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May
10th, 2004 - Cowbop follows old Route 66 and passes through Joplin,
MO
Today was the Cow Bop world tour. We started in Cuba, stopped in
Lebanon and Carthage before circling the wagon for the night. Cuba
was a tiny, quiet, little town, I had to stop Mike from smuggling
out any cigars. Stopped to take a picture of a roadside Peonie,
they grow like weeds here, it drives Pammy nuts, she can't get the
things to grow in Centra Coast CA to save her thumb. The one on
the picture page was just sitting by some old RR tracks...yikes!
Followed old route 66, it crisscrosses I-44 pretty much the whole
way through central MO. Found out that almost 8,000 people checked
out the site on Sunday...wow, thanks to all of you, I'll try and
keep this interesting without lying, might be tough.
Went to Devil's Elbow, at time it was one of the biggest rock
cutouts in America (I think it was before Elvis). It was a quiet
little place on the Big (or Little, I don't exactly recall) Piney
River, and we headed down to the boat launch but were discouraged
by a sign that was rather explicit about what happens to trespassers...which
was any vehicle not towing a boat. I recollect that getting shot
was the best choice of all their offerings. They also had a sign
(see pix) that let us know they weren't interested in a band either.
No live music? Kinda reminds me of Carmel.
I guess the warm and generous outpouring (and overpouring) at
the start of our trip was a bit extraordinary, and in fact, we
are down to our last bit of dough, (Mom, send money!). Ah just
jokin, sort of. We tried to find some good spots to play, but
frankly, there weren't any on this stretch. (In my experience,
the day after Mother's Day is always a tough day for begging)
We stopped in a Ford dealership in Lebanon, caught em by surprise.
I think at first they thought we were Candid Camera or something,
but when they saw Clementine, they appeared to believe me. I think
that's what that open-mouthed, glassy-eyed look was conveying.
(Hard to tell with these calm and stoic Midwesterners). In fact,
I think they were stunned, "let's face it, it ain't everyday
that a car dealer is rendered speechless" (yes folks, there's
your quote of the day). We did a few tunes including an interesting
western swing version of happy birthday and they contributed to
our trek (thanks Quality Ford). As we were leaving I dropped a
hint: "They said if anything went wrong that I should take
Clemenetine into any dealer and they'd take care of it. Well,"
I said, leaving a dramatic pause here while they squirmed, "everything
is great, the only thing wrong is that she's dirty." Well
they just stared. I guess I'll have to be a little less subtle
in the future, at least in this part of Missouri. All you other
dealers, wash out, we're coming!
In Carthage, Pammy looked up some relatives on her dad's side
that she hadn't seen or spoken with in almost three decades (not
counting the Nixon years), and we went to see her grandma's old
house. It was getting late and we had to press on, and I mean
'had' to, Cozy Dog was hungry and sneaking up on roadside statues
again, like before breakfast, (see pix).
We are gonna try to do some street playing tomorrow to try and
build up our cash reserves, (hope it ain't against the law around
here, although there are a lot of bail bonds ads, so more than
likely, everything is illegal) Hope to make Tulsa tomorrow night
where we can play at the OK Music Hall of Fame...if we can get
that far...looks promising right now. Tulsa, the capitol of Western
Swing: The Canes Ballroom, Bob Wills Boulevard! Bruce-o-lini calls
a rehearsal to a chorus of groans from the troops. Also, we are
going to try and scare up a workshop and give Tulsa a taste of
JazzMasters' hospitality. Get those kids a swingin...that's what
we're talkin about.
Gotta go, early wake up call, rehearsal and all, stay tuned.
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to check out pictures from May 10th |