Like a lot of other fans, if I ever had the opportunity to meet him, I would seize the moment and relay my appreciation for the inspiration I felt from his music.
In September of 1998 Garth played six consecutive sold out concerts in Philly and some friends and I bought tickets from a broker for $350. a piece just so we'd have 4th row center stage seats on 9/8/98. I had taken a bouquet of blue delphiniums to give to him and it was so amazing when he handed one stem back to me and blew me a kiss. I would later become friends with a lady from Canada who was at that concert, witnessed the entire thing and even made note of the shirt I was wearing. Later that week, some friends and I would first meet Ms. Trisha Yearwood at an autograph signing at a K-Mart in Broomall, PA. She is not only beautiful but very sweet as well which became even more evident when I met her last in October 2002. In September of 1999(a little over a year after that concert) Garth's "In the Life of Chris Gaines" (the prequel to the planned movie 'The Lamb') CD was released and he would be hitting the talk show circuit to promote it. After learning he would be in NY on the Rosie O'Donnell show on 9/28, I decided to go for it and some friends and I embarked on our trip at 3:00Am. What happened once we arrived at the studio, had to be fate as we were not only in the right place at the right time as some luck would have it, but it couldn't have been planned better. I couldn't have dreamed it would happened that way but there he was stepping out of that limo after seeing our signs and only 3' away; larger than life. Remember how I wanted to express my appreciation for the music? It never happened. I have never been so nervous or star-struck in my life. I could barely talk and you will not see the photo of me and him from that first meeting. I could never in my wildest dreams imagine my ever looking so stupid. I gave new meaning to the words 'shock and awe'! But I would have a number of other chances to be much more composed. He was absolutely gorgeous!!!
After finding Garth and his music the way I did, aside from listening to his CD's, etc. I knew that if I were to listen to his music being played on the radio, I had to start listening to country music stations. And in order to do that, I had to give it a chance and broaden my perspectives. I soon found a whole new world that would lead me on many journeys and in the process meeting some really wonderful people who I am blessed to have crossed paths with. In 1997, the second country concert I attended was that of Tim McGraw's and it was in Atlantic City. I was quite impressed with the show and the entrance he made from the rear of the arena on a lighted platform that moved along to the beat of "Indian Outlaw" as it carried him to the stage. This was not just a country artist standing there singing. Alan Jackson comes to mind and that's fine if that's what you like, but I prefer a more entertaining, engaging performance. Martina McBride opened the show and wowed the audience with her powerful voice. After that concert, I learned (a little late I might add) about fan clubs and meet and greets. I joined quite a few of those of the artists that I liked. A number of people have asked me how I managed to meet so many over the years and that has played a large part, that along with the expense, patience, lack of sleep and being in the right place at the right time.
In April of '98, I first saw Toby Keith when he performed at the local Community College. The opening act, Randy Lee Ashcraft and the Saltwater Cowboys were a real treat. I would later see them a number of times again and have become completely taken by their sound as they get better and better. "Does That Blue Moon Ever Shine on You" was classic Toby and sounded really good in that gymnasium. Which brings me to the first country artist I met on 8/7/98. It was Trace Adkins at a fair in a town that is at the northern most tip of NJ. After some friends and I checked into our motel room, we headed to the fairgrounds and spotted Trace walking around incognito. He wore a baseball cap, sunglasses and his signature hair in a ponytail. He gave us the signal not to make a fuss as to alert others; he just wanted to check out the fair. We honored his wish and went our separate ways but not without some shots from a distance. Everywhere we went he was there and honestly we were not following him. It almost seemed just the opposite because we were the ones who would turn and go the other way. LOL It was in the mountains and on that chilly Summer evening after having seen Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery and Trace perform, I was freezing and scared as I waited in that meet~n~greet line in anticipation of hopefully saying something that would make sense. There, I said it; I was scared. This was new territory and something that definitely does not happen frequently in other genres. I think it was partly due to the fact that this was something I had never experienced before and partly due to his 6'6" stature, combined with that bass voice that seemed to resonate through every fiber of my being. As my friend Sandy can attest as I walked away with the only camera and she frantically came after me, he turned out to be really sweet also. Later that year we would see Reba, David Kersh, Vince Gill, Linda Davis, Patty Loveless, Alan Jackson, Mark Chestnutt, Diamond Rio and others. It is now apparent that our unspoken anthem is 'it's the highway and it's our way'.
