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Notes from the Road – The Gas Hog Tour 2008 – Day 9, July 18th

Off to pick up Judy in Columbia, SC and then head down for the Edisto gathering with Jack & Judy Williams and crowd. Enjoyed my stay in Cherokee and will miss the cool down in the hotter summer climes of rural South Carolina. I was concerned about getting out of the mountains on the gas remaining in the tank so, despite my resolve about gas prices beginning with a 4, I put five gallons in at $4.08 – ok, I stopped at $20 so not quite five gallons. I just couldn’t take it anymore with the sale amount numbers spinning madly while the gallons display just crept along.

Left Cherokee the same way I came, past the Harrah Cherokee Tribe Casino then on through Maggie Valley. I needed to be at the airport in Columbia at 3 pm, a 4 hour drive, and having left at 10 am I had plenty of time so to try to conserve fuel I set the cruise control at 60 and ambled along I-40 towards Asheville then took I-26 south towards Spartanburg. Just northwest of Spartanburg I saw a sign for gas at $3.76 per gallon – hot damn!! Jumped off and filled the tank ignoring those pesky admonitions about not “topping off” the tank. I got every drop of that “cheap” gas in there that I could.

I made another stop shortly thereafter at an Engles grocery to restock the fridge, etc. and then cruised on to Columbia hitting the airport right on time. I pulled up to the Spirit passenger area and Judy was waiting at the curb. Apparently a 24’ camper rolling through the airport there is somewhat unusual as folks were stopping and starring a bit. And, I think they were even more mystified when the comely Miss Judy sashayed over and hopped in the grungy looking rig driven by an old, bald, white bearded guy. Eat you hearts out boys.

As we neared Orangeburg, SC we hit some pretty serious rain – a real gully washer. But I could see that it was coming from the river and that likely it would already be past when we arrived. Sure enough it was dropping its last as we pulled into the family encampment on the Edisto. Our hostess, Mary Lib, met us in her truck and had us park along the entry road until she confirmed where her son Neil had planned to put us. We walked on over the river shore area to greet Jack & Judy and the other early arrives. They had roasted a whole pig, split in two, and everyone was greedily picking at the melt in your mouth tender pork. To hell with hellos, let’s eat!!

Lots of old friends here and Florida is well represented – Tom and Aimee Shed, Chuck and Pat Spano, Bill and Barbara Derby (they’ve moved to Georgia, but we still count them as ours) and Hannah’s Whirl, Paul and Tami from Tampa. Lis and Lon Williamson will pull in sometime tomorrow, so the Sunshine state is on board. Daniel and Ellen Bolling are here from New Mexico, Ronnie Cox and Eric Schwartz from California, Dana Kurtz from New York and so many others.

After eating some great food, Neil directed me to my spot right in the middle of things by the main cabin facing the river and we got the camper squared away. By then I was drenched in sweat so we changed into swim trunks and plunged into the icy waters of the Edisto – Ahhhhhhh. Jack and a motley crew had set off with tubes to go up river and make the mile and a half float down. We dropped our chairs in the shade, I fixed myself a libation and we enjoyed the evening breeze as the sun began its descent. Once the Williams flotilla returned, Jack grabbed his ever more worn and beaten up Martin and headed for the dock to get the music rolling. The dock was soon overflowing so everyone moved to the pavilion where a circle was established and we began to play old tunes of one sort or another on into the evening. Danny Harlow, brandishing fiddle, mandolin and tenor guitar, was, as always, the crown jewel in the arrangement adding color and texture to every guitar.

Judy and I cashed in early, around 10:30 and headed to the trailer. Lots more music tomorrow here on the Edisto.

Notes from the Road – The Gas Hog Tour 2008 – Day 8, July 17th

I’ll keep it short today – not much to report, a very laid back, chore day. I did dishes, laundry, cleaned up the camper (yeah, that’s right, I pick up Judy tomorrow in Columbia, SC) and did some minor repairs that I had been meaning to get to. I also pulled down all the posters I put up yesterday – since they just said TONIGHT!! wouldn’t want folks showing up and me not be there. Bad form that.

I did work some more on some new songs that are coming along. Inch by inch. I get a line or two and get stuck, move to the next song and get a line or two, then get sidetracked on a different idea. Ah well, no one said songwriting was easy.

I did my usual computer work sitting under the canopy of the camper looking up at the trees and listening to the sounds around me. Folks stopped occasionally to compliment me on the show last night and a few wanted to know if I’d be playing again tonight. I told them they were welcome to come back by after dark and sit around the campfire with me as I would surely be out playing a little.

