Nashville And Back.

Tuesday October 23rd, 2007 - Nashville, TN
Hard drive today even though it was only 330 miles from Indianapolis to Nashville. Rain was beating down the whole way and right outside of Bowling Green, KY there was a bad accident that closed the road for about an hour and a half. All we could do is sit inside our cars and wait for it to be cleared off. I tried to read a little but it was the kind of rain that’s also humid and it fogged up the windows and made it unpleasant all around. I tried to let a little breeze in by cracking a window and that’s the way the rain was blowing so the inside of the car was soaked in about thirty seconds. Then I’d roll it up and it would steam up all over again. An hour and a half of that wasn’t fun but there was nothing I could do but sit.
I am in Nashville for a corporate show tonight at the downtown Nashville Hilton. It was for a group of used tractor sales people for Caterpillar who were from all over America. It was a little older crowd and there were several hundred of them in a huge banquet room. I was hired to do thirty minutes after dinner and between their charity auction. The cocktails had been flowing before I got there and I could see that I would have my hands full of fun.
The guy in charge was very nice but obviously not a speaker so his intro was shaky and I had to perform on a small stage with a podium on it which blocked most of it. I did have a wireless mike with a decent sound system so that made it a little easier but it was still a big challenge to make these people laugh without offending anyone. There is a very fine line.
I did my time and actually got some nice big pops at times but other times they stared at me like I was speaking Portuguese with a stutter. I have enough experience to switch it up so I did and I also commented that this was difficult and if anyone else wanted to try it I’d gladly sell tractors for a day and that got them back and I closed very strong. My usual bit about stupid people breeding too much got a few gasps so I backed up and toned it down a bit so I wouldn’t scare them. That’s a delicate situation and I handled it about as well as anyone could have because had I lost them that might have been it for the night. Instead I was able to back off a little and be cutesy for a few minutes and then I hit the big closer in a much less intense way than I usually do. Today was just not the audience that liked that.
The guy in charge was supposed to pay me right after the show but he was busy with the charity auction and I didn’t want to bother him. I was off by 8:30 and it was almost 10:00 and they still weren’t done with the auction so I left and will get paid by mail by Zanies. It was uncomfortable having to wait as long as I did but I know the guy didn’t mean harm. It was a busy night for him and they were raising big money for the charity and I understand.
I do need to get paid though and the club will work it out I’m sure. Now I’m back in the apartment where I showered before the show and will get in the car and start heading back north because I have to be in LaCrosse, WI tomorrow night. I know it will be a hellacious drive and I’m out of my driving groove so I need to get started tonight even though it will cost me another hotel room when I could have stayed here in Nashville for free. There was a local woman who worked for the charity who was all over me after the show and invited me to a party but I have to get on the road. She thinks I blew her off but I totally didn’t.