On 9/25/98 I first met Toby Keith in Ocean City, MD. A fan once asked Toby why he felt he was not more recognized by the industry. He said that he felt it was due in part to a number of things; he wouldn't change for the industry, he refused to move to Nashville and he wouldn't kiss butt. While I enjoy a rockin' show as much as anyone, I prefer the Toby before all the success. On November 6, 1998 a friend and I went to see Lorrie Morgan perform the classics at the Hilton Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City. She did so quite beautifully I might add complete with gown changes. Had we have known then what we know now about the Hilton, we may have gotten to meet her. On November 14, 1998 Joe Diffie performed at the Community College and Flora, Joe's Mother, made certain that our meet~n~greet passes reached us in time. Joe was nice, just not very engaging but that happens. One of THE coolest things about country music is that the artists make themselves so accessible to the fans and frequently lend themselves, their talent and their names to charitable organizations. Like anyone else, they're not always up. Shy of being really sick and having to cancel a show, they may not be feeling in the best of spirits but the show goes on and so goes the meet~n~greet. Nonetheless, some of the artists are more engaging than others. The following month some friends and I headed up to NY for the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center, primarily to see Garth and Trisha. We saw them rehearse but because security was so tight with Hillory Clinton being there, we couldn't see any of the performance. So we headed back home in time to catch the telecast vowing never to have to deal with a crowd that was packed around the skating rink like sardines again.
Toby returned to the local Community College again on 4/3/99 and Steve McCormick opened the show. I again met him and hung out with one of his biggest fans who had travelled extensively to see him. It was around this time that I knew I need to get a better camera with a longer lens to satisfy what had become my second love, photography. A couple of months later, we would see SheDaisy, Steve Wariner (with Jimmy Mattingly!), Terri Clark, Sherrie Austin, Chalee Tennison and Randy Travis. In the meantime, some friends and I headed to DC to see the man himself, George Strait and the George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival. To this day inspite of the many artists I've met, if I ever had the chance to meet George Strait, I'd probably be a little nervous. The man has had 50 number one records which is an incredible accomplishment and I can't tell you how many times I've seen "Pure Country". People who aren't even into country music, love the movie. He is a genuine cowboy and you know what they say..."save a horse, ride a cowboy". LOL He is aging so well and looks and sounds so good! Also on the bill was Mark Wills, Jo Dee Messina, Asleep at the Wheel, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw. It was a draining but fun day and if you've ever gotten caught up in the circle in Washington, DC you too may have been inclined to sing "I wanna know how going home feels".