While I was on the computer I made arrangements for some studio time to record the “Florida” album I have planned for release in January. It’ll be titled “Welcome Home” and will feature my specifically Florida material, new and old. I’m aiming to have those available for Christmas, so put that on your list for gift giving and getting!

Its early evening as I’m writing this and I’ll need to think about dinner soon. One great advantage of being in the camper is that I haven’t eaten out once since the first night when I stopped at Waffle House. I’m eating much better (healthier and less) than I would be otherwise and a whole lot cheaper. It takes about $100 gas the truck up, but I can gas myself up for mere pennies (potty humor, sooorrrrryyy).

I’m looking forward to the gathering with Jack Williams in SC. There’ll be a lot of music and folks I haven’t seen in a couple of years, as well as a number of folks from our far flung Florida folk flock (that’s Norm McDonald’s term right?). We’ll do a little river floating and just generally laze about in the Edisto River heat. It gets so hot there that, as one of Jack’s songs says, “I can break a sweat with just the thought of settin’ down.” That’s where getting in the water saves you. Then Sunday we’ll hit the road for West Virginia. I have a show up at the Purple Fiddle in Thomas and we are going to look for some property around Buckhannon while interest rates and prices are both low.

Ok, well, I’m thinkin’ rice with field peas and steamed mixed veggies for dinner. See you tomorrow from SC.

Notes from the Road – The Gas Hog Tour 2008 – Day 7, July 16th

Well, today was a road dog, take you fate into your own hands kind of day – and well worth it. For starters, I went up to talk to the manager about the location of my show. Their choices were (a) next to the pool under the game room which has a little raised stage or (b) under a small pavilion on the other side of the recreation area where do they do the kids activities, etc. However, between those two was a large bricked area with seating and a fire pit, but no cover or shade – but, high exposure / traffic. I had noticed yesterday that just at 7 pm the sun dropped behind the ridgeline to the West and, consequently, shade was not an issue. And, the forecast was for clear skies, no rain in sight, so cover was not an issue either. Therefore. I pitched doing it out in the open on the big bricked patio area (about 2500 square feet or more) – they were hesitant, but relented under my persistence.

That settled I went about promoting the show. I brought lots of extra blank posters and had wrote them as the “sundown concert TONIGHT!! 7 – 9 pm. I put those on all the restroom / shower buildings, on the walkways to the nature trail, etc – about 15 posters in all I’d guess. I also went ahead and set up my sound system, etc. midday so that it was visible and put additional posters on the speakers, etc. (I covered them with garbage bags, etc. just in case the forecast was wrong). Then, after I’d showered and gotten presentable. I walked the campground and approached anyone who was outside with one of the postcards that I removed from the front desk (I left some with the promise that they would attach them to the registration papers like the guys at Natural Bridge had done). I probably handed out 50 postcards, chatting with folks as I went, and ran into a dozen or so more who already had them from the front desk (they kept to their promise) and said they were looking forward to the show. So, would it make a difference?

Oh man, did it ever! I had a terrific crowd – festival stage like – and it expanded and contracted as folks came and went given it’s high traffic location. I put a lot of energy into the performance and fed off the energy coming back from the audience. That’s a show I wish I’d recorded! CD sales were excellent as were the gratuities in my big plastic goblet I put out for that purpose. If all the shows were like this then this would clearly be a financial success. Maybe I can see a system developing here for these shows?!

I met folks today from all over the country and one couple from the Netherlands who enthusiastically signed up on my mailing list and bought both CD’s and a DVD – everything I had. I also met two groups of folks from Florida and one from Orlando – in fact the young lady (probably 11) was clearly smitten, hung in for the whole show, went to her dad twice to get more tip money and signed up on my mailing list. As it turned out, she goes to the same elementary school that Tanner did near us on Edgewater Drive – the folks you meet on the road!

Anyway, things could not have gone better and I thoroughly enjoyed the show, the people and the night. I’ve built a little campfire and am sitting beside it in the dark to type this – excuse any typos please. There are campfires dotted here and there throughout the grounds and you here distant laughter, kids playing, a bottle clinking here and there and the usual sounds of the night. I see couples here, and not always young couples – some look my age – with 4, 5, even 6 kids. The older kids are helping with the younger ones and the parents are herding the broods firmly, but gently. I envy them. I love kids, particularly babies and toddlers, but I was never a patient parent and, consequently I think I missed out on a lot of what these folks experience on trips like this.

I can tell the sounds are dying out. People are heading off to bed or going inside to read, etc. I’ve freshened my drink (a little Dalmore – single malt Scotch, wonderful stuff and affordable) and I think I’ll sit here, watch the fire burn down and soak up the night. See you tomorrow.