Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Thursday June 11, 2026 - Indianapolis, IN

Road Blog
June 11, 2026
Indianapolis, Indiana

Thursday morning hit hard with the news that a close friend of mine, NP Presley, from Lexington, Kentucky, had died. I scrolled my feed in disbelief, hoping it wasn’t true, but it was. I called Tex (Chandler) at 7am and he answered, and it was great to hear his voice, but terrible to hear the words. The cloud would linger for the day, and probably for days to come. Everyone is still processing it in their own way. Tell your friends you love them. That’s all I have about it at this moment.

Troy and I left my place around noon and picked up Jacob JakeE in Ann Arbor and headed south into Ohio, then west into Indiana. It was hot and humid, but the AC was kicking and we commiserated about the normal stuff; work, wives, politics, and social media as we drove across the heartland. Shortly after we crossed into Indiana we saw a massive bald eagle swoop down and land next to a landscaped pond in front of an office building in an industrial park. I said “I think it’s Nate.” It was a beautiful sight, but I don’t think he was going to find any lunch in that small, man-made pool. As you know if you’re a regular reader, seeing a bald eagle is historically a good omen for us when we’re on the road, so we felt optimistic.

We opted for a Flying J Travel Plaza over the Love's on the other side of the freeway for some reason, knowing damn well that Love’s is the greatest of all truck stops. It would prove a mistake (and a test of our bald eagle good-omen theory) as JakeE missed the curb next to the parked van and took a pretty nasty spill onto the concrete in front of the attached Arby's. I stood above him, asking if he needed help as he clutched his arm, significantly more concerned that’d he’d broken it and we might have to cancel some shows than I was for his actual well-being. The portly manager of Arby’s came out and was watching the scene in his grease and sweat-stained maroon polo shirt with an acutely lawsuit-weary eye, and we breathed a collective sigh of relief when the kid stood up, shook it off, and only had a mid-level skinned knee and bruised elbow to show for it. No cancelled show, no Arby’s lawsuit. In that moment, that manager and I were one. I was glad the kid was ok too, of course.

Inside the Flying-J, Troy and I were in the can and there was some heavy metal blasting through the ceiling speakers that sounded familiar but way out of place. I couldn’t believe I was hearing “Wild Child” by W.A.S.P. over the PA at a Flying-J truck stop. That’s a check mark in their column for sure. They had a fairly-mediocre selection of prepared and packaged food, no deep-fried torpedoes (check mark: Love’s), which is what my belly was after, but we managed to get some sustenance to take the edge off for a couple hours before dinner. Troy, always prepared, gave JakeE a couple Band Aids for his battle wounds and we were on our way.

Our AirBB is in a weird, sorta scary neighborhood a couple miles east of the venue, and I took the master bedroom, leaving the 2-single beds room for the boys. We connected to the WiFi, changed out of our civis, and jumped back into the van and headed towards the Taco & Burrito Place , nearby. It’s not much to look at - a hole-in-the-wall, order-at-the-counter kinda joint, but the food was solid and tasty, and JakeE’s restaurant-picking average is on the rise after his less-than-stellar showing in Dubuque a couple weeks ago. Kitty-corner sits the Big Red Liquor Store where Troy got a 4-pack of those canned margaritas he’s fond of, and we headed to The Mel.

The Melody Inn, The Mel to those who know, is a punk rock dive bar in Indianapolis that I’ve played many times, and it’s always good to go back. It’s wall-to-wall stickers and busted up band gear, a juke box and pool table, and a seedy back room where anything goes. Basically, home away from home for an indie rock band playing this circuit. Owner David is a super solid guy I’ve gotten to know well over the years, and we talked about Nate, Ricky Rat, Amy, and all other things Indy over a Buffalo Trace rocks.

The first band was The HALF HOURS. They’re a lot like us, not quite as old, but the same penchant for mixing minor chords and major chords, guitar tones, and songs built around hooks and melodies. Super solid, and good dudes. We played second, and I raised a glass for Nate before we played “Little Miss Awesome,” noting that the last time Nate and I played a show together was at the Mel, on that stage, a crazy coincidence of timing. We played well, the sound was good, and the audience was thin, but there were enough of them to keep it fun. After us whatfriendsareforband went up and played a great set of indie-rock with cool dissonant chords and a female singer who left it all up there with everything she had. They’re young and wide-eyed, not as jaded and burnt-out as us old bastards, and it’s always good to see that there’s kids out there keeping the dream alive. Good people too. A fun night at The Mel!

We loaded out as a massive downpour formed overhead. I let the boys do the heavy lifting while I stood under the awning of the bar like a goddamn diva and supervised. I gave JakeE a pass on our new tradition of playing the Tetris song on his phone while Troy Tetrised the gear into place, on count of the weather. Back at the AirBB we brought the guitars in, Troy got into his Animal (from The Muppets) jammies¸ had a nightcap of margaritas (the boys) and motel whiskey (me), watched some true crime, and crashed out around a respectable 1am. Turns out the master bedroom is the same corner of the house that sits on a busy street corner, so every few minutes some loud truck or other vehicle woke me up, but I managed to get a semi-ok 5 hours of sleep in.

This morning my feed is still consumed by Nate’s departure. The dude was a handful, but clearly left a significant hole in a lot of people’s lives, mine included. I posted a photo of us that had come up a couple times last night of us on stage together with Those Crosstown Rivals that was taken moments after we first met, with some nice words about me from Nate, but I took it down this morning because it felt self-serving. I’ll be doing a proper In Memoriam on Pencil Storm in the near future when the dust settles and I can gather my thoughts.

The boys are still crashed out, their ability to sleep admirable. We’re always grateful to Dave and everyone at The Mel, and the great hangs with The Half Hours and What Friends Are For. We’re off to Marion, Illinois today, to play one of our favorite rooms of recent years – John Brown's on the Square. See ya next time Indy! xo See less