Country Thunder; Florence, AZ. -Thursday, April 12th 2007

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Hello there! We made it back home Friday afternoon after our gig at Country Thunder, so we’re now just catching up on some “blog-age.” Are you familiar with that song by “Kansas” called “Dust In The Wind?” Well, that song was running through our heads as we prepared to take the stage at Country Thunder. We’d caught a small glimpse of what strong winds can do in the middle of a desert when driving from Bakersfield to Phoenix the other day, but we’d never imagined what it would be like to play a show in that same situation!
It wasn’t too bad as we left our hotel in Phoenix, however as we got farther out into the desert and closer towards Florence (45 minute drive), the, the desert winds started kicking up and we could see the dirt devils tossing around! The sun was still out though off and on and the temperature was comfortable.
Country Thunder is a major happening, and the fact that it is such a big outdoor event,event; it has to be held out in the middle of a HUGE spread of land.
We’ve played four of these events in the past, and all of them have required a lot of land! Country Thunder out in Arizona is awesome! It’s like one giant country music party in the desert!
So we got to the venue, and got our bus settled in. They had catering for all of the performers outside, so we helped ourselves to some good grub. Afterwards we had some interviews with “Jay” and “Big Shoe Stew,” of KMLE 108, a pre-show jumbo-tron interview with KNIX 102.5, and the Florence Newspaper.
The wind was kicking up a little bit more by then and it was looking like we were going to be in for a very “interesting” show. We were told that a dust storm was heading our way and that the winds were going to get up to 50-60 miles an hour. We headed out anyhow because the show must go on!
We were quick to set up our gear, and we all wore sunglasses, not because of the sun that was no longer shining through, but because of the rushes of wind that would blow sand and dust in our faces as we played. During the show, Debbie’s bass doubled as a parasail, and Trennas’ hair would lash wildly in her face as she sang. She was unable to move her microphone stand because the stage crew had used a roll of duct tape to fasten in down to the stage due to the wild wind. Becky’s keyboards was shaking too. Kim’s cymbals danced back and forth in the wind, and if the stage crew hadn’t have taped those down as well, the audience would’ve caught sightings of what would’ve looked like UFO’s sailing out into the air! It was a fight for me to even keep my fiddle and bow in my hands as I played. I looked out and the visibility was becoming less and less as the dust and sand kicked up. But we played on and in spite of all of the craziness it all went well!
We signed autographs after the show, unfortunately the temperature had dropped and it became pretty chilly, but it was all worth meeting every single person in line, signing hats, pictures, tee shirts and taking photos.
It’s always such an honor and privilege to play Country Thunder. We had a blast, and its days like that, that remind us of how dedicated Country Music fans are, because the weather came in and they didn’t budge! Thanks for hanging in there with us!