The Tale of My 24th Birthday, Saint Valentine, and Life On The Bus With The Boys...

On the bull at Gilley's.

I guess this tour starts off with a whirlwind of a birthday celebration! My 24^th Birthday was on February 10^th. I got a major surprise when my friend Michael came to celebrate with me; it shocked me! I was sitting in a Yard House in Newport Beach, and then all of a sudden he was standing there. Blew my mind! The next morning my mom, Michael and I drove to Las Vegas to meet up with my dad. (He was there for a Super Bowl weekend.) Michael and I took to the strip that evening; we had an incredible dinner in the Eiffel Tower restaurant, and then we went and hit up Gilley’s at Treasure Island. I may have sung some karaoke, and he and I both might have ridden the mechanical bull!

At Michael's.

Backstage with Brad Garrett.

The next day, after a great visit to the gym- and an unbelievable hour or two at the spa (which was much needed!), it was time to get ready for the official birthday celebration! It all started with dinner at Michael’s at the Southpoint, (which is the best restaurant in the entire world!). Followed by a trip to the Tropicana to see Brad Garrett perform in his new comedy store. The show was hilarious, but Brad always is! We have known him forever; he actually used to be my dad’s opening act for years in Vegas! It was awesome! So great to see him again. Then back to the Southpoint to do a little gambling before bed!

February 10, 2011

My actual birthday was a travel day- that is why we celebrated the night before. I was up at 7:30am and had a birthday breakfast with Michael. By 9:15am, I was down at the valet getting into a limo with my dad so we could get to the airport for our flight. I said goodbye to Michael, and thanked him immensely for the incredible surprise of being there! Then dad and I were off.

We got to the airport by 9:30am, and we were checked in and ready to go in no time. We walked our way through security, and then to the gate. Without too much delay, we ran into Bob Gulley wandering about; he was on our flight as well. I received a text message from Tim saying that our bus wasn’t going to make it to Dallas to pick us up; he had gotten stuck in all the snow in Arkansas, so we were having other arrangements made. This seemed like a bad omen, but we all tried to dismiss it!

Shuttle bus.

Our flight was only about twenty minutes late, I was concerned that it might get delayed longer due to the weather in Dallas and all over that general area. But soon we were on board and on our way around noon.  I wrote throughout the whole plane ride, not even noticing how quickly the time flew by! We were on the ground around 4:30pm, and went to meet up with the rest of the fellas at baggage claim. We walked through the revolving doors, and out toward our welcoming committee; yes, they came prepared with signs and all!

Hotel entrance.

Lots of birthday hugs for me as we gathered our luggage and then headed to the shuttle that the casino had sent for us. We had a nice little shuttle for the hour and a half drive to Durant, Oklahoma. Gabe presented me with a birthday present when I got on the bus… One that his mom had beautifully wrapped (thank you Deborah!), it was a beautiful leather journal with music notes on it. We all know that will get used!

The bus ride went by rather quickly, and we were at the Choctaw Casino Resort by about 6pm. It was a beautiful place, and they had an amazing water display and bull or buffalo statue at the entrance to the hotel. We got checked in and settled in our rooms for a few minutes- just enough time to make a few phone calls. The rooms were great, very nice! (Which is something I want to acknowledge because the rooms we stay in are not always that nice… But these were!) Then we went down to have dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the hotel. Dad, Tim, Bob, Larry, Gabe, Jeff and myself- in honor of my birthday; it was a lot of fun!

I got back up to my room by a reasonable time though and got some work done- and admittedly I spent a lot of time on the phone with people who called to say happy birthday! But I eventually grew weary; it had been a long- but very exciting few days for me!

February 11, 2011

I was up and about at around 10am. I needed water; so I grabbed a couple bucks and walked to the vending machine, only to find that it was out of water. We were staying on the 8^th floor, so I figured I would just try going up to the 9^th floor, surely there would be some water in that one. Wrong. I went to the 10^th floor, then down to the 7^th, then the 6^th. None of them had water! At that point I gave up wandering the hotel in my pajamas and just went back to my room empty handed.

Then I decided I wanted to go to the Walgreens a few miles away to grab a couple things. I called down to the valet and asked if they could call me a cab to take me there and back. The man on the phone paused for a bit, then he finally responded, “Well, we had a cab driver, but he died.” Yep, that is the kind of town we were in! The kind where there was only one cab driver, and once he died, no cabs period! I was holding back laughter as I asked if there was any other way to get to the Walgreens and back. He said the shuttle bus might be able to take me, but the driver said he had to talk to his manager. I called them back about ten minutes later and asked if he had gotten it okayed; he said if I was really quick about it, he could, but they weren’t supposed to wait for anyone.

