RAWcross America: The final day!

It's almost over- today marks the last day of the RAWcross America tour! Bittersweet.
We're currently in Arizona, tracking through Cactus peppered desert and red mountains.

It's insane to imagine that we are so close to California. We've DRIVEN ACROSS AMERICA!



We have our final Meet & Greet tonight with local Phoenix artists and the arts community folks.



I'm so very thankful for a safe trip (thus far, knock on wood- 6 hours to go tomorrow).



No flat tires, not too much ice, no blizzards, no accidents, beside a few colds and the Vinnie incident- good health. We skated through most of the U.S with the storm either in front or behind us, but never directly in our path. We definitely had the weather gods routing for us, or maybe it was UniPaas Jet...in the cloud? :)



To conclude our trip I'm leaving readers with a few tips in case anyone ever decides to take a cross country trip. Of course we would do a few things differently and there is always lessons learned for next time but all in all- I feel like we were overly prepared and things that could have been an issue were curbbed because of our planning.



Below is a list of 30 things to do for cross-country trips in the middle of Winter;



1. Get an internet hot spot, and a power strip that plugs into your cigarette lighter. If you need internet access don't rely solely on your phone. I recommend Virgin Mobile no contracts, pay as you go and it works off Sprint towers, we've had pretty decent internet access all the way through.



2. When couch surfing, make sure the people you are traveling with don't have allergies to pets



3. Fill you gas tank, everytime you stop to use the restroom= less stops



4. When traveling on the East Coast bring lots of coins and dollar bills for tolls, they never end



5. Take Vitamin C on a regular basis



6. Bring a GPS- it's a life saver!



7. Invest in some type of close-to-your-body bag, I now get the logic in fanny packs



8. Find out where the locals hang out, and go there- otherwise it just feels like you're in a sea of tourists



9. Don't bring a car to NYC (that's just common sense)



10. If you stay in a hostel- just bite the bullet and share a bathroom- you'll get a way better room for cheaper



11. Let things roll off your back- everyone has a different idea of what to do and why, don't take it personal and try to make collective decisions



12. Choose hotels with continental breakfast!



13. Priceline.com everything! It's awesome and if you don't know where you'll be and when, it's the best way- be sure to read the guest reviews.



14. Don't eat Chinese food in New Jersey



15. Don't eat Wendy's in Chicago



16. Go to a restaurant or bar and ask for the local dish or drink- it's awesome



17. If you're into the Waffle House or Outback Steakhouse you will have NO trouble finding one in every single state across America



18. Use lotion often, every part of you will get dry



19. Bring a pillow



20. You might want to buy stock in Starbucks before you go, it's really the only coffee that keeps you going



21. There are a limited amount of restrooms with toilet seat covers anywhere east of California Here is a step by step guide to create your own:



Step 1: Before entering the stall, check it for toilet seat covers

Step 2: When discovering none, take a generous portion of paper towel (for thickness)

Step 3: Fold paper towel width in half

Step 4: Tear a half circle from bottom of crease to top of crease

Step 5: Unfold the half fold- Voila! Toilet seat cover, thicker than toilet paper,

therefore more sanitary.



NOTE: if there is a hand dryer, squat.



22. Don't drive fast through Ohio, Iowa or *Indiana

* probably the worst state ever



23. Don't talk to strangers in Nashville, they'll talk to you



24. Pack lightly and do laundry- be prepared to wear the same thing over and over again



25. Buy mountain socks and don't wear rubber boots in any snow they're freezing (even with mountain socks)



26. Read all street signs in NYC especially the left turn rules between a certain time and a certain time



27. Don't eat the yellow snow



28. Bring chap stick



29. Layers are the key, a good water proof jacket will serve you well



30. Drink lots of water and be kind to one another (I can't take credit for this one, thank you Mandolin)



We can't wait to share our footage and pictures. I do regret getting mostly landscapes and cultural shots. We barely got any pictures of us in front of anything, bummer. My memories are my photos I suppose.



Thank you to Magic Software and UniPaaS Jet for putting their money where the mouth is to bring us across the nation and back. We have had a successful trip with an exceptional amount of growth and positive feedback for RAW as an organization. Reg & Glenn see the potential in RAW and believed in us and for that we are forever grateful.

