"Have you started writing your book, yet?"

Not so sure what the guy on the organ was so worried about but that's John in the orange setting up his drums.

People loadin in for the show

Zac Brown's "Eat and Greet" set up AFTER the storm but before the actual "Eatin and greetin"

  Pulling into “Country Jam 2011” in Eau Claire, WI it looks like another hellacious rainstorm is about to hit. Zac Browns “Eat and Greet” trailer/kitchen has batten down the hatches with long ropes that have anchored it from blowing over. We sit in the van for a minute and then once it finally starts raining we find our backstage camper/trailer. There’s Richard again (from Blackberry Smoke), at the mess tent finishing breakfast. Those guys have been touring with a fancy bus for about a year and a half and Britt says (about keeping up with the payments) “once you get a bus, it makes you focus a HELL of a lot harder on making money on the road”. They had toured out of a van for many years. In setting up my merch table I got to be buds with David the BBS merch guy. Once AGAIN, him giving me so much great advice on how to best sell merch. He asks me after a few minutes of small talk “have you started writing your book?” I’m like “about what?”, he says “you see SO many things out here behind the merch table, you’ll wanna put it in a book one day”! Thanks SO much dude (in case you read this) and hope to see you guys again very soon. Because of the rain Jason didn’t get to come out and “sign” after his show which I can’t believe I’m saying but I was a little bummed about it. I think I get some enjoyment out of watching him meet his fans. It’s honest fan to honest artist and probably  one of my biggest reasons for getting out from behind a desk. We did sell more than I expected EVEN with Jason not getting out there. As a sidebar here, you know you just sweat a LOT out here. You get out of the van and start loading in, you set up and count in while the band is setting up sweating their asses off. You set up and stop sweating for a minute while the band starts playing and sweats a HELL of a lot more, then you pack all your shit up, jump back in the van with a shirt dripping with sweat (as does the band from the always frantic loading up of equipment and helping me with my gear) and hit the road soaked to the bone.
Anyways, because of my lack of thinking, I’m gonna have to steal a coupla pix of yesterday from Aaron. I took none. You’d think I’d get better at this blogging shit after a while, wouldn’t you?  Right now I’m typing on the 12 hour drive to Billings, MT. Then onward to Oregon.

In the words of Kostas (GREAT writer and one of my fav UNI writers EVER) and Trent Summar: “Sunday drive, Sunday drive, my whole life’s a Sunday drive, I’ll get there when I’ll arrive, honk your horn when you pass by …… let’s go on a Sunday drive”!