The Tale of Gabben, The Nelson's, The Soul Man, and A Hotel With Alligators...

June 7, 2011

Fixing the problems at check in.

I was not pleased to hear my alarm go off that morning at 7:30am. But I did get out of bed anyway so that I could finish packing, and get dressed and ready. By 8:15am, my mom was driving Dad and I to Orange County Airport. When we got out of the car, one of the curbside check-in guys came right up to us to get our bags. However, I actually do not like doing curbside check-in, I much prefer to go inside to the kiosks and do it myself. But sometimes they move too quick to grab your bags and it just is easier to go with it.

When we walked inside we found Gabe, Larry, and Tim. It was Tim’s birthday! So lots of birthday hugs, and then we got back to the business of checking in. Gabe’s reservation was under the wrong name- or actually, they just spelled it wrong. Gabe Gabben instead of Rabben. It turns out there is a one hundred and fifty dollar fee for a misspelled name! The lady at the desk was really nice though and let him off with just a $30 reprint fee or something. We lucked out!

Once all that got settled, we headed through security and into the gate area. Dad wanted a snack, so he went to McDonalds with Larry, while Gabe, Tim, and I opted for Starbucks. With a little something in our stomachs, we were ready to rock! We got in line to board the plane, but it took a while. It was a sold out flight, and there was a backup getting on.

We were seated and ready to go right on time. The plane even took off as planned at 10am. I love it when that happens! We had a two and a half hour flight to Dallas. It wasn’t too bad though, went by semi-quick. Once we landed in Dallas, we had to get moving; we only had a forty minute layover. (Always makes me a little anxious when the layover is that short.)

Our bus to the hotel.

Our bus to the hotel.

I was the first one off the plane, then Gabe and Dad exited shortly after. I got a text from Tim saying that we might as well head to the next gate, because him and Larry were way in the back and it was going to take a while. So Dad, Gabe, and I headed up the giant escalator across from our gate. As we were waiting for the tram, Gabe saw a familiar face- actually the father of someone he went to school with. So they got to catch up for a while, because we were actually all headed to the same gate.

The tram took a few minutes- we weren’t the first or second stop… But we got to the C gates and headed toward C37. Our plane was ready and waiting. We had to wait a few minutes before they started boarding, but they got to it pretty quick after we arrived there! However, we were all in the last boarding group, which proved to be a bummer when we entered the packed- and extremely hot jet bridge! Gabe didn’t think he was going to make it to the plane, and I was breaking into a sweat. But once we entered the plane, it was a lot cooler.

Gabe and I at the hotel. Notice all the luggage around us!

I got to my seat and sure enough someone else was sitting in it. Luckily, they were in the wrong seat, but someone else (who also was in the wrong seat) was sitting in their chair. And that lady seemed very confused about the situation. I’m not sure what she thought was going on! I got organized and ready for the flight. It was a two and a half hour trip. I read for the first half, and then a major bonus was that the plane came equipped with in-flight internet! So that managed to keep me entertained for the rest of the time! And it was a good thing because I had a few people I needed to get back to.

We landed on time at 5:30pm into the Milwaukee Airport, after which we headed down to baggage claim to claim our bags… We also found Bob wandering around down there. As well as our driver. After we gathered the luggage we headed out to the shuttle bus. It was a party bus/shuttle bus; very comfortable.

It didn’t take us long to get to The Ambassador Hotel. We checked in and went up to our rooms. I have to say it is a beautiful hotel; originally built in the 1920’s and has a lot of art deco flare, (which is a favorite of mine!) and yet the rooms were all redone and very nice! By 7pm we all met down in the lobby for dinner. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel. It was amazing! I even got a cocktail called a Ruby Kiss, and it had dry ice in it- awesome presentation. The video Gabe got of it shows part of it’s awesomeness!

The whole gang at dinner.

After dinner- and a little dessert… (Had to put a candle in a lava cake and sing happy birthday to Tim!) We headed into the bar. Very cool bar, and great bartenders. We were rather entertained by the last half of the basketball game- it was the NBA Finals after all! Once that finished up we all decided to head back to our rooms. However, on the way, Gabe and I went down into the basement to find the vending machines and some water. Some interesting info about that hotel is that it is apparently haunted! And I have to say that the basement is a bit on the creepy side. We struck out anyways, and there was no regular water (only flavored), so we were out of there pretty quickly. But the elevators are another story too! They are very old, and actually have regular doors you have to open to get in and out of the extremely slow moving and small elevators. But I made it back to my room safely- and without any ghostly encounters!

