Ashby Frank
Mandolinist, Singer, Songwriter

Well this is the beginning  (Day 2) of one of the famous, long, multi-state Special C tours and it’s gotten off to an interesting start. This one’s 17 days with stops in Buffalo and Casper, WY, Windsor, CO, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois.

We  left Nashville kinda late. I drove to Paducah, Justin drove a good ways through Illinois, and then I took back the wheel a few hours later. A short time after I started driving, I noticed Justin was messing around in the back and didn’t think much of it until I realized that for the first time ever, I could see head lights in the rear view mirror. UH HO! The back door had come open and Justin was standing back there trying to rescue my suitcase from falling out into Saint Louis traffic while screaming for me to stop. It’s soooo loud in the SpecialCmobile that I hadn’t heard his first scream. I didn’t freak out, realizing that if I hit the brakes all of our stuff and Justin would go flying out the back door onto I-70. We got pulled over, locked the door, and and made it to Columbia, MO at 1 AM. I saved Justin’s life, and he saved my suitcase and probably my mandolin and computer bag… so he saved mine too.

After tons of talking and Google-ing we finally found a place to stay. This morning we got up and hit the breakfast buffet at the Comfort Inn (where the main course was “pancake wraps”, AKA Corn Dogs), then headed out through Kansas City and on through Kansas… or at least a part of the way. I stopped my shift in a town called WaKeeney. There was a Sinclair station and we were running low on Diesel and not within 30 miles of another town, so that made sense to me. hehe

David started his first shift of driving for the trip after we fueled up, and he made it three miles. THREE MILES. Then squeek, bang, bang, smoke! We stopped right there on I-70, and called AAA. The “Turtle Top” made a horrible noise when we shifted it into park, and then we waited for an hour and a half or so in the 100 degree heat. A VERY friendly and helpful Kansas State Trooper came and parked by us and got us in contact with a heavy duty tow truck driver that happened to have a shop right there (here) in WaKeeney (Pop. 1924).

Once the truck got here to pull us away, they figured out that we have broken bearings and a broken rear axle. So we got pulled back to WaKeeney, said goodbye to the friendly Trooper, and hello to Steve the super friendly Repair Shop Owner. He tells us that it’ll be a week, maybe two, two get all this stuff fixed… oh and by the way…. we’re supposed to be in Buffalo, Wyoming, (11 hours from here) for a 2PM set tomorrow.

Well, it’s 9:44 CST, and we’re still here in WaKeeney. One of Steve’s friends that had his SWEET race car on the lift in the shop took us over here to the Super 8 by the interstate. Tomorrow Justin’s going to have to get up early, and ride with another friend of Steve’s into Hays (30 minutes from here) to where he’ll rent a car, come back west to WaKeeney and pick us up, and then we’ll head on out towards the festival.

Growing up in a small town I know that in places like this, everybody knows everyone else’s name or family, and that’s USUALLY a very good thing. Back home, a friend of my family named Tim Hester, one of the best mechanics and nicest guys around, would always help me out when I had car problems and needed to go somewhere in a hurry. You lose that sometimes when you live in a bigger town, and you usually have to pay more for a service that might not be done as well.

When you’re on the road, sometimes you dread being broken down in a small town because of the lack of repair shops, hotels, or restaurants or things to do or ways to get around. I remember very well when Marty Raybon’s bus broke down on a Sunday morning in Hancock, NY. THAT was another long day and story for another time.
So, even though there’s no car rental place here in WaKeeney, which has kind of thrown a wrench in our itinerary, EVERYONE we’ve come in contact with has gone out of their way to help us. I don’t think we could be “stuck” in a better place.

Now hopefully we can trade set times with another band in Buffalo for tomorrow, find a decent rate on a van rental from Wyoming or Denver to Chicago so we can make it to Michigan for our shows at the end of the tour, and figure out a way to get back out here to take back our rapidly falling apart “bus”.

It’s nights and long trips like this that make me wonder why, WHY????? don’t I just find some way to make a living where I can drive to work, drive back home, have a nice dinner, and do fun stuff on the weekends and live some kind of normal life. But as always, there’s something about playing music (not so much the beating my brains out THIS way on the road), that draws me back in. It’s pretty much all I’ve ever done other than some summer office work here and there when I was in college.

The feeling I get after playing a good show, or seeing a new place still feels really good to me. Sometimes it’s hard not to wish that there was an easier way to get there and a few more thousand people to buy tickets . That comes and goes I guess, and hopefully that will come more often than not in the future.

For now, I must bid you a GOODNIGHT from WaKeeney, Kansas. Population 1924 + 3. SALLLLLLUTE!

