It’s April 2005. I’m in a meadow. Music is playing in the distance. A very eclectic group of  people are standing toward the back of the crowd.

Ok, so it was more like a small field in the middle of a bunch of frat houses and my BFF and I were watching Ingram Hill open for Robert Randolph. Still, the group was eclectic.

I had recently read the description of Dishwater Blonde in the Metropulse. Now, you can call this what you want (fate, destiny, divine intervention, coincidence…), but I just knew in my gut that this group of people was Dishwater Blonde. I can’t explain why or how… I had never seen them before… I just knew. True story. I have a witness, I don’t need to get one.

Fast forward: 4+ years later and I’m proud to call DWB my friends. Robalicious even married one of my best friends (he also moonlights as my dog’s BFF, but that’s another story). I think I’ve been to about 40-ish shows in the last 4-ish years (including road trips to St. Louis, Cincinnati and Atlanta) but I’ve never actually traveled with the band. If you know me, you know I LOVE road trips as much as I love live music… so a road trip with the band is like a big ice cream sundae with some caramel and whipped cream on top. Ya feel me? Well, it happened this past Friday.

We arrive at the not-so-secret meeting point, load the van and take off. Scratch that. We arrive at the meeting point, load the van… and wait for 30 minutes. Apparently the Diva earns her name via fashionably late arrivals. :) The Diva knows I love her, which is why I’m allowed to pick on her. The ride begins and I’m learning the seating arrangement. Davis drives, Coz rides shotgun… I’m hangin’ in the back with Robby and Diva. 3 hours, lots of music and at least 1 lap-percussion jam session later, we arrive in quaint Murfreesboro, TN. By quaint I mean Mayberry meets the town from Back to the Future with just a touch of that town from A Time To Kill… really cute with a smidge of scary.

I’m a HUGE music fan but this whole load-in deal is new to me. I’m excited about seeing the process but, at the same time, it’s kind of like losing my music fan virginity. Seeing the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff makes watching live music just a little less sexy. It’s all good, though. It’s been a long-lived innocence. It’s time I see the reality. The reality is: it’s kinda boring!

Should we load in? How much should we load in? There are 3 bands… what will we need? When should we load in? When is sound check? Who is sound checking first? Which band is playing first? How much time do we get? Who is headlining? Good night, Irene! It’s a heap of slow-motion chaos for hours before and after our yummy dinner at the Mayberry Café. (DWB: Keeping reading… it gets better, I promise…) :)

10:00 (rock star time) rolls around (finally!!) and DWB is on stage and ready to melt my face. Mission accomplished. The show has begun! They sound freaking phenomenal. They ended up with the best crowd of the night, too. Sadly, the set only lasts about 45 minutes, maybe an hour. Then, the 2nd and 3rd band then play, I have a little soft spot in my musical heart for the third band. We watch most of their spot and then get back on the road.

Random questions: Why does the very small town of Murfreesboro employ at least 10 police cars at 2am? And why are they all congregated within a 2-block radius at that hour?

Davis starts the drive but, understandably, he’s exhausted. He gets us to the hole-in-the-wall Pilot in Cookeville where I offer to drive the rest of the way. He accepts. Little did I realize, Mr. Shotgun likes to co-pilot. What some of you may not realize is Cozmo likes to drive about 25mph. The 65mph I was doing through the fog on the plateau was pretty much making his life flash before his eyes, or at least that’s what it sounded like via his verbal cues. I will give him this… I did try to offer him a different perspective on life as the road went left and I headed right. That said, I must remind him (again) that it was ONE TIME. I got nuttin’ but love for ya, Coz. I’d never try to kill you on purpose, I promise. J

Seriously, though, I have a newfound respect for my friends. They drive for hours and hours, they treat the venue and other bands with respect and manage the pre-show chaos like champs… all for the love of playing music for 45 minutes. THAT is passion! And, cheesy as it might sound, I was inspired by it.

I love you guys! Thanks for letting me tag along!!

Your #1 Fan J