Blog posts
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Aug 19, 05:59 AMHappy BIRTHDAY Josiah!!!!!
Today is Josiah's 26th Birthday! Oddly, he was born on National Aviation Day 1983 at (...think Boeing...) 747 p.m.
Incidentally, today is also Afghanistan Independence Day (from Britain), and the birthday of Malcolm Forbes, Bill Clinton, Tipper Gore, Fred Thompson, Ginger Baker of Cream, John Deacon of Queen, Johnny Nash, Clay Walker, Lee Ann Womack, Matthew Perry, Katharine of Bohemia, John Dryden, Romeo, and of course last but not least ... Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway!
Anyway, happy birthday Josiah!
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Nov 16 2008, 07:00 AMThe Freed-Hardeman Trip, part 3
Continued from part 1 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-1, and part 2 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-2
Our car battery was dead. We were stranded in the country, in the parking lot of a old furniture store, miles from our hotel and from Walmart. It was 1:20 AM, and dogs were barking at us. Fortunately, we had made it off the road, and had a battery charger - a battery charger that would be helpful if only we could find a plug.
But this was in the country where plugs were unlikely to be found, and it was very dark. Dark, that is, except for the giant, old-fashioned flashing lights of the BRAY'S FURNITURE sign. Their gaudy glow was the only thing I could see as the car was failing and I was losing control. It had guided me to safe parking like a light-house guiding a ship home.
By its light, we scouted the parking lot, looking for some sign of a conventional plug. As a last resort, we looked at the large flashing bulbs themselves, and discovered our eagerly sought plug. It was far too obvious, and shocking that we could simply unplug this light. But it was our rescue!
It was only a matter of pushing our car over, unplugging their sign (then plugging it back in to another socket), and hooking our battery charger up to this giant flashing contraption. We hoped that country manners allowed for the sharing of electricity with passing rock bands.
This time we knew we had long wait. So we slept in the car as it charged, hoping not to be surprised by a country deputy or anyone with less law-abiding motives.
At 3am, we woke up, and the battery charger had actually made some progress. We unplugged it, and jumped in the car as it started, trying to preserve all the battery power we could. The tense ride back to the hotel had us watching the battery meter all the way, still wondering if we would make it up until the point we actually pulled in.
In the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast, and then plotted our return. By charging it in our rooms overnight, the battery had made it up to at least a quarter of a charge, and we decided that with no headlights or air-conditioning, we should be able to make it back. We almost did.
Along the way, we preserved battery charge by re-fueling without turning off the engine, by keeping dashboard lights off, and by not using turning signals.
But a few miles outside of Nashville, the battery ran out once again. At the same place we first broke down. Irony?
This time we had a charger, and made it into a McDonalds parking lot, where we were able to plug our battery into their lightpost. An hour and a half later, we decided we could make it the 30 miles or so back. We unplugged and hit the road, making nice time, and passing by my exit.
We could have stopped at my exit, but the problem is, we don't park the trailer there. We needed to make it 6 miles farther to park the trailer. We thought we had it. We made it 2.
As in all the cases before, the power suddenly started plummeting, the car started whining, and we realized we had only a minute to find a stopping place, or our car would find one for us. We were stranded 2 miles from my house, 4 miles from where the trailer needed to go.
Fortunately, one more charge at the local TA truck stop would get everyone home.
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Nov 15 2008, 07:01 AMThe Freed-Hardeman Trip, part 2
Continued from Part 1 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-1
We decided that the best thing would be to drive the 13 miles to the nearby Walmart, purchase a battery charger, and then charge the battery all night in our room.
By the time we got to Walmart, however, our battery was drained, and we realized we couldn't make it back to the hotel. We were stuck.
Until the lovely folks at Walmart decided to let us charge our battery from the power plug on the front of their building. All the employees got into it, pushing our car over against the wall. We then hooked up our $30 battery charger conveniently purchased inside, plugged it into our battery, and began to wait.
An hour or so later, it was 1:20am, and I thought that the battery looked charged up enough to get us back to the hotel room. So we unplugged, waved goodbye, and hit the road as quickly and efficiently as we could. Naturally, I kept our lights dimmed to preserve charge.
Everything seemed to be going well, until I was suddenly unable to tell if my headlights were on or not. The window became very foggy, and from what I could see of the battery meter, power was plummeting. We were in the middle of nowhere. Everything was falling apart as I watched, the loud whine was sounding, and I couldn't see the road. Except - a large flashing sign appeared through the fog, an old-fashioned arrow pointing to "Bray's Furniture". We pulled into their parking lot as the car died, narrowly missing a ditch.
We were happy not to be dead directly in the middle of an old country road with no lights. Just being in a parking lot was a good thing. But we were stuck miles from our hotel, our trailer, and the helpful Walmart people. How would we get back to the hotel?
Continued in Part 3 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-3
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Nov 14 2008, 09:55 AMThe Freed-Hardeman Trip, part 1
The other day we made the drive from Nashville to Freed-Hardeman University, to play a concert as part of the inauguration of the new University President, and as part of an event aptly titled "Soccer-Palooza". Little did we know how much effort said trip was going to be.
Apparently, shortly before the trip, the alternator on our SUV went out, leaving us with a nice, constantly depleting, battery charge.
We were unaware of this until we were a short distance outside of Nashville. In rapid succession, the battery meter began decreasing rapidly, the dashboard lights stopped working, and our windows refused to roll down. It was like a scene from a horror movie. We were stuck in our car, plummeting down the interstate with no gages and few controls. The last thing to go was the speedometer, hitting 0 mph even as we were doing over 70mph. Then a shrill whine began emanating from the car, and we lost acceleration and power altogether.
