Last Friday, whilst twiddling my thumbs and pondering the fact that I was not at camp, I suddenly remembered that The Punch Brothers were in town. I got on line and saw that they were playing at the The Capitol in downtown Clearwater that very same night. I told myself I was feeling better so I got the very last available ticket and I’m not kidding it was in the very last row at the far left up against the wall. My belly was still churning a bit and I was doubting the intelligence of being there.
The theater was packed and the crowd was rowdy and the band delivered. What can I say about the Punch Brothers that hasn’t already been said. I’ll just leave it at - they’re amazing musicians. I had asked around if they were going to come out afterwards for autographs and I was told no. After, the show, I hung out for a while, just in case, and sure enough, they did not come out. Oh well, I started making my way out of the theater to head to my car and noticed their bus parked at the side of the building and a few die hard fans hanging around. So, I just leaned up against the wall and waited to see what happened. I didn’t know if the guys were still in the building or on the bus already.
The father son duo that sat next to me inside were there, the son, Micah with his tiny guitar and the father with his mando and they were jamming. There was another guy with a mando as well and they all played and sometimes ad-libed lyrics… “I sure hope they get off the bus to talk with us… I really want to meet Chris…”
Well, the door opened and out walked Noam right in front of me so with my @BanjoBen hat in hand, I greeted him and asked him to sign my hat and he did. I shook his hand and thanked him and rather than trying to strike up a conversation, I stepped aside to let others at him. He hung out with us until everyone got what they needed and he had conversations with everyone and seemed to enjoy it. Paul emerged from the building with his bass and got it packed in the bus and several got his autograph. Eventually Chris exited the bus and I got his autograph as well and had a little more of a conversation with him. He too gave everyone all the time they needed and took pics with them and gave autographs.
The hat is shaping up nicely. So far I have Ricky Skaggs, Russ Carson, Sierra Hull, Billy Strings, Nicky Sanders, Mike Guggino, Noam Pikelny and Chris Thile. This week, I’m seeing Molly Tuttle and visiting Jim Mills.
Final thought: I don’t like pointy shoes on men.
. I’m talking about pointy shoes that are more likely to be worn by a woman.