It took me a little bit before I could fall asleep, but eventually I had sunken into that very comfortable bed. I was exhausted from the day of travel, and stuffed from all the amazing food!

June 8, 2011

I woke up at 6am for no reason, and I just could not get back to sleep! Well, not until about 9am, when I finally crashed for a couple more hours. I needed those extra hours too! But once I finally did actually get up and moving, I had to start getting ready. I also had some business I had to take care of, but I got that settled as quickly as possible. Then I was off to sound check.

I met dad downstairs at 3pm and we found the shuttle bus waiting for us outside. It was a five or ten minute ride to the Potawatomi Casino. We got straight to work and we finished sound checking rather quickly. Our soundman for that gig was Jeff, and he is from Milwaukee. So he had the hometown advantage! He got us in and out of there very fast.

The theater in Milwaukee.

Jeff, Tim, Larry, Bob, Gabe, and I all went to the Asian restaurant at the casino. It was really good too! Just what I needed! Then we jumped on a shuttle bus back to the hotel. I have to admit that the streets are rather rough in Milwaukee. Gabe was sitting on the seats across from Larry and I, and we hit a corner and a couple big bumps at the same time… Gabe ended up landing between Larry and I. He tried to make his flying through the air look smooth though- so I give him props!

We actually made it back there by 5:15pm, so we had two and a half hours before we needed to leave again- which is a lot more then we usually end up with! So we were all excited about that! As we got on the small, slow, old elevators, some poor soul got on the elevator with us. It was a younger fellow, and Bob was standing right behind him singing, “Potawatomi” (in a melody he made up), and this guy looked like he was creeped out and ready to bust out of the elevator! I could see the panic on his face! He couldn’t get the door open at first, and his fear was growing. I felt bad for him, but we are a special group- takes a special kind of person to not be creeped out by us!

The guys waiting to go back to the hotel after sound check.

But 7:45pm I was ready and met the guys down in the lobby and headed over to the casino. (Dad took a bit of a later shuttle.) The Nelson’s were opening the show for us, and the band and I wanted to catch at least part of their set. (Yes, the Nelson’s as in Ricky Nelson’s kids…) They did great! Very talented boys!

Dad got there a bit after we did, and we all hung around backstage watching the show on A&E about trafficking drugs- and the people getting caught. (As one of the Nelson’s referred to as the “show about stupid people”. And they are pretty much right!) Dad’s part of the show started just after 9pm. I got ready- put my in-ears on, etc… Then I chatted with the Nelson’s for a bit. But eventually I was up! The show was interesting. I got out on stage and sure enough, my in-ears did not work! There was some technical problem. I did “Time of My Life” with out them- which is not easy, I basically couldn’t hear myself at all. But then they had a new pack ready for me, and that one worked! So I switched those before the next song. Also, by the end of the show, dad was introducing the band, and right as he was acknowledging me, I couldn’t help it and was trying to hide a yawn- but Dad caught me and announced his yawning daughter! Pretty funny!

Me and my Bloody Mary.

After the show, Dad and I went out to sign for a bit, but then ended up backstage where we had some food delivered. I got a great salad, and a very special dessert… Dessert Nachos. Yummy! Cinnamon and sugar crisps, strawberries, hot fudge, caramel sauce, and ice cream! Wow! I shared with everyone- and everyone was loving it!

We headed back to the hotel eventually though, and Bob, Gabe, and I went straight to the bar. I got my first Bloody Mary (the bartender there is kind of famous for it), and it was quite the presentation! Very impressive. Soon Larry and Tim joined us as well and we all hung out until the bar shut down. Then it was time to get to our rooms for a little rest.

I admit, it took me a while to get to sleep. But I did fall asleep eventually. We all knew that we needed to get as much rest as possible the next day, because the following day was going to be a killer!

June 9, 2011

I allowed myself to sleep in for a while. But once I was up, I had a lot of work to get done! So I got busy figuring everything out. Not much happened until around 8:15pm though when Dad and I got a ride to the casino. The Nelson’s were opening again, so we got there with plenty of time before our show. We all hung out backstage for a while, and then it was show time!

