Little did we know that when we reached out to our friends, Heather and Nate Eastman, to see if they “maybe” knew a place or two we could play, we’d get a response almost immediately from Heather saying, “I’ll take care of it!”
In what felt like minutes, Heather and I were in discussion about three different venue opportunities, what time they would be, and what the pay was that we wanted. One place said they couldn’t pay what we were asking, so she said she and Nate would make up the difference. One place wasn’t sure about bringing in an unknown band, so she said she’d make her famous fried Indian bread tacos to help promote the night. She was so genuine and serious in her plight to make the fifteen-hour trip out to South Dakota worth it for us, she and Nate even rented us a camp spot at the Lewis and Clark Recreation Area on the Missouri River, AND brought their toy hauler and set it up for us to stay in for the three days we were there. Now, either these humans truly like us, or they were really good at faking it. 😂
We weren’t expecting much, since we haven’t played in Yankton since 2019, at one place that doesn’t exist anymore, and another that wouldn’t return any of my messages when I was trying to book in the first place. To be honest, other than seeing Heather and Nate, we were having a hard time getting excited about it…
But that all changed when we walked into Stringer’s Bar on Tuesday and saw Veronica and Mike wearing some old school CS merch, ready with their cameras. Ready to cheer us on, and ready to welcome us back to Yankton!
Once we got set up, people started piling in. By the time we were ready to start, everyone turned their chairs to see us and actually pay attention to our show…at a BAR! Even the patrons who weren’t there for us were respectful of the music. People playing darts were quiet and we didn’t have ONE request for “Freebird”!
More people remembered us than we remembered them. Unfortunately, that is the hard part of meeting so many people. But it was so very nice. Loads of people were just there on Heather or Mike’s recommendation alone, and several just came in for dinner and stayed. (Most of them also said they would be following us through our next two gigs in Yankton as well!)
By the end of the show, I’m pretty sure we had made 100% fans for life. People were taking down posters and having us sign them. Of COURSE…they wanted Rudy’s signature as well!😂
A beautiful sunset behind the thick storm clouds to close our night down. What a wonderful welcome to Yankton. If this is any indication of the shows to follow, then yes please! We accept!
