The Official Chris Difford Website

Hello Cleveland

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Behind my hotel the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, I’m not sure i ever want to be inducted into a place like that, its not something that tickles me, the whole fame and Rock and Roll thing is not something i feel, the folk hall of fame maybe. So three nights here in the grey of Cleveland, and two nights at The Beachland Ballroom, Glenn’s venue in many ways, a record shop attached and two lovely people who run the venue and try to keep its tail clean. During the day we travelled over to Akron for some radio promo in the local Art Gallery, it passed the time and felt casual and friendly. Akron is the home of AA recovery this is where Dr Bob started it all off with one meeting, the rest as they say is complicated, as Alcoholics can be, its a complex disease for very special people. I wish i had time to go to the house where it all began, next time, tiredness and the shows were at hand. Dr. Bob’s Home, in Akron Ohio, is where it all began in 1935. The purpose of AA is to help alcoholics gain and retain sobriety by sharing experiences, problems and hopes with one another. Dr. Bob and Bill W. worked with alcoholics one at a time to help them achieve sobriety in Dr. Bob’s Home. This puts Disney Land in the shade, the return is something magical if you work it, because it works if you work it. In Akron Chrissy Hinde opened a Vegan restaurant but sadly it closed due to the lack of Vegans in town, which dose not surprise me. Heather McCartney did the same in Portslade near Hove, it too closed for lack of customers. Sad, but nice try. Im not a vegan myself but dabbled in Vegetarianism for a few years when i first met Glenn. My Mothers roasts had me crawling back on all fours across a well beaten path home.

Glenn and i have been on tour since 22nd September, its whizzed by in many ways although this American leg seems a little slower than the UK. I feel the tiredness its a loving feeling, a connection that ignites our songs and gives them air. In the dark dressing room we both looked like we had beaten up by a pack of dogs, sitting around an empty table in our pyjamas waiting to go on stage, its the going on thing that makes it all ok. Thats the hour of the day that makes the most sense, even though some nights I’m standing on a wire like one of the Thunderbird Pilots, hanging on to my guitar with a grin and a trouser shape.

Both shows passed by, the second being the better for me, it seemed more at ease with itself. Life on the road for us and the crew seems to tick by, Gary is doing a fine job of keeping us walking in a straight line, one of the finest road managers. Bam is having problems with her arthritis, not a good thing for a guitar tech. Peter who runs all things on his i pad always delivers a great mix in the ears, and with it a smile each day, he delivers. Myles is having a ball with the man in Golden Cape, he seems to glide through each day as if he is in The Wizard Of Oz on his way up the yellow brick road. Telson is a road hound and has been on the road for months with various bods, its what he does and he seems to be heading for Christmas on the beach in Thailand, his home. Carly is heading back on tour this week and she has been missed, her smile and chipper mind is like having a three bar fire on the road all the time, its a lovely thing. Time to pack, not that i have unpacked, what is there to unpack not much, its a domestic term used in hotel rooms, rooms i seem to be in rather a lot these days.