Dixie Bee Liners On The Road ! Part 4

Prescription Bluegrass offered the Bee Liners a chance to be guest bloggers during the month of May as a way to keep fans up-to-date on the groups road tour, to give us all a glimpse into just what it really takes to put a touring band on the road and hopefully a method of attracting some "Dixie Converts" into the hive. So far it's working. Readership on their posts is so incredible we've extended the posts into June to cover the beginning of their "Summer Swarm" Tour. Here, in this fourth installment, group founder Brandi Hart picks up where Buddy Woodward left off. See if you've been buzzed into the Bee Liners' swarm. [Read previous posts here and here]

"Bananapocalypse Cow"

Hello, friends!  Brandi Hart of The Dixie Bee-Liners here.  Our 2011 Summer Swarm Tour is going swarmingly.

We've just crossed the Nebraska border after an amazing week of shows in Kentucky, Illinois, and Colorado.  When we arrive in Omaha this evening, we'll have traveled 2,940 miles in eight days. At this point in the tour, we've consumed approximately seven Thai curries, twelve Mexican entrees, and 48 servings of diet soda.  Buddy's also getting a little wind-burnt, having been strapped to the top of the van for at least two days.  On the positive side, he's taking it like a champ, and we now have a convenient place to put the cooler. 

And speaking of our hero, I believe Sir Budrick left our little saga at the end of the first night of tour....

We awoke on June 1st in Louisville in the deluxe man-cave of our dear friends and hosts, Mike and Michelle Bucayu.  After showers and coffee, we trotted up the interstate toward southern Illinios wine country.  

A high point of the journey was Chester, IL,home of Popeye creator Elzie Crisler Segar.  

Our tight schedule prevented us from peeking in at the Popeye Museum, but Buddy and Todd Livingston did AWE us with some truly disturbing Popeye banter for nearly 20 miles.

Eventually, however, we found ourselves driving up the gravel path to Rustle Hill Winery in Cobden, IL.  Stumbling out of the tour van, we were greeted with a gorgeous outdoor performance space, a sparkling sunlit pond, and a killer audience.  We played through the sunset and into the night, and it did seem that the crickets and frogs were singing more loudly with the music.

After the show, Sara and I sat on our cabin porch and sampled a yummy frozen concoction that the winery calls "winerita."  A luna moth danced around us in the moonlight.  The boys were in a separate cabin, apparently watching a sensitive TV drama called Sharktopus.

June 2nd was a drive day, mostly spent rehashing the glories of wineritas and "Sharktopus."  As the day wore on, the film title morphed into "Sharktocalypse"... and then "Shark-taco-lips," which could possibly be a delicacy in some remote seaside country, somewhere.

In this way, more or less, we passed the hours on the highway.  Night fell, and we found ourselves at a truck stop diner inMissouri.  The place looked innocent enough, but danger lurked in the unassuming form of banana-flavored taffy.  I don't eat much candy on the road, and apparently I was destined to stick to that program.  Literally.

This was a little incident we like to call Bananapocalypse 1.0... which leads me to Road Rule # 3:  Always know where your food is.

After that little sidetrack, we found ourselves in Colby, KS, around 4:30 a.m. on June 3rd.  We were treated to V.I.P. parking at our hotel and four luxurious hours of sleep before rising to greet the Colorado state line.  

Sara and Todd accidentally dressed as the U.S. flag, and they coordinated all the better for their matching hair.

The evening of June 3rd brought our performance at Swallow Hill Music Association in Denver.  

The Dixie Bee-Liners have not had a guest drummer since 2005 or thereabouts, so we were very excited to welcome drummer John Ware to the stage for the second half of our set.  

 backstage with drummerJohn Ware

He has performed with musical giants such as Emmylou Harris & The Hot Band and Michael Nesmith & The First National Band.  Needless to say, making music with him was an unforgettable experience that we hope to repeat!

To make an awesome evening even better,  Joy Kills Sorrow shared the stage with us that night and gave a truly inspiring performance.

You can view a nice review/photo essay of the show by Joshua Elioseff in Reverb here: http://www.heyreverb.com/2011/06/06/joy-kills-swallow-denver-photos/#name%20here

June 4th took us to Steve's Guitars in Carbondale, CO.  

Walking into this intimate listening room, we encountered a jaw-dropping collection of vintage instruments, along with a colorful papering of old tour posters from the hundreds of artists who've graced Steve's stage.

Shedding our usual elaborate 14-channel setup, we performed two sets with only three microphones.  The room was packed, and the audience were expert head-boppers, which told us they were having a very good time, indeed. 

After the show, we piled into the van and began another lonesome late-night journey, this time over Wolf Creek Pass.  We once again found ourselves driving into the wee, small hours.  With Sav at the wheel, I decided spin the tale of the Evil Night Cows and their diurnal counterparts, the Bovine League of Justice.   These legendary beasts wage two inexorable daily battles -- once in the rosy-fingered dawn, and again in the gloaming twilight.  Every evening, as the moon rises, the Evil Night Cows lord over Earth's pastures in ominous silence, while the Bovine League of Justice are forced into hiding for their own safety.  

Then, each morning as the moon disappears behind the mountains, the Bovine League of Justice reclaims its rightful place in our pasturelands, peacefully munching cud and suckling calves.

Unfortunately, this constant battle between good and evil produces a lot of manure, especially in high-density cattle populations like those in Nebraska.  In fact, when we crossed the border from Colorado, Sara actually exclaimed, "Holy cow, that stinks!"

Stay tuned for Bananapocalypse 2.0 in the next edition of "The Dixie Bee-Liners on the Road."

Meanwhile, you can see where we're going to be next by clicking here: http://www.dixiebeeliners.com/

Love,
Brandi