Shows n’ Stogies
This weekend has been so fun. Exhausting, but definitely one to remember.
I had 2 shows this weekend. One in Janesville, WI and one in Barrington, Illinois. I made the trip from Nashville to my home studio in Wisconsin with my drummer Harrison early last week. We practiced and decided to add my good friend Mike Zahn to the roster on guitar. We learned the songs and practiced religiously before finally adding my buddies Cole Dutcher to DJ and Danny Rose as a stagehand/ percussionist.
The show was ready just in time for Friday and we made sure to leave nothing behind. Even with being super exhausted from traveling, to practicing all day, to running the live sound for all the bands with my father, we made sure to give it all we had and were so happy to be able to make our friends, fans, and family proud.
It was necessary after the last show, of course, to celebrate. So with sparklers, cigars, drinks, and a fire by the river, Mike, Harrison, and I enjoyed the rest of the evening.
Mike insisted on us staying one extra night to go with him to a cigar dinner/ event. He even offered to pay the hefty bill for my ticket as incentive to come. So we decided to go. What we ended up experiencing was so much more than we had expected.
The minute we registered, we were each handed a military bag from Gurkha cigars and a ziplock bag with 20 premium cigars each.
The place was beautiful. Right on the lake. We then found our table, lit up, got some drinks, and enjoyed the sunset over the water. Such a classy setting. Sitting at our table, we got to talk cigars with and meet a few wonderful people and enjoy a fantastic dinner.
The owners of some of the biggest cigar companies in the world had come just for this dinner and we recognized a few. One in particular we both got a picture with; Mr. Jonathan Drew, owner of Drew Estates. I’m a big fan of his cigars so it was great to talk to him. We talked about my music and coming up from Nashville for the shows, he even let me try on some of his jewelry! He also happens to know Mike pretty well so he was excited to hear that he was playing guitar for us.
All in all, this weekend was very eventful and definitely one to remember.
Thank you to everyone involved in any way/ shape/ or form this weekend!
Stay Strange,
-Josh