“In 2012, I had to cancel the tour for my “We Don’t Even Live Here” record pretty much right after the release show. Tickets were already on sale. Tickets were moving. When I was getting ready to go on tour I had a check up with my nephrologist, my kidney doctor. I’ve had kidney issues since I was a teenager, so I just wanted an update to make sure I was good to go for tour. And for the first time ever she was like “whoa no, you have to stop everything you’re doing and figure out how to learn dialysis and we’re scheduling surgery to get your dialysis port put in.” My kidney function was down to like 7. By the time it was time to figure out the logistics of the tour, just the supplies I would’ve needed would’ve been like a whole extra trailer. So I took the time off, waited and learned dialysis. I got really used to watching tv, chilling and being tired all the time. Then I got a transplant, which was pretty great because the year and a half of dialysis was a drag. It was like living with an extra 2 liters of liquid sitting in your gut. Felt groggy. The transplant itself ended up being cool. I got the kidney from a friend from high school. He stepped up and hit me up on Twitter. He said he saw on the City Pages that we had the same blood type and asked who he needed to call. So I gave him my number and he hit me up 2 days later and told me we were good to go. He turned out to be a great match and it’s been pretty smooth sailing. I’m down to getting checked out once every couple of months. Since this transplant, I haven’t started touring heavy yet. My plan is to make my tours a little shorter and do more of them instead of big long chunk tours. This kidney has lasted for 2 years. That’s kind of in the clear barring me doing anything really stupid. I count my blessings everyday. I try to do a good job with it and not push my luck too hard.”