Introduction: Touring, Traveling, and Conor Oberst

Welcome to the first edition of my blog, and let me introduce myself for those of you who have no idea who I am or why you should care about my posts.

My name is John Statz, and I am a folksinger/songwriter from the great state of Wisconsin, specifically the city of Madison. I travel around the country in my 2005 Dodge Caravan and play original songs for nice folks that are willing to listen. Along the way, I visit a lot of states and towns that I haven't been to before, and I learn a lot about the U.S. of A. To date, I have played in 22 of the 50 states on tours, and am trying to grow that number with every trip. Any of you who have read my postings over at my myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/johnstatz) or on Madison's daily collaborative blog, Dane101.com, will know that I have frequently written tour journals, either on the road or after returning. I also like to post pictures from the road, many times of my adventures during the day when I have freetime, and not just of glamorous rock star poses on huge stages. I will be continuing that same tradition on this blog, and building on it as well.

I also intend to write and offer insight about locations that I travel to for pleasure, and without my trusty axe. In the past few years I've taken trips to Italy, Colorado, Niagara Falls, Montreal and Quebec, New Brunswick, and Wyoming (Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, etc.). Looking ahead, in January I will be flying to Warsaw, Poland, and spending a month backpacking my way through eastern Europe to Rome, from where I fly back home. I am really looking forward to that trip, and have been doing lots of research on the logistics of it, so I may be doing some posts on my findings leading up to the trip. In all of my travels, music and non-music related, I'll probably start by getting you up to speed with some posts looking back at previous tours and trips.

Lastly, you may wonder at the name of the blog, "There Is Nothing That The Road Will Not Heal...", it comes from the lyrics of a new Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes fame) song entitled "Moab". Here is an excerpt:

"There's nothing that the road cannot heal
there's nothing that the road cannot heal
washed beneath the blacktop,
gone beneath my wheels
there's nothing that the road cannot heal"

I purchased the album while on my most recent midwestern tour, which I have just this last weekend returned from. Upon listening to the lyrics over and over again, whether driving through the plains of southern Minnesota, the hills of Missouri, or the mountains of West Virginia, this song has become the mantra for my crazy life on the road, and, I think, a fitting title for this blog.

My life philosophy: If there is anything worth spending hard-earned money on, it is seeing the world. I am fortunate that my career allows me to see the world, but if I were not a folk musician I'd be a travel writer (like Rick Steves!), or something else equally hard to succeed at, as long as it involved travel.

Enough rambling for now, I hope that will suffice for the introduction, and I hope you will follow me around in my wanderings for a while!

Take care out there,

John

www.johnstatz.com