So I scrambled to put my shoes on and run downstairs before they changed their mind. The shuttle bus driver recognized me; and said if he had known it was me he wouldn’t have questioned it. We were at Walgreens within five minutes. I ran inside and got my stuff and was back on the bus in a flash, then back to the hotel.

After that, I started to get showered and ready for sound check. I knocked on my dad’s door at 3:25pm. Tim had given me directions of how to get to the theater. It was a bit of a hike from our rooms. But I followed the directions and got us there without fault!

When we got to the showroom, we found all the boys out back in the tour bus. (The bus had just made it to the hotel a few hours earlier.) We walked out there to check out what was going on. The bus was very dirty on the outside; but understandably so- it had spent the last few days stuck in a snowstorm. The inside looked great- just like home for the next few days!

In the cafe- Gabe
entertaining himself... And
us!

We got into the theater and did our sound check, which went rather smoothly. Then Bob, Larry, Gabe and I went to eat at the café. It was pretty tasty! By the time we were done, I ran upstairs to get ready for the show. I walked downstairs at 7:15pm to meet Gabe and Bob; we were escorted to a shuttle bus that was to take us around the casino and to the back of the theater. When we arrived, they wouldn’t let us in the door we were supposed to enter through, so we had to go through the other one- which left us walking across the stage (and there was no curtain) in front of the audience that was already waiting in their seats. That was a little awkward!

The backstage area was pretty much nonexistent, there were a couple couches and that was about it; not even a bathroom! It wasn’t even possible to get to a bathroom without walking back across the stage in front of the audience! So we were all rather captive back there. We were informed that there was going to be a ten minute hold because of people getting seated.

Backstage.

I was actually in charge of the video that night- a first for me! So right as the man who was introducing us was finishing up, I started my dad’s pre-show video. The band started to take the stage toward the end of it; and as it finished, I pressed play on the overture video. Then I patiently waited… Once my dad started to introduce “Unchained Melody”, I got prepared to play the next video; however, it was the one night my dad screwed up what he always says, so the video ended up starting a bit behind when it should have- but it wasn’t too bad!

I was on after that, and I have to say we had a great show! Everything seemed to go pretty good! It was a good start to our tour! Oh, there was one funny thing that happened… (Well, actually two- but only one that I can mention!) When the band hit the cord for the beginning of “Time of My Life”; Gabe counted it off, and dad started singing the first line of “Lovin’ Feeling” instead. So the first line ended up sounding like, “You never have the time of my life…” It was pretty funny!

We went out to sign afterward, and I ended up breaking my merchandise record again! Amazing! Signing went good; everyone was so great, and so glad that we were there. It was a fun time! As all the people started to slow down, I saw that some old friends of my dad’s were hanging there waiting for us to finish up.

We stayed there chatting with my dad’s friends until a little after midnight. I was getting pretty exhausted by then. We took the long hike back up to our hotel rooms, and I got cozy. I spent some time on the phone and getting a little work done. But soon my eyes decided it was time to rest for a bit.

February 12, 2011

Up and moving early! We had a 7:45am call downstairs in the lobby. We all gathered on the bus, and we were able to leave on time as planned at 8am. It was about a three hour drive to Shawnee, Oklahoma. We all hung out for the first hour and a half- talking and watching some movies we found on TV. Then some of us- me included, decided to take a nap. I was in the middle bunk on the passenger side. My first venture into the bunk went rather smoothly… It isn’t the easiest feat to get into those small bunks! But at least the middle bunk is a little easier than the top or bottom bunks. I crashed for about an hour, then we were approaching our hotel- the Holiday Inn in Shawnee.

Backstage craps table...

We all got unloaded and into our rooms by about 11:30am. I hung out in my room for a little while and did some writing; then got showered and ready for business! At 2:30pm I knocked on my dad’s door, and then we went downstairs to meet our driver. He took us to the FireLake Grand Casino, which was about ten minutes away. When we got there, I realized that there was no time for me to eat after sound check, so I ran to grab a salad while the boys got started.

 

By the time I got back to the theater, they were just about ready for me to start singing. Sound check went by pretty quickly- the sound was a bit easier to deal with in that room than the one the night before. We were finished by 4pm, and dad, Bob, Gabe and I went back to the hotel for a bit. I hung out in my room, and got some stuff done in the mean time. Then we all met in the lobby at 6:15pm.

