We had a couple of guests with us , Todd Wilkes, a music row song plugger and
Billy Ryan, singer-songwriter..a familiar face on many of our trips. Some of us stayed up till the sun came up tellin' stories and playing new songs we had written. Some of us were pretty darn tired the next day.
We got to Austin somewhere around 3 pm, Saturday afternoon and arrived at the venue where the Cattle Barron's Ball was to be held. As soon as the bus turned onto the property, we saw all kinds of wildlife..including giraffes..it almost looked like we were on an African Safari. Very cool indeed.
The stage, lights and sound were ready to go and we started soundcheck somewhere around 4 o'clock. The wind was blowing so hard that it sounded like a hurricane in my headphones..due to the live mics picking it up but it was also a blessing, as it was a good 98 degrees outside. Bart said he could help diminish the wind noise by putting screens on all of the live mics. Bart always finds a way to make it happen.
After soundcheck, we went to the cabin that was designated for the bands..us and the opening act. It was a spacious, well built log cabin with very comfortable furniture to perch our road-weary bodies on. A deli tray was set up in the kitchen area and there were plenty of cold drinks. It was the perfect place to hang with great AC to stay out of the heat.
Jimmy Yeary, Billy Ryan and myself decided to check the upstairs out and found a small room with two bunk beds in it. I told Billy to climb up to the top bunk but he refused, so I ended up climbing up there myself. When I started making my way down the ladder, it collapsed on me and I took a fall and banged up my shin pretty bad. That is not the way to relax before a show. I'm too old for that stuff.
Two very attractive young ladies brought our dinner to us around 7:15 and we chowed down on prime rib, sausage, stuffed peppers and other goodies. After eating I went to check out the shower situation and found that they were located in the main pavilion across the way. The showers were inside the public mens room, which was getting plenty of traffic with no shower curtains, so I decided to hike back to the cabin. When I told the guys about the shower situation, Billy Ryan asked me, if I had ever played football. I said yes but those guys coming in and out of that restroom were not on my team. lol
Around 8 o'clock I went upstairs to experience the claw-foot tub with a hand held sprayer. I felt like I was in an old western . I had fun washin' and ended up soaking down the whole room. Oh well, there must be an art to keeping the water in the tub.
Our good friend Robbie showed up from just down the road, to take some video of the show and we got ready to hit the stage. At 10 pm... the show was on the way and the constant wind never did die down and those Texans always know how to throw a party, especially millionaire cattle barons!
We rolled outta there somewhere around 1 am and started our trip back to Nashville
and had some laughs watching a very funny movie. We arrived home late Sunday afternoon around 5 and we were ready to get off the bus but we knew.. another country music adventure had been had, once again, by all.
Down the road...
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