Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Sunday July 13, 2025 - Tillsonburg, ON

Road Blog
July 13, 2025
Tillsonburg, Ontario

Day 3 of Buddies Fest kicked off with a goodbye to the goat heard, neighboring turkey flock, and our Dutch AirBB hosts, and heading into Tillsonburg to pick up Jason and Woody for a day-trip to Woodstock, Ontario for lunch and some record shopping. We had dinner at a brewery where my medium-rare burger was well done but the poutine (yes, again) was awesome and the pints were refreshing and cold. Woody did his usual talk-to-the-kitchen-staff-and-dictate-terms bit and turned a bit green when some garlic toast with real butter (gasp!) was placed before him, but he managed to get the rest of his meal down ok without further incident or catastrophic vegan calamity.

After lunch we hit The Record Works where they are now selling my GTG Records Dynamite Alley album. I nearly got the Alcatrazz album with Steve Vai and Graham Bonnet but passed on it in favor of The Records debut. On the way back to the vehicle we passed a nice couple who grabbed a photo of us and I got rid of the formalities immediately by telling them that Woody was a vegan so he wouldn’t have to announce it in 30 seconds time.

Back at The Mill we said hello to a bunch of buddies and I touched base with Brock and Rob from SLIP~ons about their set, and they kicked off around 4:30. I got up and helped with backups on their song Graystone, about the legendary Detroit punk venue. That was a thrill for me to pay with them, and get up on the main stage, and to also make an appearance on each of the 3 days of the festival. They were at the top of my list of bands I needed to see and did not disappoint. Awesome set. I was able to check out some of Kendra (from The Creepshow ) and and Chuck Coles that really moved me, and some of Jim Bryson’s set that was fantastic (though as a metalhead his banter was not always up my alley – jk, it was funny and awesome).

Around that time, Adam Wild Honey Collective and I had to start working on our exit plan. We said goodbye to Brock and Jon Snodgrass and Greg Norton and way too many other buddies to name in one post without getting flagged for spam. We hit the road a bit after 7 and zig-zagged our way back to the 401 and into downtown Windsor where we stopped at Meteor, where we played with Chad Price Peace Coalition on Thursday and in a rare lapse, I left a small camera bag.

The border crossing was easier that getting into Canada, but the dude kept asking us where our CORPET form was. I’ve played Canada once, sometimes twice a year for the last decade and a half (except the covid year), sometimes with a van full of gear, but never with no gear. I’ve never once been asked about this CORPET form. Turns out you’re supposed to document the valuable things you’re bringing into Canada so you don’t have to pay taxes or declare them as new purchases on the way back into the states. Who knew? Anyhow, we were out of there pretty quickly. I think he knew we were cool, but it would have been nice to have been informed in a more “for future reference” tone rather than an accusatory, scolding one. Always an adventure getting in and out of the country.

Back home it was nice to see TrooperGirl22 and, with Adam, give her the lowdown of the weekend. They had some quinoa salad and I had a whiskey, then Adam was on his way back to Lansing and I was off to bed.

Not sure what else to say except that this has been one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long, long time, and probably ever. Traveling with Adam was awesome. He’s an amazing person, fantastic musician, great travel-mate, and close friend. He elevated my songs and show way beyond what I could do without him. The vibe at Buddiesfest, from every last one of the owners, organizers, staff, musicians, and attendees, was nothing but positive, loving, and embracing. It’s gonna take a minute to come down from this high. Special thanks to Chad Price for having us in Toledo and Windsor, to Ben Andress, Billy Gibbons, Amanda Babcock, and Mandy Pattyn for making The Mill feel like home, and to Jon Snodgrass for bringing me into this circle and subsequently changing my life.

Thanks for reading. See ya in September. xx