Two weeks ago, Daniel and I were able to go on a date!!! It had been almost 3 months since our last one, so it was definitely time! One of our church members gave us tickets to the T-Bone Walker BluesFest in Linden, TX (about 15 miles from H.S., and the town where T-Bone was raised). Now, I'll admit, I had never heard of T-Bone Walker, and I wasn't much of a blues fan prior to this evening. However, it was a chance to go on a date with my hubby, so I jumped at it! :)
We thought the event began at 4 pm, so we asked our babysitter to be here at 4 and we headed out. We got to the fair grounds and the only people there were workers. We then read a sign that said the first act would begin at 6...hmm...what do we do in small town TX for 2 hours while we wait?! EAT! :) We found a neat steak house in downtown Linden and enjoyed a nice dinner. We then went back to the fair grounds and found out when we went to will call to get our tickets that we had V.I.P. passes. Being as this was our first BluesFest, we didn't know what that meant, but soon found out we were some of the select few who were allowed to go backstage and enjoy wonderful food (remember, we ate dinner before we came...) and conversation with all of the artists participating in the festival. Since we had just eaten dinner, we decided to listen to one of the artists for a while before heading to the hospitality tent. After hearing Kayla Reeves, we headed to check out the hospitality tent. Neither of us were hungry, but there was a massive buffet with a plethora of good food (Daniel's words), so we felt obligated to partake! :) After filling our plates, we went to find a seat and ended up sitting down with two nice ladies. We talked for a little while and then who came to sit down with us?! T-Bone Walker's daughter and granddaughter! We had so much fun getting to know them, and when they found out Daniel was a preacher, the conversation got even better! Here we are with them...his daughter is on the right and granddaughter on the left.
We were also able to hear Honeyboy Edwards, the oldest living blues player (95 years old!). Like I said, before the evening, I didn't have much interest in blues, but I definitely left with a greater appreciation for the music and the artists who put their hearts and souls into playing it. You never know who will come out of small towns...also found out that night that Don Henley (lead singer for the Eagles) is from Linden, TX! What a fun time with my favorite man in the world!
We thought the event began at 4 pm, so we asked our babysitter to be here at 4 and we headed out. We got to the fair grounds and the only people there were workers. We then read a sign that said the first act would begin at 6...hmm...what do we do in small town TX for 2 hours while we wait?! EAT! :) We found a neat steak house in downtown Linden and enjoyed a nice dinner. We then went back to the fair grounds and found out when we went to will call to get our tickets that we had V.I.P. passes. Being as this was our first BluesFest, we didn't know what that meant, but soon found out we were some of the select few who were allowed to go backstage and enjoy wonderful food (remember, we ate dinner before we came...) and conversation with all of the artists participating in the festival. Since we had just eaten dinner, we decided to listen to one of the artists for a while before heading to the hospitality tent. After hearing Kayla Reeves, we headed to check out the hospitality tent. Neither of us were hungry, but there was a massive buffet with a plethora of good food (Daniel's words), so we felt obligated to partake! :) After filling our plates, we went to find a seat and ended up sitting down with two nice ladies. We talked for a little while and then who came to sit down with us?! T-Bone Walker's daughter and granddaughter! We had so much fun getting to know them, and when they found out Daniel was a preacher, the conversation got even better! Here we are with them...his daughter is on the right and granddaughter on the left.
We were also able to hear Honeyboy Edwards, the oldest living blues player (95 years old!). Like I said, before the evening, I didn't have much interest in blues, but I definitely left with a greater appreciation for the music and the artists who put their hearts and souls into playing it. You never know who will come out of small towns...also found out that night that Don Henley (lead singer for the Eagles) is from Linden, TX! What a fun time with my favorite man in the world!
(just a small example of things we've been given)
