*WARNING- this is long* also, hopefully ryan will show some of his pictures as our tour photographer..till then the iphone photos will have to hold you over. Just got home from our tour to Colorado and Nebraska with the jaw-dropping talent of Paul Jacobsen and Ryan Tanner. These states did not disappoint; the beauty was amazing and the shows were out of this world.
Day 1-2: Drive 8 hrs. Arrive 2 am into Colorado. Radio Interview on KRFC in Ft. Collins with Cindy in the morning. - I've done this hour series a few times, but it was so fun to have all three of us together. The live shows can be forgiving, but on the air, you hear every breath. I thought it was great, but wish we had another shot to do this at the end of the tour. This is a great public radio station and Cindy was so kind.
We stayed two nights with our good friend Justin Roth, who is recording an album at home and is just so talented and kind. Check out his music if you haven't yet.
Day 2-night- Jamestown Mercantile- I have to admit going into this show I was a little hesitant. I thought that this show we would be fighting to be heard over people having dinner and drinking and would just treat it like a rehearsal. First golden surprise of the tour = JAMESTOWN really was amazing. Imagine a small town of a few hundred people. The Merc serves as the community gathering place, they have coffee together in the morning and dinner a few nights a week. LuLu is the Chef and her curry just killed it. People came, they listened. I mean really listened. They were also rowdy in all the right places...like the incredible cheering encore. And then, one of my favorite moments of the tour... Ryan played one of his great songs: "My Madeline" and there is a line towards the end that says "and when the crowds cheer" right after the whole mercantile was shouting and cheering as if we had prompted them. We all looked at eachother in amazement and started laughing with joy, it was incredible. Thank you Jamestown. We love you. Ryan especially loves you.
Day 3- wake early. drive through Nebraska to Lincoln where Aubrey and Jeremy Potter are hosting a house concert. This was the first House Concert the Potter's have hosted and they did a fantastic job. Good food, a cleared out clean house, invited a big group of friends, etc etc. This show also felt like a warm surprise. The audience listened, we met some great new friends, we were given a great tip (thanks joel) to eat breakfast at Tina's Diner, and we sold a bunch of Albums. My favorite moment of this show was the encore, we did an acoustic version of "Jesus Savior Pilot Me" it was very genuine and heart felt. Also, great to meet a new group of bloggers that were impressed we knew CJane. So funny how everything seems connected.
Day 4- Spent the morning in Lincoln: The mill, Tina's Diner, hanging around trains with medium format cameras, you know the usual. On our drive to Hastings we pulled off the Highway to take picture of a very old church. It was pretty cool.
The Listening Room is a music series I played last year when I toured through NE, but wow, I loved it even more this time with the band. I booked this show before Ryan and Paul were coming, so it was set up more as a Sarah Sample show than a group show. I felt so present and open all night. The songs felt transparent almost and it was easy to feel the love from this audience. We had people come from hours away to see us (thanks Dale, and Tim & Bev). Having Paul and Ryan back me up was just amazing. They are so quick to come up with amazing stuff on the spot. Like during 'Tie the Knot' Paul started humming, then Ryan joined in and before the middle of the song they were singing together in perfect harmony in what seemed like a practiced part. Paul's songs "Western Skies and You Were" knocked in out of the park, and had the audience hanging on his every word. Ryan played "It's all I've Got" which brings me to tears often, and "My Madeline" which we had to tell saddened fans that the song is not on an album yet, and they will have to settle for his autograph. Emily Dunbar opened and was charming as ever. Thanks Jenica for dinner and Don for sound. Thanks to Robin for booking us and giving us a tour of the beautiful Gallery after the show.
Paul said a few times that we should make an effort to make every show different of the tour. For our *wild card* element of this show we all unplugged and for the encore sat on the edge of the stage and sang "Orphan Girl" by Gillian Welch. The audience sang the last chorus with us. It was unreal. We love you Hastings.
Day 5: Met some characters along the way, including a great guy named Kent who worked at our hotel. Ask Paul about Kent sometime. Drove all day to Alliance. We had a great last show at the 1910 coffeehouse. It was a little harder for me to feel connected to the audience at this show. Sometimes it is clear that a crowd is feeling what you are singing about, and other times your head starts the battle with itself that insists that no one is listening and they can't wait to get out of there. What was sweet about this night was after the show we got to talk to a lot of the folks who had come out. We were told several times that the music we made was the best they had ever heard in Alliance, or one guy told us he hasn't heard music that good since he lived in Chicago. I've started singing a new song that I wrote for June called "Everytime I Go," and I had a few moms every night come tell me that they cried when they heard it and understood how hard it is to leave a little one. Ryan and Paul got to talk to an elderly gentleman who was sitting on the side near the front. Turns out he has been playing in Country Western Bands for 50 years and was a Gibson Guitar expert. His partner had passed away and he wasn't interested in music for a long time, but now has started coming out to see music again. He told Ryan and Paul that we were great musicians. These are the moments that everything aligns and you realize that you are serving and you are on track for what you should be doing in your life.
Day 6: Drove Home. What should have taken 10 hours took 13 because of the snow storm. But we made it home safe. We were all so ready to see our families again.
I had a few moments every night where I would look over at Paul and Ryan and I would feel just pure joy that I was making good music with good friends. I don't feel that level of joy often, and it tells my heart that I am doing the right things by writing and performing music. Also, there were a few things that made this tour so great, first and foremost was that I respect Paul and Ryan for their songwriting and musicianship so much. I feel just as happy singing their songs as I do my own. I laughed a lot everyday in the car with these two-they know more about music and movies and books than I could dream of. (They both were disappointed that I have read Twlight and loved the movie the notebook, but I did remind them that I am a girl and girls sometimes like romantic themes. ha ha. )
I also have to thank our spouses; James, Holly, and Emily for their support. It would be impossible to pursue this life course without the support from our families. I knew that it was a great tour when I woke up this morning feeling a little sad in my heart that it was over. I am hopeful that we will do many more little tours like this one. It filled my heart over and over.
Thank you paul. ryan. colorado. nebraska. and my mom for letting us drive her car. thanks for Scott Wiley for producing all our albums that people are falling in love with and for the banjitar. thanks to b. hardy for the glock. oh and ryan again for packing the car several times a day like a jenga game.
xo
s
