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Feb 23, 2010 Web Exclusive By Findlay Brown

British singer/songwriter Findlay Brown has just finished a west coast tour in support of his second album, Love Will Find You (Verve). Brown chronicled the short tour, which included opening slots for Nouvelle Vague, for this tour diary. Be prepared for bed bugs, '80s covers, gang fights, and much more! Brown will playing at SXSW in March and will embark on a full U.S. tour this April and May opening for Shelby Lynne (full dates are below).

Captain's Blog stardate 02/06/2010

We arrived in San Francisco airport late to be greeted by hordes of screaming teenage girls... I wish! In truth all that happened was raw fish and hot sake followed by bed. The next morning I awoke with a familiar itching sensation which always seems to appear when on the road, BED BUGS! They knew I was coming, they have spies, international networks, they plot against me where ever I go! Sweet exotic blood I presume. The hotel had a gym so I ran around and lifted stuff for a bit to try and shift the ever expanding beer gut. Then on to The Regency Ball Room, a wonderful Victorian-style theatre. The audience seemed to embrace us with open arms, although one woman could not believe I eat race horse placenta for breakfast every morning to keep me looking fresh faced and spritely. Once the vodka came out after the show it was good night Vienna!

02/08/2010

Monday was an early start, bad heads all round. We took a little trip down to the Apple mother ship down in Cupertino where they pretty much take over the whole town to play some songs and eat some pizza, much to the discomfort of my newly discovered wheat intolerance. Could be good thing, having such a big face from my over indulgence with bread over the years. Anyway, the Apple village was rather surreal—it had a kind of 1970s movie, set in the future vibe about it, but the folks from iTunes there were lovely. Santa Cruz at the Rio was where us band of merry men performed next. It was such a romantic little town and the folks running the show had an old school hippie thing going on and made us right at home! The tipple of choice was already quite fixed by this point and was oiling the tracks for the long walk back to the hotel in the rain.

02/09/2010

In the bus A Fist Full of Dollars was the soundtrack for the trip down to LA. The Henry Fonda Theatre was a reel hoot! Inspired by Nouvelle Vague, we pulled a cover of "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics out of the bag, which seemed to go down rather nice! Back at the hotel we ate steak, drank a little more V, and practiced our dry swimming techniques 'till sunrise.

02/10/2010

Shock Hound kindly invited me to visit their very impressive mini empire to do a little session for them and then on to a gig in Echo Park. After the show I filled my boots with some very nice Mexican food and went for a couple of sodas? Nearly got jumped by a gang of local lads but soon became pals.

02/11/2010

Played the earliest show of my life the next morning at the Universal building 9 AM sharp, gave me a bit of the woolies but it seemed to go well. I met some nice folk who will be working the record, signed some CDs and then took off for an intimate session for Yahoo. It was a treat to be asked to play for the guys down at Yahoo who offered me a tequila on arrival but it was still a little early for me.

02/12/2010

Bummed around LA for a few more days and did some interviews, played some open mic nights and ate as much Mexican food as I could get my hands on. Then flew back to New York to perfect my guacamole recipe.

Findlay Brown tour dates with Shelby Lynne:

4/22 @ Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA

4/23 @ Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

4/26 @  Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR

4/27 @ The Triple Door, Seattle, WA

4/29 @ Myrna Loy Center, Helena, MT

5/01 @ Dakota, Minneapolis, MN

5/02 @ Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI

5/03 @ The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI

5/04 @ Martyrs', Chicago, IL

5/05 @ Beechland Tavern, Cleveland, OH

5/07 @ Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA

5/08 @ Johnny D's, Somerville, MA

5/09 @ World Café Live, Philadelphia, PA

5/10 @ The Concert Hall, New York, NY

5/11 @ The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA

5/13 @ The Belcourt Theater,  Nashville, TN

5/14 @ WorkPlay Theater, Birmingham, AL

5/15 @ Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA

5/17 @ Granada Theater, Dallas, TX

5/18 @ Warehouse Live, Houston, TX

5/19 @ St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX

5/23 @ McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA

5/25 @ Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA

www.myspace.com/findlaybrown