Fried Chicken, Shrimp, Fish and Froglegs
Category: Music
SEPT 20/08 Shenandoah in ELDORADO, IL at the Independence Co. Fair
I don't do getting up early in the morning well...never have..especially with only a couple of hours sleep. Shenandoah was scheduled to leave Nashville at 8 am, Saturday morning, the day of the show and my neighbor dogs decided to serenade me outside my bedroom window.. most of the night before. I had to get up at 6 am to get to the bus but Mike and Jim had to get up a whole lot earlier, since they were driving up from Muscle Shoals. We were all pretty tired already.. as we pulled out of the parking lot and started the short, three and a half hour drive to Eldorado, Illinois. I ate my egg mcmuffin and hit the bunk and managed to get about an hour of sleep before we arrived in downtown Eldorado. The bus was parked right beside the stage and before anyone got off, we watched Alabama stomp Arkansas on the tv. Great game...
When I walked off the bus, I could see there was alot going on. At that moment.. a parade was happening. After the parade, they had several performers singing and performing on other smaller stages and at one point , they had the high school band playing in front of the main stage...which also had other local musicians joining in with them. There was activity everywhere and the town was alive and buzzing with excitement...the kind you can only find at a small town street festival.
The main stage PA system was brought in by a local church and all the crew were volunteers. I thought it was great that these guys donated their time and gear for four days to help make this event a success. They were really a nice bunch of guys and I enjoyed talking and hangin' out with Barry and Joey and the rest of the crew.
Before soundcheck, I sat on the stage and swapped songs with singer/songwriter, Joe Michael. Joe has got a new record and he and his manager played me some of the tracks off the project..I thought it sounded like today's radio and wished him luck.
I suddenly felt very weak and shakey and had to get on the bus and grab some of Jimmy Yeary's fries to keep from passing out..my eyes got blurry and my legs got weak..as I was operating on almost no sleep and two red bulls on an empty stomach. My blood sugar felt like it had really dropped..it's amazing what just a little bit of food can do for you. I felt better and we did our soundcheck and Joe Michael was asked by the promoter to get up and play some of his songs on the spur of the moment..because they had somehow ended up with about an hour and half lull..with no music going on..so he performed and killed some time.
Four o'clock that afternoon, we were taken to a small family restaurant and to a back room that had been set up just for us. They seated us at a long table ..took our drink orders and soon we were chowin' down and digging into some good ol' hometown fixin's. The feast included..fried chicken..shrimp, fish and french fries and various deserts. I noticed on the fish platter..there were , what looked to be like fish with butts and legs.. Jimmy Yeary told me it was fish but I quickly took it off my plate and returned it to the platter..I knew I had come very close to actually putting a frog's butt and legs in my mouth..Wow..that was a close one...That almost happened! I hear they are delicious and lots of folks love em but I just couldn't do it. I told them about the frog or maybe it was a toad..that used to show up on my back patio last summer and sit next to me while I played guitar..and I would feed it dog food..of course no one believed that story at all..even tho' it is true_ Anyway, I couldn't eat..one of his kind...lol
After dinner..Byron Cumbie, Jim Seales and myself were taken back to the bus in Jan's cool, pontiac convertible..with the top down..I took off my ball cap and let the wind work its magic in the few hairs left on my head..while the rest of the band went to the hotel to clean up. I was too tired to clean up and opted for catching a nap in my bunk.
While on our way back, Jan, (our runner) and a very nice lady..told us that they had purchased the building directly behind the main stage and were in the finishing stages of having it ready for us..complete with showers, kitchen..lounge area..to be used for events like this..they had left fans on to dry the walls but one of them had a short and burned the building down. I felt bad for them and it was bad timing but at least no one got hurt. They were gonna present an award to the local firefighters that night on the main stage..for their efforts in fighting that fire.
Once back at the bus..instead of taking my well intentioned nap.. I wandered around backstage and talked with a lot of the crew..I love hearing road stories and generally just hanging out and hearing about other people's lives..that's part of the allure of this traveling roadshow for me.
The cover band that opened for us played a fairly long set and one of their guitarists was getting up there in years..and was still having the time of his life...not missin' a lick_ Still doin' what he loves..it was obvious.
Shenandoah hit the stage at 9 pm and played to people..as far as the eye could see..the rain had passed and it couldn't have been a nicer evening for a country music show. We finished.. signed autographs and took pics before John Gee steered the "Hillbilly Hotel" in the direction of Nashville.
On the way out of town..we pulled into a Hardees ..the girl behind the counter took our orders and gave us all a plastic square with a number on it... I'm not naming names but I think it was Mike Folsom who shuffled all the numbers..like a deck of cards.. when she started calling out numbers ..no one had a clue..what food went to who and what number went with the order.. anyway..I could tell she was getting a little frustrated but she kept her smile.. Yeah.. we had fun at Hardees..you would have had to have been there_
We arrived back at the Kroger parking lot at 3:30 am and unloaded the gear off the bus. Mike and Jim headed back to Muscle Shoals and the rest of us headed to our homes in the Nashville area. I got to the house around four-thirty am and was very tired..having been up almost 24 hours.
Tired and "whupped"..I do believe, once again.. another country music adventure had been had by all.
Down the Road... Stan Munsey
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