Dan was the man in Jennings Kansas; there is no doubt. From helping us find the community center, to loading in equipment, to feeding us, to opening the show, to providing water refreshments, to easing our fears when the town eccentric burst on to stage, to providing us a place to stay, to giving us directions to leave, Dan was it. The trip to Jennings was pleasant and the show was fun but really what melded it all together into one of those experiences that will we will remember for a long, long time was the work of one man…DAN. Thank you.

Till then,
g

Well, as the last one to post a blog I guess that I don’t have too much to recollect about our trip this last weekend. Like to give a big thanks to G and Dan for having a place for Bobbie and I to sleep. Thanks to Bobby T’s for having us and thanks to Jennings for …………….being there and having us.
The new drum kit is well worth the money, makes a real difference.
Thanks to Aaron for driving home this weekend, I was nearly asleep all day Sunday.
Thanks to Bobbie for helping us so much this weekend, I love you babe.
We really sounded great this weekend, can’t wait for the Danny’s show in Lenexa.

MP

An excerpt of conversation from the return trip. I would say close your eyes and picture this but it might be tough to read it with your eyes closed.

I am busy recording the events of the trip and read back part of it to Aaron.

"Don’t make shit up"

"Shit man, with you around I don’t need to"

Van erupts in laughter.

"We need to put an ad in the paper Mason, we need a new bass player. This one’s being a jackass"

More laughter.

I read these quotes back to the van.

Laughing still.

"This is like being quoted"

"I used to work for the newspaper"

"Make the ad for an illiterate bass player"

Laugh on.

The weekend was fun and the band took a couple more steps forward, one with Dusty on Friday at Bobby T’s and another with Jim on Saturday at Jennings. This is the last in the series of five blogs that were written during the trip. If you have any comments or questions, email me. chrisg@aarontraffasband.com

Following the first set, the band is outside enjoying the cool weather. Several kids are running around outside and the scene is what might be called a typical small town event. In the midst of conversation, we’ll call him Jordan, a second grader comes bursting out of the side door.

He looks at me and says "Hey man, watch my beer and don’t drink it"

He runs off around the building and returns two minutes later.

I checked the beer in his absence and it was cold, open and it was beer.

Soon, Jordan returns and grabs the beer off the ledge. We are all at a point between laughter and shock at this point, figuring that the kid is hiding the beer from a parent, etc.

I ask him "Seriously, are you going to drink that beer partner?"

Jordan looks up at me with a serious and shocked expression. "Do you think I would waste a perfectly good beer?"

At this point, we are all standing there in what george w. calls a moment of shock and awe.

We ask our host Dan if there an age limit to the drinking in this town?

"Yeah, why?"

Told the story back to Dan before asking, "Dan, who is that kid and how old is he?"

A little embarrassed, Dan replies "I don’t know but I’ve never seen him before. He just walked by me and asked ‘what up bitch?

Easily the sanity and saint of this trip to Jennings was Mason&rsquo;s wife Bobbie. She not only put up with us thrashing her new van, the series of comments from Aaron and me about the opposite sex, age, and size, she was just cool to be around. If Yoko is famous for breaking up the Beatles, Bobbie should at least be applauded for pulling us together on this trip. She ran the most professional merch table to date, tried to help Aaron find a girlfriend and me lose some weight. Sincerely thanks Bobbie–I bet you are ready to schedule the next road trip with the ATB!<br /><br />g

Return Trip from Jennings:

The trip back proved interesting as well. Aaron slept, uh, I mean drove and I wrote about the trip. In between catnaps, he supplied several comments and ideas about life, republicans, and farming in between spilling his coffee five times on Mason’s new van. Between the hit and run at Bobby T’s on Friday, pulling 2000 pounds worth of speakers in a UHAUL trailer, a few scratches, a dent, and the aroma of three unwashed musicians, the van certainly isn’t new anymore. Opening the door after a last minute gas stop was like walking into a Starbucks strip club. Might be called Starbucks and Strippers or Coffee and Cream…but whatever you call it, Mason and Bobbi will get to experience for the next few weeks I am certain.

g

Jennings, KS on August 26th:

"Is this a concert or a dance?"

"Neither, it is the Fireman’s Ball."

"Play some rock and fucking roll man."

The crowd went nuts for our rock set, had never really heard of Cross Canadian Ragweed, Randy Rogers, Aaron Traffas or or any of the rest of the music we played. But our dear lead guitarist, Jimmy Billinger decided, with Aaron’s blessing, it would be a good idea to wear a cutoff AC/DC shirt.

This resulted in the crowd being crazy for us…to play AC/DC which, coupled with Jim playing the intro to "Rock and Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution" resulted in constant requests and chants to play AC/DC. After finally succumbing to the pressure and playing "You Shook Me All Night," we were the rock and roll heroes we never intended to be. Three kids got posters, had us sign them, and then toted them around till 230 like they had just hit a t-ball homerun.
Interesting folks there in Jennings.

Hey everyone, I went to the Family Values Tour last night………………………WOW……..rocked my damn face off. I’ve got to have a face transplant today so that I can make it to the show tonight at Bobby T’s. Hope to see you all there.

MP

Boland was incredible last night at Horn’s as was the Wayne Hubbard Band. WHB plays again tonight for 5 bucks or something. Very much worth it if you are around these parts.

JB’s battle with alcohol and drugs has been well documented throughout the fanbase of red dirt country. Friends have written songs about him "After All" by Ragweed and the band canceled part of their tour last year so Jason could catch a breath and kick his demons. Apparently, based on his sobriety last night and the level of kick ass show they put on, he is clean.

Had a good time with Spud and Dick Withers at the show. Sold them my extra tickets for face value–18 each. Could have sold them at the bar for 100 each. Hmmm. Maybe next time.

The band is sure looking forward to Bobby T’s tomorrow night. Our local street team has gone above and beyond the call of duty to get people there. Thanks to you all.

Till then, g

Well, I finally did it………bought a new kit last weekend. Aaron, G and I went over to KC to pick it up. I bought a 3 year old Pearl Export Series 6 pc, it is beautiful. Anyway, all is well in the land of me………just wanted to update everyone on the new kit.

Going to the Family Values Tour tonight……….kinda makes me feel like I’m 16 again, anyway, free tickets and I wouldn’t mind seeing the Deftones………..Bla to Korn though.

See you all out at Bobby T’s this weekend!

MP