Mountain Tour Summer 2012 Day One:
I woke up early after a restless night. Doesn't that always happen before any early morning flight? It was cool and the ocean was calm as I pulled away from the house. Southwest was kind to me. Off on time and the fat lady from the circus had no interest in the seat next to me. We landed in Denver and I made a mad dash down the longest concourse I have ever seen and snagged the earlier flight to Aspen.
I arrived into a beautiful mountain day. Cool air and bright sun. A friend of the band picked me up and brought me to the Sky Hotel. Cool place. After a quick check in, I was riding in the legendary Buttermilk with David, Paul and Monty to a radio appearance in KDNK in Carbondale. The DJ had the Colorado version of the Willie pigtails that were joined together in a braid. New to me. Nice guy and a big fan of the Sons. There was some chatter and then "Cool Water" live on the radio. First time live for me and it sounded great.
We made a short stop to give 'Milk some beauty treatments so we sat outside at a nearby cafe and caught a bite.
Next stop was a radio station in Aspen which was a step up from Carbondale. Instead of the full Willie, the DJ had a $5000 mountain bike in the hall. A little conversation on the air, another Cool Water and we were out the door.
After some brainstorming around the pool back at the Sky, we geared up for a major conference call. However, the gods of Hollywood did not smile on us and it didn't happen.
A little downtime and Paul, David and I set out for dinner at Cache Cache. Our host's sister owns this highly regarded Aspen eatery. It turned out to be one of the best meals of my life. Our host was lively, free with the wine and a pleasure to be around. He did initially mistake me for David's father, which didn't hurt my feelings too much. Obviously, he has never heard me play guitar. (Sorry, Bill W)
With minutes to spare, among low hanging clouds, we sprinted to the Belly Up. Arriving just as the opening act was finishing the last song, the boys were on stage in a flash. Not sure how they do that.
The show opened with Cool Water which was a great choice. Next up was Down Below another good one. The club was starting to fill up and the band was taking charge. The show is a bit of a blur at this point, but here are a few impressions: In the last 60 days, the band has really grown and come together. T. Browne has found his place and is a budding rock guitar god. Mammel's keys are now up in the mix and adding color and texture to the songs. Look out when he jumps up from that bench, things are getting serious then. Ray is growing braver by the day. He is getting some high, beautiful screams out of the flat white bitch. He owns Almost There.
Paul, David and Dees are the heart and guts of the band and this night they rose with the intensity of the love and excitement of the crowd.
The big songs: Burning Days and Diggin's Done were large and are auditioning for stadium venues to come. There was good ebb and flow to the set and at the end the Beatles cover had the little girls and drunks dancing their asses off. Sons of Fathers will become The Road Goes On Forever of this band. It is the signature and history in the making.
At the very end, Paul threw down the East Texas, church going gauntlet. Channeling Al Green meeting Elvis, he dropped the guitar and laid me down in sweat and tears.
Reluctantly the crowd filled out. Monty pushed some merch, the equipment went to the trailer and the night was done.
High on the crowd and the music, we laughed all the way to the Sky Hotel. Plans were being discussed back at the pool. Looking at my watch, I realized I had been up for 23 hours. My first trip around the hook in many moons. I said good night.
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