After touring most of the US and Argentina last year, a local folk-jazz duo are planning on doing it all again, but from the comfort of a psychedelic-solar-powered-performance-stage-million-mile groove bus.
Handmade Moments, the once side project of the local favorite Don’t Stop Please, has built a following from traveling the endless US highways to bars throughout the country and forming a fan base in Buenos Aires as the two busked and networked their way into the Argentina music industry.
Whenever possible, Handmade moments book shows themselves. But otherwise, the plan isn’t really a plan. The new tour bus will help Handmade Moments capitalize on their bohemian touring style of showing up to bar venues that lack live music and offer to play for tips and CD sales. With this new ride, the group will be able to make the venue the bus they rode in on, and perform anywhere.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Anna Horton (left) and Joel Ludford (right) sit atop the stage that’s been welded to the top of the bus for Handmade Moments to play from. The stage is about 10 feet off the ground.
The Solar-Powered-Mobile-Stage Bus
Originally purchased in Alma, Ark. for $1,100 a few years ago as a tour van for Don’t Stop Please, the new tour bus used to have a “skanky” camo paint job and likely the remains of some dead deer blood in the floor, said Anna Horton, one half of Handmade Moments.
“The floor was gross because the guy used it as a hunting rig,” she said. “It was all dusty. It also couldn’t start in the cold, and it was tough to get it going.”
Once returning from their extensive tour earlier this year, the group devised the plan to upgrade the bus into a globe-trotting mobile stage bus. With a little help from their friends, the band was able to give the bus a makeover both under the hood and out.
Mariano Padilla, a muralist from Argentina the band met in California, did the artwork via black paint pens that covers the surface of the bus along with a few spots by local artist Eric Henry.
On top of the bus is about a by 20 foot by 8 foot steel platform stage that was welded to the top of the bus by Unique Creations by Billy Lindsey in Fayetteville. The bus shifts a little bit while walking around the platform, but it’s pretty solid. The views from up on top of the stage instantly creates vistas wherever the bus is, and will likely create lasting memories for anyone who gets the chance to check it out.
“There’s isn’t much we’ll say no to,” Lindsey said. “This is the most unique one I’ve done in a while. We don’t usually put a stage on a bus, but when asked, we do.”
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Anna Horton lifts up the solar panel on top of the stage that’s been welded to the top of the bus. Using stored solar power, the duo will be able to power their PA system and play anywhere from atop their bus.
When the safety bars are down, two solar panels by Richter Solar can charge enough energy to allow the band to play for 14 hours straight without sunlight and even jump the car’s battery if the need arises. Lindsey and his crew also placed a new “million mile” diesel engine in the bus, so if all goes to plan it should last a long time for the group.
Travelin’ Band
The first tour began while on the way to a job trimming marijuana in Nevada. The convenience of needing a minimal set up to play at spots along the way led to 31 performances in 5 weeks as the performance opportunities kept coming. The inspiration to take it on full-time came while the two were busking out in Santa Fe, N.M. and a woman put $100 in their tip jar.
“That was when we were like ‘Alright, looks like we’ll survive,’” said Joel Ludford, the other half of Handmade Moments. “From then on we went from new town to new town and asked the people there what bar would have a traveling band last minute. They’d say, ‘Oh, you gotta check out Rick’s or Chelsea’s.’ Then we’d find the bar and play for them. They either liked us or they didn’t, and most of the time they liked us. If we didn’t stay with a new friend or fan that night, we had a bed in the back of our truck.”
One of the band’s favorite stories from the road came from when they first entered Colorado after playing some gigs in Chicago, when their car broke down and needed a 200 mile tow. The tow truck driver showed up and invited the two to take advantage of the “new recreational laws” and got them stoned on “Caviar” which is weed dipped in hash — which is a more potent, condensed version of marijuana.
Staff Photo Nick Brothers
Anna Horton (left) and Joel Ludford (right) lounge across their tour bus bed pallet where underneath they can store most of their belongings and gear. The bed can be unlatched to make two aisles of benches.
“I got probably the most stoned I’d been in like a year with this tow truck driver,” Ludford said. “So make sure you break down in Colorado, because your tow truck driver might get you super stoned.”
The driver got them two hours from their gig, and they hitchhiked the rest of the way there.
“We met some really cool people hitch hiking,” Horton said. “But we met one crazy lady, she was like a message therapist but she was crazy. She was talking about energy healing, and someone called her on her cell phone and she was like ‘I’m going to kill that bitch!’ and we were just like ‘Woah…’”
Among some of the band’s favorite shows were in Argentina where they got to be a part of a Sofar production and playing the weekly Folklorica Fest in Buenos Aires and the Patio Provinciano.
The two got to book a few shows with the Life on Mars party company in Buenos Aires. The company throws “silent disco” parties with headphones that pick up audio transmissions and glow to which channel the patrons are listening to.
“We were at this three story building in Palermo, this hip neighborhood in Buenos Aires,” Horton said. “One channel would be a live band playing without speakers so you have to hear through your headphones, the other was a DJ, and the third one was the audio to the movie being projected on the wall of the building next door you could see from the top story terrace.”
New Album, Eye In The Sky
The new album by the duo demonstrates and improved focus to song craft and melody lines and more instrumentation than the duo’s debut. To pick up a copy, you’ll need to contact the band. There has yet to be a digital release of the album.
There’s definitely some great, catchy hooks in here that inspire you to sing along with the band. Of course, there’s also some excellent beat boxing going on throughout.
The lyrics are deftly balanced between the political (the paranoia in “Eye in the Sky” or “Base Pay”), and romantic (“All I Wanted”) and covers a lot of ground throughout the 12 song album.
Both Ludford and Horton possess impeccable, recognizable voices that harmonize beautifully and individually could make anyone envious. It’s great that Horton plays saxophone, as her voice contains many of the same rich tones that the instrument has and Ludford carries a carefree joy in his voice that shines in “All I Wanted.”
The album’s production by fellow folk musician Kelly Mulhollan feels intimate and cozy. It’s a good indicator of the kind of show you’d get from the band, and it makes for a fleshed-out memento to the group’s stellar performances.
The duo are heading out on the tour the week after Christmas and plan to hit up New Orleans from their roof during the New Years Eve festivities. Along with them will be Nick Caffery, who will play stand-up bass, or at least until he finds a senorita along the way through Mexico and settles down, Horton said.
