January Recap

After Christmas, Restless Road took some time off until April, so I have been busting my ass in town to keep working. I have been fortunate enough to work with some incredible people in Nashville, as well as get offered some incredible opportunities on the road. Earlier in the month I flew to Minnesota to play a gig with Dariann Leigh, which was a blast. I also got to play at The Ryman Auditorium for the Opry 100 series

I had a trip to Las Vegas planned but it got cancelled last minute, but opened the door to an incredible opportunity to play alongside Bryan Martin, and his incredible band. Just wrapped up a weekend run with them to Ohio. We played the Hobart Arena, and then The Dusty Armadillo, which is a hometown venue for me, and it was sold out. It was an incredible experience to get to play those shows, especially with the incredible band that we had. With Hayden Helms, and Thomas and Riley Wingate, it felt like an unstoppable team. It was also nice to get to use my amp on stage for a change. As much as I love my Axe FX, a great amp is such a great experience.

Looking forward, I have a couple more gigs with the Bryan Martin crew coming up, a Theater show in Nee Jersey with Zach Westcott, and in march, I am playing on the Rolling Stone stage at SXSW.

This year is shaping up to be an incredible one and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.

Grateful

I am currently sitting in the back of a van that is pulling a trailer on the way to a gig in Bettendorf, Iowa. Currently I am just eavesdropping on the guys in the front, talking about life and wondering what the future will bring or if we are all doing what we should be and if we are in the right place.

Looking back on the past 3 years, I know for a fact that I am where I want to be, and I’m doing what I want to be doing. I often have had thoughts about myself not being good enough, or wondering what it would be like to break the norm and work for myself doing what I love. 3 years ago I took a lead and moved to Nashville. I thought that maybe I’d get to play guitar a couple times a week, and get lucky enough to scrape by and not have to get a day job for a while. But I worked my ass off and started playing more and more. I am very fortunate that even during “slow season” in Nashville, I have regular gigs. During busy season I can work as much as I want. And it doesn’t even feel like work. I get to play guitar all day a that is incredible. I get to see the world, alongside some incredible people and I have some of the most incredible friends.

Yes the grind can be rough, wondering if the money will keep coming, and if the calls will keep coming. But it always works out and I cannot express how incredibly happy to be where I am, headed to Iowa to play music. I hope this never ends. And I hope I never lose the fire I feel for this now.

The image below is from a recent gig at Legends Corner in Nashville. We do an all request show and we got tipped to take my shirt off and play a few songs. The ridiculous smile is unavoidable when I get to play with such incredible people and put on a new show every day.

Big Wheels Update

If you have been following along, I have been playing guitar for Restless Road and we are currently on tour with Russell Dickerson. This weekend was incredible. Check out these photos from St. Louis and KC Live!

Big Wheels and Back Roads Tour.

Last night was the first night of a new tour! Restless Road is out on tour with Russell Dickerson through November on the Big Wheels and Back Roads Tour. We kicked off at the Fillmore in Philadelphia, PA last night, and are currently headed to Silver Springs, MD for show number 2.

Russell Dickerson and his crew have been incredible and super friendly. I can’t wait to see what this tour has in store.

Arcadia, Wi

This past week was one for the books. Despite a lot of issues, we were able to make it out to this gig in Wisconsin, and have an incredible night! Check out the highlights here:

On the road

For a while, I have been staying at home, playing guitar on Broadway. I absolutely love it but I recently picked up a handful of travel/ tour dates and I am so excited about the future. I am currently writing this from Newberry, South Carolina, in the back of a van. Last night we played Skyline in South Carolina, and we are on the way to Cowboy Up in Greenville. Coming up in the next month, I’ll be spending time in Panama City Beach, North and South Carolina and San Diego. I plan to take my camera to keep updates coming, and I can’t wait to share stories from the road.

Short tour

Today is the second day of a 4 day tour with Josh Hughett. Last night we were in Raleigh, SC.

Tonight we are in Myrtle Beach and I got to spend the morning riding around on my skateboard, and exploring. We play at 10 tonight. Then we are in Charleston, SC for the last 2 nights. I’m excited to share video with everyone.

Update

It’s been a while since I have posted an update, but I have been incredibly busy and having a blast doing what I love to do. Living in Nashville has been incredible and created so many amazing opportunities for me. I play an average of 12 Gigs a week. 2 of which I am a front person on.

Coming up at the end of June, I will be on a short tour with Josh Hughett through North and South Carolina. I am excited to get out and tour a bit as that was my goal when I moved to Nashville. I will be creating videos and keeping updates coming here and on YouTube.

Week review

There are so many things that I am thankful for, especially the people that I get to work with. This past week I was very busy, and I am fortunate to be busy during this slow season in Nashville. I had Monday off. So I was able to practice and work on a few things. Then Tuesday I played 2 gigs. Being early in the week they were slow, but we made the best of it. My Wednesday gig got cancelled, so I went to dinner with the bass player on that gig, and prepped for the rest of the week. Thursday was the start of an incredible weekend. I played Kid Rocks with an incredible band 6 to 10.

Friday I played 2 gigs. And Saturday I played 3. One of which was at Miranda Lamberts rooftop. That was my first time playing there and it was an incredible stage to play. And our audience that morning was incredible.

Sunday I got a call last minute to play at Luke Bryans during the superbowl. That was an interesting gig, and I got to play tons of songs that I had never done, including some Eminem songs. Then I went to wrap up my week at Tin Roof. I always love finishing the week on that gig. The band leader is incredible, the bass player is an incredible musical director, and the drummer is incredible, and always throws in half time at the perfect time (my personal favorite touch).

This week was full of ups and downs and I wouldn’t change it for anything.