Europe May 30th - August 3rd.
    
    This page is devoted to the trip to Europe that my partner Christine and I recently completed. 
    Music led the way; and, below are the letters we sent back chronicling our journey.
    The plane lands in London on May 31st, and the story begins.

May 30th.  Bon Voyage.
infinite symphony # 2

London-Manchester-Liverpool-Dublin.

Hello everybody. Below is a the first collection of memories/
experiences. I've tried to gell it all together. I'm sure the
emails will evolve as the trip does. Enjoy.

London- June 2nd.
Sitting on the corner of Rivington and Charlotte outside of a nice
neighborhood pub called The Bricklayers Arms in what is known as Hoxton.
It's day three here, the first two are a blur due to jet lag and the
welcoming London pub scene. Just couldn't seem to get up before noon.
Adaptation.
We've found our way her via the highly informative, late night, pint guided
pub messenger. London dispatches may of these to guide our way and they
haven't let us down. Hoxton was once home to poorer/industrial types but now
houses some 10,000 local artist. It has that happening feel to it and is now
quite expensive. Still the people are down to earth and very un-touristy.
Wound up selling two Infinite Symphony cd's to a small indie record store
called Small Fish. These guys knew their music so I was honored. (thanks
Lee, we looked for you at the Nottinghill Arts Club/another great
recommendation).
So at the moment we're sipping a pint outside, (London's an open container
town, meaning you can drink anywhere, even on the tube(subway), and I'm
hoping we can strike up a conversation with somebody to find out what's to
do. It's Friday night, a stranger
in a not so strange land. Let go and see what comes I'd say.
London has about seven million people and is incredibly liveable for it's
size. The underground is truly mindboggling in
it's complexity yet the easiest I've ever found to navigate. You'd never
need a car here. Busking is everywhere,(busking=
playing music in public places, i.e. streets, subways, in case anyone didn't
know.) It's seems all anyone needs is some time to get the lay of the land
musically and your off. Covent Gardens is good as well as Leicester Sqr.
It's illegal in the tube, everybody does it however,(they just ask you to
move on.) Great acoustics- a wide range of talent represented, bad reggae
to.. well even worse reggae, but there are pure professionals at it
as well. At times I wish I played something a little more exotic than the
acoustic guitar. Still it's been great. I found opportunities to play some
showcases here but time constraints make this unfeasable this time around.
Again I think it's really just having the time to hook into the music scene
here. London seems very receptive for the most part.
I want to thank Jay and Siv for being such a blast as well as Thom. Also my
friend Meridoc for being such a great host. You really made the visit for us
man.
Everyone has said Manchester has it going on so off we go.

Manchester- June 4th

We arrive to find what seems like the whole town making their way to the
Pearl Jam Concert going on tonight. We've noticed many such bands are on
tour over here now. Manchester has a reputation as being a real music mecca
but for us on a Sunday when literally everything is closed it's hard to see
it as such. I'm going to assume there's more than meets the eye here but due
to time and eagerness to get to Dublin I'm not interested
in digging for it. Hello and goodbye. We catch the bus to Liverpool.

Liverpool- June 5th.

We arrive to find out the ferry to Dublin only runs once a day at eight in
the morning. Looks like it's a day in the home of the Beatles for us. This
in fact turns out to be a great surprise. Liverpool is beautiful and hopping
with life. We take the obligatory tour of the fab four's old stomping
grounds. Walking around Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields and such.
Our hostel is a straight 24 hour party. Liverpool has an energy that I think
would be great to bring one's music to. The clubs are filled and the scene
seems alive. They're proud of their town here and the land that gave us the
Beatles still seems to have plenty to offer. I get the feeling the music
scene here is a little more grounded and less about image. Again the lack of
time is the limiting factor. This is something I'll have to plan
better next time. The British Isle's are beautiful.

Dublin- June 6th.

