#4125 was awesome! I'm still on cloud nine! This little overnight trip was a Mother's Day present for my mom. My hubby (Ed), Mom, her friend Ellie, and I arrived around 1 p.m. Checked into our cottages so Mom & Ellie would have a place to "crash" while Ed & I went to 2 o'clock show.

We spotted Al shortly before the show. And then caught up with Bobbie and grandkids. It was Jessie's 7th birthday. She was so excited, she could barely catch her breath while talking to us!

Before the show, a BCF representative showed off their newest "toy"...a HUGE music machine they bought from a pig farmer. The thing had been stored in his barn. Only 250 made....only 50 left on the planet. Truly unique. The guy telling us about this (and introducing RITS) is the same guy who is the voice of "Buford" the Bear. If you havent been there, it's this talking stuffed bear that carries on conversations with you, and whistles as the girls go by!

Then it was time for our guys! They were totally wonderful as always. I swear they get better every time I hear them! How do they improve upon perfection? I didn't keep a play list. Bobbie is going to provide that. I do know they did "Navajo Trail" during the first set. One of my all-time favorites. They also did "TX Sand"...another one that just makes me melt! Joey has such a terrific voice, doesn't he? They (Woody/Slim?) have a "goose" gun which I havent seen before. Woody constantly threatens Joey with it. It looks like a really, really, really long shotgun. Slim says he uses "salted balls" in it because of its long range...the meat would be spoiled by the time he got to it! During question time, the prize was to be a ham sandwich (with all the trimmings) made by Slim himself. One of the questions was, "Why was the guy on the end (Slim) funnier in the parking lot than he is on stage?". Slim's answer was, "I do some of my best work in parking lots!". As you can imagine, they went off on a tangent from there! Another question was something like did they pattern themselves after the Sons of the Pioneers. RD answered something sensible about yes...them and others. Then Woody said something like, "This type of music has been slowly fading away for some time. We decided to just go ahead and kill it off completely!" The lady with the winning question asked, "Just how OLD is that sandwich?". She got the sandwich, and her picture taken with Slim. We saw her in the lobby....she was saving the sandwich (for freezing), and had the guys autograph the plate.

When it came time for requests, (aka....Surfin USA), Al threw them a curve. He asked for "Yellow Submarine"!! They all laughed and said he was having a 60's flashback. Slim went right into it. The others quickly followed, and they did it just fine. When they were done, Slim turned to RD and said, "I never saw such a stunned look on your face!" You could tell they were totally unprepared for that, but got thru it and had fun! Way to go, Al!!!!

They also did an inspirational song I had never heard before....I think it was "The Mystery of His Ways". RD said, "Let's do that one we messed up so badly in Ann Arbor last night". I can't imagine them ever messing up anything! But it was a BEAUTIFUL song.

Bobbie will have to tell you about songs and outfits. I'm too awestruck to remember all those details. I did ask her several times if she had met up with Cyberpal Eric Marks, and she said no. We kept a lookout though, just in case!

After the show, we didn't have them autograph anything, but did stop by just to say howdy. They asked if we had any special requests. I wanted "Dont Sweetheart Me" (not really western, but great old song that Joey sings), and Ed wanted "Cant Shake the Sands of TX from my Shoes". Joey said "Dont Sweetheart Me" will be on Pair of Kings album. I said, "Yeah, if you ever have time to get it done!!".

I have to take a moment to mention that Bobbie had her own kinda "time-warp" thing going on all day. First off, she thought BCF was on a different time than she and I (not so), so she had Al doing 80 mph to get there....only to find out they were early! Then when it came time for the 2nd show, she had it in her head that it started at 8...but it was really 7:30. So they were all sitting in their van "killing time" for the first 20 minutes of the 2nd show! LOL! Sorry, Bobbie...I had to tell on you! :)

I think the 2nd show was the best I have ever seen. (Only been to about 7). They were in rare form. Did everything beautifully! They did "Dont Sweetheart Me" which I totally loved. They also did an old one that even my mom didnt know (surprisingly)...."Along the Sante Fe Trail". Songs don't get any prettier than that! RD told me it was on "Cowboys in Love" cd...which is now out of print and not even on the merc. Boo. :( Their instrumental piece was "Bye Bye Blackbird"....and Slim channeled Satchmo at the end...even tho he didnt know all the words! LOL!

The prize at question time was Slim's own cactie (none were at the merc). Ed asked, "After 4125 shows, how do you stay so young-looking?" Well, THAT won it! Slim couldn't see who asked til Ed got up close to the stage. Then he pointed, laughed, and the other guys did too. (I think they know Ed well enough to know what a cut-up he is!). They also did eventually do "Can't Shake the Sands of TX from My Shoes", so Ed really loved that.

Afterward, was picture and autograph time. Bobbie and I finally spotted a guy matching Eric's description. It was him! He was there with his mom. (What I good son...I LOVE that!) Was nice to chat with him, but we didn't have much time. And I had no idea til later that he was just sick as two dogs. Sure didn't show it. You did good, Eric! After the crowd thinned, I got a chance to introduce my mom to the Riders. She's in a wheelchair, so it was easier to wait til there weren't so many people in the way. She was just in 7th heaven!! She grew up just loving cowboy music and movies. Our whole family has always played musical instruments, so to meet guys this good, she was just beside herself. Couldn't have had a better Mother's Day present! She thought she would be totally tongue-tied....but next thing I knew she standing next to RD wanting her picture taken! (She can stand a little bit if she has something to lean against....and she didnt mind hanging onto RD! LOL) She even told RD she had died and gone to cowboy heaven!! So not only was it fun for me to see RITS, it was great seeing my mom having some fun for a change!

Pretty long review, eh? I could go on and on and on about these guys. But I'll let Bobbie tell the rest! I just cant seem to shut up when it comes to RITS! Hope you all enjoyed reading about it.

Your Saddlepal,

Jan