The show went great! As did signing. The Nelson’s gave me a vintage Ricky Nelson shirt that is awesome! I love it. Dad and I had ordered some food for after the show. But when we were done stuffing our faces, we all hopped into the bus and back to the hotel. We were all in a hurry to get back to the hotel because of the long day ahead of us… I was up in my room before midnight, and I was in bed not long after. Sadly I just could not get to sleep though! But by 2:30am, I think I finally passed out.

June 10, 2011

4:30am came very early. But my alarm went off and so I knew I had to get out of that comfortable bed. I very quickly through things into my bag, and got into regular clothes; and I was down in the bus by 5am as requested. We all gathered and drove off to the airport. When we arrived, we found the line for Delta to be insanely long! Luckily, a skycap came inside and said they were open outside if we wanted to check in there. Indeed we did! So that saved a bit of time!

Yep, that is me being felt up at the Milwaukee airport.

After we all got ticketed, we were off to security. It was my lucky day, I was picked as the random person to be felt up. And they really do feel you up when they search you! Gabe made sure to get documentation of the event in picture form. I was laughing most of the time because all the guys were watching and enjoying the show.

But after that was done, we found a place to stop and get some breakfast. We had some time to waste, so we hung out there for a bit; and then by the time we left and walked to our gate, they were starting to board. We all got in our assigned seats and ready to take off by 7am. We were all sitting in the same area of the plane. Gabe and I were sitting together, so I got to spy on his movie most of the flight. (He has a new iPad, and always has good movies for the plane on it!) I finished up some reading and writing and then attempted to nap, but wasn’t very successful.

We landed on time in Atlanta, it was only about a two and a half hour flight. Once we got there we had about a three hour layover though. We all walked down to the tram and got on that to take us to the next terminal where I new flight was. When we exited, we started looking for places to eat. We pretty much circled the terminal first to check out all of our options, then ended up at Chiles.

We had a leisurely lunch, and then afterwards we headed to the gate. We found a row of seats and we all got comfortable. Soon we started hearing announcements about our flight being oversold, and weight restrictions. We started to get a bit worried. However, they started boarded, so we got in line. We had to get on that plane, staying later was not an option, we had a show that night.

We all managed to get on the flight; without any of us getting bumped. Again I was next to Gabe and got to finish watching the movie he started on the first flight. This trip was a bit shorter, only about an hour or hour and a half to Alexandria, Louisiana. When we touched down, we were right on time at 1:30pm.

It was a very cute, small airport. It had fountains and a lot of nice decorative touches. We found baggage claim and our drivers rather quickly. The bags took a bit to come up though, and took even longer to get to us. I have never seen a baggage carousel move so slowly ever! We couldn’t believe it! But eventually we had all of our luggage and headed out to the vans.

We had two conversion like vans for all of us. I was in one van with Tim, Bob, and Gabe. It was about a forty five minute drive to Marksville and the Paragon Resort and Casino. We were all fading on and off throughout the drive. It had already been a long day!

The resort was beautiful. In the lobby there was even a pond with alligators! Loved that! I spent some time checking that out while Tim got us checked in. By the time I had my key in hand, and found my room (which wasn’t easy), it was 3:30pm. I decided not to waste time, so I jumped right into the shower. I don’t think I have ever gotten ready for a show so quick. I think I was ready in about forty minutes- with show makeup and all!

By 4:20pm, I began walking down to the theater. It was a bit of a walk! The resort was rather large. When I got there, they were just about ready for me to sound check. (Dad didn’t come down to sound check that day because he knew that going back to sleep for as long as possible was more important for him.) The guys and I got done pretty quickly, and turned the stage over to Sam Moore’s guys. (We were working with Sam Moore of Sam and Dave that night. I love him, so talented!)

During sound check, my cousin Heather had arrived. I was very happy to see her! All the guys and Heather and I went to grab some food in the steakhouse as soon as we left the theater. It was a very nice and civilized meal- once we got seated at least. Gabe and I had walked in to talk to the host about getting a table, and they were less than welcoming to us. But we got seated anyway.

The theater in Marksville.

