Pitchfork

Photo by Joe Odea

Tom Waits is already this close to being a character in a ghost story, so a bus tour of the gruff-voiced singer's old haunts makes a certain kind of sense. The folks at L.A. bus adventure company Esotouric know this, and thus, they've created a tour called "Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits' Los Angeles".

"Crawling Down Cahuenga", which takes place August 30, is a tour of the bars, restaurants, venues, studios, and other hangouts Waits frequented during his "formative creative life" in the 1970s and 80s, according to a press release.

Leading the tour will be David Smay, author of the 33 1/3 book on Waits' Swordfishtrombones, and Kim Cooper, Esotouric guide and the author of the 33 1/3 book on Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. After they finish the tour, Smay and Cooper will host a group reading at Metropolis Books where Smay will also sign copies of his Swordfishtrombones book.

For info on how to sign up for the "Crawling Down Cahuenga: Tom Waits' Los Angeles" tour, visit esotouric.com.

Waits, meanwhile, has a little tour of his own-- the "Glitter and Doom Tour"-- to keep him busy this summer. And it turns out L.A. isn't the only city celebrating the troubadour. At Waits' show on June 20, El Paso, Texas presented the singer with a key to the city.

During Waits' set at the city's Plaza Theatre that night, a police officer walked onstage in uniform, prompting Waits to respond, "I paid all those tickets," and, "She was dead when I got there," according to a press release. Then, an El Paso Councilwoman arrived onstage and handed Waits a plaque with his key. The press release notes Waits was touched and said, "This is a first for me, a real first."

Tom Waits:

06-28 Columbus, OH - Ohio Theatre
06-29 Knoxville, TN - Civic Theatre
07-01 Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theatre
07-02 Mobile, AL - Saenger Theatre
07-03 Birmingham, AL - Alabama Theatre
07-05 Atlanta, GA - Fox Theatre
07-12 San Sebastián, Spain - Auditorium Kursaal
07-14 Barcelona, Spain - Auditorium Forum
07-15 Barcelona, Spain - Auditorium Forum
07-17 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
07-18 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
07-19 Milan, Italy - Teatro Degli Arcimboldi
07-21 Prague, Czech Republic - KCP
07-22 Prague, Czech Republic - KCP
07-24 Paris, France - Grand Rex
07-25 Paris, France - Grand Rex
07-27 Edinburgh, Scotland - Playhouse
07-28 Edinburgh, Scotland - Playhouse
07-30 Dublin, Ireland - The Ratcellar at Phoenix Park
07-31 Dublin, Ireland - The Ratcellar at Phoenix Park
08-01 Dublin, Ireland - The Ratcellar at Phoenix Park