Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Wednesday December 10, 2025 - Goshen, IN

Road Blog
Wednesday, December 10, 2025
Goshen, Indiana

I said goodbye to Troopergirl22 and left home around noon on Wednesday in a driving, icy rain. We’d been hit with about 3” of heavy, wet snow and the roads were slush covered and gross. As I worked my way south the temps dropped but road conditions improved. I hit the Taco Bell drive-thru in Milan, grabbing a soft taco supreme and burrito supreme, the breakfast of champions. I crossed into Ohio, took a right at Maumee, and headed into Indiana. I was listening to Howard Stern interview Hugh Jackman about this new Neil Diamond tribute act movie and I just kept thinking how I had to tap out 25 minutes into that unwatchable (imo) remake of A Star is Born and how my brother David Picco always wanted to do a Neil Diamond tribute, so I kinda skeptically zoned out on the drive, wishing Picco was doing his Jagger and De Niro impressions for Howard.

My first stop was Sweetwater, where I had a date with destiny and my trusted sales-rep and friend James. See, I’ve never been a Strat guy (that’s Fender Stratocaster, for those readers who aren’t guitarists, one of the top couple guitars in rock and roll. Tons of the greats play/played them, others write them off as this or that. I’ve always been in the middle; never the desire to own one, but at the same time, always wishing I had one for this part or that part in the studio). So I’ve been planning to get another acoustic, eying up one of premiere Taylor models, but with this Dynamite Alley solo tour winding down and the Tucos machine revving back up, it just doesn’t seem like I need a new, 4th acoustic. Then TG22 and I saw The Surfrajettes last week and their guitarist Nicole was playing a Strat that just sounded like butter and I realized it at that moment, to TG22’s chagrin… a Strat it shall be. Anyhow, this is getting long-winded, but the background seems important and now you’re up to speed.

So I pull into Sweetwater, this giant musical gear/studio/venue/everything-else compound mecca out the farm fields west of Fort Wayne, and start strumming some Strats, and pretty quickly it was apparent to James and me which guitar picked me, and the deal was done. Now I gotta cart this thing around for the rest of the run and can’t even plug it in `til Sunday! Anyhow, Merry Xmas to me. I know Sweetwater has its detractors, and they have valid reasons, but I get top-notch, human support from them before, during, and after I buy things, so a loyal customer I shall remain.

With the new Strat in tow I worked my way Northwest towards Goshen, Indiana, about an hour away, under mostly cloudy, drizzling skies. The city is way bigger than I expected, with a great little downtown. I stopped in at Ignition Music Garage where I met this dude Ryan working there and we had a nice chat about the store and the town. I thumbed through the bins, picked up a little something he talked me into buying, and headed across downtown to Goshen Brewing Company, where Russ helped me load in and talked about how his old band used to play with The Plurals and at the GTG Records house, and how was Tommy and the gang?

I got set up and sound-checked, had a fantastic ham and sweet-pepper sandwich and a black IPA, and went on at 7PM to a fairly full room full of diners, craft-brew lovers, a good chunk of the Goshen Fire Department and their partners, and a few music lovers. I played straight through `til 9PM with engagement fluctuating as the night flowed, but ultimately had a good time and got some great response.

After the set I talked with a guy who looked like one of the scientists from Rock and Roll High School. He was front and center, deeply engaged in the set, super friendly, and had some questions: What is that “Huckleberry” song based on? Tombstone? What was that song with the line “Gary, Indiana don’t forget the Motor City?”, “How does your hair do that?” We had a nice chat, I answered his questions as best I could: (Huckleberry Hound, “The New World” by X, and it just does that, I might help a bit, I dunno). I loaded out and headed west in the frozen tundra.

I’ll be commuting out of a motel about 20 miles south of Chicago for the first 3 shows of this run, so I had a couple-hour to drive to get there. The first half-hour was pretty treacherous, with black ice and just plain regular ice down Indiana county roads with multiple cars in ditches and semis doing 20MPH with their hazzards on until I hit the expressway where it was smooth sailing. I called TrooperGirl22 and told her about my adventures at Sweetwater and the gig and she filled me in about how the snow plows were her nemesis as she tried to clear the piles of snow and slush from our driveway.

I got settled into my room, cranked the window heater and the small space-heater I brought to make the frigid room habitable, turned on some Beavis and Butt-Head, did a little catching up online while enjoying a nightcap, and crashed out around midnight, 1am CST. This morning it was lobby breakfast, catching up on some work, and watching some terrible morning news show in between. Thanks to Russ, Hanna, Anna, and the rest of the great staff at Goshen Brewing Company for a fun kickoff to this run!

See ya tonight at Ope Brewing Co in Milwaukee (West Allis)! I haven’t played Milwaukee since 2017 and haven’t played a solo show there since 2010 – holy smokes! I see Taco John's in my near future! xx