Jorma Kaukonen At Lost Weekend Records Sunday October 7th - by Scott Carr

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Lifetime Achievement recipient Jorma Kaukonen will be making a very special appearance at Lost Weekend Records this coming Sunday, October 7th. Jorma will be promoting his autobiography Been So Long : My Life and Music, released by St. Martins Press on August 28th, 2018.

Jorma is a founding member and lead guitarist of the pioneering San Francisco based psychedelic rock band Jefferson Airplane. Jorma was a member of Jefferson Airplane during the bands entire existence from 1965 until their breakup 1972. In 1969 Jorma formed Hot Tuna with fellow Airplane member bassist Jack Casady, while Jefferson Airplane was on a hiatus. For awhile both bands co-existed and Hot Tuna even opened shows for Jefferson Airplane. After the 1972 Airplane breakup, Jorma turned his focus to Hot Tuna. Initially Hot Tuna was an acoustic-based unit that showcased Jorma's finger-picking guitar style. Eventually Hot Tuna would go "electric" with the release of their 1974 album The Phosphorescent Rat. Various members of Jefferson Airplane performed with Hot Tuna over the years but Jorma and Jack have been the core of the group and they still perform several shows each year as Hot Tuna. Jorma has also released several solo albums over the years, beginning with 1974's Quah.

In 1998 Jorma - along with wife Vanessa - opened Fur Peace Ranch located in the village of Pomeroy, the county seat of Meigs County Ohio. Fur Peace Ranch is a music and guitar camp that has allowed Jorma to get back to his roots of teaching guitar, which is a passion he had been pursuing prior to his days with the Airplane. The guitar camp gives players of varied skill sets a chance to spend a weekend together and immerse themselves in music and learn from each other. It's not a Rock N Roll Fantasy camp, but more of a creative adventure that sparks inspiration.

Jorma performing at Fur Peace Ranch with Steve Earle. Photo taken by Kyle Siegrist.

Jorma calls it “a ranch that grows guitar players.”

Lost Weekend Records owner Kyle Siegrist attended his first guitar camp at Fur Peace in September of 1998 and has returned several times over the past two decades.

In 2007 Jorma did an in-store performance at Lost Weekend Records to promote his then recently released Stars In My Crown CD. The store was standing room only for this performance and even the parking lot was full of Jorma fans hoping to hear a bit of the performance.

This Sunday, October 7th, Jorma is returning to Lost Weekend Records for a very special and intimate event focusing on his new book Been So Long: My Life and Music.

Jorma will be conducting two readings from the book which will include song performances, a Q&A session and a chance for attendees to get copies of Been So Long signed. The first reading will take place at 11AM, followed by another at 1PM . With limited space for the book readings, both sold out quickly. The good news is, Jorma will be hanging around the store for an extra 2 hours to sign books and meet fans that weren't able to get into the book readings.

Lost Weekend Records will have plenty of books on hand to purchase and get signed. The General Public book signing will begin at 2PM and go until 4PM. No tickets are needed for this portion of the event.

Lost Weekend Records is located at 2960 North High Street Columbus, OH 43202

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the recent passing of Jefferson Airplane member Marty Balin. Marty passed away September 27, 2018 at the age of 76.

Jorma posted a touching tribute to his fallen band mate and friend. Here is just a piece of that tribute..

"Marty and I were young together in a time that defined our lives. Had it not been for him, my life would have taken an alternate path I cannot imagine. He and Paul Kantner came together and like plutonium halves in a reactor started a chain reaction that still affects many of us today. It was a moment of powerful synchronicity. I was part of it to be sure, but I was not a prime mover. Marty always reached for the stars and he took us along with him." - Jorma Kaukonen

I will leave you with a few YouTube clips featuring some of Jorma's work over the years, including a song Jorma co-wrote with Marty Balin called "She Has Funny Cars" from Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow album.

Scott Carr is a guitarist who plays in the Columbus, OH  bands Radio Tramps and Returning April.  Scott is also an avid collector of vinyl records and works at Lost Weekend Records. So...if you are looking for Scott....you'll either find him in a dimly lit bar playing his guitar or in a record store digging for the holy grail.

