The True Willie Band with guest star Arnie as Merle Haggard descended on Granbury TX to play three shows at the Granbury Opera House in the lovely historic downtown area of this charming town of 8000 unsuspecting citizens. Ticket sales look really good for our Merle/Willie tribute in this charming theater that seats just shy of three hundred.
I picked up Johnny Magic Fingers and made our way to our favorite parking garage by LAX. I had the valet park Big Betsy while we waited for the shuttle to the airport terminal.
Unfortunately I had left my wallet in my truck so I had to catch another shuttle back to the garage to pick it up. The skycap was kind enough to print our boarding passes and check our luggage (I tipped him well) but I knew I would need my ID to get through TSA. I'm glad we got to the airport in plenty of time. Here I am on the other side of TSA headed toward the gate. My bag got a little extra scrutiny again. I think it was because my ukulele was loaded.
John and I had time for a cold one before our flight. Lucky for us an adult beverage dispensary was right across the hallway from our gate.
While we were there Arnie and Mrs. Arnie showed up and joined in the pre-flight festivities.
Here at LAX the planes always take off out over the ocean. Then they turn around to head east, unless you are going to Hawaii. Those trails you see are the old streets of Palisades Del Rey, a community that had to be relocated once the airport was built.
I think John is asleep already.
So I enjoyed my Lagunitas Ale and read my book. This is a good ale, light and crisp with a slightly bitter finish.
We flew into Love Field. We'll pick up our rental and put on a big show.
We rented the biggest vehicle available, a GMC Yukon Denali. It barely fit all of us with the TW Band traveling with two extra people, instruments, luggage, etc. The back was full, we had gear in our laps, plus luggage stacked up between the second row seats.
As soon as we left the airport we were hungry. We found an IN-n-OUT and I enjoyed a double-double. I know that in Texas the Whataburger is king, but I was outvoted. You can take the boy out of Southern California, but you can't take the Southern California out of the boy.
We had about an hour and a half drive through intermittent rain before we got to our hotel in Granbury. My room was on the top (third floor). A couple of us are on the second floor.
From my window I got a nice view of the motel next door and the highway. Not quite as exciting as the Strip in Vegas.
The next morning, Friday morning, the weather was still chilly, overcast, with intermittent rain. I headed downstairs for breakfast.
I found most of my bandmates enjoying their breakfast. I guess Willie and Merle are sleeping in this morning.
I'm trying to cut back on the carbs this year so I stuck to protein and fruit, and a little sausage gravy. I did not have the waffle or bagel.
We were wheels up at 10:45 this morning to load in at 11am. The Granbury Opera House is only five minutes down the road.
We loaded our instruments through the stage entrance in the back of the theater. They put on a lot of plays here too in addition to the tribute acts.
Like I said, this is a charming theater and the crew here were all friendly and very helpful.
My backline rig was a very nice MarkBass unit. I just wish it had a mute switch.
Since it takes me all of ninety seven seconds to set up I wandered around the theater taking pictures.
Since no one else is anywhere near ready to sound check I continue my self-guided tour of the venue. There are quite a few pretty cool tributes coming to this theater.
Here we are up in the balcony. Those skinny arrays used for FOH sound really good.
I hope the bass player doesn't trip over the balcony rail.
I walked out to the front of the venue to see a nice sandwich board on this quaint street.
Here's the front of the joint. I guess we're going to be live on stage later. I suppose that's better than the alternative.
Somebody tell that bass player to get out of the way. I'm trying to take a picture.
Looking around the downtown area, I'm guessing this is the courthouse across the street, or used to be.
On the other side of the square is the Nuthouse Hotel and the Granbury Live Theater. All of these are historic buildings from the 1800s.
Continuing our tour inside I pass by four stories of costumes on the way to our green room.
The hallway is adorned with previous productions.
We have a good sized green room. Mike stepped in to get a bottle of water.
Right off this green room is a well-appointed dressing room.
Our hosts has set out a selection of snacks and drinks for us, very hospitable.
I don't think this sign applies to our show, but you never can tell.
John gets his keyboard rig wired up while Josh (FOH) and Kyle (monitors) get the sound stuff working.
Sound check took a bit longer than it should have. It took a while for the sound crew to troubleshoot an issue that turned out to be some gear mis-patched at the panel. Oh well.
