Dixie Bee Liners On The Road ! Part 2.

[The Award Winning Dixie Bee Liners are Guest Blogging while On The Road this month. This installment is handled by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Sav Sankaran]

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Hello Prescription Bluegrass readers! Sav Sankaran, bassist for The Dixie Bee-Liners (DBL) here. Here's another installment of our behind-the-scenes, no-holds-barred tour blog. This weekend saw us heading to two gigs: First, the Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC, and then the Louisa Arts Center in Louisa, VA. 

Road Rule #1:
 Always carry your AAA card!

I'd like to introduce a new feature of our blog entries, something we like to call our "Road Rules". Road Rule #1: Always carry your AAA card! After getting an early start on Friday morning from our meeting place in Asheville, NC, we headed down Interstate 40 toward our first engagement of the day, a live in-studio appearance on WBT, a 50,000-watt radio station in Charlotte that on a clear night can be heard from Canada to Mexico!

Helplessly locked out
of the Trilobite,
Bee-Liners look sullenly
 through the window...
Click to Enlarge Photo

After about 50 miles or so, we made a pit stop for gas in Valdese, NC (home of George Shuffler, bluegrass pioneer and hopefully IBMA Hall of Famer!). I pulled alongside the gas pump, took the keys out of the ignition, and promptly placed them on the dash and made my way inside to seek out the largest can of Red Bull I could find (it was early in the morning, after all!)... 

 I had forgotten, much to everyone's chagrin, that our beloved tour van, "The Big White Trilobite", has an autolock feature. Less than an hour into our weekend, we were locked out of the van. Thankfully, the AAA-affiliated towing company had a driver dispatched within minutes and after a quick bit of locksmithing and a gift of our latest CD, "Susanville", to the driver, we were back on our way to Charlotte.

Wayne Powers, DJ and DBL fan!
Click to Enlarge Photo 

Arriving at the WBT studios just a few minutes late despite our setback, we quickly unloaded our instruments and made nice on the air with congenial DJ Wayne Powers. Wayne seemed to be as pleased to have us there safely as we were to be there! We chatted a bit about the band, the show that evening, and played a couple numbers live. One of the tunes we played that Wayne seemed to like was "Alleghenies", one of my original tunes that appears on my new solo album, "Back To Bassics". After our radio appearance, we were faced with the task of feeding hungry band members and killing some time before we would be able to load our gear into the venue for that evening's performance. Several of us made our way to The Burger Co., which was chosen almost exclusively for the fact that the parking lot was big enough to maneuver the van. What a good choice it turned out to be! A delicious meal, in my opinion. That being said, pretty much any place that I can order fried pickles and a burger as big as my head is OK in my book.

The Smelly Cat Coffeehouse
in Charlotte, NC.
We love Smelly Cat.

After lunch, we all proceeded to the North Davidson Arts District of Charlotte, known as "NoDa", to set up at The Evening Muse. This intimate club venue has become a regular tour stop for some of the best the music world has to offer, regardless of genre. After loading all of our gear into the club and allowing our slightly-less-hirsute-than-last-week sound engineer Jay (he shaved his beard!) to set up, we bolted and made a Bee-line (see what I did there!?) to the nearest coffee shop. If you can't locate us on the road, check the nearest Thai restaurant or coffee shop. Chances are, we've been there. 

Later that evening we gave a great performance before an enthusiastic crowd at The Evening Muse.The next evening found us in Virginia's Central Shenandoah Valley in the quaint town of Louisa. The DBL have played the Louisa Arts Center before, and it did not disappoint. A lovely venue with all the amenities you might expect from a small performing arts center. 

The Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC.

We had a small but enthusiastic crowd, including a gentleman with a rockin' tie-dye shirt that knew all the words to our songs! I can always appreciate a good tie-dye.

Well folks, that's the weekend that was... Hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about our time on the road, and stay tuned for the next post in which Buddy will expound on Road Rule #2: Never, EVER, eat a gas station hot dog, no matter what the circumstances. Our "Summer Swarm 2011 Tour"  is just a week away! Want more details? You can find us at http://www.dixiebeeliners.com/info.html. 

So Long, And Thanks for All the Fish,*
-Sav
*See Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", a DBL favorite...


Read Part 1 of "The Dixie Bee Liners On The Road"

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