Title: She Has Funny Cars Album: Surrealistic Pillow Track No: 1 Written By: Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen Marty Balin - Lead Vocals Grace Slick - Vocals Jorma Kaukonen - Lead Guitar Paul Kantner - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals Jack Casady - Bass Guitar Spencer Dryden - Drums

Jorma Kaukonen playing Embryonic Journey Live Jefferson Airplane, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 1996 Re-uploaded as the sound on the original video had become distorted.

Hot Tuna - Keep On Truckin' Recorded Live: 3/22/1973 - 46th Street Rock Palace - New York, NY More Hot Tuna at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF

From Quah.

Title: Third Week In The Chelsea Album: Bark Track No: 8 Written By: Jorma Kaukonen Grace Slick - Vocals Jorma Kaukonen - Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals Jack Casady - Bass Guitar with Will Scarlett - Harmonica (uncredited)

@ I do not own the copyright to this recording so if it needs to be removed, I will remove it. If you like this album please buy it for the full experience.

@ I do not own the copyright to this recording so if it needs to be removed, I will remove it. If you like this album please buy it for the full experience. Line-up / Musicians Jorma Kaukonen - vocals, lead guitars Jack Casady - bass, vocals, eyebrow, bass balalaika Sammy Piazza - drums, percussion Tracks Listing 01.

Stars in My Crown album Townes Van Zandt - The Highway Kind , Malvina Reynolds - the Albatross , The Little Mouse

Tom Petty TV Party Tribute - by James Baumann

Bad news breaks differently now. Before, when a musician died, you heard about it over a conversation at a bar or a day or two later in the newspaper. Some artists would warrant a radio DJ dropping in to share the bad news. They had to be Elvis of John Lennon to get the breaking-news treatment on television.

Now, however, the five stages of musical grief are pretty-well established. 1. Social media rumblings begin. 2. A frantic search for details. 3. Confirmation from a “real” news source. 4. Heartfelt tweet or Facebook post about how gutted one is. 5. Collective remembrance of artist through posts from other fans.

One year ago we tumbled through these steps for Tom Petty. The memories of Prince and David Bowie were all still fresh in our minds, but this one hit a little differently. With them it was a shock because; through their aura and mystery, one could be forgiven for thinking they were immortal. For Petty the shock came because his everyman compartment made him so relatable it was more like losing a relative; the uncle who you always could count on at family gatherings to deliver stories and smiles. This may have been even more the case because of the recent release of Warren Zanes’ definitive biography of the man.

The overall relatability of Tom Petty and his songwriting genius was on full display in the days following his death. The final step expanded beyond the usual as artists quickly amended their setlist to include covers of Petty’s songs. This, in and of itself, was not a surprise. What was remarkable was the wide range of bands that paid their tributes through song: classic acts, country and Americana bands, punks, rock stars, and on and on. Thanks to the ubiquitous cell phones at shows, most of these were captured for YouTube posterity. A sampling.

---

Bob Dylan – “Learning To Fly”

There are few truths in this world. One of them is if Dylan chooses to pay tribute to you and your music, you’ve left your mark.

John Fogerty - “I Won’t Back Down”

There are many parallels between Fogerty and Petty from tone to attitude, so this shouldn’t be a surprise. Adding to the poignancy of this performance is his story of how he uses this song as his personal pump-up anthem and the fact he performed it at a show in the wake of the Vegas mass shooting.

Little Steven – Even the Losers

It’s not much of a surprise that a rock and roll historian like Little Steven would pay tribute.

Foo Fighers – “Breakdown”

Dave Grohl, obvious by now, knows just about anyone who has ever picked up a guitar. I’m going to assume, though, that his friendship with Petty ran a bit deeper than others and there is, indeed, an alternate universe where he joined the Heartbreakers instead of forming the Foo Fighters.

