Labor Day '07

so I’m supposed to figure out how to put this all into words…

Saturday is easy… it was a great venue since I was bringing the kids to see Randy Rogers for the first time… outside… grassy, shaded area for their chairs… plenty of games and bounce houses to keep them entertained while we were waiting… a nice size crowd and a PERFECT set list… we even went down front for the encore… Jordan was absolutely in her glory ~ not to mention that i got some much needed love from some of my most favorite ladies in the world… it was over early… which was perfect as we needed our rest…

what can i say about Sunday… the line up was a fail safe in and of itself… but ok ~ two things stand out for me as perfect mommy moments… we waited in line for Jordan and Jake to meet and get their picture taken with Stoney… Jordan has him sign her cd… and Jake ~ ok Stoney taught my son how to make ‘rock star’ fingers… you know \m/ ~ and i have a picture of it even… which is sayin’ A LOT for me ‘cause I never remember to take pictures… but that moment for me was greatness…

THEN as if that were not enough… Jordan decided that for Stoney’s set she was going to the front of the stage… and she did… waited there for about 30 minutes for the show to start… and held her own for the entire hour… the look on her face when she walked back to where our chairs were… was absolutely PRICELESS… I told her… you know I’m always proud of you… but mostly the things I’m proud of up to this point are things that I just expect…do well in school… be polite… conscientious… things like that ~ but for her to be able to hold her own in that crowd and enjoy the show like she did… now THAT is my girl!!!!!

We left after Stoney’s set… the kids were exhausted from so much good stuff already… it was a bit warm… although the threat of rain helped cool it off…

Sunday…. Oh my LORD Sunday… first of all… if I’ve said it once I’ve said it 100 times… all I really need is a boy and a guitar ~ female voices for whatever reason don’t appeal to me and while I can appreciate a full band show from time to time… acoustic gigs will forever and for always be my favorite…

Ok… so yeah a boy and a guitar… well 16 boys with their guitars… that doesn’t suk either!!!

the first set… Walt Wilkins… Darren Kozelsky… Ryan Bingham and Adam Hood…

wait Wait… I need to back up… so I get to the venue… meet Sara we head up stairs and she says to me ‘You’ll need to prepare yourself…’ ~ which I had already known because we bought the tix that included lunch with them ~ and of course… first thing there’s Stoney talkin’ with people like he’s just a regular person… anyway ~ i did fine… kept me knees in check… found the rest of my girls… and while standing there talkin’ to Shelly… Brandon Rhyder comes up to me to say ‘Hi’ and asks me if he can have a hug… ummm sure... I am so not cool enough to be hangin’ like all that…

so Walt… yeah Poetry… tears… nuff said… right out of the box!! These artists complemented each other well and started the evenin’ off in amazing fashion! And Walt and Tina on Someone Somewhere Tonight… again… tears

‘…someone, somewhere tonight
just got their own wings
found some truth
found some beauty
found some meaning
in spite of it all…’ ~ Walt Wilkins

the next set not to offend anyone… but I skipped it… didn’t really know any of the artists and well I needed a bit of a breather after starting out like that…

set 3… Josh Grider… Brandon Rhyder… Radney Foster… Randy Rogers… and Brady Black…

ok… as great as the music was during this set ~ and we heard some new Randy Rogers that is going to be amazing… and well Brandon Rhyder is my latest favorite… but two words my friends… RADNEY FOSTER… watchin’ the artists in awe of him as he played was as entertaining as the rest of it… and Radney singing Godspeed… then Brandon singing Freeze Frame Time… well I was a messy puddle again ~ oh for the random person that is just comin’ upon this today ~ these are all happy… inspired tears by the way!!!

set 4… may i preface this with… in the last four years I’ve had dreams of havin’ these guys all together on stage in front of me… but never truly believed that I would be blessed… and I’m sitting here typin’ this as the tears well up just thinkin’ about it…

Wade Bowen… Cody Canada… Stoney Larue… Jason Boland

For me… for all that this music has meant to me… all the healin’ that has been inspired by some great songs… those four right there get 99% of the credit ~ my favorite cd is a bootleg… and most of you know the one I’m talkin’ about… anyway… it was all I could have hoped for and more… so very much more…

‘if everyone was together
i guess no one would be alone
life's a lot of trade offs in the end...

somewhere in the fields of heather
the proud souls laugh and love together
somewhere between passion and losing friends…’~ Jason Boland *sigh*