The Steel Guitar Forum

We were hired tonight to play a Pro Bull Riders association barn dance in a HUUUUUUGE barn. The biggest barn I ever saw. Anyhow you could smell the horse poop and the beer was flowing. REAL country. Too bad the band I play with isn't. Country rock you know.
Anyone ever play in a barn?

For about eight years I was a member of the "Barnstormers" playing barn dances. We played in just about every type of place. The worst was a big old barn with cows at one end, one wall missing, temperature very low, and even with jackets, scarves, etc we couldn't feel our fingers.

Guess that was why I packed up doing barn dances. But even to this day I have nightmares..........

Back in the 1980's when real-estate was skyhigh and black gold was $60 a barrel, many of the high-rollers in Oklahoma were investing in horses, and they had some real blow-outs in their barns. Of course many of those "barns" were nicer than my house, with champaign fountains sitting on hay bales, Chivas Regal by the case, rib-eyes & prime rib still warm from the steer, etc, just like "South Fork" Ranch on the "Dallas" Television show.

I played some of those and it was a real experience....but, then the market fell apart and it all ended, beginning with the fall of "Penn Square Bank" in Oklahoma City that reverberated throughout the oil states, and most of the "Rolex's and horses
disappeared.

I never expect to see "barn dances" like that again! www.genejones.com <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Gene Jones on 06 October 2002 at 04:21 AM.]</p></FONT>

I've played many a barn dance - no electricity in the barns, but that didn't hurt the music any....

Played one last July at the Hofer Ranch in central North Dakota. In the Loft even. It was hot, but we had a great time. The owner, Del also plays in the band with us at times. Good singer. His Daughter Vicci is also a great singer and keyboard player. Like I said, it was hot but I'm looking forward to next year.

Barn Dances, not a bad gig for an ole country boy, they use to have them here in the spring and fall,,so weather was nice, some of the best bar-b-q,, even played Wagon Trains, and you didn't have the benefit of a barn, just a large hay wagon, with a tarp over top. not much money,,but lots of fun. wouldn't trad those memories for some of your best money gig's.

Wayne

We played a sorority Barn Dance for FSU for years in the Florida Panhandle. I always dreaded it because there were straw bales and straw everywhere and they were smoking them funny lil' cigs.... I just knew there was going to be a fire and if it had, we never would have been able to save anything but our own skins. Lucky for us it never happened !!

Regards, Paul<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Paul Graupp on 06 October 2002 at 08:53 AM.]</p></FONT>

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, there was a massive chicken barbeque with roast potatoes and cole slaw. Now that's country!!<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 06 October 2002 at 09:40 AM.]</p></FONT>

As a youngster, I had the occasion to play at the Dollars Corner Barn Dance (Hall)...in Orchards, WA. It was a REAL BARN converted with a great dance floor, band stand, lots of hay bales, and friendly nabor folk. The atmosphere was great, lots nicer than today's modern truck stop environments.
Also played at the Skyline Barn Dance...out near Cornelius, OR., about 15 miles northwest of Portland, OR. Drove by there a couple of weeks ago and amazed the tiny old place is still standing. If one looks close, you can still read the sign painted on the large double roll-back doors.
It too was a REAL BARN but again, great folks and great music and fun.

an afterthought.......being only a kid, I had to ride to and from the barn with the greatest rythym guitar player I've ever met.
He had a 1946 Ford, tudor. While driving me home in the early morning darkness in what was an isolated rural area he became concerned about unusual noises that we could hear and then he noticed sparks shooting out from beneath his car. Someone had hung about 100 real old fashioned horse shoes all across his front bumper. As we'd hit the rough joints in the roadway, another shoe would fly off and skid across the pavement in a shower of sparks. T'was great to be a kid.

I've played some barn dances over the years at working barns, made over for an evening. It certainaly is an authentic setting and the aromas fit the bill.

I wonder how popular this new country would be if the buyers of it had to actually put on barn boots and jump in and shovel a pitchfork or two full of the real stuff.

Come to think of it, it's been a few years since I hauled a spreader around the fields, filling the air with cowpoop.

It's much more fun sitting on a hay bale watching them young heifers strut their stuff.

I played one just the other night up in Moorpark,CA with The Riders Of the Purple Sage.A lot of the Riders gigs are in rural,ranch or equestrian settings. We call them "Dirt Gigs" cause you always end up w/dust,hay(and worse)all over your gear and clothes.
-MJ-

I get to play in a barn all the time. It would be more fun if it wasn't mine and I didn't have to muck out the stalls and feed every day.

For a few years in a row we use to get booked by a Family for their annual Barn dance in Hampden Mass.They set up a portable dance floor and we set up in front of the main barn entrance.It use to be an early gig because of poor lighting and mosquitos so we never had to take off time from our evening job.Although after eating and drinking all the great food and drink we should have.We didn't mind the smell of manure and potato salad.They were Horseman and one had a pretty daughter, and all the Horsemen new her.

