January 24, 2009 - Saturday
 | Category: Blogging Jan 22, 2009 PITMAN, NJ, Shenandoah at the 'Broadway Theater of Pitman Shenandoah had a bus call for Wed night, Jan 21st, at 9 pm in the Kroger parking lot. Byron Cumbie, our merch and monitor man showed up with his daughter, Willow but would not be going on this trip. He had other plans that couldn't be changed. He came to the bus to drop off the merchandise only. On board the bus this time would be the band, Jim Seales's son, Jake and Jimmy Yeary's friend, singer/songwriter, Tyler Farr. After the gear and luggage was loaded, we pulled the "Hillbilly Hotel" out of the parking lot at 9:30 and headed up to Pitman, NJ, which would end up being around a 16 hour drive...about 75 mi from New York City. Our favorite driver, John Gee would be navigating. We had plenty of movies and snacks aboard and lots to catch up on. It was good to be back on the bus again.. after not having done a show since before Thanksgiving. It's always good to see everyone again. We arrived in Pitman around noon on Thursday, to a cold day and loaded in at 1 pm for a two o'clock soundcheck. The venue was The Broadway Theatre, which debuted in May 1926 as a movie and vaudeville theater with 1090 seats. It was a lovely historic theater and we were looking forward to our first show for 2009. The gear was loaded in and sound check went pretty well, considering we had not done one for some time. After sound check we went to an upstairs room where we were fed chicken, slaw, green beans and biscuits from Kentucky Fried Chicken and it indeed hit the spot! Around 4:15, Mike McGuire, Mike Folsom, myself and Bart Barlettano were taken to the hotel by our runner, Shaun. The others stayed on the bus.. I attribute that to pure laziness. lol We had almost 2 and a half hours to relax and clean up before we were picked up at seven to head back to the venue. We got back to the bus around 7:15, changed into show clothes, took some pics with some fans outside of the bus and hit the stage at 8 o'clock. I was a little nervous and concentrated a little harder than normal...it being the first time I had touched a keyboard in over two months. After several songs into the show, I started to relax more and enjoy the crowd. It was a small audience but a very appreciative one and we are always thankful for that. After a 75 min set, we signed autographs and talked with fans before boarding the bus and heading down that long stretch of highway back to Tennessee. On the way back, I got to hear some incredible new songs that Jimmy Yeary wrote.. what a great writer. Kudos also to Mike McGuire.. for pitching one of my songs to a popular, hot female Country artist. It amazes me we can pitch a song to someone online while rollin' down the road. With the first show of the year over with.. we are officially back at it again. We can't wait to make new fans and see all of our old friends in this brand new year we call 2009. Yep..Another Country Music Adventure was had..for sure_ ..Down the Road...Stan Munsey |
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