Hey all: I just had a crazy couple of weeks. I can never seem to remember most of the stuff that happens to me so I thought I’d write about it and post it for a change. Aug 28th - Flew out to the Midwest for the Labor Day weekend shows with Sebastian Bach. Arrived late night at the hotel, checked in and got some sleep. Aug 29th - Sebastian gig at the annual Harley-Davidson Rally in Milwaukee, WI. Great show! The people at HD were very accommodating and we had an excellent time. Alas I got some very sad news during the day. My wife Carol called to tell me that our cat Lucy died. She had a great long life with us. She was 15 years old and we knew she was at the end. I had dug a resting place for her under our largest pecan tree in the backyard a few days earlier in case she passed while I was away. We love you and miss you, Lucy. Aug 30th - Day off… but the band had a couple hour van drive to the Chicago area where we would be playing the next day. Sebastian had his daughter Sebastiana with him on this trip. When you’re traveling around with a bunch of musicians and crew guys and also have a 7-year old along with you it’s a totally different vibe. It was very amusing and cool for us and Sebastian was one happy dude! We stopped at Cracker Barrel and had a nice lunch/dinner. Arrived at the hotel, checked in and then Brent (guitarist), Dave (TM), and I went to the Farm Rock pre-show party that night. Aug 31st - Sebastian co-headline show at Farm Rock. Great playing this festival 2 years in a row with Sebastian. I have a few friends that live in the Chicago area and they always come out to our shows. I’ll just say one of them partied way too hard and there was some lifting, carrying, etc. involved. You know who you are! Sept 1st - Got a late checkout at the hotel and flew back home to San Antonio. Sept 2nd - Had one full day to hang out at home, do a few things around the house, and spend a couple hours brushing up and fine tuning my drumming on the Fates Warning setlist for our upcoming shows in Brazil. Sept 3rd - Boarded the plane in San Antonio for Houston (my short connecting flight), then on to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil (a 10-hour flight). Sept 4th - Landed in Rio and spent the day hanging with my Fates Warning buddies having a nice dinner in the evening at a real Brazilian churrascaria, and then had a few late night drinks at a local bar. The 4th was my birthday (thanks everyone for your well wishes)! Sept 5th - Fates Warning show at Via Marquês. Really good show for us! Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and hung out in the lobby (having a few drinks again!) and just talking the usual aftershow nonsense. As we were sitting there, I just happened to show the guys the weird marble sized lump that I had on my right elbow. While we were talking I began squeezing and poking around on the lump and within 30 minutes my elbow area turned red and got very warm (yeah, I’ve been known to do a few stupid things!). Btw, the origin of said lump was a result of something that happened on August 12th after gigging with Sebastian Bach. After the show, us band guys and crew were hanging around outside the bus (having a few drinks again!) and for some unknown reason to myself, I tried to jump on tour manager Dave Hart’s back. He shifted himself around and I fell to the ground scarring up my elbow a bit. The scar itself healed within a few days. No big deal. But a few days later this lump appeared. No big deal either…. until I started messing with it. Anyway, after squeezing it in the hotel lobby and seeing what was happening, I panicked about it a little and told the Fates guys I was going to bed. Sept 6th - Got up early and took the flight from Rio to Sao Paulo. Checked into the hotel and went to the festival venue, Teatro Rival Petrobras, to check things out, set up the kit, etc.. My elbow area was still red and my forearm was starting to get puffy. I took some heavy-duty pain relievers hoping to keep my swelling from getting worse. My worst fear was that I was going to have to check myself into a hospital in Brazil! On the bright side, our show that night was killer! I had a lot of energy on stage and felt really good about my performance. But, I knew I was going to pay the price the next day given the condition of my arm playing the set. After our performance, Jim, Ray, Joey, Mike, and I hung around backstage and celebrated our successful shows in Brazil before heading back to the hotel. Sept 7th - We had a late checkout for our flights back to the US, so we had a bit of time to take a few pics on the roof of our Sao Paulo hotel. After getting up, I noticed my forearm was looking worse and I took another pain reliever. Of course, by this time I realized the lump had developed into cellulitis. I had the same infection in my left leg in April and here were all the same signs. Warm, red, puffy… and spreading! But, at least I was going home. Sept 8th - Arrived home in the early morning. Carol took off work to pick me up and take me somewhere for my forearm. I absolutely hated my short stay at the hospital in April so I told her there was “no way!” I was doing that again. Without going into details about doctors, med clinics, etc. - by 3:00pm I got the antibiotics I needed. I attached a pic of forearm before taking my meds. I actually did some light drumming that evening in preparation for my upcoming 2-day recording session. Sept 9th - Woke up early for my session with Freddy Cruz at Cherry Ridge Studio in Floresville, TX. I’ve played with some great country players over my last 30 years playing country music but the guys on this session are some of the best in the business. I’m fortunate to have an ongoing gig with a few of them for the last year and a half now. My forearm was looking slightly better and we recorded 6 songs before the day was done. Yeah! Sept 10th - Definitely noticed my forearm on the way to recovery even though I haven’t stopped drumming. One more day at Cherry Ridge Studio recording the remaining 5 songs to complete the session. By 4:00pm, I was done but I stayed around another couple hours hanging out with the guys. Sept 11th - I’m relaxing and doing nothing! Btw, Happy Birthday, Mom!
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 18:08:50 +0000
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