We’re pretty busy at home right now. John (Secret Stash’s Chief Engineer) and I have been buttoning up some odds and ends around the studio as we prepare for an open house. We’re also mixing the new Black Market Brass (which Cole and Sam both play in) LP right now. Being gone for a few weeks would just put that off.
In addition to all of that, Sonny and The Lakers have two big events coming up. The first is our second annual holiday residency at The Dakota in Minneapolis. We’ll be performing 2 sets/night on December 18th and 19th. Tickets and more info can be gotten here. We did the exact same residency last year, and it was some of the most fun we had all year. It serves as a very nice home coming of sorts. Last year, we also recorded the sets for Sonny Knight And The Lakers Do It Live.
After the holiday residency we’re preparing for one of the most exciting events we’ve ever been a part of. On January 3rd and 4th, we’re going to be back at The Dakota performing a tribute to James Brown along with former JBs Fred Wesley and Jabo Starks! We’re already hard at work arranging songs and learning grooves. Another long tour would jeopardize our ability to invest the time needed to really knock this out of the park. You can get your tickets here.
Oh, and in addition to all of that, we’re scary close to cutting a new record. We cut demos recently for all of our new material, and we’re only a couple songs shy of having everything we need for a new record. We even have some tunes in the works that could put us over the top. We need to smooth out any brand new material and then get to tracking soon. Again, more reason to stay home.
Anyhow… We found out last week that out tour bus had some serious issues that were cause for safety concerns. The problem is, the cost of repairing those issues is higher than the value of the bus. We discussed trying to purchase something else before the trip, but decided that it is way too big of a decision to make so quickly. So, we carpooled for this tour… something we’ve never actually done before. We rented a U-Haul trailer and hooked it up to Sonny’s F150. Half of us rode with Sonny, and the other half in Nick’s (bass) Prius.
We loaded up Thursday morning and drove to Dayton, Ohio. It was further than half way, which made the day of show drive much more tolerable. When we arrived in Dayton around 11:30 PM, we were very hungry. Our hotel was surrounded by sports bars. We chose the closest open restaurant to the hotel, a joint called Fricker’s. Fricker’s is known for their chicken wings, chicken chunks (their name, not mine), and their cheap massive servings of beer. If you dig deep fried chicken and Budweiser, than look no further than Fricker’s. If you don’t dig that sort of thing, just keep on moving.
The following morning we left at 9am. The drive from Dayton to Lewisburg was beautiful. We got to our hotel around 4pm. We stayed at The General Lewis Inn, a stunning structure built in the early 1800s and packed full of beautiful antiques. It being Friday the 13th and all, we were pretty sure it was a haunted hotel. We asked a few people on staff, but no one would confirm our suspicion. We did learn a little bit of the building’s history, though. It was the home of a confederate general (hence the clever name), and during several battles that were fought in and around Lewisburg, it was used as a safe house for confederate troops. I found the building’s history to be a little unsettling. That being said, it was very nice and everyone that worked there was awesome. I wonder though, is this sort of thing common?
I did a little more reading on Lewsiburg this morning (okay, I looked at the Wikipedia page), and learned that two original settlements in that area (Greenbrier County) were pretty much completely wiped out in 1763 during Pontiac’s Rebellion. It was pretty crazy to read about given current events at home and abroad.
Anyhow… After checking into the hotel, we walked a few blocks down the exceedingly charming street to the aptly named, Irish Pub, for a couple pints of locally made Greenbrier Valley Beer. I really liked the Wild Trail Pale Ale.
From there we went over to the venue, historic Carnegie Hall. The building was constructed in 1903 by Andrew Carnegie, the famous industrialist turned philanthropist. Today they host a wide variety of concerts from symphonies to country, jazz, comedy, gospel, and well… us.
After a quick and easy sound check, we went to the basement where we were treated to a legitimate home cooked meal. We had two amazing salads, artichoke chicken, green beans, and the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever eaten (sorry, Mom). I do believe that southern hospitality is still very much a thing!
After dinner it was show time! We played two 45 minute sets which included two brand new tunes that we’ve only payed out one time at a basement party for a very small crowd of friends. The new tunes went over great and we’re excited to work them into the set permanently.
After the show we were fortunate enough to meet a lot of concertgoers, including a gentleman who attends almost every single concert at the venue every year. He has a tradition of getting each band to sign a $1 bill for him. We of course were happy to oblige his tradition.
Several groups of people invited us to Irish Pub after the show. Once again, we were more than happy oblige. One of the concertgoers showed up at the pub with a tray of home made pumpkin spiced Rice Krispies bars. That’s just how cool the people in Lewisburg are, I guess! Oh, and the Rice Krispies bars were amazing!
The next morning we embarked on the beautiful drive to Tryon, North Carolina. On our way, we stopped off at a Hot Dog Hut, a small chain that Sam (keys) had been raving about since a vacation he took to Tennessee a year or two ago. Now make no mistake about it, the Hot Dog Hut is not gourmet in any way shape or form. This is more about classic, simple, cheap, plentiful american food. If you dig the hot dogs you ate as a kid, covered in chili and nacho cheese sauce, this is you’re place. If you’re looking for hickory smoked chicken and apple sausages with plum chutney and a side of wasabi-peach dipping sauce, DO NOT GO HERE. Me, I can get down with either, I suppose.
After loading up on nitrites and nitrates, we arrived at the Tryon Fine Arts Center. We were immediately greeted by the friendly, helpful staff, who all pitched in to make load in 100% painless. Once again, we burned through sound check. After we got everything dialed in, we spent some time hammering out some new ideas, and rehearsing a brand new tune.
After check, we were treated to a righteous North Carolina BBQ dinner. It was simple, but damn was it ever good! After dinner we stopped by a cocktail party for folks who donate to the Fine Arts Center. It was lots of fun to hang out with a group of people who believe so much in the value of the arts that they donate their own money to help bring it to their community.
The show was a blast. We were told afterwards that it isn’t the type of joint that usually has people flooding the isles to dance. Then again, Sonny Knight doesn’t usually play there! He had people on their feet most of the night, including my favorite, for ballads. It’s my opinion that in 2015, getting people to jump around to fast dance music isn’t the hardest thing to do, it’s getting them to slow dance to ballads. Whenever Sonny makes that happen, I’m all smiles.
The next morning we began the long journey home. Nick’s car left at a little after 7am. We were a couple hours behind them. Before getting out of Tryon, we stopped at the Moose Cafe for some of a serious southern cooked meal. Before the meal comes out, they bring you basket of biscuits… okay I like biscuits. As it turns out, I’ve never really had real biscuits before. These things were out of sight! Then came the main event. Between us we had friend chicken, collard greens, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn bread, cheesy grits, plenty of sweet tea, and of course, fried chicken livers. Let’s just say it’s a damn good thing we don’t eat like that every day… but it sure would be tempting.
We made it as far as Bloomington, IL and spent the night. We finished the drive safely the following day (Monday). Nick and the others drove straight through.
This was an awesome trip. I was a little worried about driving so much for only two shows, but they turned out to be WELL WORTH IT! People responded to our music in a very real way. They expressed deep gratitude for us coming down with not only their dance moves, cheers, and kind words, but also genuine southern hospitality. We can’t wait to get back down that away again soon.
-Eric (drums)