The City of Morganton Municipal Auditorium, Morganton, NC
The Honeywell Center, Wabash, IN
The Fabulous Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO
Andrew was very excited for the Fox tour
Another place Johnny played!
The Supermen, on the way to Wabash, IN
A view of the Arch from the bus
And, from my hotel room
A night on the crew bus
"That Chuck Berry can flat write a song"
The view from my room as we were about to leave St. Louis
The Quartet Boys with Tiny E
Hey kids! This week's installment is WAY overdue! It's been a busy few weeks, so I have been a bit remiss in my blogging duties. But, I will recap everything the best that I can, and hope you enjoy! Here's what happened in a week in the seemingly distant past!
Having just spent the weekend with family and friends in Maine, we made the trek from Bangor back south to fly out of my home airport in Portland. Seeming to be our lot in life lately on the tour, we hit a series of long delays, and we didn't arrive at our final destination in Morganton, NC until pretty late that evening. Our options for food and libations limited, I opted to go next door to Waffle House before turning in for the night.
Surprisingly, the weather in NC wasn't the warmest, so I opted to lay low for most of the day, after a trip to the mall for a couple of things. Then it was off to our one show at the Municipal Auditorium (above) in Morganton. The show went extremely well, and then it was off for some food at the ever popular tour destination, Applebee's. A fantastic musician and a friend of Patrick's, JD McPherson was playing on David Letterman that night, so a group of us joined him in his room to watch and hang out. Then, it was off to bed for another lengthy travel day.
Though the day didn't start all that early on Wednesday, it certainly was a long one. It was probably the longest travel day with the longest stretch of delays we have had in all my years of tour. Colte had lucked out, as it was his day to join the crew on the bus on their way to Wabash (above), but we spend most of our day stuck at the Atlanta airport. Though our surroundings there could have been worse, I was mostly frustrated because I had invited the cast and crew to my room that night for a Johnny Cash birthday party, as his 83rd birthday was the following day. All said and done, we didn't arrive at our hotel in Wabash until midnight, so the plans fell through a bit. After sleeping much of the day on our planes, I was awake and raring to go. And a few of the boys from the cast and some of the crew ended up coming over to watch some videos and listen to some rare Cash tracks. Though it wasn't exactly what I had hoped for for the night, I was still glad to share a bit of a celebration with everyone. After a long day and a late night, it was time for some rest.
After the late night, I slept in and laid pretty low for most of Thursday. I did do quite a bit of catching up on some little things here and there, so I ended up feeling pretty productive overall. Later in the day the boys and I made our way to the Honeywell Center (above) for our show that night. It was a beautiful arts center, and being pretty close to Skye's hometown, he went on that night for a slew of people. The show was great, the crowd went wild for Skye, and it was a fantastic night overall. Gabe, Colte, Frace, Jimmy, Aly and I joined Skye and his friends and family at a place called 20 for some amazing pulled pork chili and Manhattan's for bit after the show. We then braved the cold to head back home.
We hopped on the bus on Friday morning to head for St. Louis; one of my favorite cities from the years prior, and a much awaited weekend stay. It had been quite a while since we had spent multiple days in a city, so this was long overdue. We moved into our spacious rooms at the Crowne Plaza, the very same hotel we had stayed at nearly two years ago, barely a stone's throw from The Arch (above). After having a few hours to rest and prepare for the show, I drove the boys to one of my all time favorite theatres, The Fabulous Fox (above). This marked the 4th time I would be performing on the Fox stage. The first was in 2001 on my very first Christmas Carol tour; we played there for a full week. The second was when the Thunderstudy boys and I flew from Kansas City to St. Louis to do a promo for the Fox's upcoming season announcement. Then, on our engagement there in May of year 2, I was lucky enough to perform as Sam Phillips for the entire second week. So, I was very much looking forward to making my Johnny Cash debut at the Fox. Spirits were high with the cast and crew that night, and that led to an amazing opening night show, as well as the beginning of our collecting for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids (BC/EFA, hereafter). After the show, a few of us headed to the hotel bar, and subsequently the crew bus for a tour and a little party.
Saturday brought two shows, with quite a bit of busy goings on as well. As had become an everyday occurrence, the snow starting falling very quickly, making our commute longer than expected. The matinee went extremely well, and we were greeted by Finn (above) a young Elvis tribute artist from the area. After collecting for BC/EFA, we met him and took a few pictures before getting an amazing tour (my 3rd) of the Fox from Carl, a docent and usher for the theatre for many years. Not having much time in between, it was time for a quick bite at the diner near the theatre's lobby, and right back for the evening show. Another great show followed, and afterward quite a few people headed to the hotel's bar for a drink and some conversation.
Sunday was another double day, and after another great matinee Gabe, Jake and I headed to Blueberry Hill for the break. After stopping in at Vintage Vinyl, one of my favorite record shops, we stopped in Blueberry Hill, Chuck Berry's place, for a bite to eat. (See the photos of the restaurant, Chuck's star on the sidewalk, and his bronze statue above). Then it was back to the Fox for the evening show with Jimmy and Bradley on! They killed it as usual (as did Skye earlier in the week), and after collecting for just 5 shows, we raised a whopping $10,000 for BC/EFA in St. Louis! In lieu of going to far off the beaten path, it was back to the hotel bar for a bit that night before heading out in the morning.
Sorry for the late addition, friends! Not to worry, though. The next installment will be on it's way, with the added bonus of some news from my layoff in Maine and NYC! Thanks for reading, and pleased stay tuned!
I wish I had come to see you in Morganton! I enjoy reading your blog. You will be so glad you do this. A wonderful archive of your life/career during a very special time.
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