Winter Wonderland

Wet snow began blanketing Salt Lake City just as we headed to the arena last night. The weather didn't stop 4 thousand or so fans from turning out for the show and making us feel warm and welcome. Thanks. Immediately following the show we rushed to the loading dock to discover a parking lot covered with ice and snow. Musicians carrying violins and cellos took baby steps toward the awaiting shuttle bus which carried us to the airport.

More ice. The steps leading into the tail of the plane were treacherous enough that even I held on tight and moved slowly. It was comforting to reach the upper steps which were dry and feel the warmth of the plane. After we settled in and prepared for take off we were told to just sit tight for 20 minutes or so while the plane was de-iced. Out of the darkness came trucks with cranes and sprayers to wash away the snow and ice from our Rausch Air charter. There was more than a little tension and it didn't help when one of the flight attendants told us they're just not used to flying in this weather since they normally carry Nascar teams. You could hear a collective sigh of relief and even a little applause 30 minutes later when we cleared the clouds. The flight was a little bumpy and we landed 45 minutes later on a snow covered runway in Denver. The bottom few stairs heading out of the plane were completely ice covered now and several people narrowly missed sliding off the last tread.

Around 2 AM we checked into the hotel to de-stress. We, that is the musicians and production crew, can't complain when we think about what the road crew was up against. They didn't get to leave until three hours later and had to travel the 500 or so miles in the tour busses over snow covered highways, then set the show up again to be ready for tonight's performance in Denver. I know a few of you guys in the crew read this journal so let me publicly say thanks for all you do to make it happen night after night. You are amazing.

David Hudson and I were treated to lunch by Russel and Ann Whithers in the lodo (lower downtown) area of Denver. Rus is working with indig.com (http://www.indig.com) to increase the marketing presence of indigenous music in the United States. If even half of the ideas they discussed today come to fruition it will be great news for David.



¶ 1:46 PM