Guess what we got? (hint: it has eight wheels and is 48 feet long)

WE HAVE DONE IT!!!!

Yes that is right...... WE HAVE DONE IT!!!!!!

Scott, Jessica, and I have been absent for a little while.
Where did they go?
Well that is a good question reader and the answer is EVERYWHERE.

The drama began 4 weeks ago. As you might have seen in our movies, we got a trailer from Jim B. of B and S construction. We thought it would do, and you couldn't beat the price (free! thank you Jim).
We worked day after day on Big Jodi (our nickname for the trailer), trying to desperately to breathe life back into her old messy molded bones. For a while we thought she was going to work, then we found the big D.R.(That's short for Dry Rot, which is long for the Devil).

I think it was Scott who intentionally pushed the index finger of his left hand through the front of the trailer (Wall, studs, insulation, and all.) Following the AMPP rule book that clearly states "do not go on a 10,000 mile trip with a trailer you can put your index finger through", we admitted temporary defeat and parked Big Jodi up by the road, with a sad sad sign that read plainly 'FREE'. (On a side note, Big Jodi is now the house of a guy named Clark. She was tired and ready for sleep. She will meet the end of her days in a trailer park many moons from now. Clark said he is going to strengthen the walls with a few tube of silicone. Way to go Clark!)

We started our search for a replacement to Big Jodi in Southern Oregon. We soon found that our little valley didn't hold a trailer worthy of the AMP project (to be honest there were trailers worthy, but not any under the price of 10,000 dollars).

We spread our wings and search out to Redding through Eugene....... no go.

We looked wider, Salem to Chico........ Nope.

Seattle to San Francisco?..... Sorry AMPP.

We began to contemplate defeat. Days passed and nothing. Weeks began to grow, all the while we held hands in circles and prayed for a break in the storm.... then it happened.

BOOM!!!!!!

You could hear the posting of a 1977 Terry dual axle travel trailer (original owner) far and wide,  like a binary gun shot in the silence of cyber space. We, with the help of Jeanna who spotted it, called 2 hours after it posted, but  the voice mail was already full. Everyone knew it was rad, and everyone wanted it. I called again, and again, and again. 32 times in total the first night. No answer.

We saw it was posted from a small town in washington. We woke the next day and drove to the town, arriving at 6:30 in the morning. During entire drive my mind was filled with the garage sale mentality. Early bird buys everything for a nickel. We drove through the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the rarest of trailers.... the Terry..... the white whale of the road. Nothing.

I called again at 7:00 am. Mailbox full, no answer. I knew someone had already bought it.

That is when I decided that enough was enough. This wasn't a trailer for me to look cool in at the lake. This trailer was for America. Thats when I started calling...... only for reals this time. Ring,ring,ring "I'm sorry the Voice Mail of xxx-xxxx is currently full, click. Ring, ring, ring 'I'm sorry the', click. Ring, ring, ring, RING, RING, RING, RING!!!!!"

I can't, with total accuracy tell you how many times I dialed that number, in a row, but I can with confidence tell you that I have never, in my life called the same number so many times.

Some where around my 30-50th call the impossible happened. Instead of the regular answer machine voice I heard what sounded like a cough....My heart sank... oh no, I have just made this guy really angry. After all it is 7:38 in the morning on a saturday.

"Hello?"
"WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?"
"I'm calling about the trailer on Craig's List.... do you still have it?"
"yes I still have it."
"I want your trailer. Can I come buy it?"
"....(pause)......I have someone coming to look at it. If you get here first you can have it. Where are you at right now?"
"I'm in washington"
"Bummer man, I'm in Salem Oregon"

Sear terror raced up my spine like pumping antifreeze through my marrow.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!... Did I mention this trailer isn't for us.... It is for America? America needs this man. Are you a patriot?"
"Yes."
"Then you owe it, as your civic duty, to sell us that trailer and not the guy who is coming to see it."
"...(pause).....O.K. see you in a second"

and that was how it happened. Just like that. That is how we got adopted Little Jackie to our Family.

When I got there the guy said he held it for me because I called so many times. He said anyone who would call 70 times in under 24 hours obviously wanted it the most.

To be honest....I had no faith that my whole battle dialing approach was going to work.... but the world works in mysterious ways.

Thank you world...or whoever pulled those strings for us. Without that we would have been..... well lets not talk about that.

Joshua
   

Kory Quinn,The American Music Preservation Project and a New Hair cut.

Yesterday I talked with Kory Quinn from the Portland Field Recording Project.
 

Portland Field Recording...Have music will travel.



He is a real awesome guy. Last year they cut over 100 records in the Portland area. They run off the same concept as we do. They record people for free because they like doing it and they think it is important to archive what is happening here locally. It might take 20 or 30 years for people to understand that what we are doing is important, but I rest assured the cream always rises and time has a way of sorting everything out.

