Katie KeySo looking forward to the snow and the great live music at MusicFest 2010! I’ve got my snow jacket and boots ready to go! I will be emceeing the shows at Bear River once again this year, almost every afternoon starting at 3 pm and then again in the evenings starting at 8 pm! The fun starts officially on January 5! Come say hi!
- Katie Key
Best in Texas Music Magazine
Texas Music Chart
The Gondola Concert Series (and how we met Sheila)
Paula Nelson(The Concept History & Inside Story)
The concept was simple. Find an artist who would be willing to sing their guts out on a Gondola (300 feet in the air) while riding up a mountainside in Steamboat, Colorado. Then find a Music Fog Twitter follower who was willing to come along. Tape the whole thing, have a few pops, and put it on the website.
It was going to be called "The Gondola Concert Series." And the whole thing was dreamed-up during a drunken moment in an airport bar in Minnesota. Our own Ben Krech was the brainiac on this idea. Jessie Scott also signed-off on it. But I was apprehensive. I just didn't think it would fly. There would be official people we would have to talk to about it...Gondola operators, management, security officials with big arms....etc.
It was the night before our last day in Steamboat. Jessie and Ben proclaimed, "If this thing doesn't happen, we're not leaving." But both chose to sleep in late and take care of their individual hangovers. I got up early to try and make both of them happy and set something up. I made a call to Paula Nelson's manager. I explained the concept...there was silence on the other end of the phone. "What!?" he proclaimed. I explained it again. "Are you high?" he said. I explained that I wasn't high and that this was someone else's dream. "Oh, I suppose I could make a call," he said. Moments later Paula had signed on with her guitarist George. And I had cleared it with Steamboat officials. The game was on...and a tweet was posted to find a fan to come along.
-Beans
Sheila, George Devore, Paula Nelson(The Other Side of The Story)
So it was an odd sequence of events that I can't even explain. Not cause it was weird or anything, but I seriously don't know how everything fell into place.
I was checking out stuff about the MusicFest a few weeks before the trip and stumbled across something about Music Fog. I don't know where, or how, but magically I decided to get on board with the whole "Twitter" thing. I had no idea what twitter was, or even what to do with it. But it curiosity got the best of me, so I signed up.
On a lovely morning in Steamboat I was messing around on my computer while nursing a hangover. On twitter, there was a tweet from MusicFog that made very little sense. Something about a gondola, a concert, and a seat? I had no idea what it was really getting at. But my brother and I concluded it meant they were taking someone on the gondola. Seriously, it did not make sense at the time. My friends were skeptical but I had nothing to lose by checking it out except for a bit of time. I responded and BAM! A few hours later I met these guys with a camera by the gondola and had an awesome time that changed my life.
Make sure you follow @musicfog on twitter because you might be the lucky soul that gets to enjoy a concert ride up the gondola with a mystery musician, and these Music Fog guys.
For better or for worse, here is part of the video shot last year with Paula Nelson and George Devore. Never mind the quality! It's on a Gondola for Christ sake!
-Sheila
Road Route to Steamboat for "The Fog"
Ben Krech, Jessie ScottNow that the excitement for The MusicFest at Steamboat is at a fevered pitch, we thought it appropriate to remind Music Fog followers of our route to this storied event.
I will first refer you to an earlier post (planes, trains, buses...) stating our intentions to avoid high costs, airport security issues and smelly people on trains. We've decided on "Plan F." This is the plan that has us traveling cross country on finely manufactured rubber from one of our great American tire manufacturers. We like this plan because it keeps us close to our video & audio gear. That's the strong side of the plan. Here is the weak side.
Can anyone say Donner Party? Here is a group of people that also opted to avoid rough baggage handlers and minimal leg room in the interest of moving west - just like the Music Fog crew. Turns out that weather played a key factor in their "westward ho," and culminated in their eating each other by a freezing campfire. They found themselves in this mess because someone in the Donner Party talked the rest of them into taking "a shortcut."
Mind you that we will have Jessie Scott on board with us. This is a woman who will argue with a GPS unit because it's linked to a satellite in outer space. Yes, that satellite can see everything. But Jessie will rely on her hazy past experience in any neck-of-the-woods more than modern technology. She will swear that she's "been here before," even though it might of been an REM dream that went deja vu on her after a 48 hour bender on some some concoction that her friend Spider brewed up in his basement. So, knowing that, you already understand that we may be in trouble before we even start.
Here is our planned route:
Phase #1
Interstate 81(south) to 40 into Knoxville (home of the Mouse's Ear)
Interstate 75(south) to Chattanooga (home of The Slaw-Dog)
Pulaski Hwy#64(west) through Fayetteville & Pisgah (home of Unclaimed Baggage Center) - on to Waynesboro
Hwy#13(south) to Natchez Trace Pkwy#20(south) to Tupelo (home of Celebrity Coaches)
Phase #2
Board a Celebrity Coaches bus and head west.
But first south on route #45 to Meridian MS (home of Big Mama Cafe)
Interstate 20(west) to Dallas (pick up Jessie Scott @ Honda dealer)
Interstate 81 & 287(north) to Armadillo (home of A Pony For Your Thoughts)
Interstate 40(west) to Vegas Junction (home of....nothing)
Hwy#84 "Historic Route 66"(north) to Romeroville (home of the Alligator Egg)
Interstate 25(north) to Denver...and up the hill to Steamboat.
Wish us luck!
-Beans