Eddie Vedder - “Room at the Top”

Eddie Vedder, like Grohl, is always happy to join someone on stage or invite someone else up. And, like Grohl, had a genuine friendship with Petty and the Heartbreakers. Just last week he and Scott Thurston performed Petty songs at the Ohana Festival. Probably his most public tribute, though, was when he performed the underrated “A Room at the Top” during the Oscars’ in memoriam segment.

The Killers – “American Girl”

The Killers, with their flash and neon, would seem to be anthesis to Petty’s back-to-basics style, but they more than do justice to “American Girl” kicking off their ACL Festival set.

Miley Cyrus – “Wildflowers”

Also from the I-did-not-see-that-coming category was Miley Cyrus and her dad using her Tonight Show slot to pay tribute. She also did an even more stripped-down version for Howard Stern’s show.

Aaron Lee Tasjan with Patty Griffin – “Insider”

Guitarist Mike Campbell has said he could imagine a tribute show where multiple singers join the Heartbreakers to perform the Wildflowers album. If it comes to fruition, Aaron Lee Tasjan deserves consideration for one of those slots. Consider his solo version of “The Waiting” and “American Girl” performed the next night, as well as his duet with Lilly Hiatt of “Walls,” Finally, he teams up with Griffin in the Stevie Nicks role for this duet.

Wilco – “The Waiting”

The Petty influence on Wilco was much more evident on their first two or three records, but they still made a point of adding this song for a handful of shows last October.

Against Me! – “Running Down a Dream”

This may seem to be the most surprising act to pay tribute, but Laura Jane Grace’s story of pretend-playing along to Full Moon Fever on a tennis racquet makes the connection obvious.

University of Florida Football Fans.- “I Won’t Back Down”

Finally, there’s this tribute from the crowd at a University of Florida football game.. It’s not exactly an impromptu gesture – the song was played over the loudspeakers and they may have even put the lyrics on the scoreboard like it’s the Star-Spangled Banner – but when the crowd belts out the “heeeeeeey baby” you’d have to be pretty heartless to not get lost in the moment. Petty may have been all-too ready to get out of Gainsville as a hot-headed rebel, but as he would show later — particularly on the Southern Accent and Highway Companionalbums — part of him never really left. And, in this clip, his hometown remembered and appreciated that fact.

Others to check out:

• Rhett Miller, Gordon Keith and Ben Kweller – "Walls"

• Chris Stapleton – “Learning to Fly”

• Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dave Matthews, Patty Griffin – “Refugee”

• Goo Goo Dolls – “American Girl”

• Father John Misty – “To Find A Friend”

• Dawes – “Free Fallin’”

• Avett Brothers – “You Don’t Know How If Feels”

Well, How Did I Get Here? Tracing My Love for the Talking Heads by Anne Marie

So Colin wants to know about the David Byrne show and why I like the Talking Heads in the first place. He feels like he “missed the bus” on the whole Talking Heads thing. And I feel so freaking happy that I’ve been on the bus for as many crazy decades as I have. My only regret is that I wasn’t standing in CBGB‘s back in the mid-1970s when it all began. But I wasn’t. Back then I was still a kid in Rochester, New York. Hometown of Foreigner’s Lou Gramm and home to really one radio station of any note, 96.5 WCMF “Long Live Rock” FM.

Luckily, MTV launched in 1981 and one of my favorite videos ever, the Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” was in heavy rotation to expand my musical universe. Byrne, all nerded out in a skinny suit, bowtie and big Buddy Holly glasses, sweating profusely and hyperventilating, breaks out some spectacularly spasmodic, epileptic dance moves choreographed by Mickey’s Toni Basil (“Oh Mickey, you’re so fine, You’re so fine you blow my mind, hey Mickey, hey Mickey!”) while he appearing to undergo some sort of religious conversion.  Afro-funk beat and global-inspired dance moves. It was so very different than anything else I had seen/heard, even by MTV standards, and I was instantly hooked.