We make the ferry and Dublin's a blast. Day two here and I'm glad we made
the journey. Played at an open mic here last night that was amazing. The
quality of musicianship here is truly impressive These people don't fool
around. Everybody is serious about there music. Very supportive with the
sense of a real community. Everybody knows each other. Grafton St. is a
buskers' paradise: endless streams of people, musicians, artists. The most
fun I've had since London. Again more exotic instruments, of the traditional
Irish type. The scene is idyllic. I look forward to what's next.

So that's it for now. Feel free to respond, pass it on, etc. Hope all is
well with everybody. I'm working on how to get the pictures on the web-site.
For now it's out of this cyber cafe and back out into Dublin.
Take care.
Clay.

....Clitheroe, England. What a town. In retrospect, I would have to say that it was the people who made our stay the great time it was. Warm and friendly, we felt very welcomed. (Thank you Steve, Alan, John, and everybody involved.)The whole town, it seemed played a musical instrument. Through out the weekend, the highlights were the amazing jam sessions that often lasted all night. Everybody joined in lending their own brand of traditional music. What a scene it was! There was a brief radio spot for us on Saturday. Concerts were held through out the weekend. Aside from myself, the other 'international representive' was Andy Williams from Australia. We added our own flavor to the jams and shared the stage many times. To Andy and Katie, thanks a bunch, and keep in touch!

Central Train Station: Belgium.
On our way to Amsterdam. Another town highly recommended yet filled with Euro2000 soccer fans. We probably could have stayed in Brussels longer. We've been working on our music and have met some of the local musicians. There are many nooks and cranies to play; but because of the soccer matches, music takes a backseat to the games. Soccer fans are zealous to say the least! The language barrier is indeed a barrier--French and Flemish only. I think Brussels would be a great stop when it is less crowded. Here's our train..

Next,... Amsterdam (6/15)

Infinite Symphony #4

Hello, Hello, Here´s some more from the other side.  Enjoy!

Amsterdam:
   Probably the best city so far and not for the reasons one might think. The
dutch really have it figured out it seems. Their town is beautiful, varied
and balanced in most every way, very young in spirit.  Aside from Dublin,  
this is the town I would most recommend to bring ones music to. You really 
have to relax to function there.  America and Holland have an agreement by 
which Americans can live there legally as long as they are bringing business to
the city. That's a simplified version of the arrangement but you really do get the
feeling that if you wanted to stay you could.
   I sold the most cd's there so far and played at a great bar called Maloe
Melo. A place that's had everyone from the Rolling Stones to The Fabulous 
Thunderbirds on their stage. Thanks to Arwen for recommending it, and
for a great day of music in the park.
   After 5 days and too much fun, we catch the train to Prague.

Prague...
   What a town. This is the way you picture Europe to be.  Every building and
alleyway capturing completely the romance and charm that one hopes to find
over here. However, because of this you could almost put the word "Disneyland"
before it.  It´s packed with tourists, hotels, and expensive restaurants. One really
has to look hard now to find the Prague of yesterday, but it is there. 
   The local haunts were extremely cheap and worth the search. Busking, which
used to be permitted throughout the town, most specifically on the Charles Bridge,
is now for the most part limited only to those who can go through the lengthy red
tape required to obtain a permit. It seemed that the locals were favored and guitars
were seen as a nuisance, (a policeman told me specifically, "No guitars"). 
Maddening and disappointing, to say the least. I was fortunately able to play in
an Irish pub/bar and had a great time entertaining a room full of regulars. There
were also other opportunities to play around town, but they would have required 
a longer stay in Prague than we wanted.
    In many ways, Prague summed up what seems to be happening
everywhere. The world is becoming a tourist attaction and art and music
if presented outside of the context of a tourist attraction is not seen as
valuable. It´s a whole new ballgame.
   My original plan has had to undergo revision and a new plan of attack is in
the works. We´ll see what happens. Either way, the experience is still
priceless.

