Road Trip To Macon II
Road Trip to Macon, Georgia: The Sequel
Makin' it Back to Macon, Again
.38 Special, Chris Hicks, Eddie Stone and Remembering the Brothers
by Michael Buffalo Smith and Scott Greene
2000
Scott: Let me begin by saying that this was one of the best trips I have taken in a long time. To get to see .38 Special and Chris Hicks in Macon is like a dream. I picked Michael up and we started down the road, scary thing was it was sunny which for me and road trips is weird ( they all start with rain for some reason). Again, not much happened on the road except Michael give me a hard time about knowing the words to all songs and teasing me about how poorly I sing them.
Michael: It's not so much how "poorly," more like, how LOUDLY! The guy could drown out a live band! I couldn't even hear brother Charlie Daniels singing!
Scott: We got to Macon and found our hotel without to much trouble and checked in and went and found Julia and her friend and we visited and talked about old times and hung out for a minute or two. Michael had a interview set up so we went back to the room to wait for Eddie Stone who was a original member of Doc Holiday and he is a great song writer and singer in his own right. It was great to see Eddie again and to hear his musical history and learn so much about this talented man. Eddie has a solo Cd out called "Right Tonight" and if you get the chance to see this talented man it will be worth your time.
Michael: Ditto. Eddie rocks. I highly recommend his CD.
Scott: We finished with some pictures and we went to get dinner and who do you think we ran in to in the parking lot? Don (Barnes) and his son Jason coming back from the sound check we chatted for a minute. I gave Don some videos I had made for him, Donnie and LJ and we said we would see him later at the show. So it was off to eat. With a promise of a huge tip, we had our food out real fast. We found the club, Rockabilly's, and went and picked up our passes and went in and found a table left side of the stage but it did not matter as we did not spend much time there. We met many friends off different internet lists and had fun chatting and putting faces with names. We got to meet Chris Hicks for a brief minute before he took the stage. This was my first Chris Hicks show and I was really impressed by his playing he is a great singer. He can make his guitar smoke. I would have loved to gotten the chance to visit with him more but he being a local hero he was busy with so many folks that we will just have to catch up at a later date.
Michael: I've been a Hicks fan for quite a while. He was excellent as a member of both The Outlaws and The Marshall Tucker Band.
Scott: Michael got the set list and I know in the write up for Gritz he will include it. I, not having seen Chris before, don't know the music but if you ever have the chance to see him live its a night you will remember for a long time. We got ready for .38 to take the stage and the place was packed. I mean packed! This is a huge club and I hate to guess how many folks were there but it was well over 1000 and this being the first show of the new tour the guys were well rested and ready to play. They took the stage and proceeded to kick our butts.
Michael: I had not seen .38 since they opened for Marshall Tucker in 1980 in Columbia! (Boy do I feel old.) They were rockin' hard and sounding great!
Scott: It was a real loud crowd and the front of the stage was packed with people. I was trying to take pictures and trying to get close but I got trapped in this mass of people and had to just about fight my way out. I took 4 rolls of film this trip and I hope they come out I will send a few when I get them done and you can see a photo respective in the Gritz Scrapbook, to go along with the write up. The set list was the same as last year and that was the only thing that was even slightly disappointing but the band played like I have not seen them play in a long time and that more then made up for it. I wont bore you with a set list as it was about the same I think as last year and I did not take notes my job was to have fun and take pictures which I did with all the gusto I could find. LOL I was sweating just like the band I was having so much fun and I found a spot standing in my chair where I got several good shots before being told to get down by this very nice large bouncer guy. LOL. Oh yea Ray Mojo said "hello." I spent a long time talking to him about the road and a dream story I am wanting to do ( ya'll keep your fingers crossed). Ok after the show we went back to hang out and wait for the guys to come out and visit, and everyone in our group went out and were able to meet and have stuff signed I had two pictures of the kids with Don, Donnie, and LJ from the Greenville show last year to get signed for them and some other stuff and I was planning on having my phone and calling Sabrina to let Donnie say hello but he left before I got the chance. So I called and handed the phone to Don and he chatted with her for a minute or so and I was laughing so hard thinking about Sabrina laying in bed and the phone ringing and she says "hello" and its Don Barnes. Guess she was too excited to sleep after that. Well, I was talking to Danny and I heard someone (someone other then Joe. LOL) call my name and it was Michael who was sitting on the bus talking to Don and he called me in and I had a chance to visit in quiet with Don for a few minutes and it was great.
Michael: It was great meeting the band, and seeing the bus. Don Barnes is one heck of a nice guy. They all are, really.
Scott: I got to ask the one question I had begged Michael B. to ask in his recent interview with Don for Gritz, and was happy to get the answer. The question was with the song "If I have been the one" Don had said this was a personal song about a relationship he had been in with a woman, and I asked him what he thought when he sang that song now and he explained that he tried his best to bring the passion he had felt when he wrote this song, but he focused on the performance of the music and the pain and hurt he had felt when he wrote it was gone, and he never thought of the girl anymore when he sang it. It was a great time to visit and I am grateful for Don's time and patience with all the fans he is truly the greatest man in the music world.
Michael: Being an old theatre major, I compared the way Don was talking about old songs and feeling the old emotions as "The Stanislavski Method." Summoning up old emotions to capture the feeling. Don agreed.
Scott: The night was a great time and meeting all the new friends was a wonderful experience. Lynn, I am sorry I did not get to chat with you, your daughter and niece more but we will get together again real soon. So we went back to the hotel by way of the Waffle House and went to sleep.
Michael and I got up and started the day off saying "bye" to friends and finding our way Rose Hill cemetery where the late great Duane Allman and Berry Oakley are laid to rest. We searched this huge place over and found the grave sites of the musical heroes, and paid our respects. We found so many other places where Allman History was made. Michael: Like the tomb of "Elizabthe Reed" and the one of "Little Martha." And the place where the band posed for their first album cover.
Scott: Rose Hill is truly a wonderful place to visit and see if you are a Allmans fan.
Michael: The GABBA (Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association has done a great job helping keep the place clean. I was a little upset someone had drawn and written on Duane's grave stone with crayons and markers, but GABBA keeps the sugar cube white tombs nice and clean.
Scott:We left there and found our way to the famous H&H restaurant and had a wonderful lunch and a nice visit with Mama Louise again. This is a must see of you are in Macon.
Michael: Mama is wonderful. We love Mama Louise!
Scott: We left and Michael napped and I drove and jammed the whole way home.
Michael: Except when he started that dang singing again!
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