Tim Stopulos

The Great Corn Tour of '09, just like any other Corn Tour in history, was filled with highs and lows. The official start to the tour was when the band picked me up in Davenport, IA. As I was about to head out the door, I grabbed my guitar case, assuming it was latched shut. Well, it wasn't. I just barely saved it from crashing to the floor, but in the process had slammed the top of the case onto the guitar, which was no longer securely in the case. The little metal part of the top of the case went right through the top of the guitar. So before we had even left, I had put a gouge over a centimeter long in my guitar, my prized possesh. There's one of the 'lows'. Don't worry, it gets a lot better...

First stop: Ames, IA

Venues: Mother's Pub, Club Element, Headliners.

I didn't know what to expect from Ames. I was born and raised a Hawkeye fan, and thus most often heard it referred to as Lames. My cousin Nick, who goes to school there, talked up a big game: Veishea (a huge annual festival) was happening the same weekend we were going to be there, and supposedly that's the biggest weekend of the year at Iowa State. Nick claimed it was going to be a blowout. Nick claims a lot of things, so I thought I'd just wait to try the pudding myself.

Well, he was absolutely right. Ames was awesome. In fact, you can't spell awesome without Ames. After two successful shows at Mother's Pub and Club Element on Thursday and Friday, which showcased a Moonwalking Contest amidst all sorts of other crazy dancing, we did Headliners on Saturday night. A snapshot of the night:

There are a few subplots to this Headliners story, such as the one in which a young lady jumped on stage in an attempt to disrobe me, but Seville has plans to recount those stories himself, so I won't steal his thunder.

One thing I will say is that, during our last encore, we had not one but two crowdsurfers. I'm not sure if you've been to a Tim Stop Trio show before, but I lament to report there's not generally a whole lot of that going on. In fact, the only other time I've had a crowdsurfer at a show was when the band I had in high school played in the school cafeteria and my little brother Joe was forced to do so against his will by some upperclassmen. Joe wasn't a big kid as a freshman in high school, and thus had very little say in the matter. I'm proud to say that the crowdsurfing going on at Headliners was much more organic, although I'm pretty sure Joe was still a part of it in some fashion.

Second Stop: Lincoln, NE

Venue: Box Awesome

The stop in Lincoln was our reunion with the Josh Hill Band, who we had met randomly this winter at one of our shows in Chicago. It was a chill Sunday night the Nebraska, but the show was fun, JHB was great, and we met some really nice people. One of which was so cool that she drove up to see us the next night in Omaha (thanks Cassie!). That's the thing about Corn Tours, everybody's always so nice.

We spent the next morning at Josh's place, where I dominated Michael (our guitar player) at Guitar Hero. Luckily, we weren't playing real guitars, otherwise I definitely wouldn't have won. Then again, we were playing Guitar Hero, so I guess that makes us both losers?

(By the way, I think Guitar Hero is a lot of fun, and don't actually think people who play it are losers. So quit acting upset.)

Third Stop: Omaha, NE

Venue: Pizza Shoppe Collective

You're not going to believe me, but never in the history of the Tim Stop Trio have we ever been as excited about out performance than we were on this night. That's right, on a Monday in Omaha. We recorded the show and listened back to it 3 times in the van (when Seville drives, we have LOTS of time to kill). And we NEVER do that. Sometimes, we'll listen back one time, complain about our mistakes, cringe a few times, and then never listen to it again. This one was very different. Stay tuned, we'll post a song or two of it.

Fourth Stop (<- not a combination of my current and ex-band names): Iowa City

Venue: The Piano Lounge

Justin and I crashed in Davenport on Tuesday and headed up to IC the next day. We got in around 7:30, an hour and a half before we were supposed to start. Literally, right when we pulled into town, the very second we had arrived, I realized I had left my guitar (yep, the one with the hole in it) in Davenport, 50 some miles away. You'd think I might leave an electrical cord, or a set of guitar strings, something like that. I left my GUITAR. Really? I mean, it's the Piano Lounge, so I'm guessing they have a piano. Therefore, I have one responsibility: a guitar. And I don't bring it? It's things like that that really make me wonder about myself...

Thankfully my brother Pete saved me by meeting my dad halfway and getting it to him. My concerts always turn into family affairs. (Which is great, considering the Light is Off.)

Iowa City is such a fun town, even on a Wednesday night. I think that show was the first time I ever played one song 3 times. My buddy Andre requested "On and On", a Stephen Bishop song, early in the night. And then again later in the night. And then after the show. I generally wouldn't honor the same request 3 times, but it's Andre.

After Iowa City we headed back to the greater Chicagoland area for our "homecoming" Lucky's show and Bar Louie. All in all, the Corn Tour was a great success and we will do it again. That's a promise.

We must say thanks to all of the following for helping us on our way, much like Toadstool did for Mario on his search for the Princess: Kayla and the Girls, Josh Hill and Co., Julio Jorge, Joe Stops, Nick Scott, Mike and MF, Pete Stop, Steve Liebs, Addy for the pic, and to all the new friends we made that came out. We love you all and can't wait to see you soon!!