Hayden helps Drummer Dave get his backline kit in order and mic'd up.
Say a prayer for me. I'm working with three guitars in the band this weekend.
Yes, there is a bass player on stage patiently waiting for his one note sound check.
Guitar Mike with his blue Tele and Twin Reverb backline amp.
We've actually got twin Twin Reverb amps on stage. Mike knows how to play quietly and Arnie has been behaving himself lately.
Arnie brought his Tough Dog Tele. I was surprised because I wasn't sure if he wanted to fly with it. He bought a new case for it. The case got broken on the flight but the guitar was fine.
TW is dialing in his monitor with Josh in the house running FOH and Kyle standing behind running monitors.
I'm bored so I take a picture of the balcony and ceiling.
With all of the technical issues our sound check took three and a half hours. I think that's the longest sound check I've ever been a part of. Of course my part in that took about 5 minutes. Then we went right across the street to a highly recommended eatery.
This kitchen had exquisite comfort food and Southern hospitality. We all really enjoyed our meals, plus most of us took home a dessert. I'll get to that later along with the beer I decided to enjoy this weekend.
This place had catfish, hush puppies, chicken fried chicken, green beans, and all my Southern favorites from my childhood. I decided to have the chicken fried steak, black eyed peas, turnip greens, and fried okra. Everything was absolutely delicious.
My dear departed mother made the absolute worst fried okra. I was scarred and couldn't eat okra for decades. But when it's done right it's pretty amazing. The okra chef was spot on. These were so tasty, as was everything else, I really cleaned my plate. This will be my lunch and dinner for today.
In just a few minutes we are heading back to the venue for the show. See you later!
After our excellent meal, a late lunch, at Linda's Southern Kitchen, we went back to the hotel to rest, refresh, nap, drink coffee, etc. We made our way back to the Granbury Opera House at 6:30. Doors were at 7pm and the show started at 7:30. As I was setting up before doors I snagged a shot of our set list. We tried to stick with Willie and Merle's big hits.
We had time for just a little line check and warm-up before the doors opened. Willie and Merle were both in a great mood even though they look a little blue.
I got them to stand still for a couple of seconds and turned on the flash for my camera. I'm not sure if Mike was the "unintentional" photobomber. I think he did that on purpose.
Half the band is on the other side of the stage waiting to make an entrance.
I snuck my camera around the curtain to take a picture of the crowd. Nobody noticed, except Arnie. He said, "That's kind of weird."
Then again, after looking at that picture again, I think a couple of people noticed. Anyway, this is Michelle announcing us and saying nice things about us and telling the good folks about all of the generous sponsors and supporters. It seems like this theater is quite the community effort and everyone takes pride in it.
Drummer Dave was actually throwing me a Peace sign but then dropped it as my camera snapped this picture. His music stand has the set list with tempos. Dave doesn't often use a click track but will use a metronome to start the song and then let it "breathe". I like it when a song can breathe a little.
Johnny lets me know that this is show number one. Our monitor guy, Kyle, gives me a double thumbs up. Kyle is the bass player on the crew. I like that guy.
I love it when there are musicians on the sound crew. They know what it's supposed to sound like, ya know?
Merle is about to make his entrance. Arnie did a good job tonight. This was the first time we've incorporated Merle into the True Willie tribute show.
Arnie did bring his Tuff Dog Tele. It's a beautiful neck-through guitar. I think it's named after one of Merle's Chihuahua dogs. Don't quote me on that. I have to Google it first. Then I nabbed a picture of Guitar Mike while he wasn't paying attention.
I think TW is finishing up a little story just as he's starting the next song. I have to pick my photography moments carefully because this is a live show.
It must be break time. I'm backstage and had to flip this picture of the rear projector so that we could read it.
We had two sets with a fifteen minute break. We were supposed to play two forty five minute sets with a fifteen minute break but we were having so much fun that we ended up playing two one-hour sets with a fifteen minute break in between. Nobody gave a care.
The crowd was so nice. On a whim I said, "OK! It's selfie time!"
I hurried out front for the meet-n-greet. Everyone shook my hand and told me how much they enjoyed the show. I was quite relieved. We are in Texas, ya know. We are doing a Merle and Willie tribute, ya know. I think these folks know their Merle and their Willie. You know what almost brought a tear to my eye? When TW sang, "You Were Always On My Mind" I saw about half the couples in the audience reach toward their significant other and hold hands. I know that's not really a love song but it is quite sentimental. Fun stuff.
