 | Fun in the Deep South
Category: Music OCT 19/08 NATCHEZ, MS Shenandoah at the River Balloon Race/ Oct 21, Laurel, MS South Mississippi Fair
Bus call was set for 11 pm, Sat night and everyone showed up but Mike Mcguire and Jim Seales. We would be picking them up in Muscle Shoals, Al on the way down to Natchez, MS. I brought some chips and great salsa from the Harris Teeter grocery store and we munched on that, till one by one.. we drifted off to our bunks around 3 am. We had to get some shut eye because of an early load-in and soundcheck Sunday morning.
Nine am came quickly and we awoke to a gorgeous Mississippi morning in Natchez by the river. As we got off the bus, we could see one of the old, Southern mansions across the road..that this town is so famous for. The stage was ready and the crew were waiting as we walked up to do our soundcheck. After soundcheck our runner, Hannah drove us to the Isle of Capri Casio/Hotel, in her cool convertible, with the top down. Once at the hotel, Mike McGuire, Jimmy Yeary and myself caught a shuttle down to the casino boat where we had a big lunch at the buffet.
When I got through piling my plate up, it looked like Thanksgiving. After eating we climbed the big hill like stuffed, old men and caught the shuttle back to the hotel. The Tennessee Titans game was on and they were winning big time and the Titans won..makin' their record for the season so far, 6 and 0... Go Titans!
Hannah picked us up in front of the hotel lobby at 3:30 and took us back to the bus at the venue. A zydeco band was rockin' the crowd. As soon as I climbed on the bus, Jim Seales asked me if I would go get him a pepsi... he said there was a tent outside by the stage, where I would find some. Well, I found a tent and asked one of the ladies standing behind a counter for a pepsi.. she handed it to me and promptly asked for 2 dollars. I told her that I was with Shenandoah and was getting it for our guitarist and did not have any money on me. She then asked me if we had an agreement to get free drinks... I told her that I was sure we did..as we always got free drinks provided. She stood there for a minute contemplating this and I stood there looking at her, when she said, I think you ought to pay for it.. I said nothing..and held on tight to the drink...finally she sighed.. I raised my hand and waved and walked away with the pepsi..it had been like a Mexican standoff..I told the story of my strange exchange with the lady to Jim and the guys on the bus ... they laughed and pointed out that I had gone to the wrong tent. There was another tent that had coolers with drinks for us on the other side of the stage that I had completely missed. I had gone to an innocent vendor and had essentially "stolen" a pepsi from her! I felt ashamed ..really bad..but since Jim had already started drinking the pepsi and offered no compensation for me to carry back to the lady..I just let it go. Me..the dummy, in action again lol..
Shenandoah went on at 4:45 and played a 75 min set to an enthusiastic crowd of folks and I noticed a lot of them were singing along with the words. I could see hot air balloons in the air and folks everywhere. It was a fun show. That was the first "Country Day" they had ever had at the balloon race and the promoters were pleased that it was a success..We were too..being the first act to play it.
After the show, we took the bus back to the hotel and parked it in the back of the lot. We would be staying in Natchez till early Tuesday morning, as we had a day off before our show in Laurel, MS.
Some of us stayed on the bus that night , while Mike Folsom, Jimmy Yeary and Mickey Riley, our bus driver stayed in the rooms in the hotel. Jim Seales and I went down to the buffet on the casino boat and I ate so much that I was miserable for hours..I don't know what got into me..well actually I do...a fried chicken breast, a big piece of fish, mixed vegetables, a cut of flat-iron steak, 8 shrimp, a slap of roast beef, a hunk of mashed potatoes and gravy, a big serving of corn, a spoonful of carrots, mustard greens, lots of "dirty" rice and cornbread! Jim Seales was buying that evening..so I ate like there was no tomorrow.
After my awful display of gluttony...Jim Seales went to his bunk and Bart Barlettano, Byron Cumbie, Mike McGuire and myself stayed up watchin' tv, strummin' on guitars and discussing politics and what not..till late into the night.
