After a long awaited (and much appreciated) break week, we were back on the road this weekend. We were in Atlanta on Thursday night, playing at the 500 Songs for Kids event. It was fun, as usual. I’m always impressed by how tight of a ship they run up there at Smith’s Olde Bar when they’re doing ten consecutive nights of fifty bands per night. If you think about the massive amount of preparation needed to accomodate that many people and keep them moving in and out in a timely manner without a cattle prod, it could almost insight a panic attack. But, the guys there (a big shout out to our buddy Jed who works there and always treats us well and makes sure that we’re set soundwise) really do a fantastic job of supporting the artists, the foundation and making it an easy, stress free environment for us.
I cannot even begin to explain how much of a relief that is. As much as most of the people who work in venues are accustomed to working with artists and anticipating and accomodating their needs, it’s a very dynamic environment. Things are always changing, things are always unexpectedly arising and screwing up the plan, equipment is always breaking, and sometimes the last half hour before a show is the very embodiment of what I expect that Hell is like. The staff at Smith’s and the volunteers and staff for the foundation really did a good job of mitigating any weird issues and presenting a very professional and well run event. Please check out their website and make a donation.
We spent the night in Atlanta and then had a leisurely morning, and in what has become our Atlanta trip tradition, dined at my favorite restaurant, the Flying Biscuit Cafe. We then took the road for Birmingham.
I have a hard time staying awake in a moving car (not if I’m driving though). Claire and Charlie sit in the front seats of the van and chit-chat… sports… performance enhancing drug baseball bannings… stock market… Lady GaGa… Terry Bowden… the unveiling of the third generation Prius… and I sit alone in the back, drifting in and out of consciousness, lulled to sleep by the vibrations of the car and the constant droning of a language that I pretty much don’t understand.
Kind of like a dog, my ears perk up when I hear my name, because that’s just about the only word I understand when they have elevated car conversation. For some reason though, the word “Talladega” was one of those words that passed through my ears and rang a bell somewhere deep in the recesses of my brain. I awoke just in time to see Claire taking a picture of a huge race track right there on the side of the road next to the interstate highway. Although I’ve only ever seen snippets of the Will Farrell movie Talladega Nights on TBS marathons, I have seen enough to understand the idea behind the movie. And.. it blew my mind that the race track was in fact real! So I wanted to stop and check it out. Since when on tour, we’re journey people instead of destination people, Charlie and Claire obliged me and we stopped.
We didn’t so much make it to the actual race track, but in keeping with the “cars” theme, we stopped at the gas station just down the road. It happened as I was perusing the 3/$10 Alabama souvineer t-shirts and buying my awesome new camoflauge baseball cap that says, “God, guns and guts made America free, let’s keep all three.” I saw him… my new boyfriend…
I’ve heard stories from other rock stars about conquests on the road. And I do sing a naughty song about breaking up somebody’s home, but I just never though that it would happen to me…
It was sweet and over too soon. We never spoke, but when I looked into his eyes, I knew. I don’t even know his name, but I know that we had Something Beautiful.* And at the time, when I realized that Claire was invading our totally private, personal moment there in the Stop ‘n’ Shop, I was irritated. But she is my best friend and she was totally looking out for me and knew that I would want to savor that moment for the rest of my life, so she snapped a photo with her iPhone. And since I’m so happy and blissful after meeting my perfect match, I thought that I would share with you too, our extended family.
Behold, my new boyfriend…
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Next weekend, we’re playing in Port Orange, just south of Daytona Beach, which I’m told houses another race track. So, I’m hoping against all hope that his work will take him to where my work is, and we might meet once again. Keep your fingers crossed!!!
* We’re completely sold out of Burden Beast singles and the new Something Beautiful singles will open up for sale this week. Keep checking your inbox for the exclusive pre-order link if you’re on our email list. If not, check the myspace, blog and website to find out when they’re available!!
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