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Tour Talk: Big Tree Travels Across America

Posted: 27 Jun 2011 07:30 AM PDT

Volume 8: Santa Barbara, CA

Meet Big Tree, a quintet out of Brooklyn, New York with high hopes and empty pockets. Three dashing young men and two friendly ladies make up this indie pop band. We are the luckiest people on the planet. Our job is to drive from one amazing place to the next, play a show, make new friends, and explore new cities. While we're on the road, FlipKey invited us to share our experiences living like locals everywhere we go.

Santa Barbara Beach Each time Big Tree ventures down to Santa Barbara, this earthy, mystical city fills our heads with dreams of surfer rockstardom and the fantasy of never returning to the real world. The Pacific Ocean and endless throngs of university students give us musician folk every excuse not to leave. And why would we want to? Young people, great food, endless outdoor activities, and more make up this fine town.

First things first: BEACH! We made our way to a very secret path (so secret that we had take off our shoes and walk through a sketchy aqueduct to get to the other side) and took a nice stroll through the meadows, hills, and woods until we reached a manmade trail in the side of a cliff that we could scale down to reach the isolated nude beach. For those of you who would prefer NOT to scale cliffs or go to a nude beach, there are endless paths that lead to pristine public beaches all over the county. We brought a few beers to celebrate our friend's birthday, and felt beautiful and alive as we spent the afternoon playing in the waves.

Next: a trip to Freebirds. Any self-respecting food enthusiast must visit the popular Mexican restaurant, frequented by college students and locals alike. They make killer nachos and burritos, layered with beans, salsa, chicken, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, cheese, and the works. We ordered way too much food and ate it all, wishing we could meet for lunch here everyday. "Let's move here!" someone cries. "Ok!" we all chime. Why not? There's Main Street for shopping, perusing, and bar hopping! There are beaches everywhere! There are hikes and adventures galore!

Path to the Beach Finally, it's time for the show. Muddy Waters Coffee House is a fantastic mixture of café, bar, and music venue. The owner is informative, gracious, and friendly, and the drinks and snacks are delightful. Inside, you'll find a hodgepodge of furniture from tables to living room couches. The artwork on the walls is creative and beautiful. Touring and local bands stop here often, making it a hang out for youth, music enthusiasts, and people of all ages and backgrounds just looking for a good time.

We played to a great audience, and made many friends. After our set, an awesome local horn band had a show, and we stayed late dancing to the funky sounds of synthesizer and saxophone. That night we all dreamt of the ocean and building a new home by the sea…

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Monday, June 27, 2011