pass through Washington, IA to pickup the trailer enroute to WI.,,,arrive at 10pm (13 hour trip.....5 people in the truck.yuck).... we go downtown for a Friday night off in Madison (Madison feels a little like Austin) and catch a Jeff Buckley type band outside the college. Then we find some Irish pubs......

downtown Madison, WI

 

 

some chick's tattoo at the Irish pub

 

Gwen's brother works at a high performance bike company called Trek (think Lance Armstrong). Louis takes the bikes out on Trek's test track for some extreme biking while we are in Madison. I have reservations about the many extreme activities that regularly take place but the guy has to live his life, right on.

 

 

July 23rd (Saturday) Madison, WI -The Dry Bean

We meet Louis at the venue for load-in. He is limping though it's not from the Trek test track, he's had his (recently dead) dog tattooed on his entire thigh (kick drum leg). She traveled w/ us for about 4 years and was at almost every show, he registered her as a "service dog" so we could check her into any hotel. Led-Zeppelin ...... Iron-Butterfly ....... pit bull- service dog.......yeah right.

first session

 

 

The band from last weekend is still on the marquee outside, but Gwen is on the door flyer and print ads (though it is the 8x10 from 6 years ago instead of the current one). We learn that the club is double-booked (which explains another band's gear onstage). A regular is having a birthday party and has the club from 10pm on (??? huh???) and has booked another band. It's not a 2,3,4 band club. There is too much gear for us to set-up in front of them.The club pays us and we leave, another night off in Madison...there is another Dry Bean date next month.

Happy Birthday Frank

 

Although we stay in Madison a few times a year, we've never PLAYED there.... by this point in the journal it should be apparent to HC that our band playing in unpopulated areas seems to be the mode of operation, it's a bad long term game plan (for me) but that's where the work is (for now) . See

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2802422-What-is-your-band-s-biggest-weakness...&p=43423403&highlight=#post43423403

So any attempt to penetrate more markets with population (such as Madison) is welcome.There WAS a party bus of people scheduled to come...there were also some fans from Duluth that showed up for no show. FAIL....so Gwen went to party w/ them downtown.

The rest of us spent the rest of the evening at a batting cage, golf,video game emporium and I ate custard, finished a song, and screwed around on HC

[MartinC]

loving this thread, the pics and the stories!

[Chaff67]

loving this thread, the pics and the stories!

 

+1 Keep 'em coming

[J.Paul]

July 24th-27th

This entire week was FAILure.We drive back to Nashville...4 days off....wish I could have subbed this past week and stayed home for the NAMM show. Carl V and his manager sent me a note giggling at my signature, he was playing at NAMM and I would have loved to have heard him in person. Crew guys are taking the Sprinter for (scheduled) air service on Monday.

I visit my mom in Muscle Shoals and go to the WC Handy music festival week in Florence, AL. http://www.wchandymusicfestival.org/

I hear a bunch of fantastic music while I'm there.We had done a video taping for Florence's Kix 96 as part of last year's spring radio tour. The TV(?) show featured Gwen and Bo Bice (who had been based in Muscle Shoals before American Idol).For part of Bo's segment he featured Gary Nichols on some songs and I thought Gary was kick ass so I wanted to hear him again while I was at Handy Fest.We've since played another show with him for a Chattanooga radio station....great singer.

me and Bo at The Billboard Music Conference

 

Last week inspires a new song called "Jackhole". I've also started writing one called "iowow" as an ode to all the hot women in Iowa.Iowa reminds me of my friend Megan (who use to sing in my old band "Kung Pow"). She's from Iowa.

WOW. Iowow!

 

http://www.jpaulmusic.com/Audio/Iowow-worktape.mp3

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2808296-new-song-title-looks-strange-to-the-eyes

 

Gwen posted the new EPK on YouTube

[video=youtube;DgrBDhkHubs]

[J.Paul]

July 28th (Nashville to Nebraska)

 

Before I leave home I grab my spare Variax. My road Variax has an "A" string whose piezo has just stopped working (which is one of the many reasons I have rotated them out and started using Fenders w/ Piezos) 2 weeks into the tour. I actually own 3 (from when they where my primary gtr): the one I use, the spare (in case I break a string), and a third for when one of the other two is in the shop (which is ALWAYS)....It's great that Rich Reiken (of Line6) is on the board to push the (new) product and cheerlead for the brand as well as field any questions. Love the stuff.I've had too many public Variax failures the past 3 years and no support though.IF my Fenders make it through the heat this summer all the Variaxs will be replaced with a Morpheus/Fender/Piezo combination.

