We had played Buffalo, NY on that Sunday, August 21st and stayed in a hotel in the area that night. The next morning we woke up and leisurely ate breakfast before we drove to my mother’s house in Wooster. We arrived in time for dinner Monday night and went to bed after a few rounds of video games with my sister.
The next morning we needed to be in Cleveland by 8 AM because I had gotten a television spot for Evan on WKYC-TV, NBC’s channel 3 News for Ohio. I had been working on press for Evan pretty heavily when we were stationary in Nashville and as a result had a lot of interviews lined up for Evan in the month of August.
We were greeted by the producer of the show and escorted upstairs to set up. I had never been in a television studio before but I assume the setup was normal. There were 4 different areas built up around the perimeter of the room; a lounge area, a kitchen area, a stage area, and what looked like a small audience section with about 10 chairs. In the middle of the room were the 3 cameras and a handful of people helping with the production of the show.
Evan set up his amplifier and porch board base before running through a few songs. I watched from the production booth down the hall and shook with anticipation. The hosts, Mike and Andrea introduced Evan before going to a commercial break. The camera panned to Evan as he played his song “40 Nights” and cut to commercial after he sang the lines, “No I won’t pray, to a killing God”.
The anticipation was killing me, I was so nervous for the next segment where he would play an entire song and then be asked to join the hosts on the couch for an interview. Evan played his song “Latitude” and answered the questions in a relaxed manner. A rush came over me as the segment ended, his first television appearance had gone wonderfully!
We drove back to Wooster a little before noon and met my mother and my sister for lunch at Broken Rocks in the downtown. We then walked the streets and stopped in many of the unique shops before settling in the Hungarian coffee and pastry shop. Evan and I parted ways with my family and spent a few hours on the College of Wooster campus, our alma mater and where we first met.
I remember breathing the air and feeling revived, drinking the water from the tap and tasting home. I don’t think I could settle down in Wooster but from this tour around the United States I have developed a respect for my hometown. It is beautiful and clean, the downtown is thriving and the campus is tranquil with its mango tree grove, limestone archways and modern art sculptures between the academic buildings. It felt safe and familiar which is what home should be.
Wednesday, August 24th was the show at the Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls just outside of Cleveland. The outdoor amphitheater is a large wooden structure built for orchestra acoustics and is surrounded by a large national park. My father, sister and her boyfriend Tony all came to the show to support Evan. I also greeted a photographer and radio host from Maximum Threshold who did a piece on Evan before the show. And to our surprise a friend of ours from college, Justin attended the show. We were very busy!
That night we started our drive to the Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul, MN. It was a long drive and driving back to Wooster for the night would have added an extra 2 hours to the trip so we decided to get a hotel in Toledo. Even though the couple of days in Ohio were busy I felt revived by the familiarity of it all.
You and Evan were absolutely wonderful to Dave and I (Dom) from Maximum Threshold Radio. It was really nice to meet both of you and to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with Evan and hear about his many experiences in the music biz was a real treat. I only hope for great things to happen for him. As I have told both of you, that we are here for you and will do whatever we can do to help promote his music.
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