Munich...
   We´re actually leaving Munich tonight, we´ve been here for two days. We´ve
stayed in a castle on the river and I took the opportunity to have some
downtime playing for no one but myself in a beautiful forest, putting the
words of a wise man we met - `I work to live`, not live to work - into
practice.
   It´s been a month now on the road. The learning curve never stops. The
biggest lesson so far has been that expectations are only that, and that
"success", (or at least being able to end the day with a sense of satisfaction)
depends really on how much a person can let go of. I´m looking forward to the
rest of Europe, and how music looks when seen through all the different 
perspectives ahead.  So far the best and most fulfilling way I´ve found to share it
has been, outside of any musical aspirations, to the kind and random people 
who´ve befriended us along the way.  Funny, how when you don´t try, things 
work out.
   So from that space, off to Venice...
   Hope all is well.

Infinite Symphony #5

Greece:
    Sitting by a pool on the island of Ios in Greece.  This is the first time this trip has 
felt like an actual holiday.  We weren't planning on coming to Greece at all, but the
mounting numbers of backpackers has made travelling quite a struggle. When
the going gets rough, go to Greece.
    Somehow, out of all the places we had to choose from, we managed to land at
the one place that is run by a musician and has live music three nights a week. 
I've never thought of myself as a sea-side/resort kind of entertainer, but last night I 
was given the run of the stage and played for 2 hours by the pool/bar.  Makes a person
realize why people do the vacation circuit.  I'm one of about four musicians on the island,
so it's seen as a plus if you play music and oppurtunities abound.  I'm supposed to play
tomorrow night as well.
     Without rubbing it in, Greece meets any expectations one might have.  It's hot as hell,
but provides a million different ways to cool off.  Everybody is relaxed.  Getting here, 
however,  is a massive undertaking.  Almost fifty continuous hours of trains and ferries
and no sleep.  It was brutal but thankfully, it's worth it.

Venice:
    It was in Venice that we decided to try Greece.  Mainly due to the high cost and scarcity
of accommodation there.  This is the only drawback I think anybody can find about Venice. 
The Italians really have it made, if you ask me. The city is beautiful; the people are friendly, 
and it's old-world charm is vibrant and real.  It's one of the few places that felt like it
would support you as an artist once you found a place to stay.  After you go through the
simple act of getting a permit for street art, it's quite easy to do well playing for Venicians. 
They view it as an asset to the city and since the Venician landscape is so spectacular, 
playing music in the little alleyways and squares is a sheer pleasure in itself. 
    A fantastic young artist named Alessio gave us a place to stay for a night and led us down 
to a local poetry reading where I was lucky enough to play for a full house of locals enjoying
the evening.
    Something that has become increasingly obvious to us is how though some places are 
certainly more intersting than others, it's really more about the people that one meets. 
That's what truly makes the place. Venice certainly had it's fill.  I hope to return soon.

    It's 1:30 Greek time and the sun is working overtime on all of us.  I've got about 3 1/2 
hours before I'm supposed to play tonight.  I think there's going to be a lot of people so
I'd better go get some practice in. ...but, not before I go jump in the ocean.

Hope all is well. Take care.
Clay

infinitesymphony #6

Italy:

    On a train from Florence, Italy to Pisa - that´s right, the town with the tower. 
We´re on our way to Barcelona.  I can´t relay why really, but this leg of the journey 
has a lot of meaning for us.  Spain has always had this ¨We made it, we´re home 
free¨aspect to it, and as the trip begins to wind down, the last six weeks have begun
to leave an impression on us.  We´re tired, yet still excited. 
     It´s a strange feeling to think about London and events that happened over a
month ago and realize that the trip is still going, that these memories aren´t part of
something that is over but are still connected to the present.  It seems like another
lifetime.
    Home, or the concept of home has begun to creep into our conversations more
and more.  Other than the decision to call a place such, I don´t really know what
makes a place home.  I´m sure anybody who´s done a fair bit of travelling goes 
through this.  It may be as simple as what you want, but travelling has added so many
dimensions to that question that the answer seems spread out over an ever widening
array of vantage points.  As my perspective changes, so do my ideas of what I want. 
Is it possible to just call the world your home?

