Well, Streeties, the tour was a success!  We are home in Nashville resting up a few days before our big shows here this weekend.  Unfortunately, due to the apocalyptic snowstorm sweeping the Midwest, our final show in Tulsa has to be canceled.

We left Milwaukee Saturday for St. Louis to prepare for our show there and rest as much as we could.  Luckily we had some great friends just outside the city to put us up for the night and let us party at their wonderful home.

Our show at the Pageant on Sunday was a lot of fun.  We partied with Ben’s band next door the remainder of the night.  Our own Little John turned 24 as well, so needless to say, that made for an exciting time.   Thanks to our great friends at the Moonrise Hotel, we had a wonderful night’s sleep after our crazy, action-packed St. Louis outing.

At this point, news of the upcoming, end-of-times snow and ice storm was everywhere.  We had to drive to Fulton, MO in the icy prelude.  Thanks to the cautious, expert driving of Mark McLemore we made it safely in time for soundcheck and got a little rest before we went on stage.  The crowd was a lot of fun for such a small town and venue.  A few people, sadly but understandably, did not brave the storm to come out to the show, but there was still a great crowd.

At this point we knew Tulsa had been canceled so we were prepared to make our way back home after the show.  We arrived in Nashville around 7 AM this morning, exhausted.

Thanks again to all the Streeties we met on the road, and to the ones we didn’t: we will see you as soon as we can get to a city near you!

And last but not least, we want to express a huge amount of gratitude to Ben Folds, his tour manager, his band, all of his crew and our own AMAZING “merch-bitch” Tiffany.  They were great to us the entire way, and we would have not made it without Tiff being along to help us out.  Ben is an amazing man and friend of ours, and we can’t ever thank him enough for all the support and musical love-making he’s provided for us.

Now, time for some rest, folks.  See you soon 

Well, we are currently sitting with friends in St. Louis.  We just arrived in town to party and prepare for tomorrow’s show.  Let me try and recollect the past few days…

We left Chicago for the show in Champaign on Tuesday night.  Great show there.

We left Champaign for the long trek to Athens, OH the next day.  There’s such a great a cappella following there.  The response to us was amazing!  We even got a post-show performance from the all-female local group Title IX.  Now, the smart thing to do at this point would have been to start the 10 hour drive to the next venue, BUT we somehow found ourselves at a local watering hole called the Red Brick.  That’s where THIS happened.  It was a lot of fun, and the support for SCS and a cappella is mind-blowing.

After a few hours with the Athens folks, we drove to Columbus for the night.  The next day we woke up early to make it into Madison, WI.  The Overture Center is a gorgeous new venue there.  I’d love to visit the city in the summer when the lakes aren’t frozen over.

That night after the show we drove to Milwaukee.  We were on the local Morning Blend show the next day.  We should have learned our lesson to not do any official SCS stuff before 10 AM, hahah.  It was fun though.  We rested the remainder of the day until the show.  The show that night at the Riverside Theater was crazy.  We found ourselves partying with the locals in a couple of different and even made friends with a local artist, Clive, who was very hospitable.

Thanks to everyone at these shows!  We can’t wait to get back to these cities (and we will!)  It’s been a blast meeting and partying with everyone.

P.S.  We are documenting our entire tour, so expect some wonderful behind-the-scenes videos and photos once we get back with some time off.

And this is Tina.  We met her in Chicago. She is adorable. That is all.

We are currently getting settled into our hotel here in Champaign, Illinois, and it’s our first chance to catch you guys up, so here goes….

It’s our fourth day on the road, and we just finished up our second show on the tour.  Last night in Chicago was great.  We experienced the quintessential deep-dish pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs and even sang to a fan in an Irish Pub.  I’d say it was a win.

Tonight’s show was great.  The auditorium was amazing, and the staff was even more so.  They were very hospitable.  We are meeting a lot of great fans on the road.  I’ve said it a hundred times, but our fan support never ceases to amaze me.  Thanks to everyone who came out to the show!

Tomorrow we wake up to head off to Ohio.

We are currently sitting down at breakfast in Hudson, WI on our way to Chicago tonight.  The tour got off to a rockin’ start last night in Minneapolis.  The crowd was tremendous.  I want to thank everyone who came out to see that one.  Saturday we drove up from Nashville in the new SCS van a.k.a. the White Buffalo (a very fitting name for the weather we’re experiencing here).  It is officially the coldest weather I’ve ever had to withstand.  Let me rephrase that: this is the coldest weather I’ve ever had to survive.  It was below zero yesterday.  Perfect weather for Jeremy to do doughnuts in the hotel parking lot.  8-|

Look out, Chicago; SCS is coming. 

I want to personally thank everyone who came out to support us at Exit/In.  Our first official show as SCS couldn’t have gone better.  We really want to thank the Whiffenpoofs for sharing part of their tour with us, and we want to give a HUGE thank you to our surprise guests Committed, Alison Krauss and Ben Folds.  This is the beginning of a long, beautiful relationship with SCS and it’s fans.  Thank you, Nashville.  We <3 you.  See you again very soon.

Here’s all the info you need on our 2011 tour with Ben Folds.

From BenFolds.com :

“Street Corner Symphony from NBC’s The Sing Off will be the opening act on Ben’s upcoming US dates. Check out the tour page for a full schedule of Ben’s 2011 tour plans.

01.23.11 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
01.25.11 Champaign, IL @ Assembly Hall at University of Illinois
01.26.11 Athens, OH @ Ohio University
01.27.11 Madison, WI @ Overture Center
01.28.11 Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
01.30.11 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
01.31.11 Fulton, MO @ Champ Auditorium at Westminster College
02.01.11 Tulsa, OK @ Cain’s Ballroom”

A lot more information coming from SCS as soon as everything becomes official.  Stay tuned, Streeties.

I finally gave in and signed up for Twitter.  Go kill a few brain cells by following my page. I also have it linked in the top right corner of my blog.  We’ve also been preparing for Tuesday night’s shows.  Jeremy and I made a rough setlist and are making all the other preparations.  Tickets are still available for the 10:30 show.  It’s going to be amazing; you definitely wouldn’t want to miss it.  Other than that, there’s just been a lot of hanging out with great people and having a few drinks.