Waynesburg University Times Two

Last night we played a show at Waynesbyrg University in Waynesburg, PA. It was a bit creepy driving into Waynesburg. ALLLL these memories started flooding back out of nowhere. We played at Waynesburg U on Oct 11 of 2007. I remember because it was James' birthday. And it was the final trip in Cowboy Troy (Our first Suburban). We played the show, and everything was great. But the next morning, we woke up and The burb would NOT start. Not really a surprise. That car AWAYS had something wrong with it.

Awful break-downs are pretty much the longest and worst "initiation" into being a musician. Just like a fraternity - you aren't really and truly "in the club" until you breakdown.... and breakdown... and breakdown again... and... ok, you get the picture.

Car wouldn't start, and the guy at the Super 8 refused to give a jump. He had a new car and was worried jumping OUR car would mess with his GPS system. Ummm. NO. Not possible. But fine. (And he wasn't very nice about this either. I wouldn't have been frustrated if he hadn't have been so rude). There was a muffler place up the road, and one of the guys brought his truck down. We just needed to make it to the Auto Zone down the road to get them to install a new battery.

Got the jump, got the brand new battery and we were on our way to Philly. (We were supposed to impress a middling agent at a new club in Philly)

But guess what? On our way? We broke down.. AGAIN... on the PA turnpike.

This time? It was the LAST time. I can't tell you how many times that first truck left us stranded. But this was the first time it ended up costing us a show. We had to cancel, and that agent we were supposed to impress? Yeah. He doesn't work with us now.

There was NOTHING we could do, though. We were hours from the club. We had the Burb and trailer towed to a shop, and they thought they could fix it at first.... but as the hours passed, they realized it was the ENTIRE ENGINE that needed replacing. (We had JUST replaced the transmission a month prior). We ended up having to leave the Suburban in that parking lot for a long time.

I rented a car and got the band home. James stayed, and our best friend in the world, Ben, drove James' Explorer through the night to PA to tow our trailer back. We bought the second Suburban to get us back on the road. And on our first trip in the new (and MUCH improved) Suburban we PASSED the old one and waved to it from the interstate. And eventually, my dad bought a pick-up truck, got a gooseneck hitch installed, and brought Cowboy Troy back to Columbia where he now resides. He is completely fixed now... of course. We took it to our guy in town (Keith Throneberry - THE BEST), and though it didn't need a new engine, it did need some major repairs.

So yeah. ALL THAT came rushing back when we got here! Luckily, we were staying at a different hotel, so we didn't have to deal with the grumpy guys at the Super 8. :)

Now for this year's WU show:
I am happy to report that we safely made it to our show today after playing in Waynesburg!!! The WU show was in a different venue than last time. They have a really cool auditorium, but it was already booked. So they put us in a church-like room. No reverb needed last night!!! James actually didn't even set up his whole kit. The room was SO loud and echo-y that we all had to turn down and play a softer show.

It was a small but attentive audience! :) Today was actually the last day of classes for WU. The school was so awesome and trying to give the students a "break" from studying by putting on a concert the night before the final day of classes. But if these students are anything like I was in college - they were all in their dorms frantically finishing up all their last-minute projects and papers!!! :) But it was really cool. It ended up being like a private concert for 15 or so students! That's what is so great about this tour - one night the stage is so big I can't see the audience through the lights. And the next night it is such an intimate setting that we get to have conversations with each person in the room during the show. It really keeps you on your toes. And it spices everything up. I LOVE that.

These 2 ran our sound. It reminded me of "That Thing You Do" when they record the album in the church :) I love that movie!!


This guy was amazing! He was so attentive that even if he had been the ONLY person there, the show would have been well worth it. He is one of those audience members that you wish for as a performer. He MADE the night for me.


I realized when I got back to the hotel room that I had 2 different sized hoop earrings on. Shhh.... don't tell anyone, please.

One of my keyboard players from a few years ago came to the show, too. Jason played in the band for a while, and he now lives back in PA about an hour from Waynesburg. He came to the show and then we all hung out afterwards. We traded "breakdown" and "Whiskey River" stories. A band he was in for a long time played some of the same clubs we have played including Whiskey River in Macon Georgia. Oh the stories that have come from Whiskey River :) I could probably write a whole book from our experiences at that ONE club. :)


Thanks for having us back, Waynesburg! I feel like we're all good friends after that intimate show!
Oh, and today was incredible. I'll tell you ALLL about it tomorrow. :) Hope you had a great day!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie