If I thought the first trip to Lincoln, Nebraska a little over a year ago was "Michael B's Big Adventure," I just had no idea of the adventure that lay in store for me in January, 2001.
The plan was simple. (yeah, right.) I'd get to Nashville from Greenville, SC by some mode of transportation, where I'd hook up with band mate/friend Bob Timmers, who would put my Carolina butt into his car and drive to Lincoln, Nebraska for our CD release party, which would also serve as a tribute to our friend, the late Bobby Lowell, a well loved rockabilly & blues singer who passed away on September 30, 2000.
Well. At first, I bought Amtrack tickets to Nashville, but promptly returned those after discovering that the sales "person" had failed to inform me that the bus would carry me to Atlanta, where I would board a Greyhound bus to Nashville. Nope. I don't think so. (See Roadtrip to Lincoln, the first adventure as a point of reference.) When all the feathers shook out and the dust settled, Jill and I decided that I would take the family car to Nashville- Burns, actually- where I would hook up with Bob, and roll on big mama.
For a week before the trip I watched The Weather Channel. There was ice and snow everywhere, but I was determined to make it, and with more than just a little blessing from up above, I did.
I left out pretty early on Thursday morning for the six-hour drive to Music City, which became a nine-hour trip, after an unending traffic jam in Knoxville, and rain/sleet and dark-of-night all through Nashville and into the greater twin cities of Dickson and Burns. The trip was uneventful for the most part, besides the hour and fifteen-minute jam in Knoxville, where I stared at an "I Love Jesus" billboard until I thought I actually saw the Lord.
When I got to Burns Station Sound Studio (also the home of The Rockabilly Hall of Fame) on College Street in Burns, I happily parked the Honda and went in to greet Bob. We spent a little time catching up, and talking about music. Bob is not only the curator/originator of The Rockabilly Hall of Fame, he is also a good friend.
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame exists primarily on the internet at the present time, so Bob's office consists of mostly computer equipment, although there are rockabilly cd's and t-shirts for sale, and the decor is pure country and rockabilly, thanks mostly to Gordon Stinson, who owns Burns Station, and has recorded countless country albums in this fine facility. You've heard the old adage, "if these walls could talk?" Well, these can, in a way. Signatures adorn the walls, scribed by the likes of Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, various NASCAR drivers, Web Wilder, Ramona Jones (Grandpa's wife), Ronnie Stoneman, and Gordon's old friend and client, Johnny Paycheck. The studio is great. And the mixing board came from the old FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. It recorded everyone from Duane Allman to Aretha Franklin. Classic.