Talking Heads' "Once in a Lifetime," from the 1980 album Remain in Light

There was an amazing art theater on BU’s campus in the 1980s, Nickelodeon Cinemas, wedged between classroom buildings on Cunningham Street, and of course it showed Jonathan Demme’s concert film Stop Making Sense? when it premiered in 1984. If you have seen this, Byrne first appears on an empty stage, armed with only an acoustic guitar, and eventually is joined by bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and keyboardist Jerry Harrison. They then play hit after Talking Heads hit, ending with a wild performance in which Byrne propels himself about the stage grooving and jerking to the music in now iconic enormous white suit.

Stop Making Sense is director Jonathan Demme's remarkable concert film that captures the enormous energy and joyous highs of the Talking Heads live performance. Band members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and Jerry Harrison are joined by Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt in this groundbreaking concert film that is packed with the Talking Heads most memorable songs.

At that point, it felt like all Boston was consumed by Talking Heads fever.  We would party hop from school to school and every party, from BU to MIT, Harvard, BC and all the little colleges in the brownstones in the city would be blasting "Burning Down the House". I remember scavenging the record stores for used cassettes of Speaking in Tongues and other selections I was missing from the Talking Heads catalog. I splurged and bought Little Creatures new when it came out in 1985 and Naked when it came out in 1988 (somehow I missed 1986’s True Stories). Naked contains my favorite song, (Nothing But) Flowers”, which I love for Byrne’s lyrics.  After seeming to rhapsodize about the return to an agrarian society,

There was a shopping mall

Now it's all covered with flowers

You've got it, you've got it

Byrne flatly rejects that hippy 60s utopian vision and pleads not to leave him stranded there.  

“Flowers” has my one of my favorite song lines ever (“I dream of cherry pies, candy bars, and chocolate chip cookies”) which I like only slightly less than Ben Folds’ “I grew up on sugar cereal and TV/I'm starting to wonder what you see in me” from “Not a Fan”).

Later in 1988, I was studying abroad in Madrid and Stop Making Sense? made its way to the screen there.  The theater was packed and the audience went crazy for it.  I remember being so proud to be an American. I know that’s weird but absolutely true.

So, not much happened with the Talking Heads after that. They dissolved shortly after the release of Naked but officially disbanded in 1991. That’s the year I finished law school so I’m not sure I even noticed. In 2002, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of the band's albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and three of their songs ("Psycho Killer", "Life During Wartime", and "Once in a Lifetime") were included among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Did I know this until I did a quick Wikipedia search? No, not specifically. Because besides keeping their music in regular rotation, I really had stopped actively following the disbanded band’s goings ons.

Then, early this year, I came across Bryne signing Bowie’s Heroes in a Choir! Choir! Choir! video. Oh, that voice and that presence! I knew right that moment that if I had the chance to see him in concert singing Talking Heads stuff, I would be there.  

Choir! Choir! Choir! teamed up with David Byrne and a TON of singers in the Ford Foundation lobby of the Public Theater during the Under the Radar Festival to sing 'Heroes' written by David Bowie and Brian Eno It was magical + powerful.

And so it seemed serendipitous when I learned that Byrne was touring and while he would not be coming to Columbus, he would be coming very close.  In between catching the Heroes video and hearing about the tour, Byrnes had released his American Utopia solo album and I had received a live stream of it from one of my NPR music subscriptions and instantly felt at home with a few of the songs on the album. Little did I then know that I would be working and living in Boston in time to catch one of his two shows here in early August.

Ah yes, the show, I was supposed to write about the show.  Remember Stop Making Sense? and how first it was just Byrne on the stage with a guitar and then one band member joined him at a time?  Well, American Utopia started with Byrne sitting alone on a stage holding a big brain. The stage was boxed in by floor to ceiling curtains of silver-colored beads and in that sense it resembled the stage of a musical rather than a rock show. There was no drum kit, no microphone stands, no guitar racks, no amps, no roadies scurrying around busy with last minute setup and tunings. Byrne was in a business suit, this time grey and not oversized, but this reference back to Stop Making Sense? invoked in me the clearly intended sense of deja vu.  Through these beaded curtains various groupings of Byrnes’ nearly dozen (11? - hard to count when they all were dressed identically and in constant, choreographed singing, music-making motion) musicians and dancers would pop in and out, appearing and disappearing as primarily white and blue lights bathed and flashed about the stage. At times, the effect was mesmerizing, like watching a giant fish tank of sparkly silver tropical fish dart and swim about.

