Page 75 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2014

‘Nice driving,’ one of the guys moaned. ‘Black ice,’ I replied.
‘Dumb ass!’ someone in the rear commented.
We put the equipment back in place and secured it this time.
We couldn’t find any damage to the equipment and nobody had
gotten hurt. The van seemed all right as well. ‘No problem,’ I
said as we got rolling again. We made it over the pass without
further incident.
I had thought everything was fine until we got to Nevada. I
started hearing a funny noise. By the time we were in the Sierras,
a steady shudder was growing in intensity. It had become a loud
banging noise by the time we were near Vacaville, California.
I stopped to have a mechanic take a look before we went any
further. Turns out the snow embankment had seriously damaged
A snowy day in Michigan slows the musicians on a mission
the van, causing a break in the seal of the rear end. Differential
fluid had leaked out. I thought about trying to make it the
got through Cincinnati, the pace was already slowing and the remaining sixty-five miles home with the van the way it was, but
weather continued to drift into whiteout conditions. We were ended up towing it. Our respective girlfriends had to come and
passing truck after truck jackknifed along the shoulder and pick us up from the repair shop.
hundreds of cars in ditches. We slowed to a crawl ‘til we got ‘It’s just one problem after another on these tours,’ one of
into Michigan. What should have taken nine hours turned into a the girlfriends commented. ‘Don’t you ever get sick of this? You
16-hour-long, white-knuckle ordeal. With no rest for the weary, should quit this touring before something really bad happens.’
we threw our suitcases into the hotel, ran to the gig, set up and ‘Don’t be like that, baby,’ her boyfriend responded. ‘I can’t quit
played all night to an amazing crowd! Sometimes the journey this shit. It’s what I do. Aren’t you glad to see me?’
can be rough but, it’s always worth it!” – Shaun Murphy When I called my girlfriend to come and get me, she asked
Now, that is just how professionals roll. I believe the U.S. what had happened. I thought for a minute, while staring at my
Postal creed of “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of van up on the rack and told her, ‘No worries. It’s part of what I
night” had musicians in mind. Once in a while though, the fates do, but that new rear end is going to cost me a fortune.’ ‘I’m just
present us with life choices that put our priorities into crystal-clear happy you’re home,’ she said after a long pause, ‘even with your
perspective: blown rear end.’” – Mark Hummel
“Just after we performed at the Smokin’ in Steele BBQ and Survival on the blues highway is an art as well as an ongoing
Blues Fest in Owatonna, Minnesota, I got a call that my father-in- challenge of resources and persistence. When the good Lord’s
law had passed away. We played the next night at Uncle Bo’s willin’ and the creeks don’t rise, sometimes you end up at the
in Topeka, Kansas. Although we had never done it before, we occasional, magic hole-in-the-wall venue that is a pure pleasure:
canceled the rest of the tour. I could book those venues again, “It’s feast or famine out here. Nice hotels you don’t have time
but I only had one chance to pay respect to a beloved Korean to stay in and flea-bag hotels you can’t seem to check out of. All
War vet. The boys dropped me off in Salt Lake to catch a plane in all, it’s for the love of music that we do it. One of our favorite
to New Jersey for the funeral, then they drove home to Portland, places to play on the way to, or from, big festival events is Byron’s
Oregon. Talk about a curve in the road!” – Lisa Mann in Pomeroy, Iowa.
Sometimes the beauty of mountain scenery becomes ugly as The first time
conditions turn musicians and equipment into the equivalent of a I played Byron’s,
pinball machine inside the van. Then it gets worse: I pulled into what
“One of our scariest events happened in Colorado in 1984. appeared to be a
I was traveling with Pat Chase, Tim Wagar and drummer Jimmy ghost town – not
Bott. We were driving over Rabbit Ears Pass, above Steamboat even a stop light
Springs, climbing to ten thousand feet at the summit. The weather in this town. This
was cold and clear, but the roads were covered with patches club is owned by a
of thick black ice. I was driving about ten miles an hour when Deadhead, hippie
I suddenly lost traction. We spun out of control on the slippery type, with tie-dye
pavement, doing donuts in the middle of the highway, spinning and stuff crammed
like a top. The only way to stop was to go right into the snow everywhere inside
banks that lined the sides of the pass. We hit a huge snow bank. the building. You
Crunch! Stopping by ‘snow bank’ is like hitting a tree. We all load in and set up,
flew forward inside the van with the equipment and instruments eat a frozen pizza Soldier Henry Markel, Lisa Mann’s late
flying around us. Splat! and then, out of father-in-law, in Korea Photo courtesy Lisa Mann

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