The Weekly Croissant: Buying Tampons in NYC

And why everyone deserves a friend like Nicholas Jamerson

I first met Nicholas Jamerson in the green room of The Radio Room in South Carolina. It was one of those rushed pre-show situations where I was eating something greasy from a styrofoam takeout box balanced on a suitcase and trying to politely engage while internally counting down the minutes I had left until I needed to be show ready.

2023 Tour; backstage, having dressed myself from Steve’s suitcase

Nick and I had been set up on a short tour together by our management team, who thought we’d make a good pairing, and I quickly realized how much of a gift they’d given me in this connection. A few days into that tour Nick asked if I would produce his next album and I almost fell out of my seat with excitement. Did a successful straight white male musician with way more fans than I have, just ask ME to take the lead on making his new record? Nick thought nothing of it; Only that he liked my last record and thought we could make something cool together.

Zach Martin, Nicholas Jamerson, me, and Steve Haan, on tour 2023

Fast forward about a year, and Nick and I had become fast friends. We’d had several song meetups where we’d spend a few days writing and sculpting songs for his record, and we had already tracked two collaborative singles, “The Vine That Ate the South”, and “Shit Town” (coming out at the end of this month).

We had decided to do a short East Coast tour together with a shared drummer and bass player (s/o to Steve Haan and Aaron Smith), and we were playing in New York City at Cafe Wha? I was in quite a state; I had been voted the least likely to crash the van in NYC, so I had just navigated the 15-passenger van through Greenwich Village and played the “let’s find van parking in NYC” game (successfully, I might add!) The venue was cramped and chaotic, and to make matters worse, I had just started my period and didn’t have any tampons left.

With a little time before the doors opened, I decided to go for a walk and try to find a drugstore. Nick asked if I was headed out, and said he’d join me; he wanted to check out the neighborhood. We were walking down the street and soon passed a corner store, “I just need to get something in here,” I said vaguely. We popped in, but it was more like a head shop, with smoking paraphernalia, and a few convenience items. “Oh never mind”, I said, leading us back out the door. I was starting to panic, as we only had about 10 minutes until doors, and I wasn’t seeing a CVS or Walgreens in the vicinity.

“What is it that you need?” Nick asked me. “Uh...” I replied shyly. Whatever, I thought. “I need tampons,” I said, slightly embarrassed. We weren’t really on the “sharing bodily functions” level of friendship.

Without blinking, Nick popped his head back into the door, and shouted over the NYC street noise, with his thick Eastern Kentucky accent “Y’All GOT TAMPAWNS?”

He turned back to me and said, “Yep, they got ‘em!”. I just stared at him and then started laughing. I went back in and got my tampons. I could tell that the shop gal was just loving this whole scene. She smiled sympathetically at me as she rang up my ibuprofen and Tampax. And, we went on our merry way, back to the venue, played a great set, and then drove to East Haven to stay the night.

And that, my friends, is the kind of guy Nick is! May we all have friends such as this in our travels, to ease the rough and rocky road.

QUICK NOTE: Next week I will be in INDIA (Long story! More on that later!) But the croissant will be authored by our first ever GUEST COLUMNIST Nelson Williams; Bass player, classics fanatic, world class barista, and platinum qualified Art Hoe!

Check him out on Instagram at @bassic_nelson or at his website: https://www.nelsonwilliamsmusic.com/