Once the food was all gone, we went back up to our rooms for some rest time. I had about three hours until I needed to be anywhere, but I was too scared to go to sleep, I was afraid I wouldn’t get back up- or be crazy groggy if I did! So Heather kept me awake! Sam Moore started at 9pm, and Heather and I went to meet Dad up in his room at 9:15pm. Our security escort was there shortly after to take us to the theater. They actually took us in a van, which was very nice! It was going to be a long walk in my stage shoes, and in Dad’s cowboy boots.

We walked in and got settled in the dressing rooms. I hung out in the guys room for a while because Dad was doing an interview in his. (Plus the guys always have better food choices!) We were all getting ready to get on stage by 10:15pm.

Dad and his sandwich.

It was a great show. Ready wonderful crowd! We did a bit of a shortened show since we were working with Sam, but it was perfect! So nice to have such an encouraging audience after such a long and exhausting travel day! Dad and I went out to sign after the show, and that was wonderful as well!

Afterwards, we all hung out backstage for a little while, but eventually Heather and I headed up to my room. I was exhausted! Once we got there, we chatted for a while (you know, girl talk…), but I’d like to say we were asleep sometime around 2am.

June 11, 2011

My alarm went off by 10am, and I just could not get myself out of bed. I felt dead! So we hung out in our room for an hour and a half, then started getting packed up and ready to check out. We walked out to Heather’s car; which was a bit of a walk in the hot sun with all of my luggage, but I made it! We got everything shoved into the truck, and then we were on our way.

It was about a five hour drive from there to Heather’s apartment in The Woodland, Texas. I was somewhat delirious for most of the drive; I just could not shake that feeling! But we had a good time. We drove through some beautiful areas! Including a little town called Bunkie. (I love the name!) We made a few stops for food, gas, bathroom, the usual… And had to go a bit out of our way to pick a few things up. But I was comfortably laying on one of her couches by 6pm.

Entering Texas.

I called that couch home for a while; I needed a bit of rest! But by 7:30pm Deven (Heather’s boyfriend) got home, and we were ready to head to dinner. We went to Landry’s and it was wonderful! I love that place! We had a nice long dinner, and great conversation. After that we just headed back to their apartment to hang out for the rest of the night. I got ready and tried to go to sleep by a reasonable hour, but that didn’t exactly work out. I tried, but I just wasn’t able to get a great night’s sleep.

June 12, 2011

My alarm rang at 7:30am, and I jumped out of bed to get ready. I had to pack up my bags again and begin to take them down to the car. By 8am Heather and I were on our way to Houston Hobby airport. (Normally I fly out of IAH because it is thirty minutes closer, but Hobby had a direct flight to Branson Airport, so I had to go with that!) We actually ended up getting there faster than expected, by 8:40am. We said our goodbyes, and I was off to check in.

I was on Air Tran that day, and I was actually in business class, because when I bought the ticket, it was just as cheap to do that! So when I went through security I got to go through the business class line, and that was great, very short! Once I made it through there, I scouted out for some food. I found a very nice looking sandwich, and some little things to munch on. I was a happy camper! Hobby is a great airport! So easy and small!

Branson Airport.

I waited for my plane to get there, and once it arrived we were boarding within fifteen minutes. We were in the air a few minutes early, probably about 10:20am. The flight went by quick, and there was WiFi on the plane, so I got to get some work done while in route too!

We touched down twenty four minutes early! I don’t know how we did that, but it was impressive! I went to grab my bags, and then waited for my mom by the curb. She picked me up and took me home. I was so excited to take a shower, and unpack some things! But after that I took my mom out to run some errands around town. Then by 5:30pm we went to pick up Dad and we all went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner- a favorite place of mine!

By the time we were done with that, I just went home and began to unpack a bit more, and more importantly, I began to get ready for bed. I needed a lot of sleep, and I intended on getting it! I was in bed by 10pm, and asleep within minutes.

(As a follow up, I slept over thirteen hours! And the only reason I woke up then was because my alarm went off. Had it not woken me up, I might still be asleep!)

The Tale of Mac & Gabe's Big Debut, and The Nights at Sycuan...

June 3, 2011

I woke up in Newport Beach; I was excited, but a little worse for wear… I had just flown in from Maui the night before. (I know, you can’t feel too bad for me since it was Maui, but a five or six hour plane ride can kind of screw up your system a bit.) I was up by the reasonable hour of 10am, and I was getting ready for the day. I took a shower, did my hair and makeup, and got my suitcase repacked. I swear, the amount of packing I do these days is obscene!

