June 2, 2008  Just got back from Louisiana with the Guy Forsyth Band on a short little run.  I got my feet wet and climbed up the learning curve for my upcoming tour manager gig with the guys next month.  They played to a small but enthusiastic crowd at the historic Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans.  The next morning came far too early.  On about three hours of sleep, we all pealed ourselves from our lovely hotel near the French Quarter to load up the van and head to Lafayette for an early morning radio appearance.  After the radio show, we found ourselves with some time to kill before the gig that night at the Blue Moon Saloon.  We took a walk, talked, had a leisurely lunch, then went to our very cool themed rooms at the Moon (I stayed in the Cowgirl suite) to have a nap before load-in and sound check.  I woke up from my nap with enough time to have some coffee before our scheduled load-in time.  I walked through the door to the stage area with my hot cup of jo to find that Will and Guy had already unloaded all the gear.  (I thought I had heard Will playing his sousaphone when I was napping).  A swamp cooler kept the air cool while we setup and did sound check.  After the show, we all stayed up damn near sunrise and probably had way too much to drink with the super cool and funny staff.  The next morning we leisurely lounged on the Moon’s front porch.  Guy was glued to the hammock chair writing his latest blog entry and occassionally interjecting the conversation to ask how to spell ‘Louisiana,’ ‘Faulkner,’ and ‘wrought iron.’  Rob was sipping his coffee as his hair pointed in a million impossible directions while Will was rocking in a chair recapping the highlights from the night before.  We went to a lovely brunch with some of the Moon staff before heading to Alexandria for the next gig.  After dinner that night at the venue, we all played frisbee in the parking lot.  I got a bad case of the giggles when we discovered that Will throws more like a girl than I do.  Alexandria seemed a little starved for creative talent, so when the guys played, they were greeted as superstars.  The folks there were eager to stock up on merch and stay as long as the guys were willing to play.  We got invited to the mayor’s house afterwards, but I had to do my job and remind them we had a long drive back to Texas the next morning.  The next night the guys opened for Del Castillo at the Whitewater Ampitheatre in New Braunfels.  We rolled into Austin late that night, all exhausted from the late nights and sporadic sleep schedule but feeling good about the upcoming national tour in July.

Stay tuned in July for blogs from the road with one of Austin’s greatest…

xo
LL