Magic Software and UniPaaS Jet are also sponsoring a Viral Video Competition for RAW artists and those affiliated with us. You can submit your creative video commercial online for a chance to win $2,000 cash! Learn more on www.RAWartists.org/unipaasjet

See you in California!

RAW goes to Philly!

Nashville- Music City!

Nashville- a city unlike any other. Vy and I are pretty sure Matt wants to move there as soon as physically possible. Honkey tonks for miles with cigarette vending machines, locals rockin out to their favorite bands with a beer in hand at 10am.

Within 2 minutes of arriving downtown on Broadway we listened to about 6 live bands on the first block! They call Nashville "Music City" and while I knew music and musicians are synonymous in Nashville, the stereo speakers in local street lights (on every corner) playing country super stars was surprising to me. Nashville was creative in every aspect. You couldn't walk, skip or look anywhere without seeing a mural, museum, gallery or every music venue you could think of.

As we were making our way down Broadway (on block #2) a group of young girls handed me a sticker that read Alice and Thunderland. They asked us if we wanted to catch a free show at the top level of the world famous Tootsies Orchid Lounge. In my months of searching for RAW venues in Nashville I remember seeing Tooties on a yelp search- and I remembered it being world famous. Everyone and Willie Nelson's Mom has played tootsies! The venue had every major country star's head shot and autograph plastered on the walls, along with signatures and carvings of names and initials in their walls that had to be dated from the '60s or later.

Alice and Thunderland were charming. A group of kids- a girl lead vocal and four male counterparts rocked the stage with rock and roll covers. It almost brought a tear to my eye. I could tell this was their first big gig- and I was proud for them, as if I knew them for years, or they were my kids.

We snagged them for a documentary interview, they were nervous- it was so cute. Turns out they were from Birmingham, Alabama. They had made the 2.5 hour drive to Nashville for their first big show. Alice and two Thunderlands were cousins, Alice's boyfriend was in the band and then there was a friend. They were adorable, ages ranging from 15-19. Their interview was precious. They may even be RAW artists soon, when they're old enough to get into the venue.

We had a fantastic turn out at Mercy Lounge for the Meet & Greet. People were so interested in what we were doing and so excited to be involved. Their Southern accents got me everytime- no matter what anyone said, it was special to me. Nashville has sweet people and every word is like a sugar coated gum drop.

We also caught several street performers in Nashville. "Mandolin Mike" a Nashville native gave us the break down and history of country music so eloquently that I even had a new respect for it- and I grew up surrounded by country music and have enjoyed it at times.

Mandolin Mike- performing with some locals that randomly joined in

All in all Nashville was a city full of aspiration, passion and musicians. Singer/Songwriters laying out their guitar cases in the street not because they expect anything in return- but because they simply want to share what they love and be heard. While most of them strive for a performance at the Grand Ole Opry- I got the feeling that they were content just doing what brings them joy.

From the East Coast to the Southern Comfort!

What an journey it's been thus far! NYC marked our half way mark. It's gone by fast, and it's apparent that our level of skill for driving long hours has improved. When we see 800+ miles to go on the GPS we shrug and say cool, not as long as we thought.

Since we're short a man the work load has been pretty relentless. I don't think Matt's taken a driving shift since Colorado. Vy and I split the drive between Denver and Chicago- that was a doozy- 1,058 miles in one day!

The most unfortunate aspect of the trip is the amount of time we have in each city. Our schedule has been a late arrival into city #1, UniPaas videos, venue walk thru, meet and greet, retire to the hotel room- wake up and drive 14 hours to get to city #2 and do it all over again. Nonetheless we're learning a lot, about each other, about the culture and the history of these cities and most importantly, the creative scene.

We've met some fantastic people! NYC was full of enthusiastic transplants that despite the saturation of arts, music, fashion and opportunity were depressed at the opportunities. They were stoked to see RAW emerging there. The heartfelt praise from the New Yorkers was much appreciated. By the time we get to the Meet and Greets, usually all three of us are half asleep- so petite pep talks are a good alternative to a 6th cup of coffee.

New York was fantastically full of multi talented artists. We interviewed MoJo an artistic Sunglass designer, Colorform a multi-faceted arts and music group that includes cello, vocals, guitar and a live painter into each performance. We also met an indie singer songwriter named Corey who knocked our socks off with his singing voice. He broke a guitar string because we was rockin so hard!

