When the rain comes

At the Isthmus block party last night the Junkers played their last show, a fun set cut short by one of the most dramatic rainstorms I've ever seen--right after we played "Whiskey River" ("I am drowning..."), natch.

There were some concerned faces among us musicians: our equipment got wet, some of it quite wet. The stuff would have gotten wetter had it not been for the quick thinking of our friends (thanks, friends!), who stormed the stage and brought everything to safety. Ed said his gigantic bass cabinet might need to dry for a month, but as he said, he's not a bass player anymore. Substitute drummer Brian Howard also looked a little worried about his kick drum. I don't know much about drums, but it doesn't take Jim Keltner to see that torrential rain could be bad for those sculpted wooden beauties.

After a moment or two to regroup, both Ed and Brian seemed much calmer. And they seemed to think everything would be fine.

Which is to say, I suspect all the toys in Junkersland will be okay. I can't say quite the same for the equipment belonging to Sticha Bros., the company that did the sound: those mics and monitors ("wedges," as we say in the bidness) got rained on for a long time.

It was a wonderful, exciting time! It's a tremendous honor to be voted Madison's favorite country band again!

And I enjoyed singing "Psycho Killer" with the Hometown Sweethearts.