I pulled over to the side of the road. We were 20 miles from the nearest town, AAA wouldn't help a car with a trailer, and no police drove by during the next two hours.
Fortunately, Ryan Hogan came to save the day, buying us a new battery, and driving out of town to bring it to us. We couldn't replace the alternator in time to get to the show, so we had to hope that the new battery was fully charged.
It wasn't.
But it got us to FHU. We had a great time playing a concert in a soccer field, meeting interesting people, and doing our part to usher in the new University President. We finished late at night, and were checked in to the local hotel.
But how would we get back in the morning? If the battery wasn't fully charged, would we actually make it?
Continued in Part 2 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-2 and Part 3 [http://www.reddingbrothers.com/2/content/freed-hardeman-trip-part-3
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May 11 2008, 11:00 PMShow in Bahrain, flight to Qatar/Saudi/Djibouti...We're in the sitting area of the gate at Bahrain International Airport. Gabe's asleep, Micah's looking at random art on the wall, and I've been checking email on the USO computer.
We played a show to a full house in the Desert Dome last night at the US Naval Activities Support base here in Bahrain. Earlier in the afternoon, we got a grand tour of the city and a HUGE mosk, and even had lunch at an authentic Arabian restaurant. Fried rice with raisins is a little weird, but good nonetheless.
Our stay in Bahrain has been very cool because we actually got to get off base for a day and enjoy the scenery. We'd been going non-stop for over 2 weeks, so it was kind of nice. The air is very humid here, but the temperatures are not as hot as Qatar was. And we're right by the water, so it's a nice view as well.
I think I hear our C-130 doing engine checks. I guess I'd better sign out...
From the Kingdom of Bahrain,
-Josiah
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May 10 2008, 12:06 PMThe Kingdom of Bahrain...
Okay, so we left Qatar and flew into Bahrain today on a C-130 that had barely any A/C (eek). I think they said it was 115° when we left, and it felt like about that much. But when we got to Bahrain, we were right by the water, and there was a cool breeze that seemed to keep the temperature moderate. It was actually kind of nice.
We got through customs and the hotel sent a van to pick us up. When we got to the hotel, there was some kind of mix up with our rooms, but not a big deal. 20 minutes later we were relaxing in our rooms.
Or should I say apartments? My "room" was actually a 5 room living area, not counting the deck. This was a stark contrast to all the other accommodations we've experienced on this tour, which have ranged from tents, to conex boxes, to warehouses, to huts, to shacks, to small dorms.
I kind of felt guilty in some way, since we were really here to perform for the military, not relax at a seaside resort. But at the same time, this offered us a nice break from the regular grind we've been experiencing up till now.
We were in Windsor Tower Hotel in downtown Al Manama, a city in the Kingdom of Bahrain. What is the U.S. doing with a military presence here? We don't know, but we'll find out at about 0730 tomorrow.
-Josiah
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Apr 21 2008, 11:06 AMWV Governor Joe Manchin III to meet the band THIS SUNDAY! Come be a part of it!
We just sent out the official press release, but we wanted to let you all know before it hits the papers. We want to see you THIS COMING SUNDAY (Apr 27) at 11:30 a.m. at the National Guard Armory in Charleston, WV!
The National Guard Armory in Charleston will be hosting a meet and greet and send-off celebration for the band THIS SUNDAY from 11:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Special guest GOVERNOR JOE MANCHIN III will be in attendance to wish the band well on their 25 day overseas military tour. The event is being covered by both WVAH FOX 11 and WOWK CBS 13 and will be a featured story on the news that evening.
Everyone is welcome to come and go at any time during the party, but we recommend arriving on time so you can talk to the band, catch a special acoustic performance, and possibly meet Governor Joe Manchin III when he stops by as well (prior to 12:00 noon). There will be free refreshments and a casual meet and greet afterward, in between interviews and photos with local press.
Be sure to come out and see the band before they leave! Also remember to catch the free full-set performance happening the night before (Saturday the 26th) at the River's Edge Cafe in St. Albans, WV. See tour calendar for the details!
The Charleston Armory is located at 1703 Coonskin Drive, Charleston, WV 25311. If you have any questions, call Doretta Osburn at 1-888-88-REDDING x704, email theband@reddingbrothers.com, or visit http://www.reddingbrothers.com -
Mar 26 2008, 10:44 AMNEW Tour Dates Added for WV, GA and FL!!!
New tour dates have been added for the States of West Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. The band will be making a stop at "The Cafe" in St. Albans, WV prior to their 25-day tour of Southwest Asia and Africa, as well as returning there shortly afterward. Also, the tour just added dates for Reinhardt College in Waleska, GA, and Warner Southern College in Lake Wales, FL. To see the full itinerary, visit ReddingBrothers.com and scroll down to view the sidebar. Stay tuned for more!
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Mar 26 2008, 09:16 AMNew Photos from Holderby's Landing Concert!
The Redding Brothers just posted 280+ photos to ReddingBrothers.com and Flickr.com from their concert at Holderby's Landing back in December. View the photos here:
ReddingBrothers.com or here: Flickr.com/ReddingBrothers. -
Mar 24 2008, 09:31 AMSong of the Week #50 Now Online (ONLY 2 MORE LEFT!!!)
The Redding Brothers podcast "Song of the Week" episode # 50 is now available on the main website at http://www.reddingbrothers.com and here on iLike. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes (search for "redding brothers") or by going to http://feeds.feedburner.com/reddingbrothersvideopodcast. Go give the song a listen!