On Monday, the next day, Mike Mcguire, Mike Folsom and Jimmy Yeary took their golf clubs and headed to the golf course green for a day of fierce competition amongst themselves. Bart, Byron and myself walked downtown to the square in Natchez.. looking at the old antique shops and civil war mansions..in an old deep south setting nestled under huge trees that have been there before the Civil War..Natchez has a lot of flavor it inherited from New Orleans..which was only a little over two hours away..After walking for awhile..we realized we were hungry and found a little cafe..I had a margarita and cajun boudin. We finished our meal and walked back to the bus..where we found McGuire, Yeary and Folsom telling stories about who won the golf game..they were all lying.. all three of them! lol Yep.. take some sticks, a bunch of little holes in the grass and buckets of balls and that's what ya get.
Someone suggested bowling for the main evening activity and so Mickey, our bus driver came down and drove us all in the bus to the Rivergate Bowling alley..Jim Seales and myself did not participate in the actual tossing of bowling balls down the lanes. We stayed on the bus and I started a song on my guitar and I think it has great potential. At one point , Jimmy Yeary came out and retrieved Jim S. and got him to come in, where they sang "Two Dozen Roses", (without any musical accompaniment), to the woman's bowling league and then signed autographs.. I'm sorry I missed that but was way too wrapped up in my creative endeavors to join them.
After the bowling adventure, we took the bus back to the parking lot behind the hotel and some went to rooms and some stayed on the bus...At one point , later that night..a security guard made us call our bus driver and wake him up..he had to come down and move the bus to another part of the parking lot and face the generator the other way..as the noise was annoying some of the guests and they had complained..
3:30 am..there was a knock on the bus door, so Bart went to see who it was .. I followed him and it turned out to be our good friend Tammy..who had driven all the way from Oklahoma to see us the next day in Laurel, MS. We helped her bring a cooler from her car which contained homemade stir-fry, grapes and fresh strawberries.
Bart and I talked with her till almost 5 am and then helped her get settled into a top bunk. We pulled out of there at 8 am and Tammy followed us in her car to Laurel, MS, where we would be playing the South Mississippi Fair.
Oct 21, Laurel, Shenandoah at the MS South Mississippi Fair
We arrived in Laurel, MS to find another beautiful day..with a bright blue, crisp October sky.. Tammy parked her car and rejoined us on the bus where we all hung out till our 1 pm soundcheck. After that, Debbie and another runner took us all to a nice restaurant in downtown Laurel. They had a couple of long tables setup for us and offered us anything we wanted on their menu. We noticed there was a small stage set up where they had name acts perform from time to time..they had pics of some of them on the back of the menu. I'm not sure we could fit on that stage but it would be fun to play there sometime. The runners, local Sheriff and Shenandoah had a blast ..with great conversation and great food..I had the Ribeye, salad, loaded baked potato and a nice Merlot. Everyone at my table shared fried green beans, cheese toast and fried mushrooms for appetizers. When the feast was over, we took pics with the Sheriff outside the restaurant on the street before heading to the hotel to get cleaned up. We only had an hour to get showered and back to the gig..so we had to really hustle.
Show time was set for 7 pm and we played to a small crowd of around 500, in a venue that you could tell was fairly new. I had some technical problems with my monitor mix during the show, when the drums jumped in volume to an intolerable level but Byron Cumbie came to my rescue and helped to alleviate my problems. Kudos to Byron! The audience was appreciative.
After the show..the usual autographs and pics were taken and Tammy said her goodbyes and went back to the hotel...where she would spend the night in one of our rooms and leave for Oklahoma the next day..for a 9 or 10 hour drive. We pulled out of Laurel around 10:15 pm and headed down the road. We stopped in Tuscaloosa on the way, so Jim Seales could pick up a guitar he had purchased and then we dropped Mike McGuire and Jim off in Muscle Shoals...on our way back to Nashville.
We arrived back in Nashville around 7 am and unloaded the bus and once again, I'm pretty sure a country music adventure had been had by all.
Down the Road...Stan Munsey |