Spain:
    We're in Barcelona now, and I´m waiting for the coffee to kick in. They say
it´s a writer´s best friend and a night in Barcelona gives you little choice if you want
to wake up before noon.  Too late, it´s already 1 O´clock.
    Greece is just another line in the field of time from here.  I miss the ocean though. 
I remember the idea was to go to Greece to relax, work on some songs, and take a 
break.  It turned out to be the most work yet.  It seemed that I couldn´t get the guitar
out of my hands or off the stage.  I think it´s just due to so few musicians being on the
islands.  Throw in a riotous group of South African lads who happened to be ardent
acoustic music fans and you´ll never stop. (Thanks so much guys. I hope to see you all
soon.)
     I must add that in Venice and throughout Greece and Rome we travelled with an 
amazing soul from Australia named Darren.  So as to not write a whole page on how
much his company meant to us, I´ll just say he is and was what travelling is all about.
(You´re the best man.  We miss you and we´ll be in touch.) Two brilliant Austrailians
on this trip.  Gotta make it down there.
     Rome was a mind-blower for all the obvious reasons.  The guitar never made it
out of the case.  I can´t say anything that the guidebook couldn´t say better, but if you 
can go, go.  It´s better than ¨Gladiator¨. 
     Florence seemed obligatory as it´s on the route to Spain.  It was beautiful and a
place we could finally relax.  I think this is where the end of our trip begin to come into 
focus.  Even with all of Spain and France ahead,  it´s the other side of the mountain 
now and so thoughts of what will happen afterwards continue to grow.
     As I think about it, what kind of picture have these emails painted?  What is the 
perspective like at the other end.  Unless we continue to travel in some way back in the
States, there are only a few left to write.  Have they been worth reading?
Any replys would be great.

     Barcelona is awake now, and thanks to two ¨cafes con leche¨, so am I.   I see
a lot of musicians about this town, so it´s time to get outside.  After Barcelona, we´re 
off to Madrid.  Then, it´s San Sabastian, Paris, and finally home. (I´ll be playing a
severely jet lagged set of music at the Skylight Cafe on the 5th. More on that later though.)
Hope all is well. ´Til next time. Adios mis amigos.

Clay

InfiniteSymphony #7

    I was just about done with this email and the @#!*¿& computer just froze on
me.  Sorry for the frustration but I´ll tell you, it was a good one. I was on a roll. 
Deep breath Clay, no don´t throw the computer out the window.  Soo... Let´s start 
again shall we...
    As I was saying I want to thank everybody that wrote back to me about how
these are to read.  I never was really sure what I was going to accomplish
with them, it just seemed like a good opportunity to share information and fun via 
the wonders of email.  I´m so happy I did.  It seems that many people have been able to 
share this trip with us in one way or another and it really does make it all the more
meaningful.  I wanted to do so much more with photo´s and such but the prices in internet 
cafe´s over here just make it unrealistic.  I´m happy to know that these emails have
sufficed.  We do have hours and hours of video footage that I´m going to start shaping into 
a movie when I get back, so I hope to have more to share with everybody when that´s 
finished.
    So again, THANK YOU!   It´s been a great part of our trip.  
    Most of the time I write these I begin days before I actually sit down at the cafe. Both to
save cost and to write stuff as it´s occuring and not later when it´s all memory. This one is
going to be on the fly though.  I´ve found a reasonable cafe and want to get Spain down 
while it´s still fresh.  Here´s what I´ve gathered so far...