I hope everyone has been enjoying our CD "The Long Drive Home". I know we promised to record soon, but it's a complicated process and we've wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity. Well, we don't want you to wait anymore. Our plan is to release, on timstoptrio.com, a bunch a new (and old) material performed live, over the course of the next few months.

This Thursday (4/30/09) is the beginning. At Lucky's (3472 N Clark, Chicago), starting a little before 10 PM, we are going to record a few hours of materials. We'll pick a few of the best takes from the shows, let's call them 'Lucky's Charms'. In the weeks after, we hope to do the same, so you'll have something new to listen to every week!

Come by on Thursday and help make the recording as exciting as possible. And of course...we'll play all the crazy stuff we usually do too. See you there!

I want to give you a little profile on our mild-mannered keyboard player. He cuts a mysterious figure in contemporary society. No one really knows his name. For all intents and purposes, his name is Seville Lilly, but he has more aliases than anyone I've ever known. He would literally answer to any of the following: Sev, Sev Daddy, Sevillily, Sev Nast, The Sev Doctor, Unk, Unkle Sev, Unker McFunkerson, The Unkle, Sdote (pronouced ess-dot-eh), JP, JP Skyfluffer, Skyfluffs, and 'World's Worst Driver'. I haven't tried that last one, but I'm guessing it would work. Mind you, I'm sure I've omitted some names, and I'm sure there are plenty more I don't even know.

Now that you have an idea of what to call him, I'll give you a little background on his life. Like his namesake, no one's quite sure where JP's from either. Experts' best estimates point to the colony of Delaware, but true origins have not been traced. He's also lived in Texas, but ended up in Chicago years ago. A keyboard player by nature, Unk is in the process of becoming a bassist. His keyboard influences include Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Carnival Music and Bill Evans (whose name has recently been transmogrified to "Tasty Blevs"). Skyfluffer's a great player, has a fantastic ear and can learn a tune as quickly as anybody I know. In addition to his immense talent, he has an impressive work ethic. Sev Nast gives himself fully and uncompromisingly to whatever project he is a part of. Without a second thought, he will sacrifice sleep to get done what needs to get done. You can't teach these things, people. Also, the Sev Doctor bowled a four-bagger this weekend at the lanes in Normal. And he has a group of fans dedicated solely to him, that are now called, simply, "Sevillians" (thanks JM).

One thing he doesn't do well is drive. Now, I wouldn't feel right christening him the 'World's Worst Driver' without providing some support. Let me use this weekend in Normal as a case in point. Normal, IL is not a big town. Nor is it incredibly complicated. To illustrate the trip we had to make (with Seville at the helm), I've pulled up the directions on mapquest, (please open this link in a new window, as you will need to refer to the map during my explanation):

The Route We Were Supposed to Take

Simple enough, right? Well, we were driving north on Linden St. (we took an "alternate route"). Seville missed the left turn onto Beaufort, and we came to the corner of Linden and Mulberry. So we had pretty much arrived at our destination (point B on the map), we just went a little bit past. In an honest effort to get us closer, he made a few turns. After some dead ends and construction zones, we found ourselves, no joke, at point A on the map again. Literally. We were sitting in front of the house that we had left about 15 minutes earlier. You'll notice that when he missed the turn at Beaufort, we were no more than 100 meters from our destination. We literally could have parked where we were, and I would have thought 'oh we're here...just a small walk to the bar'. Instead of being done with the drive, Seville unintentionally got us back to the very start of our journey. Also, at one point during this same drive, we came to a dead stop on some train tracks for no apparent reason whatsoever. This is one of many sterling exhibitions of Unkle Sev's vehicular ineptitude.

Driving aside, he's a great guy and a great musician. He rocked Normal this weekend.

A huge thanks to everyone who came out with us this weekend. We absolutely love playing in Normal. Can't wait to come back next month. See you all then!!

As usual, Lucky's was good times, a few great performances, and a few sorry attempts at honoring requests. The best and worst:

3 most dulcet tones produced at Lucky's 4.02.09

1) Professional (newer original)
2) Grey Street (DMB)
3) Normal (n.o.)

3 most embarrassing moments at Lucky's 4.02.09

1) Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" (Justin tried to sing while Michael played, and the song was stopped two times in about 30 seconds before the executive decision to abort was made)
2) Temptations "My Girl" (This song got a little bit farther than "Wish You Were Here" before the girl who requested it proclaimed 'My dad plays it better', at which point the executive decision to abort was made)
3) Justin Timberlake "Senorita" (Generally, this song is a hit. Last night, no one was really in the mood to sing. So at the end, when a chorus of guys and a chorus of girls are supposed to trade off singing "It feels like something's heating up..." etc. etc., I ended up singing both lines solo. Yes, even the girl's part. Typical night at Lucky's.)

At least I didn't have to play 'Ogeidnas Nemrac'...