I got ready early and so I took the time and used it wisely- got a bit of work done. But by 2:30pm Dad and I were getting into the car and starting our drive to The Coach House. We got part of the way down the busy Balboa Peninsula (it was a Friday at the beach!) and dad realized he had forgotten to stop at his drugstore to pick something up. So we had to turn around and go pick up what he needed, then continue on our way.

Tim at sound check.

We were running a bit late, but we called Tim to inform him and sure enough he said that wasn’t a problem, they were running a bit behind anyway. We got there by 3:15pm and started sound check. It went somewhat smoothly. There were a few feedback problems, but we got them worked out the best we could. Once we were done with the band sound check, Gabe and I took center stage and ran our acoustic set. We were actually opening the show- just the two of us, doing five of our original songs. We were very excited! We ran all the songs- and made sure we remembered everything…

Then I jumped back in the car with dad and drove over to the hotel we were staying at- The Best Western Capistrano Inn. We got checked in and went to find our rooms. I hung out for a little bit, mostly going over my lyrics and thinking about what I wanted to say between songs that night.

Before I knew it, I had to gather my stage clothes and head to the gig. I drove to The Coach House, got parked and started to walk towards the door when I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone. (Which I never do, but that explains how crazy my head was going that night!) Normally I would just say oh well and leave it at the hotel, but since we were doing a local gig, and I had a lot of friends coming, I had to have my cell phone for the night! So I got back in the car and drove back to the hotel, then back to The Coach House. Of course I had to park a bit further away that time. (Parking is really tough there.)

The Coach House.

I walked in through some side door that someone left open, and snuck upstairs to the dressing rooms. I found Gabe and Larry sitting there with a mandolin and guitar serenading themselves. I love the funkiness of the dressing rooms at that venue. All of them have a different theme. The one we were sitting in had a kind of 50’s vibe. Turquoise walls with records on them, a vanity, and old 50’s style fridge- or shall I say icebox, as my dad always says…

I went to walk around before the show started, so I could say hello to some of my friends who were there. Luckily all my friends were pretty much in the boxes upstairs on the same level as the dressing rooms. So it was easy for me to sneak around and say hello to everyone!

At 8pm the opening band started- Assisted Living. They went until about 8:40pm. I sat in the dressing room with the fellas most of the time, and we sang a bit around the guitar. Soon it was just about time for Gabe and I to make our debut. It was the first time we were doing that. The first time we were going to be up onstage alone doing a singer/songwriter thing, and actually the first time we were ever even performing almost all of the songs! So it was a big deal!

I stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at the stage as they broke down the last band, and set up for Gabe and I. I was a bit nervous! And I never get nervous anymore! But going onstage and doing all original songs is scary. That is really putting your heart and soul out there for everyone to judge. But I was crazy excited as well! I had been looking forward to that night for a long time!

Gabe joined me at the top of the stairs, Tim and Bob gave us some words of encouragement- some of which I can’t share on this… And then it was time for Gabe and I to start heading towards the stage. Bob announced us, and then we walked to our places. Gabe was at the piano, and I was sitting to his right on a stool.

I introduced Gabe and myself and said a few words about the first song, “Fall”. (We figured that was the best song to start with because we both probably know that one the best!) Once we were done with that song, the audience’s response was overwhelming! Which put me at easy! I admitted to the crowd that I did have some lyric cheat sheets, because some of the songs we just wrote very recently. (But I don’t think I ever looked down and used them! But it made me feel better to know that they were there!)

The rest of our set went very smoothly! After “Fall”, we did “Five Words”, “I Hate Drinking Alone”, “Wonder If I’m Having a Good Time”, and “Saddest Goodbye”. I did acknowledge at one point that there was sort of a theme in the songs- drinking… But that Gabe and I are not alcoholics, I promise! Gabe played piano on all the songs except the last one. On “Saddest Goodbye” (which we just wrote two weeks ago in Nashville!) he played the guitar.

Gabe and I doing our thing!

Something most people probably didn’t notice… When we were finished, I said thank you, and acknowledged Gabe Rabben, and then I went to hop off my stool, and I got caught up in some cords, right then Gabe said, “McKenna Medley” and put his hand out gesturing towards me- and thank God he did! I reached out and grabbed his hand; if I hadn’t, I know I would have ended up falling to the ground!