 It isn't any secret that the music Portland turns out is amazing and cutting edge. I asked him if we could get together so I could pick his brain for ideas.

Portland Mobile Recording Fundraiser (Correct me if
I'm wrong Kory).

 Let me tell you guys, Kory is on the top of his game....a modern day Renaissance man. Musician, song writer, studio engineer, and soccer coach. How can you get any cooler right?

Anyways he is going to get together a group of the best of the best singer songwriters in the Portland area that he knows and we are going to head up there for the first part of our tour. (early July it looks like.)  He wants to line up a group of musicians and spend a day or two tracking every one's 'important' tracks. You know...hanging out and having a good time cutting records as opposed to the sterile stressful environment of a standard recording studio.

Here is their blog...check it out.
http://portlandfieldrecordings.blogspot.com/ 
 

John Browne Jr. With his axe.


In addition we are hooking up with John Browne Jr. and his crew. John and his group of friends are famous. If you don't know who they are rent the movie 'Red Dog Hotel'. Its rad. We are hoping to line up around the same time in the same area, this looks like it is going to be an amazing kick off to the AMPPf trip. John Browne Jr. is from the early San Fransisco Scene. He is attempting to get together some of the cats that eventually made what came to be know as the San Fransisco sound of the sixties. He is an amazing guitar player and I have had the joy of recording him once already. It was a solo session, but this session should be a group of a few close friends of his who were also active in the early S.F. scene (see also the grateful dead, The warlocks, the Jug band, The Carleton's) Not to mention we get to head out east from Portland instead of the dreadful south on I-5 trip that I have made 50 times. Been there done that. No thanks. Maybe on the way back.

Thank you Kory for helping us. Your local intelligence on what is happening and who's who in the Portland Metro area is priceless. Kory is one of the guys who knows what is happening in the scene. He has his finger on the pulse of the truthful music.

 On a totally unrelated note:

Ladies and Gentlemen I have done it.

I have sold out :)

I have cut my hair. No longer am I rocking the long hair and beard that my hairstylist affectionately referrers  to as the Jesus look. In the past it was the monetary restrains of having to play 25 bucks every two weeks for a haircut, but those days have long since disappeared. I must admit that in the past there were several things that ranked higher on my list of importance than hair cuts and shaving (like replacing the air in my tires, or putting a friend of mine into lower stratosphere orbit), but this new position I have found myself in as the head of a Non-Profit requires a certain rearrangement to this list.

Check out the new and improved Joshua 'Lomax' Smith....brought to you in Technicolor. Do hate me because I look more like a cop than I did before. Trust me....I am still sympathetic to the cause.

Fight the Power.

THE AMP Project

http://AmericanMusicPreservation.org/

Joshua Lomax Smith.

An Apology, Living in the Woods, The Lonestar State, and Garlic



View out my front window...I told you I lived in the mountains.



So I would like to formally apologize for not writing over the last few days. Two of the AMPP crew are in places where they don't get Internet and so that leaves me to do the Blogging but I haven't been slacking. Living in the woods makes the Internet a bit unreliable, but with this new set up I think I have all of the kinks worked out.

We, as I stated earlier, are in the process of finding a Van to pull our beautiful trailer (Big Jodi [on a side note...I am really sorry to anyone out there that is named Jodi. I didn't put enough thought into the name, in fact I put no thought into as you can see in the video, but it stuck and now everyone refers to it as not the AMPP trailer, but Big Jodi]). The vans come in all shapes and colors so I can't paint our little trailer until we buy one and know what our exterior color scheme is. I don't want to have the colors arguing....how embarrassing:) I and going to paint the logo on the side of the trailer. I will film it so you will be able to watch it in time lapse. I can't wait for that segment, but once again we can't do that until we get a van.



This is the tree in my front yard. Pretty amazing tree.
Do you see the trailer to the left? Jodi looks so small.

 We, both Scott and I, have been searching far and wide through the states of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington for a Conversion van....but to no avail. Every time I talk to the people on the phone they are like, "Oh yeah...shes a real beaut! She runs like a champ!". Then I tell them that 'she' has to pull a loaded down 23 foot trailer through the deep south in the dead of Summer for 10,000 miles without blowing up...and that we are a non-profit...and they all tell me to find another one. At least when they hear the words non-profit they develop a conscious. It saves me a drive to Portland and it saves us from losing a transmission in Waco, TX.



She said we should keep to the south eastern
portion of the state. I knew Austin had a cool
scene but I didn't think they really needed us
since they are filled with studios and people who are really gifted in the art of audio engineering, not to mention it is a big city and that is something we are trying to avoid. She said however the area around the hill country of the southeast is where the hidden talent is. It only makes sense being that it is so close tot he point of origin....the delta. Regardless it is worth the detour. Thank you for the tip Jessica.   