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CJC

I remember playing one down in Aiken, S.C. for a bunch of real rich thoroughbred racehorse owners. They had bars all over the place, with the old gentlemen in dinner jackets pouring premium whiskey, they'd butchered two fine young steers---but we were into stuff to stay awake, and couldn't eat a bite! Steaks big as both of my size 13 feet, and didn't even want to SMELL them!
Got plenty to drink, though.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Stephen Gambrell on 08 October 2002 at 07:59 AM.]</p></FONT>

Did I ever play a barn dance! Years ago I played for a barn dance that a farmer put on for his neighbors. Seems that he had a heart attack or something and they all got together and put in his crops. That fall they harvested the crops for him as he was still recovering. Anyway, they have a hay wagon in the barn and run a couple of extension cords from a tool shed next to the barn. We get all set up and start in. About the 2nd or 3rd song the power goes dead. After some troubleshooting it is found that the extention cords have become seperated. We get it plugged back in and start up again. We get to the 2nd or 3rd song and wham-o, dead again. Same problem. We get it plugged back in and take off again! 2nd or 3rd song, yep, dead again. Well, the cords we running accross the top of a fence inside the barn, where the cows were! Well, it seems this one particular cow was not a Country Music fan and kept pulling the plug !!!They finally took her out of that pen and put her where she couldn't get at the plug. The rest of the gig went off okay. Other than it was late in October and colder than a well diggers boot. I hadn't been playing that long but I didn't think I was that bad! Anyway, that's my barn dance story, just the way it happened.
Whip


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Whip Lashaway
Sierra E9/B6 12 string
Sierra E9/B6 14 string

I've played a few. They were a lot of fun, some of my most memorable gigs.

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<small><img align=right src="http://b0b.com/b0b.gif" width="64" height="64">Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (F Diatonic), Sierra Laptop 8 (D13), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6), Roland Handsonic

The only drawback to the job was the dust on the equipment that I had to clean off the next day. It covered everything. Also breathing the dusty air. Other than that I was well paid and well fed. Its nice to have the opportunity to play for REAL country people occasionaly. Those are some great stories!

We used to play a barn dance in Danville Vt a couple times a year. We did'nt carry a fiddle player in the band so we used to hire Joe cocker for the gig. The reason being that it was required that you play a certain amount of square dances during the evening. They furnished the caller. The cows were below us. They were moooooing! And we were Yahoooooing!! Lots of fun!!!!

Leigh

I've played a few that were mostly a ton of fun (other than the dust). Far weirder to me was playing at the Saddle Rack in San Jose when they had an indoor rodeo ring with bull riding. Kinda distracting trying to play with bulls milling around just a few feet from the audience. (Unfortunately, the ring was well constructed so no line dancers were hurt...)

I played once in a hundred year old barn in an apple orchard outside of Sebastapol CA.
The barn hadn't been used in years and they built a hay bale ladder leading up to the loft.
There was no electricity so we ran a bunch of extension chords across the road to a house.
We set up in the loft and started playing.
The folks on the floor started dancing on the dust covered floor and we could barely
breath. Then the bats went nuts and started flying all around us....WHAT A BALL!!
I am not sure Bobby Lee was playing with us at that time. Were you there b0b?
Jack<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 15 October 2002 at 07:13 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jack Francis on 17 October 2002 at 04:50 AM.]</p></FONT>

Bump

I played at the old Painted Pony, up in Lake Luzerne,N.Y., many years ago. Sat night was rodeo night, and the dust was absolutely horrible.We played just outside the arena, protected by a split rail fence. Not really too safe. Then we would go inside the converted barn to finish the night off. It took most of Sunday to clean my steel of the dust.

Way Back when I was a kid..and just getting into the music thing..our little band would play Barn Dances and square dances at small town halls or rec. centers.or the like.Fall festivals..etc. Always had bailed hay around to sit on( no smaoking of course) on guy I played with playes a little Thee leged steel (No) pedals. I think it had 8 strings..I realy didnt uderstand the concept of it. I said that I could do that on my 6 string eletric. and I thougy that the Banjo was cool to..Those dances were dusty..but who cares when you're trying to impress the girls! I guess I didn't do to bad for a city boy..who was realy "Country" in his heart!!

Way Back when I was a kid..and just getting into the music thing..our little band would play Barn Dances and square dances at small town halls or rec. centers.or the like.Fall festivals..etc. Always had bailed hay around to sit on( no smoking of course) one guy I played with played a little Three legged steel (No) pedals. I think it had 8 strings..I realy didnt uderstand the concept of it. I said that I could do that on my 6 string eletric. and I thought that the Banjo was cool to..Those dances were dusty..but who cares when you're trying to impress the girls! I guess I didn't do to bad for a city boy..who was realy "Country" in his heart!!