We walked off the stage and up the stairs congratulating ourselves on a successful first Mac & Gabe gig! I was walking down the hall back towards the dressing rooms and I heard someone yell out my name. It was my friend Mitch who was sitting in one of the boxes on the second level. I ended up hanging out there with him and his friends, and also a mutual friend of ours from elementary school, Caitlin. (Who’s mom was actually there too, and she was my literary teacher in sixth grade, and it was actually in her class that I realized how much I love to write!) It was so much fun catching up with people!

Gabe and I got a great response from everyone about our set! We kind of turned a corner- made that first big step towards what we want to do, and it was very successful, (I can’t speak for Gabe… ) but it meant the world to me! It was a big and exciting night for me; and so encouraging for people to love our original songs. One of the better statements was from a friend of mine, “You made a lot of grown men cry.” As a chick, you have got to love it when that happens! But it was very encouraging and motivating for Gabe and I. Can’t wait to get back writing and recording some more. And get back out on stage somewhere doing that again!

During the singer/songwriter set.

I stopped for a moment and talked to my dad, and he said I killed it. My songs, my voice, my talking… All of it. And my talking can always be a bit of a question, because I never have too much of a plan of what I’m going to say, I figure that I’ll just naturally talk- which while you are on stage can feel a little unnatural. But I was very glad that my dad loved it- and approved!

After the stage was set and my Dad’s show was starting, I left my friends box and went back to my dressing room to change my clothes. I had a little bit of a wait before I needed to be onstage, so I relaxed for a second, then I was right back out on that stage! The show went great! It is always so much fun to work in Orange County because so many friends come out to the gig! The audience was just amazing the whole night!

Once we were done, we went to the dressing rooms to take off our in-ears, and then Dad and I were escorted downstairs to sign. We saw so many friends! And Gabe had a big posse of friends and family there too. (His friends and my friends were pretty much making up the under thirty crowd at that show…) I also ran into my music teacher from elementary school! Just so many people I knew! Never mind all the people that my dad knew that were there!

When we were done, I ran up to get my stuff out of the dressing room. Then Dad and I got into the car to head back to the hotel- stopping at Carl's Jr. on the way… Him and I both hadn’t eaten anything all day. And I don’t know about him, but I was starting to feel a little dizzy because of it! So food was a good call! I got back to my room by about 12am. I knew a lot of people going out that night, but they were all going to Newport Beach or Laguna Beach, and I wasn’t quite up for driving that far. I wish I had been though; it would have been a lot of fun to go out and celebrate! But instead, I went to sleep- eventually… It took a while for my body to calm down after such an exciting night!

June 4, 2011

My alarm went off at 8am. I was not feeling so hot! It is amazing how depleted your body can feel the day after a big event! But I got up and ready anyway. I met Dad in the parking lot at 9am, and we began our drive to El Cajon. It was a very simple hour and a half drive. We arrived at the Sycuan Resort at the same time as Bob (and Tim showed up a few minutes after). We got checked in and went to find our rooms. They were great rooms, and all along a golf course. It was a really nice resort!

Hotel room at the Sycuan Resort.

I got changed and decided to head down to the pool for a little while. (Since it is summer, I figure I might as well take advantage of it!) But after an hour or so of sun, I headed back to my room to get ready for the rest of the day ahead! At 3pm a car came to pick up Dad and I to take us to the casino, which was about five or ten minutes away. When we got there, they weren’t quite ready for us, so we sat in the dressing room chatting with a couple of our booking agents- swapping stories!

Finally, they were ready for us to sound check. The stage was having some issues- some feedback, and some white noise in my in-ears. But we got it set up the best we could. The theater was great looking though, perfect set up- looked like there wasn’t a bad seat in the house!

By 5pm, we all went back to the resort. I met Bob, Larry, Gabe, and Bill at the lounge for some dinner. It was great food! We were very happy about that! Dinner lasted a bit longer than we had planned though, but we all got back to our rooms with just enough time to change and get ready to go back to the theater.

Bill and Gabe showing some love on the shuttle bus.

A car was there to pick my Dad and I up at 7:15pm. We drove over to the casino, and the guys were in a shuttle bus behind us. Once we arrived, Dad had a meet and greet, and I hung out in the green room for a while. Great spread of food backstage too! I love it when they have really good fresh fruit, and really good cookies. Awesome combo!