Barcelona:
    We got to Barcelona by way of a ridiculous overnight train.  After being told wrong 
directions to our pensione, wondering around with all our stuff for two hours, and finding 
no help along the way I was about to catch the next train to Paris and call it a day. 
That would have been a BIG mistake.  Barcelona is/was fahhb-u-lous.   We ended up at
a great place, in a great neighborhood and it all went up hill from there.
     During our trip we´ve come across some cities that were more our pace/vibe than others. London, Venice, Amsterdam come to mind.   Barcelona blows in off the ocean breeze and
wham, your hooked.  This place has style.  The town is geographically perfect with 
gorgeous buildings and alleyways curving around each other.  There´s a beach,  gobs of 
clubs and bars that are as cool as the claim, and the most laid back, yet thoroughly
modern people I´ve met since living in New Orleans.
     The Spanish are serious about their night life.  All twelve, dusk till dawn, hours of it.  I 
don´t know how they do it and still hold down jobs.  Our sleeping schedule went straight  
from 9 am - midnight to getting up around noon and falling in bed around three, and even 
then we were still the first to go home at night.  It´s just too easy to have a good time.
    The music scene was essentially the same.  I met a couple of other guitar players and 
within minutes I was making the best money I´ve made this whole trip. There´s a main 
street/centre called La Ramblas that you can just walk up and down playing for people the
whole time.  If you need a break from the hustle of the music industry and would like to get
back to just playing music for a while, go to Barcelona.   There are loads of musicians doing 
just that and it´s a great space to connect from.  All my love to the people of that city.
    After five days or so we figured we´d better head on or we were going to end up renting 
a place.  Madrid beckoned.  This is where I´m writing from.
    I didn´t know a damn thing about Madrid coming into this city so there weren´t really any expectations to have met or dashed.  We´re leaving tonight after 4 days and I really don´t 
know how to describe Madrid.  The funny thing was that in Barcelona, whenever we asked 
people there if they´d been to Madrid and what was it like they always said in a non-descript 
sorta way, "Hmmm, I don´t know.... It´s hot."  I understand this description now. It´s huge for 
one thing.  Definitely beautiful.  There´s the Prado, the Royal Palace, massive parks, 
everything a good city needs, not to mention more people than I think I´ve seen in all Europe
so far.  Still, it didn´t really grab me.   It´s very tough to eat well here for starters.  They´re big 
on ham, and I mean heaps o´ ham.  Ham in every possible way you can make it .....  Actually,
now that I stop to think about it, the thing about Madrid is;  it's just Spain, to the core.  It´s not
trying to be anything other than what it is, the capital of Spain.  That´s a credit to it I´d say. 
It´s most likely my inability in the short time I have here to get inside the culture that is the 
difficulty I feel.  Barcelona was more in tune with the rest of the continent in terms of the arts
and nightlife so it was an easy assimulation.  This is Spain as it really is I think.  A person
probably just needs more time here that´s all.  As this trip winds it way down, time is 
becoming more precious every day.

    We´ve only nine days left.  I´m looking forward to returning home and to all the little
things that you take for granted, (too many to mention), but in so many ways I of course
just want to keep going.  We ask each other all the time what we think we´ve learned so
far and though I think it will be easier to see that when we get back, I know a few things 
have already sunk in.  Traveling is work, it´s a full time job in itself.  Though I think routines
are what often sap the feeling of life from the day, they also provide a working machine to
build from.  When you travel it´s so easy to see the big picture, to be excited about life. It´s
how to stay in that big picture and feel the motion of life around you when you´re not
moving that seems tricky.
    I hope that this trip sticks with me, that it stay´s wrapped around me and doesn´t become
some distant bright star that I wish upon nostalgically.  We have to go home to start that 
journey though.  There´s a train waiting to help us do that, so off we go.
    There´ll be one more InfiniteSymphony from Paris before we come back.  And if any of
you in San Francisco can make it to the Skylight Cafe (it´s on 28th and Taravel in the Sunset)
on Friday the 5th please do.  I´d love to see you all and am going to do my best to put this trip 
across in music.  (Maybe even a witty anecdote or two.)  Mark´s got a great sound system out
there and a big open space that´s nice to be in. Should be a good time.
     I hope all is well in everybody´s world. Take care and I´ll write you from Paris.
Adios.
Clay, Christine

