Jeremy Porter Road Blog

Road Blog: Saturday June 13, 2015 - Waynesburg, KY

Road Blog
Waynesburg KY
June 13, 2015

We left our hotel in Franklin, KY around 11am, after a rough morning - the result of a long day of drinking, lugging gear through the streets of Nashville, playing 2 long sets, and a lot of travel the day before. It was about 3 hours to our AirB&B through the hills, mountains, knobs. valleys, hollers and forests of the beautiful state of Kentucky. Our cabin was down several miles of single lane pavement, far away from civilization and amenities, and it was awesome. Perched in a hill overlooking a beautiful valley, with multiple bedrooms and a wraparound porch - it was a great place to land, but we couldn't stay long because we had a party to get to.

The drive to Waynesburg was about 45 minutes and the rain hit just before we arrived. It was a short squall and was letting up just as we ran into our brothers from Lexington - Those Crosstown Rivals - who we haven't seen since the last show of our South and West tour last October. Big Kentucky hugs and uncapping a bottle of Jameson's were first on the docket, followed by some catch up chatter and a short walk to the stage where we ran into our friends from Maine - Sasha and Chris from When Particles Collide. Big hugs again, and northeast smiles were great to see! Then we saw our hosts - Chris and Leila from The Vibrolas. It was a party for Leila's birthday and she and Chris were the gracious hosts - exemplifying the Kentucky hospitality that's made that state our favorite to play. Also in attendance were good pals Mike Jett, Nick and Mara, Lori, Josh Nolan....who am I forgetting? Too many to name them all.

Bands were playing short sets - and they were all great. Because of our travel we missed the first couple bands, sad to say, but The Slams hit shortly after we arrived and they killed. We hit around 6pm and played to a great crowd and had a fantastic time. So great to see the Crosstown boys singing along again. My Kentucky brother Bryan Minks came up and sang with us on our song Hey Kentucky, a song he also sings with me on our new record (and happens to be about those dudes). Drenched in sweat, exhausted and tipsy, we loaded out and settled in for When Particles Collide. We played a short run with them in Michigan last March and got to see a different set of new stuff this time - great band, great material and great people. They'll be playing Detroit with us in August so we're already stoked about that. The Vibrolas - who we saw at Squallfest in Lexington last fall - absolutely killed. Smoking hot riffs, insane drumming, and great harmonies. After them was Mad Anthony (Cincinnati), a band I hadn't seen before - super fun 2 guitar + drums. We bonded a bit later and there's a good chance we haven't seen the last of each other. Finally TCR took the stage and pretty much destroyed as always. Great to hear those songs again and see them give everything they have on stage. They are one of my absolute favorite bands.

We got back to the cabin around 2am, thanks to Gabriel who was the designated driver. He was done for the night, but Patty and I set up rocking chairs on the porch over a couple whiskeys and stared at stars over the mountains like we haven't seen in a long time. This morning I got up early (somehow) and hiked up to the top of the knob behind our cabin to a massive, beautiful sprawling valley, and down to a trout pond where I met a cool brown turtle and a huge whitetail doe.

Everyone was so awesome yesterday - we're so proud and privileged to be a small part of their circle. These people repeatedly welcome us yanks into their houses and at their shows and into their amazing scene with open arms and a genuine kindness, the likes of which we just don't see in other places. We absolutely love Kentucky and the people there. We'll be back as soon as we can, but not soon enough!