After our meet-n-greet I noticed this historical marker in front of the theater and thought I'd share.
Earlier today, after our sound check, we ran some errands and stopped by a store called Spec's. It was a beer, wine, liquor, and cigar store. I picked up this brew that looked interesting, Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.
This beer is absolutely terrific! It is smooth, slightly nutty, with a whisper of oak, and a finish that is neither sweet nor bitter, just clean and light for an 8.2% brew. I think it really is outstanding. I've already had three while working on this thread. Oh! I forgot about the dessert I took home earlier.
Ok, I think I mentioned that most of us took home dessert from Linda's Southern Kitchen. I had the chocolate peanut butter pie. It is fabulous! It is just the right combination of chocolate, peanut butter, meringue, and pairs well with the slightly vanilla flavor of my Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale. Seriously. Wow! Man! I am totally thinking about retiring to this town just because of all the good things I've experienced here. I'm feeling lots of good vibes here. Oh, anyway, here's the pie.
I'll be back with a few more pictures but I think you've seen pretty much everything this gig has to offer. We've got two shows tomorrow then we are flying home on Sunday morning. Thanks for hanging out with me.
It was a beautiful day here in Granbury Texas as we made our way to the venue, the Granbury Opera House. I didn't realize that at the other end of our building was a golf course.
I got to be the taxi driver again as we made our way to the venue for our matinee show today. Here is a picture of part of Granbury lake. This is really a beautilful community.
As we approach the venue in the town square I caught the trolley diving by.
I dropped off all my bandmates, parked the car, and made by way back to the rear entrance.
Anie and Mrs. Arnie play cutesy as the rest of the band plugs in, tunes, dials in monitors, etc. That's Kyle at the monitors.
Here we are just about to start the matinee. Michelle is on the other side of the stage with Drummer Dave and Guitar Mike. We gave each other a wave. I haven't seen those folks since sound check.
And then it's time to go on! Michelle takes time to announce the band and all of the theater's sponsors.
Drummer Dave is ready to go. I'm not sure if that's a peace sign or if he's saying this is show number two or we have two shows left in this run. Maybe it's "E - All the above".
Guitar Mike is looking cool in front of his flamethrower of an amp.
Here's Johnny! Again with the two finger mystery. Kyle is alert and ready to tweak monitors.
True Willie puts on the show.
Then "Merle" joins us.
Here we are at the end of the matinee. I just had to try and grab a picture in front of this fabulous crowd.
After every show there is always a Meet-And-Greet.
After the matinee show we went back across the street to Linda's Southern Kitchen for an early supper. A couple of Guitar Mike's friends joined us.
Since I had the chicken fried steak yesterday I decided to try the chicken fried chicken today. I had a garden salad, fried okra, and pinto beans. I love good Southern cookin'. I tried one of Arnie's pickled okra and found that I really liked it too.
Before the evening show we got together before doors to take some promo pictures. This was one of the backgrounds. Who is that silly looking bass player with the long hair?
Once again, ol' Hoss is ready to sing some Waylon.
Mike did not sing his usual Kristofferson part during our Highwaymen song. Arnie sang it instead. We had to cut bits of the Willie show to make room for the Merle show but it was a good mix.
Johnny Magic Fingers shows me a couple of his magic fingers just before we start the last show on Saturday night.
Our monitor guy, Kyle, does the same. He's a bass player too, ya know. He uses those two fingers to turn up the talent knob for me.
Mike is all smiles. We are having so much fun here.
The Saturday night crowd was very nice to us. We got a couple of standing ovations. We gave them a couple of encores.
After the meet-and-greet it was time to let the crew strike the stage and make our way back to the hotel.
I had picked up one of my favorites at Spec's the day before. You've seen me enjoy this beer before. I like a good stout. This one is 9.9%. I'm glad I got just one bottle. We have to be up early in the morning to catch our flight.
We were up and well on our way to the airport before sunrise.
We made our way to Dallas Love Field, a nice airport.
Here's one of our glam shots. We had such a lovely time here even Arnie almost smiled.
Stay tuned for more adventures. Thanks for sharing this one with me. I hope we get to come back here to Granbury, Texas. It's an absolutely wonderful place.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
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