I believe the next artist or group I met was Diamond Rio at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. Like Brooks and Dunn, they always put on a good show and while B & D's shows are more theatrical, Diamond Rio does some really nice harmonizing and they're a nice, engaging group of guys too. I've seen both Diamond Rio and Brooks and Dunn a number of times and Gene Johnson is always nice enough to give a hug. Next in line for being nice and engaging as far as groups go, would be Alabama. I was sitting in my office on 11/3/98 with XTU on the radio and I hear the DJ talking with Teddy Gentry who said they would be performing at the QVC TV station that night to promote their "For the Record" double CD. He said they'd be pulling people in off the street if need be. So, after the interview was over, I called the QVC TV station to see if they'd be allowing an audience in while they performed a few songs. The person on the other end didn't have any idea whether an audience would be allowed in. Nonetheless, I called Charmaine working on the 2nd floor and we decided to chance it after getting directions. At the least, we might be able to see them going in. When we arrived at the station, the guard called to see if we would be let in. He told us we would be and that they would start letting people in the studio at 6:30Pm. Charmaine called her daughter and told her to set the VCR. Once inside, there were maybe 15 people total in the audience and that included most who worked for the station. The guys came out and were given their instructions and shown their marks, then began to perform. About mid way of the 2nd song, Charmaine and I held up photos of the group and Randy started cracking up right in the middle of the song. When they were done, Jeff had to leave but the rest came out into the audience to sign autographs and take photos. It was very cool and it proved that some of the best things happen on the spur of the moment! You just have to go for it and if nothing else, it's always an adventure. It was also cool to get home and watch the performance on tape and see ourselves on camera a number of times too. Which reminds me of the Saturday morning I decided to go to a town about 25 mins. away to go antiquing. I've always been drawn to antiques and traditional furnishings. I like the character of dark wood and rich fabrics and the warmth they emit. The main street is full of antique shops and walked from one to another to another. In the last shop I went into, I was on the second floor and had just walked into a room when I heard a familiar voice. I turned around and walked back out, only to see James Darren, the actor from the "Gidget" movies and Frankie Avalon era. His hair is completely grey and he looks very distinguished and is still very good looking. We exchanged niceties and he admired the lamps I was about to purchase. It turns out that his Grandmother lives in the area and whenever he comes in from California to visit her, he shops there. Imagine the irony of running into him there, combined with the fact that a "Gidget" movie is on as I write this. It's the one from 1959 with him and Sandra Dee (who recently passed away). I've always liked those movies ever since I was a teenager. Like Elvis' movies for the most part, they're hokie but they're fun. Life has it's struggles but there are times when wonder how you could ever have imagined that happening. If you live in New York City or Los Angeles, that sort of thing is probably common place but a small town in South Jersey...who knew?
Speaking of adventure, some of the best photos I've taken were at Great Adventure. We always got there early so we could be right up front and I also met some of the nicest people there. Another cool thing about country music is over time you see some of the same people at shows, you look out for each other, save each other seats, share things and look for each other. My best Billy Ray Cyrus photos were taken there along with Lila McCann, Doug Stone, Aaron Tippin, Clay Walker and Sammy Kershaw who when I first met him, talked about how hot it was. I agreed!
After reading about Garth's estate, which would later be known as "The Gates", in Goodlettsville, TN and seeing photos of him with people he'd met there, a friend and I decided to make our first trip to Nashville in July of 1999. We decided to stay at the Comfort Inn on Presidential Blvd. in Goodlettsville to be closer to the gates. That first climb up that rather steep hill to Garth's gates was exhilerating and a little scary at the same time. If you didn't keep your foot on the gas pedal, you thought for sure the car (in our case, the small rental) would start to coast backward. We made daily and sometimes twice daily stops at the gates with hopes of meeting Garth like so many before us had. In between times, we visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, Studio B, downtown hang-outs, Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch & Museum, Belle Mead Plantation, the Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills Mall (no matter what or where, a girl HAS to shop), "The Vinny" (Vince Gill's Celebrity Golf Tournament) and Capitol Records. Upon our visit to Capitol Records, Cheryl told us that Garth's (Chris Gaines') video for the song "Lost in You" would premiere on CMT that night. We headed back to Goodlettsville to dine and reached the motel just in time to see it. During one of our trips to the gates, I had the chance to meet Wesley (who I had become acquainted with through the Garthnutt community) and his Mother. Like myself, Wesley had gone through some trying times and found comfort in Garth's music. He too had hoped to meet him someday. As it turned out, Garth was in Oklahoma at his Mother's bedside during the week we were in Nashville. After we returned home, we learned that Colleen had passed away and the Garthnutt community mourned her death. Throughout the rest of the year, my car would find its way to New York and Manhattan became almost a second home as Garth made various talk show appearances to further promote the "In The Life of Chris Gaines" CD and the "Garth Brooks & the magic of Christmas" CD. There would also be a trip to Washington, DC to see Garth at the White House for "The Concert of the Century" on October 23, 1999.
