Before I realized what had happened, I was on my back, barely able to breathe. Pure shock, and uncontrollable sobbing, that’s what I remember. My mom helped me into the house, where I sat crumpled on the La-Z-Boy, sniffling and trying to regain some shred of dignity in front of my friend, Tara, who had been playing in my backyard all afternoon. My six-year-old self had climbed on top of the playhouse, and decided it would be fun to lean over the edge (upside down) to look in the window where Tara was. That fun moment changed drastically when I went a little too far, and ended up on the ground with the wind knocked hard out of me. I was a tough little kid, but the pain of that fall combined with the embarrassment of losing my 1st-grader cool in front of a girl…well, here I am telling this story, so it’s always stuck with me.
And it came back to me two weeks ago, when I got a phone call I never wanted to get. I had arrived in Nashville to rehearse for Rayvon Owen’s Nashville EP release show, and we were days away from hitting the road. Suddenly, three of our best-paying gigs were gone, the very gigs that were going to help pay for the rest of the tour to Virginia and New York, where our other shows were scheduled. Simply put, our college booking agent hadn’t done his job, and the tentative agreements we had made with these schools last spring were never finalized. After weeks of planning, suddenly I was back in first grade.
Life keeps going -- we salvaged the rest of our dates, drove from Nashville up to Virginia to play Bridgewater College, and then a hometown show in Richmond before our final show in downtown Manhattan at Leftfield Bar. The shows were great, and some unexpected good things came with the unexpected bad. Our original guitarist had to bow out for some other shows, so my friend Hank came on board last minute. Not only did he do a stellar job with the tunes, we all had a blast hanging out on our little adventure up to New York. Struggles aren’t as rough when you’ve got people to struggle with. Also, instead of needing to prepare for the gigs we lost, I was able to help my sister move into her freshman dorm at my alma mater, Belmont University. Walking through campus again brought back so many good memories that I almost wanted to go back…four more years! I’m excited for her and so glad I could be there to see her off.
Tonight's the final show of the tour, at Amplyfi in Los Angeles, and then for the rest of the year we have college dates every couple of weeks. Who knows what could happen between now and then, because as I’ve just seen, anything is possible. No matter what, we’ll pick ourselves back up and keep on trying. Life’s too short to give up!
Ross
(Have fun, kids…just stay off the roof.)
And it came back to me two weeks ago, when I got a phone call I never wanted to get. I had arrived in Nashville to rehearse for Rayvon Owen’s Nashville EP release show, and we were days away from hitting the road. Suddenly, three of our best-paying gigs were gone, the very gigs that were going to help pay for the rest of the tour to Virginia and New York, where our other shows were scheduled. Simply put, our college booking agent hadn’t done his job, and the tentative agreements we had made with these schools last spring were never finalized. After weeks of planning, suddenly I was back in first grade.
Life keeps going -- we salvaged the rest of our dates, drove from Nashville up to Virginia to play Bridgewater College, and then a hometown show in Richmond before our final show in downtown Manhattan at Leftfield Bar. The shows were great, and some unexpected good things came with the unexpected bad. Our original guitarist had to bow out for some other shows, so my friend Hank came on board last minute. Not only did he do a stellar job with the tunes, we all had a blast hanging out on our little adventure up to New York. Struggles aren’t as rough when you’ve got people to struggle with. Also, instead of needing to prepare for the gigs we lost, I was able to help my sister move into her freshman dorm at my alma mater, Belmont University. Walking through campus again brought back so many good memories that I almost wanted to go back…four more years! I’m excited for her and so glad I could be there to see her off.
Image by Jill Kreinbrink
Tonight's the final show of the tour, at Amplyfi in Los Angeles, and then for the rest of the year we have college dates every couple of weeks. Who knows what could happen between now and then, because as I’ve just seen, anything is possible. No matter what, we’ll pick ourselves back up and keep on trying. Life’s too short to give up!
Ross