P.S.: Anybody want to sponsor a band, that works really hard, plays a lot of shows, and really needs a new bus??? hehe

I’ve had this allergy mess for the last couple weeks and I can’t seem to shake it! Just when it gets better I have to go somewhere (like Chicago) where there’s something else blooming that my stupid body doesn’t like. I’ve been hitting the Zyrtec and Claritin and local honey and cod liver oil and all that jazz, but it doesn’t seem to let up. Today was especially bad! I don’t think I have an infection but I might have to get a check up when I get home. Well that’s enough of a personal update, I’d say!
This weekend I’m guesting with Alecia Nugent’s band at a festival in Blue Knob, PA. Should be fun. I had a blast at the Station Inn for her album release show a few weeks back!

Also, for you “Mashers” there is no Mashville Brigade show this Tuesday night. One of our friends at Sugar Hill Records asked us if they could have the Inn for that night for an album release show for young up and coming singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, and since they asked nicely we were happy to oblige.

One other note: I talked to my buddy Darrel Adkins from the Musicians Against Childhood Cancer Festival today, and it made think that I should tell you guys about his wonderful festival that benefits the work of Saint Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. I’m not going to get to be there this year, but if you’re free the weekend of July 22-25th it’s well worth the trip to Columbus, OH. It’s for a great cause, and there’s always great music and interesting collaboration sets. Here’s a link to the website.

After a long drive yesterday to Chicago, which included a good 1 1/2 hour traffic jam in Indiana, we made it to Special C’s annual concert in the park Arlington Heights, IL. The weather was perfect and it made me wish I had been outside all day enjoying it!
Tonight Special C’s back at the Fiddler’s Hearth in South Bend, IN… we’re on our way now.
Tomorrow we’re playing in Niles, MI at the Niles Bluegrass Festival. Last year we had a little trouble getting up there (Justin had to drive through a flood). Hope we make it there easier tomorrow!
Sunday we’re playing an outdoor an outdoor concert near Chicago in Schaumburg.
If you’re in the Chicagoland area, come see us! If not, have a great weekend.
Now I’m going to get back to the ridiculously stupid computer game I bought until we get to the gig!
Anybody want to rent me a jet to get home Monday night? I’m getting really tired of I-65! hehe

After 23 days, 21 shows, and hours and hours in mini-vans, city buses, ferries, and planes, I’m back home! We had a great time with everyone over in Ireland, Scotland, and England, but it’s nice to be back. I must admit it felt strange to be on the RIGHT side of the road again.

Our last few gigs went very well, mostly sold out, but we did get blasted by one of the largest snow storms to hit Ireland and Britain in the last 20 years. It didn’t keep many people away, though.

The last two nights we spent in the town of Kilworth, which is in County Cork in the far South of the Republic of Ireland. I guess it’s a good indicator for us that we were sold out of the new CD Signs long before we made it down to Kilworth,  and on the last night we sold completely out of everything the band brought. I guess some people, and we all know who you are, just can’t enough Bluegrass.

Yesterday was kind of crazy because we had to get up at 4:45 AM (10:45 PM Nashville Time) to drive back to Dublin to catch our flight. Talk about a long day! It was nice to get back to Nashville before too late. By the end of the trip we had been in transit for something like 16 hours. That’s a long day.

Now that I’m home, I have a chance to wind down a little and catch up on shredding the considerable pile of junk mail that had accumulated. It’s rediculous!

I must say that I’m overwhelmed by the response and interest that everyone has shown in this series of posts! Special thanks to the TheBluegrassBlog.com for setting all of this up! If for some strange reason you’re interested in reading more about me or my travels, even after all of this you’ve already read, come on back to AshbyFrank.com and see what I’m up to!

Well, I’m back from Colorado.

We played a very diverse set of gigs out there. 3 days. One park show that got rained out, one show at a Club/Restaurant, and another at a huge YMCA Resort on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. I have to say I wish I could have had a few days off before that trip. I was so tired and cranky the whole time, and I didn’t get any pictures. I’m so happy to be home today! I went out and bought a new lawn mower and messed around in the yard in the  97 degree heat all afternoon. It was great.

So, here’s the rest of the pictures from the trip. The last set was from our arrival, and the week we spent in Wales. These pics are from Ireland (We played in a town called Athy) and Scotland (for the Guildtown Festival). We had some downtime in the middle where we hung out in Dublin, Belfast, and Edinburgh. Saw a lot of sites, and took a lot of pictures. Here’s a few of them:

Mashville on Tuesday… Bean Blossom, Indiana for two days… Arlington Heights, Illinois… Collinsville, Illinois yesterday, now I’m home. Whew.

I get a few days off now before we head out to South Dakota. Tis the season, I guess!

