7 People in a Chevy Suburban with a 4x8 U-Haul trailer in back... 17 days of pure madness and adventure!
What a ride it was! We pulled out of Columbia around 5:30 a.m. on July 1st and embarked on a journey we will never forget! We dropped Brandon off at the Charlotte-Douglas airport (for his trip to Thailand) around 7 a.m. and then headed to I-40. All of us were taking in the landscape and the beauty along the way... Crossing the Mississippi River and crossing the farmland of Texas. The mountains and the deserts of Arizona and New Mexico. Everything was breath-taking and inspiring. We arrived in Adelanto, CA on July 2nd at 11:30 (Pacific Time).
We chilled in the desert the first day, and made up for all the time spent in the car. The we played at a Fourth of July party the next day in Adelanto. The folks at the party really enjoyed our sound, and it sold us a lot of tickets for our show at the Whisky. One guy even tried to set us up with a gig the next night in Victorville. It didn't pan out because all members had to be 21 to get in to the bar and Pat isn't quite there yet... Anyway, the show on the 4th was a big success and we had a very interesting person show up there to see us. A talent scout for Warner Records was a family member in attendence and he said he liked our sound and thought we were talented kids... This could develop into something very cool in the future, but we will keep our minds and thoughts open to the possibilities.
After the 4th, we started hitting the beaches of Los Angeles. Venice, Santa Monica, Huntington, Malibu, Leo Carillio, Point Mugu... The list is endless. Plus we made some stops in other spots like Woodland Hills, Hollywood, and East LA (by accident... hahaha). Everyone kind of did their own thing and made the trip their own. Meeting locals, checking out the spots and the culture. Promoting the show and passing out CD's. We played a few acoustic sets with the d'jembe and guitars on the beaches in Santa Monica and Venice. Everyone we met was very cool, and even though there are lots of artists at the beaches trying to promote their music, people seemed to be a little more receptive to us. Maybe it was the southern accent, maybe it was just how mellow and laid back our approach was. Needless to say, everything flowed very well.
Then we made it to the big event. Wednesday, July 8th @ The Whisky. We arrived at 4 pm for soundcheck. 8901 Sunset Blvd. This place is legendary. Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame plaque to the left of the door as you walk in. So many great musicians have graced the stage here in West Hollywood. Jim Morrisson made his croons heard for the first time at the Whisky. And now we stand just as the Doors did back in the 1970's.... The sound was killer, and the sound guys called us a "pleasent surprise." They really enjoyed our sound and invited us to come back anytime we could.... We kicked off the show right at 9 o'clock with about 40-45 people in the house. Heads were bobbing and shoulders were swaying. The vibe was unreal as we played our set. The songs took new meaning this time, and the emotion was more raw and pure than ever before. Or maybe it was just the fact that we could hear on stage for the first time! The show was immaculate and the reactions from the crowd were excellent. People really loved the new songs, especially "One in the Same" and "You Don't Know Me." The other bands playing that night were complimentary of us as well. The best part about this show was, you didn't have to worry about sitting through a bad band. The kalibur is higher there in LA. Bands are better. We felt right at home...
After the show, we stayed in Santa Monica Beach for the night and partied it up. Then we headed to Venice Beach again the next day, before heading to camp (or attempting to camp) at Point Mugu. We chilled on the beach with some new friends from Cali and then set up camp at site.... It wasn't long before we got caught trying to camp in a site that wasn't really ours and we were all kicked out of the park. We then made our way to Ventura where we got a few cheap rooms at Motel 6 and partied down one more time before we had to depart. This was probably the most mischevious night for the gang, but we will leave out the nitty gritty... :-)
After Los Angeles, we headed north to Ukiah. Ukiah is a small town in Mendacino County, which is one of three counties in the Emerald Triangle. So, needless to say we had a very uplifting time in Ukiah. We were visiting a very close friend of the band and enjoying the beauty of the Golden State. From Ukiah we headed to the Grand Canyon and then made a stop in scorching hot Mesa, AZ... It was 115 degrees in Mesa. WOW. We met up with an old family friend of Evan. She grabbed a few pizzas for us and let us relax and sleep for a few hours. Then we continued on towards Alabama for the final show of the trip...
We camped in Tyler, TX on the way to Birmingham. It was so muggy and humid, we felt like we were already back in SC! But, we actually found a campsite that had been paid for but wasn't being used... So we set up shop and camped out for the night. We even hung out with some raccoons that night, and they ate all of the food we had.
We arrived in Pelham, AL around 4 pm and just wandered around town for a while before heading to 2015 CAFE. Jennifer Moody met us there and her band followed shortly after. Attractive and charming, Miss Moody and her crew sounded great and were so awesome for welcoming us into their part of town! Keyton, who followed, was awesome and those guys were very cool to chill with. We aren't sure if Birmingham was ready for us or if we were ready for Birmingham, but we turned up the Jim Beam and had a grand night playing for the folks of Alabama.
After Alabama, we headed straight through the night back to Columbia... The trip was so amazing and went better than it ever could have been planned. We grew as a group, we grew as a family. We have seen so much, but so little at the same time.... We learned and experienced and we now know one thing....
We're so ready for this!