We got to the theater and were escorted up the stairs to the dressing rooms and green room. They had some great snacks and sandwich stuff in our rooms that we all started to nibble on while my dad did a meet and greet. The show was set to go on time at 7pm. I walked down to the stage when everyone was about to go on, just to make sure I knew where I was going when I needed to get to the stage! We all stood there cracking jokes, then they all got into their places, and I ran back up the stairs to finish getting ready.

Kitchen on the bus.

The show went great! Not many mistakes- if any! It was a lot of fun. We were out front signing for about an hour. Great people in Shawnee! The line was insanely long, and there were some people that had left the theater room to go get a drink, and then were planning on getting in line, but the security would not let anyone back into the theater. (Sorry to anyone who might be reading this that was not allowed to come back in and say hello!) Gabe came out to bring my dad a glass of wine and (gentleman that he is) he asked if I wanted anything. I saw the casino security guards lurking close behind me, so I waved for him to get closer. I whispered to him, “steal the cookie tray!” He smiled, and said he was on it!

Dad and his gigantic sandwich.

Gabe in his bunk...

After we wrapped that up, we all went back to the hotel to grab our things. I was in my room for about an hour, then I went downstairs at 11pm to meet the bus. We all got settled in, and we were on the road shortly. We all were up for a couple hours joking around- a lot of laughs were had! I did a little “bus surfing” to make myself a sandwich. Always entertaining! We also were killing the tray of cookies we stole from the gig, and they were incredible! We were all majorly digging on the cookie situation! I have to say, it was one of  my finest ideas ever!

Me in my bunk...

After a while, everyone started to crash. I was holding my own, even though I was the only female on the bus… No worries there- luckily, I have a strong stomach! And I was actually probably one of the last people to get to sleep because I got a phone call I had been waiting for right before I was going to shut my eyes. But by the time I was done and off the phone, I was ready to curl up in my bunk!

February 13, 2011

I woke up to find that we were about an hour away from our destination- Riverside, Iowa. I crawled out of bed, and went into the living area and sat with the boys watching the beautiful scenery go by. There were big gorgeous farms everywhere, and they were all snow covered. It was truly remarkable! I loved it!

My room in Iowa.

We arrived at the Riverside Hotel and Casino at 11am, it was a full twelve hour drive. It was a big resort, and it was extremely nice! The rooms were wonderful. By the time I got to my room though, I had to hurry to jump in the shower and get ready. I walked outside my room to meet my dad and our escort down to the theater at 1:30pm. She took us through the innards of the resort, and we eventually ended up at the theater. The boys were almost ready for us. We had two sound guys on this gig- Jeff and Bill. (Since we were cutting it so close to get to this gig, we sent Bill ahead to get us set up while we were traveling there.)

Sound check went good. Dad ran like the wind to go get ready; I brought all my stuff down to the theater so I didn’t have to go back to my room. I spent some time in the dressing room, and then on the bus- which was parked right out back. Soon it was almost show time. It was a 4pm show that day. Very early for us! The show began as it was still light outside, which is always an odd feeling!

When I was getting ready to walk onstage, I faced a problem… The only entrance to the stage was climbing up a very steep metal ramp. I was in stiletto heels- I walked halfway up the ramp, and I kept sliding back with every step I took! I was starting to get a bit worried! When it became time to walk all the way up, Jeff- who luckily was running the monitor board back there, had to help me all the way up to the stage.

The show went great! The audience loved it! It was a bit of an emotional show for me for some reason, but it worked out! However, while we were finishing the last song, I couldn’t help but think about how I was going to get down that ramp and off the stage. It seemed like an impossible feat! I eventually did make it to the ramp, and Jeff helped me down, I pretty much had to run most of the way down. My dad followed soon after me, and he had to do the same thing… Apparently his cowboy boots weren’t handling the metal ramp much better than my high heels!

We went out to sign, and that was wonderful. It was a lot of fun! We even got to meet Jeff’s fiancé and their families! (Congrats to you guys! The wedding is coming up soon!) By the time we were done, we decided to go get some food. We were informed that the best restaurant in the hotel was called Ruthie’s. It was an awesome steakhouse. We all met down there for dinner- Dad, Tim, Bill, Bob, Larry, Gabe and I. The food was great! And it felt so good to eat such quality food after such random and pretty bad food for the previous few of days.