The musicians all wore their instruments strapped to them so they could move about the the stage and, together with the two uber-cheerful dancers, execute Byrne’s classic freaky awkward but oh so fun to watch choreographed dance moves to songs including the new album’s opening track, “I Dance Like This.”

I dance like this

Because it feels so damn good

If I could dance better

Well, you know that I would

This freedom from standing instruments also allowed the stage to be re-set instantly between songs without needing to move any equipment.  

My favorite “scene change” of the concert was the transition into “Burning Down the House”. Out through the beaded curtain comes Byrne with this red guitar playing one of the most memorable intros to any song - ever - and, as the musicians pop out onto stage and join in, the previously all blue set starts occasionally pulsing red as they (and the entire audience) sing/chant/yell “BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE!”

The final encore was a cover of Janelle Monae's "Hell You Talmbout" ("Say His Name) from the Women's March. So powerful with that many musicians in a line shouting all the names of those like Trayvon Martin killed in racist violence. I do think it was intended to be more interactive, yet those around me were content to pretty much watch rather than participate in the call and response. Hopefully, as with his music, where he was on the cutting edge of creating what Seymour Stein would christen “New Wave music”, Byrne is an early indicator, a barometer of sorts, of where society is headed in terms of unwillingness to tolerate this bigotry and ongoing needless violence.  - Anne Marie

Pearl Jam Road Trip Part 11: The End - by Kevin Montavon

(Click here for previous Pearl Jam Road Trip)

The crowing Rooster woke me in North Central Nebraska. The Rooster said it was time to head home.

After 16 days on the road, our adventures were winding down. We had a leisurely day planned for our last full day away from home, planning to see a few historical sites and take our time heading East. The primary destination for this day was Homestead National Monument of America. 

Homestead National Monument is located near the town of Beatrice (pronunced Be-AT-ris), Nebraska, about an hour south of Lincoln. It memorializes the Homestead Act, enacted by the United States Government to encourage settlement in the West. Free land was given away with the stipulation that the land would be "homesteaded"...worked, developed, and farmed. The site exists as a memorial and a tribute to those hardscrabble adventurers and dreamers who paved the way to the West for the rest of us.

We began the day in Lincoln with lunch and beers at Nebraska's oldest brew pub. The University District was relatively quiet and relaxed for a Saturday. We were one week early for the college football season,  but as residents of a Big Ten college town ourselves, we knew the place would be hopping in a week's time. After our repast we drove South to Homestead and spent the afternoon walking through the meadows and pathways, and checking out the preserved dwellings there. We then drove on to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where we met an old friend of mine for dinner and more beers (you might have noticed through the course of this series that we enjoy a good brewski). Our intention then was to drive through the night, arriving home in Ohio in the early morning. 

But we woke up at a rest area on I-80 in eastern Iowa at around the time we had planned to be home. I had dozed off immediately after hitting the road, and Heather had grown drowzy as well so she had pulled in for a few Z's and slept through the night. We were under no pressure to be home at that time, but now we had a much lengthier stretch still to travel. 

Making the most of our now 8-hour delay, we pulled off the highway again in West Branch, Iowa to visit the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, which preserves the birthplace, childhood neighborhood, and resting place of The 31st President of The United States, as well as being the location of his Presidential Library and Museum. We were about an hour early for the opening of the visitor center, so we strolled around the quiet streets and drove to the Presidential gravesite. We got back to the center just as they were unlocking the doors and stamped our last cancellations for the trip.

8 hours later we were back home in Ohio. 7,219 miles, $565.55 in gasoline costs, 12 National Park sites visited, 9 hours of Rock And Roll and 97 songs later, we were finally home and sleeping in our own bed. Another adventure in the books, and a liftetime of memories made. And of course, I am already making plans for The Great American Roadtrip 2019.

