Rolling west from Columbus, Ohio back home to Chicago, Christine Pardee got a message from her nephew reading, "I went to confession for the first time in a long time, so I wrote down a list so I wouldn't forget any sins. About halfway through, the priest pointed to the list and said, 'We don't have time for all this!'" That kind of reminded us of our weekend in Columbus - far too many things to recount!
It was a weekend of firsts for our drummer Nick Hirka - his first time in Ohio, his first time playing banjo, and his first time singing in public. Our first stop was at The Forums retirement home for a St. Patrick's Day concert. The seniors clapped and sang along and had stories to tell of their own music and times gone by. Christine found a particular friend, a gentleman named Al, who told us of a quasi "Antiques Roadshow" experience where he found a rather small instrument case that he bought for $10 at a flea market. He put down his cash and went home with a beautiful antique mandolin valued at over $4000, and he still plays it!
From there it was on to Sue Gall's greatest little listening room in the Midwest, the Hey Hey Bar and Grill. As southern Ohio braced itself for the severe storms heading their way, the Hey Hey braced itself for the "Switchback Berserkers!" The Berserkers, three very enthusiastic fans (all named Mike!) kept the room laughing and kept the band playing lots of rowdy Irish rebel songs. A fourth Berserker wanted to be sure we knew how he felt by telling us from across the room "I love ya'll!" and invited us to come play in "Corpus Christi, ya'll!" Our good friend Patrick, who was named Columbus's "Bartender of the Year" in a contest we suspect he ran himself, kept the drink orders filled and the Berserkers kept us laughing.
We had a full band at the Hey Hey as Soupbone with his wife Monica, who are both blind, took the Greyhound up from Cincinnati to keep beats on a whiskey barrel. For an encore, he even got up on stage with the band to belt out a rousing version of "Mustang Sally" with a Wolfman Jack shtick. As usual, Columbus stalwart Mike Wielbacher had a request list of at least 20 songs. Mike has been with us for some most unusual sightseeing ventures, including The Ohio Diner, Home of the Dagwood Sandwich. The Dagwood is a roughly three pound sandwich served with fries. The record for demolishing one is three and a half minutes. We opted for oatmeal and eggs.
Then it was back to the Hey Hey where the Shamrock Club and Daughters of Erin came by for their yearly tradition of painting a shamrock in front of the door of each of their favorite pubs. The boys serenaded the painters with "The Hangman" and the "Michael Collins Reels."Next we were off to St. Mary's Parish to practice for tomorrow's Mass featuring Switchback's liturgical music, an easy rehearsal with their talented choir. We got to see Miss Maggie Gall, Sue's daughter, who was working at the Hey Hey over the weekend. In the six years since we'd met her she'd grown from a charming girl to a lovely young woman. Soupbone was equally smitten, and attempted to Braille read her foot tattoo until Monica put her foot down!
Our second night at the Hey Hey was a continuation of the party started on Friday, with the exception of one Berserker who had flown back to "Corpus Christi, ya'll!" Dancing, singing, and lots of laughter were the rule for the night with everyone rocking out to Switchback classics and the new songs rehearsed over the weekend. Up on Sunday for a home-cooked farewell breakfast with Sue and Tim, it was then back to St. Mary's for a quick rehearsal, the Mass, and back in the van where the message was received from Christine's nephew as we headed home.
~ Christine and Nick
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