The show started a few minutes late, but we were off and running in no time. Dad actually had a lot of people he knew in the audience that night too! And it was a great show. I even surprised Gabe and at the last minute I decided to do “Saddest Goodbye” instead of the other ballad I usually do while Dad is off stage. That was a lot of fun. It is just a very fun song to sing! …Sad as it may be, it is vocally fun! One funny thing did happen though; Dad was singing at the piano and had just finished a song when he went to clap his hands together. However, when he clapped his hands together, his hands ended up hitting his microphone, and it flew out of the clip and plummeted to the ground! It was funny! Oh, and we did have one little technical glitch at the end of the show, but we got it sorted out rather quickly. Always gets your blood moving though!

Bob got stuck in the bathroom in his hotel
room and was trying to bust out...

Afterwards, Dad and I went out to sign, and had a great time meeting all the people. Once we were done we walked backstage; dad was hanging out with some old friends of his, so I decided to jump in the shuttle bus with the boys and head back to the resort- I wanted out of my stage clothes!

When we got back, I ran to my room to change, and then Bill and I jumped into Gabe’s car with him and took a drive to the liquor store. Gabe was driving his M3, which I have to admit is a very fun sports car!

Upon our arrival back to the hotel rooms, we found everyone hanging out in Bob’s room. (He even had some friends there visiting that he was in a band with when he was in Jr. High! So there were lots of fun stories and pictures being shared!) We ended up with everyone in that room hanging out and telling some pretty funny jokes until about 1:30am. It was a great hang! But then I went back to my room and melted into my bed. I have to say, that was one of the softest beds I’ve ever had at a hotel- it was awesome!

June 5, 2011

I let myself sleep in until about 10am, but then I got up and moving. I had a kind of free morning and afternoon. So I got a little bit of work done, then I headed down to the pool for an hour or two. Spent some time reading and getting some sun, then back to my room to get ready for the show that night!

The pool at the Sycuan Resort.

I took a shower and got ready. Since it was a Sunday, it was an early show at 6pm. Luckily, we were working the same room as the previous night though, so no sound check was necessary for me. (Although the band did have to head over there by 4:30pm for a line check.)

Dad and I had a car pick us up at 5:15pm to get over to the theater. When we got there I went straight into the guys room to munch on the deli trays. I hadn’t eaten all day, and I was starving! I managed to eat all their carrots in a matter of minutes. While I was doing that, Dad had a meet and greet. Then we all got ready for the show. The video started a shade after 6pm, but we were on stage and rocking soon after. The show went great! (Both shows there were sold out!)

All of us in the gigantic elevator backstage.

After we got off stage, Dad and I went out front to sign. That went good. Then we headed back to the dressing rooms and made ourselves some sandwiches. Our car was waiting for us in the back, so when we finished up, we headed there. We got back to the hotel but only stayed long enough to change our clothes and grab our suitcases.

After throwing our bags into the car, we started on the drive back to Newport Beach around 9pm. I’d like to say it was a super easy drive, but there was a bit more congestion than I had hoped for. Not traffic though- just congestion. So it took a little bit more concentration while I was driving, but we did make it back to my parent’s house by 11pm.

I was exhausted! So I hauled my suitcase up the stairs and got ready for bed. Without too much hesitation, I was in bed and on my way to dream land. I needed to catch up on my sleep, only one day off until we hit the road again!

Between The Tour Tales - Working, Weddings, and Johnny Depp...

The past two weeks have been crazy! Filled with a lot of work… And even just a bit of fun!

Gabe and Bob at the studio on their
matching computers...

I spent about ten days in Nashville, and I was amazed with how much I got done while I was there! I spent a lot of days writing. They write a bit differently in Nashville than I normally do; it is more of a nine to five job there, but they certainly get the job done! I wrote with Jennifer Hanson (who is indeed Larry’s daughter, and is very successful) for two days. The first day we didn’t really come up with much, which happens. But the second day her and I wrote with Martin Dobson, and we wrote a great song! So that excited me, and seemed to get my creative juices up and moving a bit more than they had been.

The Texas Tenors were also in town recording at Larry's
studio. Spent a lot of fun time hanging out with them!

Then I spent about three days writing with Gabe. We seemed to keep coming up with two and a half songs a day. Right about the middle of the third song we just always seemed to deplete our creative energy. But we wrote some great new songs that we are very excited about.

