Ben's Tour Diaries
On the current tour with ZZ Ward, Ben Dumas has been journaling his experiences when he's not on the drums.
Check out the first 3 days on the tour, and stay tuned for more!
Day 1 of the Wild Feathers Tour
with ZZ Ward
La Grande OR to Portland
Call it Day 1, although we left our homes in
Nashville four weeks ago from today. Woke up in the same hotel today that we stayed in only six nights ago –
weird feeling when random hotels in the middle of nowhere become familiar. And in between those six nights we
spent some time in Denver, crossed the border in a plane to Toronto and back, and Wrapped up a tour with
Willie Nelson in Boise Idaho. It’s been quite a time.
Touring with the legendary Willie Nelson
was unbelievable. It was even more surreal joining him on stage every night to sing a few songs with him. The
image of all of us on stage smiling at each other and Willie smiling back at us will forever be etched
lovingly in my mind
Willie still puts on an amazingly entertaining and heartfelt show. If that
eighty-year-old man does not love performing for people, then he is at least the greatest actor of all time.
And he’s damn good at performing. He got me feeling the feeling for sure. Every night he played “You Were
Always On My Mind” I thought of my dog back in Nashville, “On The Road Again” made me think of my life with
my friends, “Georgia” made me think of my family and “To all the Girls I’ve Loved Before” made me reminisce
on well… all the girls who shared my life who now are someone else’s wives.
Day 2: Field
Trip
Portland OR to Redding CA
No show today, so we call it travel day. A
sit-in-the-van all day. But not before we had to wake up early (after playing a show last night) to make it
to a Portland television station at 8AM for an acoustic performance on the morning news show.
The
performance was good and fun, but the real highlight was messing around in the newsroom. We were like little
kids on a field trip. Giving accurate weather forecasts in front of the green screen. Taking pictures behind
the news desk. Etc. Silly, nerdy shit, but we had a blast. Turn us loose in an empty newsroom and you’ve got
five happy feathers.
An entertaining bookend to the day was getting hammered at the Logan’s bar
across the street from the hotel. Late night happy hour.
Which basically means drink as much and
as quickly as you can from 9 to 10 on the cheap. God Bless America and its cheap shitty alcohol and its
overloaded baked potatoes.
Day 3
Redding CA to San Francisco and beyond…
A black California highway, an endless California night. A night we have been anxious about for a
while. Gotta get to Los Angeles before the sun dies.
We played a show at the legendary Fillmore
in San Francisco tonight, and we have to be in La by tomorrow Morning for some meeting directly followed by a
taping for a late night television show. We were left with no choice but to pack up and leave immediately
after the show, if we want any chance of catching some sleep before the busy day tomorrow our national
television debut – even if its only a couple of hours of sleep. Its one of those nights where you want to
drink and talk to girls and go to bars in San Francisco and sleep in a comfortable bed. Instead, I’m in the
van freezing, my shirt still soaked in sweat from playing my heart out. And ill be so for the next five
hours.
Trying to cheat the night and beat the sunrise. But I’m not complaining. I thank God for
every inch of this lonely road I’m being scraped across. You gotta do what it takes.