Our Bus.

On the bus.

Dinner lasted a couple hours, but I was back up in my hotel room by a little after 9pm. I sat and got some work done- and watched a little TV to pass the time. We were all to get on the bus at 11pm. We got our bags packed in the bay of the bus, and then got comfy in the living area. We took off right when we had planned to. It was just Dad, Tim, Bob, Larry, Gabe and I; all the sound guys were flying home from there. I have to admit- we thought ahead; we recorded the Grammy’s (they had aired earlier that night). We started watching them, and I have to say the commentary was pretty great! It was like the musical jury! It was hilarious!

Me chillin' on the bus.

The wind that night was really bad though. The bus was moving around a lot. At one point the door to the driver opened, and we all looked out the front window just in time to see the bus really swerving! All of us decided we were done looking out the front window! Scared us all to death! We stayed up for a couple hours watching the Grammy’s and doing some major “bus surfing”! Because of all the crazy wind, walking around took some serious skill!

The view from my bunk...

Gabe and dad on the bus.

We all ended up crawling into bed at about the same time… I’m not really sure what time that was; sometime after 1:30am I guess. Dad had the big room in the back, and the boys and I all climbed into our bunks. We were all starting to get giddy and giggly! We all could not stop laughing! We each had personal TV’s in our bunks. Larry was changing the channel, and didn’t realize that it was changing the channel on all of our TV’s, not just his… Let’s just say you can learn a lot about someone from their late night TV choices!

The bus was moving a lot. Gabe, who was in a top bunk, was a bit worried about rolling out of the bunk in the middle of the night; and it would have been a long drop down! But luckily for him, that didn’t happen! It wasn’t too much longer until we all were passed out.

February 14, 2011

Entering Nashville.

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! I woke up at about 8am and we were about twenty minutes outside of Nashville, Tennessee. The guys and I all started to get up at the same time, and we sat in the living area watching the Nashville skyline start to emerge. The bus dropped off my dad and I at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel. Luckily, Tim arranged for early check in… So we were able to go straight to our rooms and pass out for a while! (The band was staying at a friend’s house.) I woke up and ordered a salad; I needed a snack! By early afternoon, dad and I went to go get a rental car- we knew we would need one, lots of places to go during our four day visit.

The rental car thing ended up being easy to accomplish. I called down to the concierge and they were able to arrange the Budget rental car people to come pick us up. Dad and I walked downstairs to find a small, little, old man from Budget waiting for us. He drove us about three minutes away to their office so we could fill out the paperwork. That was simple enough; we were back to the hotel within thirty minutes!

Some of the boys jamming at La Hacienda.

By 5:30pm, we left the hotel to go find La Hacienda Mexican restaurant; Larry was jamming there that night. When dad and I got into the rental car I turned on the GPS, and it took us straight there. It didn’t take too long, but there was some traffic. We got there and found Larry’s wife Susan, Larry, Tim, Bob, and Gabe all sitting at a big table with some chips and salsa. We joined them and munched down on lots of chips! I also got a very sweet Valentine’s Day text message right around then. (You have got to love Valentine’s Day!) We all ordered some food and then the band started.

Me at La Hacienda.

It was an interesting situation because the band was only allowed to do original songs that they had written. After about five songs, the band asked some of our group to get up and sit in. All of a sudden Larry, Bob, Tim and dad were up there doing one of my dad’s original songs, “This Will Be The Last Time”. After that, Gabe went and got a snare drum out of the car and took my dad’s place on the stage while Bob did one of his songs. Next, the guys tried to drag me up there. I finally agreed. Gabe took over the keyboard and we did the song I wrote called “Fall”. (It is probably my favorite song I have ever written! I have a few favorites, but that is at the top of the list!) It was a lot of fun to sit in and do an original song. Very exciting!

Dad and I left about twenty minutes later. We were exhausted from the past week, so we wanted to get back to the hotel and relax for a bit. We managed to find our way back to the hotel- after a few issues with the headlights on the rental car! I got comfortable; took my makeup off and then turned on a movie. It was Valentine’s Day, so I wanted a treat. I ordered down to room service for a sundae. So yummy! Then I got cuddled up into the fluffy white bed and was soon fast asleep.

And that is where I am going to leave you for now… I promise I will pick up where I left off around this time next week! I have a few more days in Nashville, then we are working in Lake Tahoe this coming Saturday. So there will be plenty more tour tales coming very soon!