Always remember one thing. The journey IS the destination.

Kevin Montavon has visited National Parks in the 48 lower states and attended over 1,500 concerts before beginning this road trip. He also sings in the band Plow Horse. 

Take a Knee with Scott Lucas and Local H - by Colin Gawel

Shame on me. I’m missing the Local H show tonight in Columbus.

For the record, if I was ever playing the I Heart Music Festival in Las Vegas, and for some reason they played the National Anthem before the show started.. I would take a knee in a peaceful protest of Clear Channel and hold up a boom box and blast some Local H.

The following song was used as Watershed pre-show music for hundreds of shows from 2003-2008.

For Those About to Rock I Salute Scott Lucas and Local H. .

Local H - Here Comes the Zoo (2002) - Palm Pictures Subscribe : https://goo.gl/BV2SJb Like our Facebook page : https://goo.gl/Fu74E1 Follow Us on Twitter : https://goo.gl/uv8zdj Visit our website : http://goo.gl/LaHHZt The Palm Channel will present some of the highlights from our catalogue, an eclectic mix of original short films, interviews from our archives exploring the roots and branches of Jamaican music, and much more.

As long as we are hating on The Man

Music video by Local H performing All The Kids Are Right. (C) 1998 The Island Def Jam Music Group

Pearl Jam Road Trip: Part Ten - by Kevin Montavon

Click here for previous Pearl Jam Road Trip .

"They can fly rings around the Moon, but we are light years ahead of them on the highway!" - Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

After our previous day at Little Bighorn, we had driven back through Sheridan, Wyoming in search of camping (keen readers take note...we had come full circle), but darkness falls quick in the mountains after sunset, and we had once again let time get away from us. So we drove back into town where we had phone service, and I pulled up my Hotels-dot-com app to look for a vacancy. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I had a free night's stay coming. So we booked a room near Gillette, one hour away, and close to the next day's destination, Devils Tower National Monument. 

Devils Tower was the first United States National Monument, established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. It sits in the Black Hills region of eastern Wyoming, near the border with South Dakota. Any trip to the Badlands or Mount Rushmore area should include some time at the Bear's Lodge (as it is known to Native American tribes in the region). Made even more famous by the Steven Spielberg film Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (still screened nightly at the Devils Tower KOA campground), the tourism industry here has maintained a steady uptick for the last 40 years. We had visited DTNM twice before, and both times we had taken the shorter paved walkway that circles the base of the monolith, about a mile and a half in distance and a relatively easy walk. On this our third visit, our third encounter so to speak, we decided to take the three-mile Red Beds Trail, which roughly follows the perimeter of the park site through varied terrain, descending to a canyon of red bedrock (hence the trail name) before the steady ascent back to the tower. It was fairly strenuous hike on a 90 degree day (we ran through all the water in our camelbacks as well as the extra two bottles we carried), but we were rewarded for our efforts with stunning views of the Belle Fourche River flowing through the valley below us and the tower's ever changing profile above.

After our hike we drove a scenic backroad into South Dakota. We stopped at an abandoned coal mine near the state line for some photos, and attempted to visit the Old West town of Deadwood, but there is only one road in and out of town and there was a parade going on which was forcing three-hour delays. So we turned around, returned to Interstate 90, and drove on to Hill City, SD where we were lucky enough to snag the very last room at the Super 8 Motel there. After checking in and enjoying a soak in the hot tub, we drove the 12 miles to Mount Rushmore National Monument. Travel tip: go to Mount Rushmore at night. It's open until 11:00 PM, and you can even get your NPS passport stamp in the visitor center until 10:00 PM. There wasn't anyone collecting the $11 parking fee (which is good for the calendar year so it's actually a good deal), so we skated on that. And best of all, we practically had the place to ourselves. There were just a few other people there, and they were being quiet and respectful. My previous visits to Mount Rushmore were always during the day, but seeing it lit up at night was truly awe-inspiring.