For several hours, a handful of us stood at the West gate to the White House watching celebrity after celebrity enter for rehearsal and leave to prepare for the concert later that night. The day before, Garth had told me that if he had known that the fans would not be permitted to attend the concert, as it was invitation only, he may have been inclined to decline his appearance. Some would think this was facetious on his part but if you knew anything of Garth, you know how much the fans mean to him. To this day, he still spends time with fans who find their way to his property in Oklahoma. This was during a very difficult time in his life and the support meant more than ever. For a number of the celebrities there that day, security would usher a van through the gates onto the grounds to pick them up. Yet a number of them, including Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan and others chose to walk freely through and from the gates.
At one point, someone spotted Garth exiting the huge tent talking on cell phone. Upon hearing his name being shouted, he turned to the crowd and waved and we knew that he would now know that fans were there. After a while, security sent a van onto the grounds to escort Garth, his Father Raymond and his Brother Kelly through the gates. Security had told us that when he was brought through the gates, the van would not stop. (Yeah...right!) It was hysterical to see those men in overcoats with transmitter earpieces scramble when that van came to a complete stop as Garth bailed out! In true Garth fashion, he took photos with us and signed autographs for a while before he was whisked away.
That brings me to a very funny story and how the person I mentioned previously as being one of Toby's biggest fans (Ronnye) and my paths would cross again away from a Toby concert. We learned that Tim McGraw would be performing at the Allentown Fair on 9/2/99. So Sandy, Ronnye and myself decided we would go to the fairgrounds box office the night before tickets went on sale and camp out. The 3 of us met at the parking lot and made our way to the box office windows with lawn chairs in tow. There was no one around and we were certain we'd have awesome seats. We each took up position in front of box office windows number 1, 2 and 3. Ronnye who had been at a club earlier hoped to find a restroom that was unlocked to change clothes. A little while later we hear this chain rattle and a guy comes from behind the box office building. He told us there was a restroom in the back where everyone else was. We were puzzled to say the least at the mention of 'everyone else'. As we turned the corner, there must have been 200 people there camping out. We could not contain our amazement and drew a number of chuckles from the crowd. We thought we were doing something by getting there at 12:00Am, 10 hrs. before the box office was to open but we took our places in line and made the most of it. The fair people knowing this was common practice for people to camp out, conveniently had a concession stand open to sell food and drinks. At one point when we went to the concession stand, the guy who told us about the restroom said, "hey, there's number 1, 2 and 3!". The second time he mentioned it that night, we tried to hit him but he ducked. LOL The box office opened and we ended up with seats that weren't that bad. The night of the show, security could not hold back about 50 people who rushed the stage, so they didn't even try. Once they made their move, I went right along. I managed to get some incredible photos of Tim that night. The only problem was I felt bad that Sandy had stayed behind with our stuff. When I left the crowd to get her, there was no getting back to my spot at the stage and that's when Tim jumped down and starting signing autographs. :( That was okay though and I hoped to someday have him sign one of those photos.
Ironically enough as the common thread would continue to unfold, one week before the DC trip, some friends and I went to see Trisha at the Hilton in Atlantic City. It was maitre'd seating and depending on the size of the tip, you can get some really good seats even if your reserved seats were terrible. Thanks to Jim, we were moved to fantastic seats! Trisha always gives a great engaging show. She played the tables for a while afterwards and we subsquently met Johnny Garcia(lead guitar and a hell of a one!), Shawn Ficter(drums) and Keith Horne(bass, who I last learned is with 'Hot Apple Pie'). I would later see Keith in 2004 when he appeared with Lonestar.