 In a totally un-related subject yesterday I found a connection in Texas. She is a music buff, well traveled and informed on what is happening. You know...the ear to the pavement type. She gave me a map of Texas that has everyplace we need to visit and what kind of music to expect. She said south east Texas...in the hill country. Our first Texas lead. Score!




 The Deck Garden of 2010-2011



Check out my deck garden. 5 different types. The Hard Collaris killing it so far, but will still have time before we harvest.



Oh yeah and my garlic that I planted before winter is looking great. It will be ready right before we leave and I'll bring you some if you drop me a line. Hopefully AMPP will be able to grow all of its own spices    before we leave...why? Because we can't afford organic unless we do it ourselfs. Luckily we have been growing for a while in preparation for this trip.

We will be Stone souping our way across America.

Go AMPP! 

We are coming in on 60 days before we leave.

Its all starting to take shape.

Purpose and goal makes everyday the greatest day of your life. 

Its 6:00 in the morning and this is already the best day of mine.

I went down to the river behind my house and the fog looked like smoke on the water....(there wasn't any fire in the sky:).

God bless southern Oregon. (My old IPhone doesn't do it justice...really I wish you could stand next to me right now and see what I am seeing. The birds and the green. [Spring is my favorite. Its like a Friday night when you were in grade school. You know you still have days and days of awesomeness before you have to go back to school]) .

I wonder if we'll find any place as pretty as where I am right now. I'm surrounded by fields and mountains and rivers and family. I don't know, but its gonna have to be someplace pretty amazing. My father says the blue ridge mountains of Kentucky are really pretty in the fall. We have Douglas fir, which doesn't change, they have maple. The hills are on fire with red.


Joshua Lomax Smith

OH NO! Big Board, Little Door.




This isn't our trailer...our trailer has a basement.

 
So this morning was spent measuring the trailer....and the gear. It wasn't until doing this that we realized we are going to have some minor issues with the installation of the equipment.


Our board is a 32 channel Soundcraft Ghost. 

It's measurements are about 4 ft x 6ft x 10 inches. The door of the trailer is big enough but since it is right in front of the refrigerator we are unable to make the turn. We are going to have to pull out the main front window (see also: Front Shot). This sounds like a pain, but we figure  at least no one is going to steal it.

I talked with Erin (Aaron, Eryn, Air-inn, Error-in?) at ABC and they are going to do a story on us next week. She is a really fun to talk with and it was great to banter with her about the life of a big shot new reporter:) Apparently she still has a push lawn mower and she doesn't drive a Bentley....yet. 

She wanted to interview us and one of our local sponsors. I picked Rogue Garden Supply because they are local to where I live and they have been so extremely generous with the project. R.G.S. has made some amazing contributions, and their store is beatiful, so I only found it fit to have the interview in their store. She said she needed visuals....visuals make for good stories. I can't think of anything super awesome for her....Here at A.M.P.P. we are all about making quality and interesting news. I would hate to be the boring story between 'The Worlds Fastest Chainsaw Juggler' and 'Local Prison Forgets To Lock Up!'

Mabye I'll wear face paint

......because right now all we have for visuals is a board that is too big and a door that is too small. 

Joshua 
americanmusicpreservation.org

The Van (The B-Team) What do you think? Should we buy newer or go Retro?

We have been looking for a van for the last month. We  want a Chevy conversion van. Scott, the mechanic on the trip, says they are easier to work on. Hopefully we don't have to replace transmissions in Waco, TX.

Captain's chairs, DVD, queen bed in the back. You know. Here is one we just found....20,000 miles on the new engine. That's Rhino Lining along the bottom! The guys from Colorado and he says R.L. is the only way to roll in gravel. Its a little older than the ones we have been looking at (it is a 1988) but it might match the trailer better. What do you think?   

Its tan and teal? We have a tan trailer. Maybe all we have to do is paint a teal stripe around the outside

and call it good.  We are planning a four person

crew and this back bench seat folds down into a

queen bed. He says he has paper work on everything but the car has 200,000 on it. He went through the transmission then but I just don't know. I haven't had good luck buying used. The last car I bought drove 2,000 miles before it blew a head gasket. He seemed like a straight shooter too. 

Yeah that's right...that's a lumber rack on top.

Gaskets and the Love of Brothers.

For the last few hours my little brother and I worked on repairing gaskets that we thought might fail. Some gaskets aren’t made anymore so we had to make them ourselves. No one told me that the Gasket Fix doesn’t come off. (Apparently Jesse knew, but thought it was funny.)
Awesome, we get to rock black arms for the next few weeks. I hope it comes off while I sleep and ruins countless sets of sheets. Reguardless, we'll wear it like a badge. Thank you Jesse for getting tarred with me.  

Joshua (Is that a "W"? Why is he doing that?)

Jesse ("I can see what you are thinking. You should be ashamed")

Joshua (Lead AMPP)

The Trailer Part One.