Thursday, November 11, 2004

"Grand" Junction... yeah, right!!

Hello all… I’m a little behind on my blog, cause we’re in Jackpot, Nevada... excuse me... Bum F*ck, Nevada, and I have no Internet… OR cell phone! I’m paying the $6.00/hr. AOL surcharge right now to post this and pay bills!

Well, Grand Junction certainly wasn’t all that grand. The first three nights (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) we played to nobody, almost nobody, and damn near nobody, respectively! Wasn’t all that bad cause we needed the practice anyway. Friday night was a whole different ballgame. We played for 7 hours on Friday. Yeah, you read that right… SEVEN hours! Well, okay, not quite seven, but close… 479 minutes. See, they have this thing called FAC (which I never got the full name of), and it starts at 5:30 pm. People come in and pay $10 and they can eat and drink all they want until 7 o’clock. So they make the band start at 6:15 and play until 1:30 am. Talk about slave drivers. And to top it off they wanted to make the band PAY to eat!!! They told us that if we wanted to eat we had to pay $3 at the door!! Oh we didn’t just go get plates anyway?!? You’re damn right we did!!!

It was kind of fun because David let the band play the whole last set, so we just jammed a whole bunch of songs. I sang Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” THREE times that night… plus I sang Eric Clapton’s “Cocaine” and “Wonderful Tonight”, along with “Jailhouse Rock”, “Low Rider” and “Roadhouse Blues” by the Doors. All in all it was an interesting experience to say the least. At least the band house was nice…

We’re at the Horseshu Casino in Jackpot, Nevada this week. The rooms we’re in are about the size of a breadbox, and the water heater equals out to one of those metal Stanley thermos bottles. Luxurious. I tell ya! The beds are comfortable though, and we all have our own rooms, which gives me time to practice for my new gig.

Yep, that’s right. As of December 6th, I will be leaving David’s band. I am taking a job portraying Don Henley for Tequila Sunrise. They are an Eagles tribute band out of Nashville, and our first show will be at the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio on December 17th... get your tickets now!! I will be returning home to Iowa on December 7th, and then heading to Nashville one week later to begin rehearsals. This is a monstrous undertaking for me because I’ve never actually tried to sing like Don before. I just hope I can hold out singing that high all night long, but with proper conditioning, I’m sure I can do it. The greatest part is that I will be playing on a six-piece kit with only 3 cymbals and a hi-hat! That means QUICK teardown!! I will miss all my other gear, but being in Nashville, I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to use it. Another great thing is that Don Henley was never a very technical drummer. He focused mainly on groove, which means that I’ll be able to really concentrate on nailing those vocal parts. The first song every night is “Hotel California”… c’mon vocal cords don’t fail me now!!

Congratulations to Keith Urban for winning Male Vocalist of the Year at the CMA’s, he deserved it! If you haven’t picked up his new album “Be Here”, get it NOW! You won’t be disappointed.
Congratulations also go to my sister Kathy and her family on their new move. I can’t wait to come to visit and see the new house!! How’s February sound???

That’s all for now. I won’t have Internet in Elko, Nevada, but there is another casino right down the street with a Starbucks that has hi-speed access. Mmmm… caffeine AND web surfing... GREAT combo! Talk to you all soon…

Peace out homies!
Keith

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

RE: last set in Grand Junction. "Wish I Could Have Been There For That" I love Cocaine (the song!!!!). Would've loved to see you do it.

Websurfing on Caffeine in Elko, Nevada....write a song about it!!!! Kind of like "It Sure Can Get Lonely in Des Moines". (-:

LOL, MOM

Ry said...

Is there a college in Grand Junction? We had FAC in Iowa City - it stood for "Friday After Class" which is why the binge drinking began so early in the evening (or maybe I should say late afternoon).

We also implemented our own MAC (Monday After Class) in the dorm so that everyone could watch "Melrose Place" properly buzzed.

Ron, Kathy & Katlin said...

Hey - Feburary sounds good. Come on down! You'll need to kick your nephew (Kiel) out of his bed and take it. We'll do fondue when you come as well. Since we now live in the country it won't be filet mignon or lamb but possoum and the road-kill-selection of the day. Taste like chicken. All kidding aside, just let us know when you can come down and we'll look for you. Good luck with the new gig, I'm sure you'll do great. Take care and be safe....Ron & Kathy