Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday May 17, 2025 - Baltimore, MD

Road Blog
May 17, 2025
Baltimore, Maryland

I was up and at `em on Saturday morning, staring down a 6–10-hour drive (according to Google) including passing through New York City and Philadelphia. I was out of my Manchester, New Hampshire motel by 7 and on the highway with large black McDonalds coffee in a few minutes. It was a beautiful, warm day and I was short on sleep but buzzing from the fun show at The Shaskeen Pub the night before. The first couple hours were rough – couldn’t seem to pour enough coffee down my throat to wake up, but by the time I passed into New York state I was feeling a little better. All that coffee took its toll, though and I as entered Yonkers my back teeth were floating I had to pee so bad. There are no travel plazas in the city and I knew it was only gonna get worse so I took my chances and pulled off the highway, figuring at worse I’d use the empty Beef-A-Roo cup I’d saved for just such an occasion. I was a block off the highway when as luck would have it there was a construction site with a glorious porta-potty out front. I backed into a no-parking space, did my business, and resumed my journey within a couple minutes. The struggle is real, but the gods shone down on me in that moment.

I entered the Bronx, then crossed the Harlem River onto Manhattan, then crossed the George Washington Bridge across the Hudson River into New Jersey. The entire day was blue skies and sunshine except the hour and a half I was in New York State, when it rained on and off for the duration. I navigated through New York/New Jersey traffic hell for another hour or so, through Newark and Jesey City, and eventually landed on the New Jersey Turnpike, where I sang Simon & Garfunkel’s “America” to my self over and over again. I could see the Manhattan skyline in the distance, and that’s always a sight. I crossed into Pennsylvania and was relieved that my GPS didn’t take me trough Philadelphia, as I’d expected, but kept me well east. I crossed the massive and beautiful Delaware Memorial Bridge (with the Philly skyline way off over my right shoulder) connecting the New Jersey Turnpike (cue: “counting the cars….”) and the Delaware Turnpike, and finally into Maryland. After a stop for lunch and a second stop for a 25-minute power nap, I landed in Baltimore at 4PM, nine hours after leaving New Hampshire.

My first stop was Celebrated Summer Records, named (presumably) after the great Hüsker Dü song. I’ve wanted to check this store out for years and finally made it in. It’s basically a punk museum with tons of setlists and posters from early 80s punk shows by Descendents, Black Flag, Hüsker Dü and more. I chatted with the owner a bit, we talked a little Negative Approach, and they’re now carrying my GTG Records album Dynamite Alley and The Tucos’ Candy Coated Cannonball, so stop on in, check out the killer store, and pick one up!

Around the corner was a big city park with a skate park and lots of space. I looked for a place to relax in the shade and call TrooperGirl22 but couldn’t really find anything, so just did a big loop on foot, still shaking off that bitch of a drive. My bladder was once again at capacity and there wasn’t a toilet to be seen, so I started heading back to my vehicle and an imminent date with that Beef-a-Roo cup when glory be there appeared before me another porta-potty, my second of the day, just in time. That Beef-a-roo cup might still come in handy, but it’s gonna have to wait a while longer.

I had a couple hours to kill so I put on my tourist cap and headed downtown to the Inner Harbor and waterfront promenade, a tourist hot spot where they have a tall ship, a submarine, restaurants and gift shops. It was congested as all hell, so I parked in a ramp and headed out for a lap on foot. Can’t say it was totally my scene, but it felt like something that I should see. I got a Baltimore sticker for my guitar case and made it back to my vehicle (after looking for 15 minutes in the wrong parking ramp) just before I would have been nailed with the double-after-1-hour charge.

I called TrooperGirl22 who was preparing the castle for the arrival of her king after his tour (not really, she was chilling, watching the Tigers, and just generally TCoB) and we had a nice chat and a “see ya tomorrow.” I headed into the Hamilton neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore and found parking about a half-block up from Micky’s Joint. Inside I said hey to my pal Joseph, who I met a couple years back when The Tucos played with his band The Silverites , and my new pal Sean, guitarist for The Starlings. We talked a little logistics and got set up. At the urging of Joe’s wife Patti I got the smash burger with a side of OLD BAY® Seasoning, which is a MAJOR thing around these parts. Not sure I ever tried it before, but down at the harbor they had EVERTHING Old Bay – tee shirts, Christmas tree ornaments, magnets, you name it. What the hell, let’s do it. Burger was amazing and so were the fries – I’ll be getting some of that good stuff for home! My pal Stephen and his wife Jodi came up from Virginia for the show, and it’s always a pleasure to see these good people too.

I went on to a pretty good room of people a little after 8pm and did about 35-40 minutes. I sang alright but my fingers weren’t entirely cooperating, but I’m not sure anyone really noticed. The crowd was engaged and generous with their applause and it felt like a great way to wrap up the tour. Sean came up and played some lead guitar on a Steve Earle song, then the rest of The Starlings came up and we did a John Prine song and a Hank Williams tune (not to self: it goes to D, not F). I stepped down and they stayed up and played for the next couple hours. It was mostly originals, great sounding Americana rock, sometimes a more of the latter, sometimes a little more of the former. Great playing, great harmonies, and a fun set. I got back up and strummed some on a Velvet Underground song, then traded verses on Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which I’ve been doing occasionally in my own sets forever. I realized as we were playing it that my version is pretty much self-made-up and I don’t actually know the tune, so I tried to lay back a bit so as to not make a bigger mess of it.

After the set I tipped the bar staff, had a few pleasant words with Quinn, the manager (awesome guy), took a couple photos, sold a little merch, and headed out. BIG thanks to The Starlings and Micky’s Joint for letting me crash their party and being beyond cool to me in every single way from start to finish. These guys are a great band and wonderful people. Thank you!

I drove about and hour northwest to Frederick, Maryland and got a room for a few hours of sleep. I was wiped out after that long-ass day and it didn’t take long before I was out. This morning hit hard at 6am. I scoffed at the sorry-ass breakfast buffet, made a calculated decision to pass on the expired peach yogurt, gulped down a bowl of stale Raisin Bran, and headed again northwest towards Michigan. It was a beautiful morning and the rolling Maryland countryside was green and lush. I crossed Antietam creek, rolled under the Appalachian Trail, then into Pennsylvania and onto the PA Turnpike, winding through the Appalachian Mountains. I crossed into Ohio around noon, and the whole trip was smooth sailing until I hit Michigan, just 45 minutes from home. Three lanes went down to one and it took me an extra half hour to get onto I-275 North into the western suburbs. Yup, bladder full of coffee again, but the Beef-A-Roo cup was safe, I made it home.

At home my lawn is insanely long and I’m sure there’s been a complaint filed, but I made it in time to see my giant alliums in bloom. I’ve got what feels like jet lag after very little sleep and 17 hours of driving out of the last 30, but I feel great after what has easily been my best solo tour to date, in every way. HUGE thanks to all the venues, bands, promoters, and friends who were a part of it. This shit ain’t easy, it ain’t always fun, and it’s rarely financially viable, but somehow these last 11 shows have reinforced my motivation and love for traveling and playing. Thanks for reading and traveling along. Xx

Days: 13
States: 13
Venues: 11
Miles: 3750 (200 more than my PNW tour in October)
Hotels/BBs: 9
Record Stores: 7
Bald Eagles: 3
Porta-pottys: 2