~The Sprinter has air again and we depart from Nashville for Friday's Lincoln, NE. date. I'm frustrated because I can't reply properly to many threads on HC w/ my Iphone so I resolve to respond to Phil's bulletin about media phones on HC

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?2803614-Mobile-device-users-I-d-like-your-input-please!

.....sometimes it's a day or two before I'm back on the board and conversations have run their course, in the meantime I have hours and hours of travel time I could be BS-ing on HC.....

~Floods on the Iowa/Nebraska border detour us an hour and a half out of the way...

~check into Lincoln, NE hotel 1 am....spend an hour coming down from coffee

~5 hours sleep~up at 7~leave at 7:45 for Sidney, NE.

 

July 29th Friday to Sidney, NE

~Journey is on the Plaza on The Today show...wonder how Arnel is gonna do at 8 am in the morning. Mike (who has played the Today show a couple of times) says it's rough, you have to get there at 4am and the crew and staff are all super chipper....

~USA Today says Tiffany and Debbie Gibson are doing an album or tour or something; we played a couple of shows with Tiffany in May and I am now on "hug hello" terms with her (as Seinfeld might call it). My life is bizarre....

~A date for The Atlanta Motor Speeday comes in for October so I book the day before at a Georgia club I've been working on for six months. VICTORY

~Lots of Gwen's old merch shirts showing up at quite a few shows....council bluffs fan drove a car full of people 7 hours to the Sidney show.

~ The Sidney show is inside (!) with air conditioning(!!!), it is a no alcohol event.The promoter wants us to do 2 sets.Everyone sat for the first set...most everyone leaves at the intermission, the fair (vendors and rides) had closed as soon as we started.The ONE guy that WAS dancing at the front of the stage was escorted away by the police (he was still in the crowd afterwards so he wasn't arrested)...not exactly a rock show.....awkward phrasing all night, although my pocket was good...

~Another Monster cable fizzled out at soundcheck.They only last about 18 months and I take it with the receipt and they give me another one. This has been happening about 5 years now.

~Management has been waiting on extra cords for everyone's In Ear Monitors for 2 months (for spares). This week's message on the IEM company's machine says something like "due to the temperature and us not having air conditioning our business will not be open until further notice". The cords are proprietary.FAIL.

~rooming with Tony this weekend. He has massive snoring issues.....lack of sleep might affect my vocals...most of my BGVs are chest voice but there are some that are higher, if I can't glide through my passagio because of lack of sleep I'll have to room with Jason.Jason (our bass player) has essentially been my roommate for 200 days a year for the last 7 years, so I guess it's good to switch it up once in a while.

~We are all super bored (hence the long rambling "entries"). Tony buys a gun to shoot stuff. XBox keeps the rest sane.

Nebraska

 

July 31st

Travel 5 hours from Sidney, WY to Rock Spring, WY...the air conditioning has stopped in the Sprinter AGAIN....stop in Cheyenne for lunch at Samford's.

 

Wyoming

 

they drill the oil here but gas still costs the same

 

streets of Cheyenne

 

Sanford's sirloin

 

I use a small suitcase to carry a Kitchen Kettle with me to make meals on days off in hotels (it boils, fries, and steams) http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Presto+-+Kitchen+Kettle+Multicooker+Steamer+-+Black/1180762.p?id=1218231021070&skuId=1180762

 

There has been an explosion in the suitcase, it can't be salvaged and I have to throw it away(too much mold)...I buy another suitcase at Walmart....I use to use NutriSystem days off food, they are vacuum packed and don't require refrigeration, helps to defray some food expense on the road.Maybe I should go back to that...