While our NYC Director, Dawn chaperoned us around the city we spotted a skateboarding artist with a pair of Manichean legs secured to his head by a scarf! You'll have to watch the documentary to find out more about that one!

After 3.5 days in NY with a snowstorm, a few subway blunders and ice cold miles of walking we were comforted by the short 2 hour drive to Philly. Philly is an incredible city, it was the 3rd city out of all of them so far that I fell in love with (Denver and Chicago are the others). The people there were sweet-apple-pie-kinda-nice. Overly friendly, positive and there was laughter everywhere- comparable to an episode of Cheers. Everyone seemed to known everyone. This was a Thursday afternoon mind you- it wasn't even happy hour yet, so I know for sure it wasn't alcohol induced. There were no angry looks or rude eye shots- just simply shiny happy people.

We made the 2 mile trek to the Philadelphia Museum of art also more famously known as the Rocky Balboa Steps. We got some great footage! On our way we met a lone sketch artist in the middle of a snowy park drawing a historical church. It was a great candid moment.

Philly has over 10 arts colleges and a performing arts high school! Definitely a creative city.

I liked the feel of Philadelphia, but what were the artists like?

We had a fantastic Meet & Greet at our amazing new venue G Lounge. Fox 29 Philadelphia came out and interviewed me about the launch. It's going to be a great show, I know it! The artists were passionate, humble and grateful for RAW. One of the featured artists for the first show told me she felt like she won the lotto. I was washed over with a reminder of "this is why you do what you do".


Frederick our Philly director kidnapped us despite our every effort to sleep before our next day drive to Nashville. Fred knows Philly, that is for sure. We had a few cocktails at a former speakeasy that has been there for over 100 years. I drank a martini with egg white as a main ingredient- surprisingly delicious!

For now we're on hour 9 in the car (about 4 to go)- on our way to Nashville, Tennessee. After 5 days on the bustling east coast, in cities that don't sleep, love to honk and ticket happy cops we're ready for some Southern comfort.

If you or someone you know deserves the spotlight in NYC or Philadelphia email Dawn@RAWartists.org or Frederick@RAWartists.org (respectively)

Seattle Video Blog

The Windy City!

It's freezing in Chicago!

We're currently at the beautiful Dana Hotel and Spa getting some much needed work done.

We'll be meeting some creative Chicagan locals tonight here in the Penthouse at Vertigo Sky Lounge.

Check out the venue...
It's GORGEOUS! Can't wait to see what Chicago has in store. The Chicago show launches February 24th and will continue through October. To submit your work or to attend the event visit www.RAWartists.org/chicago

RAWcross America Video Blogs (Day 2 & 3)

DAY Two: Sacramento, CA


DAY Three: Mount Shasta (En Route to Portland, OR)

Seattle, Salt Lake, Denver & a Gall Bladder!

After our Portland promotion, we drove a few hours North to Seattle, WA. We captured some incredible interviews with a local muralist/painter named Baso and a myriad of other Seattilites.

It was freezing and personally I was pretty under the weather (no pun intended). I had a 3-day cold apparently the progressed drastically the one day we had to spend in Seattle. The Space Needle didn't see the likes of me, but the rest of the group soldiered on to capture Unipaas Jet footage.

Seattle seemed to be over and done within a blink of an eye. The next morning, Vinnie wasn't feeling so well- and was super quiet (even more so than usual). We all thought it was the cocktails that Eve (Seattle Director & guilty culprit) bought for him the night prior. Little did we know.

After Seattle we began our decent to the great state of Colorado. It was pretty impossible to make it there in one day, so we had to stop of in Salt Lake City for the night. I had never been to Utah and didn't quite know what I should expect. Salt Lake City was the weirdest city I'd ever been to. The air was horrible, (apparently they were having a red alert in air quality), it smelled like sulfur and then vomit and then feces. It was an everlasting gobstopper of putrid smells as we traveled through. It was pretty disgusting.

All of the exits were labeled 9000 NE, 3400 SE etc. No street names just 4 digit numbers. I was enlightened later that these numbers and directions revolve around the Mormon Tabernacle in town. Wow! They don't have a state lotto so Matt couldn't complete his souvenir lotto ticket chain he's had for 7 states. I also noticed an abundance of self improvement signs. Lipo, lap band, acne scars, viragoes veins and a lot of those pass it on signs with Andre Agassi- I'm pretty sure they were outdated, I wonder if they know he's addicted to Meth? Utah was interesting for sure.