Infinite Symphony #8

    Well, here it is, the last full day on our trip.  Tomorrow, we catch a plane
for home.  I wonder what it will look like through these travelling eyes. 
After two month's time, it no longer feels like a trip, but a part of normal
life. We'll probably find ourselves looking for a train station after a few
days, 'Where to next?'
    At this moment, we're in Paris.  Sitting at a cafe succumbing to the new
espresso habits we've picked up.  I'm so happy we concluded our trip here. 
It really is the crown jewel of Europe.  No other city has seemed to embody
"all things European" as much as Paris.  After all the other places we've
been, I don't know if any other city could so completely amaze the two of us
for six days.  It's the longest we've stayed anywhere so far, and I'm
grateful for the time. 
     Throughout our trip, we've often found ourselves feeling a little 
desensitized to the cultural monuments around us.  After seeing so many 
churches, statues, great works of art, etc,... the fascination begins to wear off.
This is just not possible in Paris. The quality of it's beauty is unreal. There are 
too many monuments to go into detail about, (everybody's heard about the
Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, etc,..), so I'll sum it up by
saying: the grass is greener over here.
     The stereotype of the French people as rude has not been true for us at all.
I know two words, "Merci" and "Bon jour" and this seems to be perfectly fine
with them. I can understand however,  how a person could feel a bit elitist
about the town they live in. We keep running into a group of Polish lads in
the park who insist they're leaving any day now for Amsterdam, yet never
seem to make it. I wouldn't be surprised if they stay here all summer. There's just 
too much to do.
     With my guitar on my back, I attracted the attention of another musician who
volunteered everything he could about the music scene as well as an offer to
help get me some work playing in the clubs if I was here long enough. You
might need a little time to get the musical lay of the land here due to its
size, but the fact was I have been too enamored with all the other aspects
of Paris to concentrate on music. This is the train of thought that has me
thinking, 'I need more time, I have to move .' It's a catch-22 that follows you
around when you're travelling I think.  

    So everything is going to come full circle now. I'm going to wake up in San
Francisco in two days, and I'll probably think back to this moment...  There's
a three-year-old racing up the sidewalk on her tricycle, a man across the street 
who's been on his cell-phone for over an hour, and a rotating billboard that seems 
to be broken and can't make up its mind what to advertise. So many memories..
    If you're a musician and like me, have wanted to come to Europe to see how
you'd fare,  go for it.  I found that music really is a universal language and that 
when I opened up my guitar case, the most amazing people made their way into 
our story. They made the story; and, my music served as the soundtrack. For me, 
this is the true gift the music brought to it all.  I didn't make it 'big' like so many 
musical expatriates you read about in the autobiographies, but the perspective
I've gained about sharing music is that it's not about being big, it's about being 
part of the much larger picture that is all around you. It's so much more interesting,
not to mention fun. 
    Thank you to all the amazing souls that have shined so bright for us over
here. Please stay in touch and know you have friends in San Francisco. We'll miss
you.

     My computer at home has all of these emails waiting on it.  It will be nice to go
back and read them anew, to see this experience as you have. I wish I could keep
writing. I do hope to pick up some day where these have left off. Who knows,  maybe
it'll be a tour across the U.S.  For now, this is the end of the first chapter.  I like to
think there're volumes left to write in this story, and with San Francisco as a
backdrop, I hope to find them. More opportunities to share;  that way, it really
is an Infinite Symphony. Thank you everybody for taking the time to be a part of this. 
It's been worth every word.
    May you all have a great day today. I hope we'll see you all again somewhere in tomorrow.
Au Revoir (that's Goodbye in French),
Clay and Christine