Ames, IA

The audience at Ames's historic M-Shop is the polar opposite of the St. Paul crowd.  Everyone sits and is dead silent, until we stop playing.  I like playing small, receptive listening rooms – there's something about people being able to hear the unamplified guitar strings ringing out, or the click of a pedal that takes the mystery out of a live show – in a good way.  Seeing people play up close takes away your ability to hide behind smoke and mirrors (and sheer volume) – it just becomes a matter of trying to connect, on a one-to-one basis.