After a long drive from the bay area we found ourselves in the deserted tourist town of Mammoth Lakes. A long haul from SF because the Tioga Pass just closed for the season therefore adding another two hours to our drive. It was well worth the extra drive time. Our show at The Auld Dubliner was exceptional for a Monday night in a town where the tourists have yet to arrive at their million dollar condos and chalets. I was told that the town is composed of around 7,000 year round residents and can swell to as much as 30,000 during the winter months. Whoa! If it wasn’t for Rantz’s friend Jeff, the bar would be like an indoor version of the presently off-season sleepy town. Dead from a musician’s perspective. Jeff went to great lengths to have us come to town, make sweet posters, and gather a plus fifty crowd. He is the real deal folks. His band from Mammoth, the Sweetwater String
Band, played their first show in months on an off night just so we would have a crowd. They brought all the sound equipment and took us to a little chalet party before the show to feed us and let us meander with the locals. That’s top notch hospitality. I found out later that the gathering (remember this is a Monday night) happened because we were coming to town and once the fridge was beerless they all gathered their jackets and beanies and migrated the six block walk to the bar. This is unheard of and a one of coolest things that has happened to us on this tour. There are a lot of times when people say they will bring a crowd and
more often than not they don’t. And its not like they aren’t good people for trying it’s just hard to get a group of people to commit. Jeff did all of that and more. He put us up for the night in a sweet pad about twelve miles south of Mammoth. Since we climbed up to Mammoth from South Lake Tahoe during nightfall I didn’t get to see the sweetness that surrounded me until the next morning when I woke and saw some of the most beautiful country that I’ve seen on this tour. Mountains shot straight up to the sky from the backyard and to the north and east I saw a huge grassy basin surrounded with even more spiny mountain ranges. The morning, or lets be honest it was more
like afternoon, was perfectly clear. It felt like I could see for a hundred miles. Clear blue sky and snowy peaks that climbed over twelve thousand feet. As I sat on the deck and took it all in, I quickly forgot how broke I am and how exhausted I am from weeks on the road. My muscles relaxed with the warm coffee and my rattled head from the night before went easy. It’s one of the perks of being on the Road that pushes me to get back in the van and roll. What am I going to experience next? What beautiful scenery will grace my presence in the future? What clubs will open there arms to us in the future? No one knows but the potential is always there. All that is needed is a drive to make it happen and a lot of heart. A lot of heart.
After a long drive from the bay area we found ourselves in the deserted tourist town of Mammoth Lakes. A long haul from SF because the Tioga Pass just closed for the season therefore adding another two hours to our drive. It was well worth the extra drive time. Our show at The Auld Dubliner was exceptional for a Monday night in a town where the tourists have yet to arrive at their million dollar condos and chalets. I was told that the town is composed of around 7,000 year round residents and can swell to as much as 30,000 during the winter months. Whoa! If it wasn’t for Rantz’s friend Jeff, the bar would be like an indoor version of the presently off-season sleepy town. Dead from a musician’s perspective. Jeff went to great lengths to have us come to town, make sweet posters, and gather a plus fifty crowd. He is the real deal folks. His band from Mammoth, the Sweetwater String
Band, played their first show in months on an off night just so we would have a crowd. They brought all the sound equipment and took us to a little chalet party before the show to feed us and let us meander with the locals. That’s top notch hospitality. I found out later that the gathering (remember this is a Monday night) happened because we were coming to town and once the fridge was beerless they all gathered their jackets and beanies and migrated the six block walk to the bar. This is unheard of and a one of coolest things that has happened to us on this tour. There are a lot of times when people say they will bring a crowd and 
more often than not they don’t. And its not like they aren’t good people for trying it’s just hard to get a group of people to commit. Jeff did all of that and more. He put us up for the night in a sweet pad about twelve miles south of Mammoth. Since we climbed up to Mammoth from South Lake Tahoe during nightfall I didn’t get to see the sweetness that surrounded me until the next morning when I woke and saw some of the most beautiful country that I’ve seen on this tour. Mountains shot straight up to the sky from the backyard and to the north and east I saw a huge grassy basin surrounded with even more spiny mountain ranges. The morning, or lets be honest it was more
like afternoon, was perfectly clear. It felt like I could see for a hundred miles. Clear blue sky and snowy peaks that climbed over twelve thousand feet. As I sat on the deck and took it all in, I quickly forgot how broke I am and how exhausted I am from weeks on the road. My muscles relaxed with the warm coffee and my rattled head from the night before went easy. It’s one of the perks of being on the Road that pushes me to get back in the van and roll. What am I going to experience next? What beautiful scenery will grace my presence in the future? What clubs will open there arms to us in the future? No one knows but the potential is always there. All that is needed is a drive to make it happen and a lot of heart. A lot of heart.
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