Texas Tour 2002

see also >
TEXAS PHOTOS: Live shots & bbq nibbles
TEXAS TALES: Tour Diary, US relatives, Black Widow Spider & e-mail
TEXAS PEOPLE: : THOM THE WORLD POET . SEEMA GILL . EDWARD REILLEY . RICHARD HELEY . BRENDA READ BROWN . PJ THE COWBOY POET . TONY BLISSARD (a real cowboy & poet!) . FRAN REINGOLD & MANLY JOHNSON . CHRISTINE GILBERT

EXCERPT FROM TEXAS TALES:

DARREN POYZER packed his acoustic guitar went off to the Lone Star State to gig, gig gig! Strangely enough, he was accosted by a black widow spider ... only in America!

As I arrived back at HQ, the undressing process was to leave me in shock - there on my lower right leg was a 4 inch diameter area of infection, sore to touch, bright red. Tomorrow I must go to see a doctor ...


Friday April 5th - Cancelled
Yep, on this occasion I refused Thom's wishes to attend. Bless his soul though, for as well as being a top chap, ace writer and quality performer, he's a dude for taking me to the doctors. $250 worth of medical opinion and antibiotics and still I am none the wiser, although it looks like I have actually been bitten. The doc just wants to get rid of the infection, which by now covers my entire lower leg, from the knee to the ankle, and it is bloody sore, swollen and not looking too good.

Saturday April 6th - Expressions @ Bahai Faith Centre, Austin
I've eaten today and whilst the leg is a mess, I feel a little more like it tonight, Still bogged down with fever, I play a reasonable if not brilliant set to a somewhat disappointing turn-out. There are people here and it's a quality night, but the number of empty sites in venue of this size can be a little off-putting - or is that just the English intensity kicking in again? I decide that I am after all, sick and tired in a poorly sense, but just when I start to feel sorry for myself, a 10 year old girl reads a poem about losing her Dad. My Dad died when I was aged 10, so we make a point of chatting and I can re-align myself with the important things in life.

EXCERPT FROM E-MAIL HOME:
" The Poyzer Texas Tour has took an unlikely and potentially disastrous turn ... it seems that some insect or spider of sorts has decided to bite me and pain, discomfort and the cancellation of gigs has been the order of the day It started with a manic attack of shivers and shakes with severe body temperature drop just after I'd bedded down on Wednesday night ... the rest of the night and subsequent day was feverish, poorly balanced, hazy and nauseous, and the second night led to the discovery of a 4" diameter red raw infection in my lower leg
So how can I turn all this whingeing into a positive entertaining e-mail? Well, one of the major topics of conversation and controversy in the UK is of course the Health Service, and here I have had first hand an encounter with the US system. I was taken to a clinic where just to sign in cost $68 (47 quid) and following a blood test and shot of penicillin I was charged another $68. OK I thought, I'll take it, I need it, there goes my car hire and sight-seeing for the weekend, and so on to the chemists for my antibiotics ... another $126 (88 quid) ... and whilst waiting I am pinned by an enthusistic and well knowledged mid-aged female chemist who caringly pushes me for an extra $12 sale of strawberry capsules to assist with the bowel probs I am sure to get from these anti-biotics Welcome to America, shitty spiders and the big sell ..."

Sunday April 7th - Celebration Circle, San Antonio
It's a very early start for this one, and Thom is in command mode - "You gotta be fast, no messing about, the show is restricted to just over an hour and there's lots of brilliant and very talented people involved". Just when I am getting used to Cultureshock, I gotta be rock'n'roll on a Sunday morning? Yeh right .

Turns out that this is another of the high points of the trip. Celebration Circle is a community motivation gathering, and let me point out here that by community we are talking about an urban American community, multi-racial, family based, and in this instance non-religious but open minded and spiritually enlightened. We have food, donated by circle participants, we have music, a resident band, and we are the guests. Thom, Brenda, Ted, Seema, Richard and I are all invited to participate, take to the stage with the option of band participation, and indulge in playing to an audience the like I have never before had the pleasure. Indeed, with the band busking along on drums, bass and acoustic lead, I can play songs simply by feel and with a sense of relaxation I have never experienced when performing at a live event.

Rudi Harst is the main reason this very popular and well attended event takes place, and it is he who leads the gathering with motivational messages and songs. He plays and sings with a charisma that would be in itself, a major blessing to 90% of the songwriters I've seen touting their way around the UK. I am most priviliged to be asked to play the final song of the session, and the band and I play 'Someone For Me', a simple 4 chord tune of mine that is in itself a song about faith. A wise choice indeed Rudi, for it is during this song that I reach out to my audience in ways I have never reached out before, and they in return seem to reach out to me. It is a truly uplifting and reassuring experience.

Reality check: this chap Rudi Harst, motivator and inspiration extraordinaire, had apparently had his family house ransacked and burgled - literally hours before this event. How strong is faith compared to material possessions - either that or he is well insured!

Following the gig, we go to Chris Cookson's BBQ, an outdoor venture where we eat splendid food and drink as we wish. I however have antibiotics kicking in and half a leg bathed in swollen red rawness. I am also here in the company of ranch-folk who know too well the symptoms of a black widow spider bite. Yep, that's the diagnosis I need, and at the insistence of all present, I am on completion deliver to South Austin Hospital.
Big thanks to Chris and family, and all those who donated food and entertainment.

SOUTH AUSTIN HOSPITAL - SUNDAY APRIL 7th to TUESDAY APRIL 9th
No messing, I am straight in and with an hour have been seen by two doctors. This is probably because they are worried about the state my leg is in. Temperature steady at 101, I still have fever and despite the fact that I wanna gig and bbq, I am told that I am not well and must stay the night. Turns into two nights and eventually, having been dripped up to the eyeballs with antibiotics, the leg has shown a little improvement and I am released.