Making Up For Lost Time
The deciding factor on our anniversary destination was that Hayes Carll was playing in Asheville, NC. I'm not going to claim that we've been fans since he was playing 6 nights a week in Crystal Beach, TX. We got converted much more recently: 2008 with the release of Trouble In Mind. My lovely wife and I had never had the opportunity to see him until now so we made up for lost time by seeing him twice in two nights.
Asheville 7/18/2014
First up was Asheville's Downtown After 5 event. It was a rainy Friday, but the show must go on.
Hearing Chatham County Line perform up in the mountains in their native state was really cool. They sounded great and I wish that they could have played longer.
The rain never really let up but the crowd was really enthusiastic. Hayes Carll, with Mike Meadows on drums and Travis Linville on guitar, dobro, and lap steel, played for easily over an hour and a half. One song that stuck with me was a new one named "The Magic Kid" and it was about Hayes' son's burgeoning magic career. The show was so good that afterwards my wife and I had the same idea: Leave Asheville a day earlier than planned and see Hayes on Saturday night at The Shed in Maryville, TN.
Hayes met folks back by the merchandise tent. He was really gracious, taking countless pictures. One guy from Boone was so excited that he could barely speak. He told me how every male in his family had a first name beginning with the letter "H" and that he was going to name his son "Hayes."
Maryville 7/19/2014
Asheville is a great town and we were sad to leave, but a second night of Hayes Carll awaited us in Maryville. We took highway 411 from Newport to Maryville, and I highly recommend it as a scenic alternative to the interstate.
...someday I might finish this post...