Gabe at The Toy Box Studio.

The last three days- including up until the hour I flew out of town, I spent recording. The first day Gabe and I recorded at The Toy Box. We got six of our songs recorded in seven hours. (Just roughs- but trust me, that is still impressive!) And it sounded awesome. We got a couple of our new favorites recorded, and we are really excited about that! The following day I worked at Larry’s studio with a band of Nashville studio musicians. Gabe was the drummer, but everyone else was from Nashville. One of the guitar players that played on the songs is in The Black Crows! (Love that!) So it was a killer band! We recorded three songs that day. All of which sound awesome as well. Of those three songs, one was written by Gabe and I, one was actually written by my dad a long time ago, and one was written by Michael Grimm. Lots of fun songs! Then the day I was leaving I redid the rough vocals on the band songs at Larry’s studio. That was awesome- however, by the end of that day (after three days of singing about five to seven hours a day, never mind singing everyday all week while I was writing) my voice was quite weary!

Our friend's singer/songwriter night. They sounded great!

Nashville wasn’t all work and no play though… One of our first nights there we went to see some friends of ours- Shane Fair and Bobby Tomberlin, do a singer/songwriter night. They did a great job! (And it is always nice to see friendly faces!) That same night we tried to get into the Station Inn for an incredible band. (The guys refer to seeing this particular band as church…) But it was already sold out and so we went down to Broadway for a bit instead. We found ourselves in a bluegrass bar and we were loving the sounds. Another night we got to see The Cleverly’s at the Station Inn. They are incredible. I know them from Branson, and I’ve been a big fan! Paul Harris is hilarious! I’d always recommend him to anyone.

Me enjoying my Jack's BBQ! Awesome! 

Among all the other things we did there for fun at night, (so much music to go to there!) Gabe and I also took a night out to go to a concert. Now here is the deal… Gabe is a big; make that humungous fan of Taylor Swift. In fact, he plans on marrying her. So I made the mistake of informing him that she was doing a concert at the arena while we were in town. He was ecstatic to say the least! So I agreed to be his escort for the evening. (And I wanted to watch his wedding proposal first hand…) When we got there, Gabe was a bit surprised about the age of the audience. Aside from the parents, we were some of the oldest people there. (And he was among a very small group of males.) Also, all the girls there were wearing sundresses and cowboy boots. I felt so left out! I did not get the memo! But it was a good show. Very entertaining. And Gabe did propose! You could send messages to the screens on the side of the stage, however they must screen them, because his message never came up. So sad! He’ll have to try again next time.

In other news… A project that I had been working on is finally finished! I had been doing a music video for a song that my dad had just written called “Johnny O”. It was a lot of fun to shoot! I got to work with some friends on the project, and that made it a lot of fun. It turned out really great! I even got to get married! And to Johnny Depp! Score! I hope you all check it out, it is posted below!

Aside from that, I also got a chance to go to Maui! I was there for a few days for Michael Grimm’s wedding to his beautiful new wife Lucie. It was incredible! The wedding and just the few days in Maui on the beach and by the pool were all perfect. It was a great trip! I always forget what amazing beaches you can find in Maui! It is on a whole other level! I just love it there! Dad and I went, we had about two days free, and then we had a bachelor and bachelorette party night, and the wedding day. So much fun! And so great to be there and support our friends!

Yummy fruity drinks!

On the bachelorette sunset dinner cruise.

Lots of days poolside and beachside. Dad and I were laying out one afternoon and it was getting pretty hot so we decided to go get in the pool and swim over to the waterslide. I was walking to the stairs to get into the pool- because I didn’t want to disturb any of the people laying out near by, when I looked over to find my seventy year old dad diving head first into the water! Yep, I may be a wimp if my dad will jump in and I won’t!

Dad and I.

But I have to say; I am already very much missing that place! The walks on the beach, the lovely dinners, and of course the fruity drinks and amazing fresh fruit! Their pineapple is to die for! I think I had an entire pineapple for breakfast one morning… But totally worth it!

So it has been an incredible couple of weeks! So much work has gotten done, and so much fun has been had! To top it all off, the day after I got home from Maui we had a gig at The Coach House, and Gabe and I opened the show with a singer/songwriter thing. It was such an amazing and special night. But that is for the next blog…