Shinybass journal entry 04-19-12

In the event of a water evacuation…

Happy…Thursday?  My week has been all crazy screwed up.  We had shows on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of this week, which meant we were on a flight to Arizona on Saturday, usually the last day of a run.  Move my clock by a day or two, and all of a sudden it’s like an alternate reality shows up.  A lot of people in our industry hate to fly.  I think it’s because we get used to the comfort zone of the bus, which I understand.  Would you rather spend 3 hours on a flight or 24 hours on a bus?  Yeah, I didn’t think so.  I have done both, and whereas getting there is half the fun, trekking through Kansas is for the birds.

And what airline do we fly?  Southwest. Almost exclusively.  They are the friendliest, almost always on time, and they don’t hassle you over the small stuff.  Plus extra snacks for free.  AND they are musician-friendly, which means we won’t get crazy bad looks when bringing guitars on board. This all helps with the process, and as soon as the other airlines realize this, it will be too late.

So we hop an easy 4 hour flight to Phoenix to play Country Thunder in Florence Arizona, which is a huge 4-day festival.  We played with The Band Perry and Alan Jackson.  We saw the Band Perry for about 15 seconds backstage, and Alan arrives about 30 seconds before his show starts, and bugs out immediately after, so the two shows we have done with his recently, I have not side hide nor mustache of AJ.

The next day found us flying into Ontario, CA, for a KFROG charity event with Rodney Atkins.  The Morongo resort and spa is a nice little place, and the people and service were really great.  Again, I didn’t see any of Rodney Atkins, but such is life.  Our dressing room had a ridiculous insect problem – gnats everywhere – so that was a pretty big joke.  I was intrigued at the sign backstage,and of course we had to take a picture because we can’t follow rules.  And after I spotted Ray Romano losing 50 bucks in the slots area, we preserved the moment in film.

After a solid 3 hours of sleep (damn you, 4AM lobby call!), we flew from California to Denver – changed planes then flew to New Orleans, where my soul sometimes likes to think it lives.  I love that town.  We were all simply exhausted from no sleep and two flights, but once we hit the Riverwalk food court and started getting Crawfish Etouffee and bread pudding into our stomachs, our smiles started returning to our faces.  And then, to make things even cooler, the USS Wasp came steaming down the Mississippi river and docked where we dined.  After a sound check, a corporate show and a change of clothes we were off to Bourbon St.

Leave time for the bus was moved to 1 AM so we could enjoy a little of New Orleans’ hospitality.  Phil and the rest of the band had a blast sipping the obligatory Hand Grenade and scarfing down Lucky Dogs. As it turns out, Andy and Brock were first-timers down there, so we hit the spots you are supposed to on the first go-round.  I can hang anywhere, but I would have loved to take them somewhere other than Bourbon, just so they could have experienced a better side of the town.  It’s all right though – we had just enough time to get them feeling good and the we headed back to the bus.  But not without a few typical sights…

And yes, the horse is in the bar…

So this leads us to next week, where we hit Joe’s on Weed St. in Chicago again – this time for 2 nights of craziness.  Another great town.  I am a lucky boy for all the sights and smells I get to experience.  And if you think about it, call or email your local radio station and have them play ‘Don’t Miss Your Life’, because, well you shouldn’t miss your life.  Get out there, because it is too short and too precious not to.

See you on the road!