ON THE ROAD WITH THE EVERHARTS
“Sheila calls it our gig from hell!” Bob & Sheila
Everhart are on tour in Florida, performing their ‘traveling museum of
music’ developed for the Smithsonian Institution, who they record for.
Everhart are on tour in Florida, performing their ‘traveling museum of
music’ developed for the Smithsonian Institution, who they record for.
“We’ve been doing pretty well,” Bob said, “and we’ve
had some very interesting gigs along the way, which makes it possible
for us to self sustain during the winter. One of our really nice gigs
was at Pleasant Lake RV park in Bradenton. It really surprised us to
see two sand hill cranes as we drove into the park. It’s a rather large
park with a man-made sizable lake right in the middle of it. We had a
real nice stay there, had a nice performance, made some money and sold
some cd’s, so that’s what it’s all about for us. The last night we were
there, they had a golf-cart Christmas parade. It was pretty amazing,
about 45 or 50 carts, all lit up with various Christmas themes and
decorations. We thought it was great.”
had some very interesting gigs along the way, which makes it possible
for us to self sustain during the winter. One of our really nice gigs
was at Pleasant Lake RV park in Bradenton. It really surprised us to
see two sand hill cranes as we drove into the park. It’s a rather large
park with a man-made sizable lake right in the middle of it. We had a
real nice stay there, had a nice performance, made some money and sold
some cd’s, so that’s what it’s all about for us. The last night we were
there, they had a golf-cart Christmas parade. It was pretty amazing,
about 45 or 50 carts, all lit up with various Christmas themes and
decorations. We thought it was great.”
“I think we’ve been doing pretty well too,” added
Sheila, “but our next gig was on December 21. You know, the end of the
world thing 12-21-12. Bob had us booked at an older RV park on the
Myakka River, which in itself was actually quite nice. The manager had
us parked right next to the rec-hall, so it was very convenient.
Show-time was 7pm. We went in about a quarter til, since we didn’t have
to set up a sound system, and were stunned to see about 40 people
sitting at round tables, all of them with bottles of whiskey on the
tables. Boy were they loud. They were talking about the great redfish
fishing, and the red-haired manager said, ‘Git up thar and play.’ So we
did, but we didn’t make a dint in that audience. Red fish done us in,
and Bob was hoarse from trying to reach them, the people, not the
redfish. We just laid back, played some songs and sort of let it slide
on past. We did notice, as we were playing a kind of fast bluegrass
song, one elderly gentleman got up to dance, and much like the Charles
Durning character did in ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou” made us laugh, so
we stayed right with it until our hour was up. We were done of course,
but THEN these incredibly loud people started yelling more more. What
in the world, they didn’t hear a thing we had done. We just sort of
eased out, and got ready to leave the next morning.”
Sheila, “but our next gig was on December 21. You know, the end of the
world thing 12-21-12. Bob had us booked at an older RV park on the
Myakka River, which in itself was actually quite nice. The manager had
us parked right next to the rec-hall, so it was very convenient.
Show-time was 7pm. We went in about a quarter til, since we didn’t have
to set up a sound system, and were stunned to see about 40 people
sitting at round tables, all of them with bottles of whiskey on the
tables. Boy were they loud. They were talking about the great redfish
fishing, and the red-haired manager said, ‘Git up thar and play.’ So we
did, but we didn’t make a dint in that audience. Red fish done us in,
and Bob was hoarse from trying to reach them, the people, not the
redfish. We just laid back, played some songs and sort of let it slide
on past. We did notice, as we were playing a kind of fast bluegrass
song, one elderly gentleman got up to dance, and much like the Charles
Durning character did in ‘Oh Brother Where Art Thou” made us laugh, so
we stayed right with it until our hour was up. We were done of course,
but THEN these incredibly loud people started yelling more more. What
in the world, they didn’t hear a thing we had done. We just sort of
eased out, and got ready to leave the next morning.”
“I really like the place we are at now,” Bobbie Lhea
said, “it’s the Glades RV and Golf Course Resort. Mom and dad did their
show last night, and there was a large, very listening crowd to see
them. So they’re happy now too. We also had a great budget lunch on the
way here. Mom had to stop at a grocery store to stock up for Christmas
dinner, and right next to it was a little Chinese cafe. Mom had rice
and sesame chicken, dad had rice and Magnolian beef, and I had rice and
chicken Lo-mein. Each dish was $5.95, and we had enough left over,
especially rice, to have another snack out of it, so dad did good.”
said, “it’s the Glades RV and Golf Course Resort. Mom and dad did their
show last night, and there was a large, very listening crowd to see
them. So they’re happy now too. We also had a great budget lunch on the
way here. Mom had to stop at a grocery store to stock up for Christmas
dinner, and right next to it was a little Chinese cafe. Mom had rice
and sesame chicken, dad had rice and Magnolian beef, and I had rice and
chicken Lo-mein. Each dish was $5.95, and we had enough left over,
especially rice, to have another snack out of it, so dad did good.”