My last blog entry acknowledged the beginning of summer, and here it is Labor Day already. It’s been an ‘interesting’ summer this year – very quiet on the career front, but a fair amount of activity in my musical world. A number of gigs with Time Peace, The Homewreckers, and Epworth’s praise band have kept me busy enough. But a five-day run last week will be the crown jewel of my summer (and probably my whole year.)
As you may know, my son Chris is the front of house engineer and production manager for Universal South recording artist Joe Nichols. When they have a show in the area (which is very seldom), I always make it a priority to attend. Ever since we hosted a pre-show barbeque at our house for the band and crew last Labor Day, I’ve gotten to know many of the guys pretty well.
So this year, they were performing at the Sandusky County Fair in Fremont, OH (about an hour’s drive from home) on August 29th. Of course, I marked that date on my calendar in ink. A few weeks before that show, Chris had given me the dates he would be moving into his new place in Nashville – August 30 & 31. And I marked those dates, as well. After a couple days of thinking about it, we both came up with the same idea – I would attend the show on the 29th, then ride back to Nashville with everyone on the tour bus overnight, help Chris move on the 30th and 31st, then catch a one-way flight back to DTW. Sounded like a plan. But after a couple more days of calendar studying, I realized that two days after the moving dates, they would be back in Detroit for a show at the Michigan State Fair. Hmmmm. The gears in my head were turning now. What if…
(Link to Part 2 below)