"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”!      

Avoiding the wrath of God

Because I suck SO bad a photography, I "collaged" this pix. The crowd went freaking NUTS!!

A run a nights with little sleep is not atypical to these road trips. Friday started at 12AM with a 10+ hour drive through a HELLACIOUS rain and wind storm that had the bus feeling like we were sailing around Cape Horn or something (literally floating at times). I said I’d be the one who would sleep on the van floor that night seeing as we didn’t have enough room for everyone to lay down. Seemed easy enough since we were all tired as shit and I can usually sleep anywheres. I then laid down between seats and started freaking out with a little claustrophobia seeing as I couldn’t move my arms OR legs and it being just a struggle to wedge my way down there in the first place. About the time I kinda settle down, James (still our driver) lets out a BIG damn yell after a bolt of lightning hits within 40 yards of the front of the van. The storm evolved into being just an epic flood of sorts without the bolts of ‘lectricity all the while I crawled around on the van floor until I found the best place to get a little rest and later split a seat with Matt for the coupla hours of actual sleep later on. ‘Bout 11am we pull into Twin Falls, WI while it’s still raining like hell. Water getting up to the level of the seats  in the front section of the festival.  After maybe 2 or 3 hours it just stopped (and drained). Believe it or not, it ended up being a great day of music. “Country Thunder” (which maybe shoulda been called “Country Thunder and God’s wrath”) is a pretty big festival and one of a bunch big ‘uns in Wisconsin (I think there are like 10 big ones). It gives a lot of the bands and crew a chance to catch up back stage with old friends. Jason (and band) ran into a good old friend Dominic who’d played guitar with them for years. Me, running into some great friends and band Blackberry Smoke from my publishing days (Btw, they are fixin to record a new record J). Those guys are just the real shit in every aspect (look up the word "Authentic" and you'll find a perfect description for those guys). Well lookie there, it's Scott Kernahan, Jason's manager that got me this fabulous gig. He's out slumming with the road dogs for the weekend (but in a damn bus none-the-less, I'd call him a bastard but he could now fire me). 

The aftermath of the morning floods

Another long line of autographs. Nice bikini ma'am. 

The wrath of Charlie Starr from Blackberry Smoke. THEY freakin' rocked (again)!! 

O.K., the show that everybody that I talked to raved about was the Charlie Daniels Band. Because I was back stage blabbing I didn't go out front and see it but apparently he is GREAT again. I'd seen him years ago and thought he was just "fine" but apparently he's now a show NOT to miss. Big surprise to me.

It seems some of these festivals sometimes have unexpected shit that comes up but after some back and forth with the festival guys Jason did end up playing his 2^nd set of the day at the scheduled 11PM-ish time (after the Zac Brown Band finished their show). Jason’s set WAS a great set and the pretty drunk crowd went pretty freaking crazy (see pix)! Good to have after a freaking long… hot… DAY! We get close to 4 hours sleep this night. Think we’ll throw a little slumber party.