Sometimes it pays to simply ask.
I may not play an instrument, but I sure do have some serious respect for those who do, and in addition to that respect, I have, for as long as I can remember, been absolutely fascinated by the lifestyles of touring musicians. I am, however, far more interested in the lifestyles of my favorite touring musicians.
If you remember my blog about Reel Big Fish from way back when, you will know that my interest in an artist’s on-the-road lifestyle began at a young age. If you recall my blog about Bella’s Bartok from even way backer, you will also know that my interest in musical, on-the-road lifestyles continues to persist. And if you think back just a handful of months to the blog that I wrote this past summer recounting my weekend of beautiful noise, you will perhaps summon a memory of me meeting Ryan Young, fiddler extraordinaire, who ultimately saved the day and eliminated my worries that one of my favorite pieces of art would end up in a DC dumpster.
That brief Ryan Young encounter plays into this blog because he and I are now friends. That's right: friends. I confirmed it. I flat out asked him if we are now friends and he said, “Yes.”
In a nutshell, this is how it happened:
I shared my weekend-of-beautiful-noise blog with Ryan and he thanked me for a nice write-up. Then TBT announced new tour dates and I saw they were going to be in Harrisburg, so I bought tickets and sent him a message asking if he’d like to meet for a drink beforehand. He said he’d like to, and in the weeks leading up to the show, we even swapped books and albums. Ryan used to be in a ska band!
On Friday at 5:30, I met up with Ryan Young of Trampled By Turtles fame and split a pizza. These are the highlights of the evening:
When I got to the restaurant, I didn’t see Ryan right away, so I ran to the bathroom and when I came out, he was exiting the venue’s art gallery. He said, “Hi.”
I said, “Hi.”
He said, “I’m Ryan” and I said, kind of giggling, “I know! I recognize you!”
This ended up being an even more excellent part of the story when, at the end of the show, a woman named Sarah came up to me and said, “This is going to sound so weird, but were you at Millworks with the fiddle player before the show? I was waiting in line for a table and overheard your interaction and thought, ‘That’s such a funny way to greet one another!’”
Another thing I loved is that I got to ask so many questions that will undoubtedly come in handy when writing about Flannel Lobster. I learned about what it’s like backstage and how the band gets all their gear from one place to another and what it’s like to live on a tour bus and how long/what time sound checks take place and which bands are especially great to tour with—like a big family!—and there was a great story about a fox named Kevin Jorgenson as well.
After two hours of pizza and beers and an abundance of musical- and literature-talk, I gave Ryan a ride to the venue and we had to park at the way back of the lot because it was a sold-out show. He made his way backstage and I found my dear friend Marc, who had some sort of event in Gettysburg and therefore couldn’t join us for pizza beforehand. Marc was wearing a great shirt that I of course didn’t think to capture in a photograph and he was excited for the show. But…
Maybe you remember when Marc, Phil, Victoria, and I went to see OAR this past summer? I wrote a blog about it, of course, and it was a great show… but Marc was skeptical that Trampled By Turtles would be able to top that concert. He said no fewer than twenty-five times (and probably closer to fifty times), “You really like Trampled better than OAR? You really think they put on a better show? We’ll see… You’d really choose a Trampled show over OAR? Like, every time you’d choose Trampled over OAR? Not me, but we’ll see if what you claim is right. We’ll see. I’m excited for this show.”
Flash forward to about 75% of the way through Friday night’s show and I feel a hand grab my wrist and pull me hard to my left. Then Marc says, “Hannah? I think this is the best show I’ve ever seen.”
In addition to pizza and beers beforehand, I also got to experience the tour bus with Marc and Ryan after the show, and then watch as the crew loaded everything into a trailer and prepared to depart for Massachusetts at midnight. And maybe that doesn’t sound neat to some of you, but it was very neat.
The takeaways are as follows:
Friday’s show really and truly was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.
The lifestyles of musicians continue to fascinate me.
Ryan Young is, in my opinion, the kindest, most humble musician I’ve ever met and I’m honored to be able to call him a friend.
I made a lot of new friends at the show, as I often do, and so many of them continued to say, "Ryan Young IS the show." He's amazing, yes?
Marc loved the harmonization of Trampled By Turtles and I think this video does a pretty decent job of illustrating their magic.
Definitely more energy than OAR (in my opinion).
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