The next day we visited nearby Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park for stamp cancellations. We were over an hour early for the next tour of Jewel Cave, which is the longest cave system in the United States and one of the longest on Earth. Unfortunately for us, it is a two-hour walk through and we didn't have three hours to spare. A cave tour would have to wait for a future visit. At Wind Cave there weren't any tours operating because the elevator was on the fritz. 

We looked at our trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas and saw there was a dirt road which led from the Wind Cave area into Badlands National Park, our next destination. As big fans of the backroads, this was a no-brainer of a route. The initial part of the road was through ranching and farming areas, but about thirty miles into the drive we came to the town of Buffalo Gap. It was a decent size little village with not one, but two bars. One was called The Water Hole, and it was in a large log cabin style trading post building. There was a dry-erase sandwich board in front that advertised $1.50 hot dogs. A large banner informed us of "Live Music Every Friday Night", and another welcomed bikers (the world famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally had just ended the previous weekend). The other drinking establishment in the tiny hamlet was in a steel building literally on the edge of town, with a hand-written sign in the window that said "Last Chance Saloon". Thinking a couple hot dogs and a beer sounded good, we returned to The Water Hole. There were a few other cars in the small parking lot, and the place looked open, so we stepped inside.

The scene that greeted us was like a verse from the Charlie Daniels Band song "Uneasy Rider". Most of the lights in the place were turned off, and there was no one working behind the bar. At a table sat three men and two women, all with open beers in front of them. One man resembled Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty, the other two looked like Larry The Cable Guy's more fit brothers. Dead silence filled the air as they just stared at us.

"Um," I spoke up, "That hot dog special looked pretty good."

Uncle Si said, "Well, I don't have any made up, but if you want to wait I can see if I can fix you one." He stood up, looked through a doorway behind him that was blocked by stacked chairs and boxes and said "No, can't get to 'em". Then he sat back down. More silence and more stares...

After a few seconds that seemed like minutes I managed to spit out some more words. "Well, looked like a cool place you have here so we thought we would stop in and check it out. Have a good day."

We took a quick look around at the stage with amps, drums, and guitars already set up (this could have been the band hanging out before their Friday night gig I reasoned), and then beat a path back to the door and moseyed on out of Buffalo Gap. I had flashes of horror movies that started like this.

After that strange interaction, the remainder of the drive East was gorgeous as we approached the strange hoodoos and bluffs of The Badlands. We were visiting The Stronghold Unit, which is a largely undeveloped area of the park that sits on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We stopped and got our stamp at the White River Visitor Center, then drove a seven-mile gravel road to the top of Sheep Mountain Table, a large plateau that dominates that part of the park. We were greeted with stunning panoramic views of the surrounding wilderness.

It was getting late into the day and we still were trying to at least make it back to the Central Time Zone before we bedded down (saving ourselves an hour of clock time the next day), so we continued South through Pine Ridge before stopping at the Wounded Knee Massacre site, where shortly following the Battle of Little Bighorn, Sioux chief Bigfoot and 200 others...mostly women and children, were gunned down by the U.S. 7th Cavalry and buried in a mass grave. While I was reading the historical marker, a Sioux Indian man pulled up in his pickup truck.

"Is it oldies day out?" he said with a grin. 

The guy looked older than me, so I wasn't exactly sure about his angle, but I knew what he was stopping for...

"You guys like arts and crafts?" He looked at Heather and added, "Are you Native? You look like an Indian." Heather, being quick on her toes replied "I don't know." She wasn't lying. She is adopted and honestly doesn't know her exact heritage.

After a little more chit chat, he pulled out his tub of wares. All of the necklaces he was selling were more than I had cash on hand to buy, but he had a couple of small dragonflies woven from Prairie Sweetgrass that he only wanted $5 for both of them. He gave us his pitch, "These ward off negativity. Put them on a string and wear them around your neck". They were neat little souvenirs, so I bought them from him and we drove on into Nebraska to find a campground for the night.

With one day left in our trip, we were leaving the splendor of the Rocky Mountain region behind us...until next year