A Trip to Cloud Nine

Old 97's show number nine actually put me on cloud nine the other night, and I didn't wipe the smile off my face for two days. I'll try to blog a little more about the show itself later, but for now I just have to share yet another awesome small world story. When we bought our tickets for the show several weeks ago, we also bought tickets for Chad's brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Molly, who met us at the show Thursday night. Molly and I were talking about a friend of hers, I think her name is Ann, who also invited them to a different concert over the weekend. Molly mentioned to Ann that it was their lucky week since they'd already been invited to see Old 97's, at which point Ann said, "Oh, my cousin is in that band." Now when Molly told me she thought Ann's cousin was the bass player, I seriously thought she must be mistaken, since it just seemed too unreal that she would actually be friends with someone literally related to an Old 97. There were two other bands playing that night so I kind of though Ann's cousin was probably someone in one of the other groups, and then I sort of forgot the whole conversation.

A little later when Chad went into Grinders to get a drink, he came back out and told me that Murry Hammond, the bass player for the 97's, was actually right next to him in the restaurant. I was obviously disappointed that I hadn't gone along to get a glimpse, but then just a few minutes later, Molly came up to tell me that Ann was eating with Murry and her family in the restaurant! Molly had told Ann that I was a superfan, so Ann insisted that I should come in and meet Murry in person. I seriously didn't think I would at first, because I didn't want to seem like a crazed stalker (Chad keeps reminding me there's a fine line between superfan and stalker), but Jonathan and Molly kept encouraging me, saying that Ann assured them that it would be totally fine and not a big deal. They finally talked me into it and we went inside the restaurant and over to the table where Murry was sitting. I seriously thought for a second I might faint!

After Molly introduced me to Ann, she turned around asked Murry if he would mind meeting a big fan, and he got up from the table and came over to say hi. He seriously could not have been more kind, gracious and friendly, despite the fact that I was a babbling bumbling idiot who probably sounded slightly obsessed, which of course, I am. I don't really remember what I babbled about initially, but it might have been something about my brother living in West Hollywood, since I knew Murry lived in the LA area. He probably really thought I was a stalker at that point since I knew where he lived! Molly totally bailed me out since she had her wits about her, because she had enough sense to ask Murry if he would mind taking a picture with me. I'm so glad she did because I was so starstruck I don't think I would have thought of it. Even if I had remembered a picture, I don't think I would have been brave enough to ask!

Seriously, at this point I just went completely loopy, and I started babbling about how many years ago when we saw them at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, he and Ken (the lead guitarist) came out to watch the opening act (John Eddie, who we became big fans of that night) and I took a picture of the back of their heads because I was so excited to see them and that it would be nice to actually have a picture that wasn't just the back of his head this time. Seriously. He was probably terrified at this point that he was taking a picture with a crazy person.

Fortunately for Murry I'm not crazy--I was just extremely excited. Like really really excited. Like abnormally excited, which you can probably tell from this picture.


As my brother told me yesterday after seeing this shot on Facebook, I'm smiling so big it looks like my face is about to explode. Thankfully it didn't, and I lived to tell you this tale about the time I met Murry Hammond of Old 97's fame.