05/25/2007

On tour but still longing for home

By Andrew Dost
Local columnist

Read Andrew's past columns here

We're back out on the open road.

After about four months of primarily writing new music, we're traveling again. Our first drive was all the way to southern California for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a three-day concert. It's exciting to be playing concerts again after so much time focusing our energy elsewhere.

The festival was an amazing time. We were able to share the stage with some artists we really admire. It was strange and wonderful to have an air-conditioned trailer in which we could relax, when the temperature outside was over 100 degrees.

We felt a bit out of place, but all in all, I can't believe that we were fortunate enough to play there. It was a great way to start off the tour.

But after being home for so long, there are a lot of things I miss. I haven't often struggled with homesickness. In college, while I missed my family, I was too excited to be among my new friends to constantly want to go home.

Through the first few years of traveling, I rarely called home because I was soaking in everything I could of the different places we were going, enjoying every second of seeing new bands each night and making friends across the country. It's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

But on this trip, there are new sensations. I'm wondering what my mom is making for dinner. I'm wishing I could have been there to greet my brother as he came home from school. I want to make sure my dad is taking our dog for a walk every day.

At first, I thought it was childish to be homesick when this is what I do for a living; by nature it takes me away from home. But upon thinking about it more, I've realized it's a good thing.

I really care about my family and my town. There are a lot of special things back home, and it takes some distance to really appreciate them.

It's strange to wish to be in two places at once. I feel pulled home and at the same time I know I ought to be out here playing music.

I guess this is something I hadn't expected when I dreamed of being in a touring band, which requires that you develop something of a double life. But it's very true that absence makes the heart grow fonder — even of small things that I don't think I even noticed when I was at home.

It's nice to wake up in your own room, among your own things. It's nice to fix breakfast, rather than to hope the next gas station has a restaurant attached. But at the same time, adventure has beckoned.

I'm remembering why a tour can be so much fun. It's an adventure, it's a journey. I'm grateful to have people I can call to share it with, and I'm grateful to be a part of their lives back home, too.

Andrew Dost, 23, is a 2001 graduate of Frankfort High School and a 2005 graduate of Central Michigan University. He's a member of a rock band called "Anathallo,” playing flugelhorn and piano, and also holds a degree in journalism. He writes occasionally from the perspective of being in a band on the road. He can be reached care of the Record-Eagle. Dost also blogs occasionally at http://blogs.record-eagle.com.