(Jared here: Before we get to our last day, I‘d like to share with you a little experience that we had on our final night in Bisbee. We were walking back to Trish’s place (where she had given up her room for us), with a good buzz and a casual mosey, taking in as much of Bisbee at night as we could. On the way, we happened past 55 Main art gallery. The lights were on, they had really cool stuff, and we saw a couple people in there, so we headed on in. As we meandered around, we were approached by a gentleman and a lady (we later learned they are the owners, Steve and Christina) with a look of hesitant recognition in their countenance.
“You’re the folks with the white trailer, right?” “Yes.” “We saw you parallel-park that thing when you guys got in on Friday! That was amazing!!”
Now I’ve never saved a child from a burning building, won a gold medal, or starred in an Oscar-nominated film (not yet, anyway), but I swelled with the pride of one who had, and with as much humility, placed a hand on my chest, and bowed in gratitude for the recognition of my heretofore unacknowledged contribution to the world.
That little interaction opened the door for an at least hour-long doorknob conversation with these wonderful humans. Steve, it turns out, was a touring musician from years back, and had composed the ethereal new age music that was playing in the store. We had a lot to learn from each other, as we swapped stories of brushes with fame, advice on streaming and marketing, the state of the music biz, stories from the road, etc. Meanwhile, Jessi and Christina were having a similar bonding session over the fact that she was a behavioral therapist for years; a job that Jessi indirectly practices through Champagne Sunday, and one she might well have taken up had music not gotten to her first.
It was a perfect way to exchange fond “goodnights” with this town that had given us so much, and we went to bed with full and happy hearts. The next day, as we left the gas station and made our way out of town, we received a comment on one of our posts saying that they were in the High Desert Market, waving goodbye to our tail lights as we drove by, and wished us well on our tour. Okay, back to Jessi.)
Rounding out our trip to Bisbee was a full “Embellishment” by Trish herself. This was super fun for us because Trish and her salon are featured in our “10 Best Dressed” music video, and we got to recreate that a bit. But, also because Jared really wanted a haircut, and Trish knew just what to do! I usually cut Jared’s hair, but it was fun to watch a master at work!
She even got in there and helped shape up my mohawk that I chopped up to bits at the beginning of tour!
Trish did much more that last day in Bisbee than just styling us. She sat with us in our head space and talked us through some things that we have been thinking about and sitting on for months. She’s a fount of knowledge about some deeper goings on within us as humans, and we got to visit about those things. Because she was a pretty big part of the original push for CS becoming the version you know now, we invited her, with her energy and ideas and connections, to walk with us on the next leg of the journey. Jared and I have always believed in the power of the team, and if you’re playing the game for the long haul, you want people like Trish on your team. We made a plan to return to Bisbee in November for their Side Pony Music Festival, a possible photo shoot, and some major planning for the future. Sometimes you really have got to shake yourself outside your comfort zone and see what comes about. That is usually when the most exciting things take place. We had no idea it would happen in Bisbee, AZ, a goofy little artist town on the Mexican border. We are so grateful for our time with Trish, her insight, and some fresh fuel in the engine to really get this vessel of joy where it needs to go next! Thank you, Trish Lecy, for your continued support, belief, and love.
Look who I spotted out in the wild!!! Miss Kay herself with one of her Bostons! I begged her to stop in the middle of the road for this picture.
I stopped in my tracks as I read this sign. I say this almost every time we are on stage. Right before “Happy Day” we like to talk about all the beautiful reasons to CELEBRATE life. We go from big to small, naming off common reasons and not so common reasons to find joy and reasons to be grateful in our day. We end the list by pointing out that “just opening your eyes each morning is reason enough to celebrate that day” and not recognizing that is dangerous. I even remind myself every day that no matter where I am on my life journey, even if it is really hard, I still was fortunate to have woken up this morning, and that is worthy of celebration! Now, how am I going to use this opportunity? Such an open and exciting invitation each day.
Jared and I treasured our time in Bisbee for so many reasons. We crammed so much into such a small amount of time and we are really looking forward to coming back. The next few days that we have off, I am taking Jared to White Sands, NM to experience a magical and breathtaking part of our country that we haven’t seen together. I went while I was in college and never forgot it. Since we are going to be near enough to the park, we are going to visit. Also, the next time we blog we will have our third party back with us!! We pick up Rudy on August 10, after almost one month away from us. I feel like it’s been a lifetime. See you all on the other side with our son, at last complete again, gearing up for the four shows in a row in Montana, then HOME! Eleven more days…