Just so yall know, the Mashville Brigade Studio Special that we recorded a few weeks ago is airing this week on XM Track 14 Bluegrass Junction. You can check out the Bluegrass Blog to find out some more info and show times by clicking here.

I also found out some good news about the Mashville album’s chart action this week. I’ll have to post about that later.

Hope yall are doin well. Time for a nap.

I made it back from Texas. It was a long and hot weekend, though.

I get today off, Mashville tomorrow night and then we’ll drive to Bean Blossom through the night. Such fun. haha. I love the performing and seeing new and old friends. The driving and riding gets old.

The good news today is that my buddies Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice have a new CD that you can buy, and it’s awesome. The album was produced by one of my favorite singers, writers,  and people, Ronnie Bowman.
I got my copy in the mail yesterday, and it’s really great. I was lucky enough to have Junior and the guys record a song that I wrote on the new CD… quite an honor, but that’s not why I’m telling you to buy it (although I do appreciate the 9 cents, thank you).
I’ve known Junior and his wife Susan for a number of years and they’re some of the best folks you’d ever want to be around. If you’re a fan of any form of traditional Bluegrass music, I really recommend that you order this CD today. Junior and his cousin Tim Massey are singing as soulfully and true as ever. After just a few songs, you’ll feel like you’re in the mountains.

Support the band and order the album directly from them. You can find out how by clicking here.

Tell ‘em Ashby said hey!

This past weekend we had a light schedule.

Just drive up to Niles, Michigan for a Sunday show and come on back. Well, it got a little complicated.

We made it up I-65 through Louisville, and then started seeing the signs about how the Interstate was closed because of the flooding. So we get a few miles closer towards Indianapolis, and saw the dreaded detour sign.

Here we go! A parade of traffic down a two lane road ran us right into Columbus, IN. We were pretty hungry and tired from the parade so we decided to stop for some grub at the Chili’s. Some of you Bluegrass folks make know Columbus as the town on I-65 that you exit at to get to Bean Blossom (One of the big Bluegrass festivals).

When we turned into the parking lot, we noticed that there was a lot of standing and running water in the ditches and drains nearby and that the river that ran on the other side of the road was very high, but we had no idea how bad it really was.

After we were seated and made our order, the waiter apologized for his not being very happy. He explained to us that he just found out that his house was flooded and everything he owned was ruined. Pretty shocking, but I guess he couldn’t do anything other than keep working. He told us that the whole town was about to shut down and all the roads going North were closed.

That didn’t make us feel very good… because it didn’t take us very long to figure out that Michigan is NORTH of Indiana… we’re just smart like that. We figured we were stuck some place in this town, but we didn’t know exactly where to go, so we decided to go ahead and eat and see what happened.

As soon as we got our food, some sort of frantic call came in to the Chili’s that told them to close, and that all the dams and a bridge had collapsed and that the restaurant would probably be flooded by the morning. So we got our food boxed up and headed out to the parking lot to see if we could at least get out.

This is what we saw:

Needless to say, it was getting bad pretty quickly.

So we took off, and decided to try and go East and go around town. There were quite a few houses that were flooded that I saw, and that was pretty rough. I’ve never seen anything like that before and I sure hate it for those families that live there.

After seeing many streets closed and roadblocks everywhere, we made it out on a road going east and traffic seemed to be moving along just fine. Then we kinda got into a spot.

There was some water in the road. We debated turning around, but we saw quite a few cars make it across, and surveyed the situation around us and saw that there was no way that we were turning around.

So Justin guided the ol’ Turtle Top (we’re now calling it a Duck) through the water. Yes, I know you’re not supposed to drive through water, but we really had no choice. It was pretty exciting actually. Kind of like we were in some movie. We made it through! That’s all that matters, right? haha

Anyway, after that whole ordeal, we were glad to get back to the Interstate. We found a hotel, slept
some, and made it to the show in time in Michigan. Even though there was a Tornado warning and the show almost got canceled as we all ran to cover, it all cleared up and we got to pick! Here’s a couple of pictures I snapped at the venue:

I got home early this morning, and man is it HOT here or what? Hope everyone’s dry and cool.

Mashville tomorrow will be the regular band again for the first time in a few weeks! That’d be Darrell, Randy, Aaron, Jim, and myself.

Maybe I’ll see you there!

http://gregboyd.com/instrument_detail.html?instrument_key=513

Woohoo! Thank you Costco.

Hopefully now I’ll be able to take more pictures, if I remember to start bringing it again!

For all of you folks heading to Mashville tomorrow, the current lineup is: Brandon Rickman, Aaron McDaris, Randy Barnes, Jim VanCleve, and me… CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE! hahaha

I’ve enjoyed my week off, but I’m ready to hit the road again. Sure was a nice week to have off with the nice hot weather. Hope yall had a good one too!