The mountains were incredible however.

The next day was a drive through Wyoming- breathtaking mountains, cliffs and canyons. Snow covered valleys and frozen lakes. Not a whole lot of anything, but gorgeous nothingness. Oh and people in Wyoming LOVE fireworks. There is a firework stand on almost every bend, and where there isn't a stand there is a sign advertising a stand close buy.

We had a fantastic meet and greet in Denver- tons of people showed for more information. We had some break dancers and Andy from the Flow Botts and a designer who croqueted sweaters that stragtigically fit your iphone, ipod and other electronics to be easily accessible. Pretty awesome. Denver is going to be a great one.

As we got into Colorado Vinnie didn't look so hot and asked us to drop him at a hospital- we had no idea what was so severe. A few hours later we get a call that Vinnie needs to go into surgery the following morning! His gall bladder was inflamed and they needed to remove it. He hadn't been feeling well the last few weeks- and apparently the clinic in Long Beach diagnosed it as Acid Reflux... BIG mistake!

We're happy to report that Vinnie had a successful surgery and is recovering in Poudre Valley Hospital. Although we asked to see the gall bladder, it was already gone.

Vinnie needs to stay and recover in Fort Collins Colorado for a few days (which is the nicest hospital I've ever been in). He may join us in Philly or head home to rest. We all think he's crazy for still wanting to go on the trip. As of this morning, we're Chicago bound leaving Vinnie and his gall bladder cavity will remain in Colorado.




We send him healthy vibes, and wish him a speedy recovery. What an adventure thus far, and not we're not even half way done yet.



Three RAWker's soilder on.

Keep Portland Weird... Please!

We're currently en route to Seattle. Portland was a great time, I really feel like a got a good idea of the local cultural flavor, despite us being there for only a few days. I suppose if you see any city as drunk as the City of Portland was on New Year's Eve you get the full spectrum. The real, raw overall feel of P-town people was apparent- minus the inhibitions.

Portland is definitely... weird! They claim it, they own it and they want to stay that way. They even paint it on their buildings to show their pride.

While most people were nursing their post-NYE hang overs -- we were pounding the pavement looking for improv interviews with local creatives downtown. We had no idea if we were in the right spot at all. A friendly couple showed us the ropes on the free street car -- and where we might find some interviews. BTW, Portland rocks for public transportation!

It was quite freezing and actually really quiet. A lot of stores and shops were closed, and there weren't many people out. Just when the six-city-block walk in 29 degrees felt dubious, we spotted a street performer... bingo!

The older gentlemen looked a little rough around the edges, but was a hell of a bucket drummer. When I asked if we could film him, he looked at me like I was nuts and then shifted his eyes toward his tip bucket. He was much obliged to be filmed after the $5 bill was tossed in.

He put a little spin on the norm; I was impressed. Instead of just buckets he had a milk crate that cradled three empty bottles which were once Chardonnay, Jagermiester and Stoli Raspberry. They added some great makeshift symbol "tings" to his compilation. It was definitely a step up from Hollywood Blvd bucket drummers I've seen in the past. He refused an on camera interview, and later apologized and said he was too tired... damn... we just couldn't catch a break.

We started back to our RAWcross America wagon and I was a little worried that we wouldn't have any representation from Portland at all... then we saw her (or heard her, rather).

Zena Whittaker, is a Ukulele player and folk singer/songwriter with pink and purple dreads. Originally from Texas, she moved to Portland to be creative in an accepting community. She was the sweetest thing, with an honest, humble interview and an incredible voice. When we asked her for an interview she said "Well golly Yes!" Who says "golly" anymore? Apparently Zena, and she was fantastic. She sang a cover for us that mentioned almost all the cities we were going to, I had never heard it before, and the interesting thing was she didn't know at that point who we were or what we were doing. It was fateful and she was inspiring.

Artists in Portland are weird! I love them just the way they are.

RAW showcases open up at the Bossanova Ballroom on E. Burnside on February 17th 2011. Every month we'll be featuring the best of the best Portland artistic talent in film, fashion, music, art, performing art and beauty. Contact Mike.S@RAWartists.org or submit your work online to be considered at www.RAWartists.org/portland