Show #26: Johnson (City?), KS

Johnson High School Auditorium
February 25, 2006

Piano du jour: 7’ Baldwin, shallow touch and muddy sound, a bit out of tune on each end of the keyboard

Yesterday’s near-tropical temperatures were a mere memory this morning…brrr!

Being a lover of road trips, there are so many things along the way that I would love to check out, or great photo ops waiting to be captured, but we just don’t have the luxury to stop. For instance, today alone we drove past Historic Fort Dodge, the bone-dry Arkansas River, the World’s Largest Meteor, and the World’s Largest Hand Dug Well.

The big debate: Johnson or Johnson City? The Rand McNally Atlas says "Johnson". The Official Kansas State Map says "Johnson City". The town’s water tower says "Johnson". But the sign on the outskirts of town says "Welcome to Johnson City". A mystery for the ages. Whatever you call it, this town is so small that they don’t have any lodging options. So we stayed 22 miles to the east in Ulysses. The turnout for the concert was very small. Apparently there was something going on this evening in Ulysses.

In each of these towns, we are performing as part of a Community Concert Series. Most towns have four concerts scheduled through the year, and tickets are sold only on a subscription basis. Allied Concert Services, our tour organizers, have a number of different concerts that each venue can choose from. A showcase is held every year in Minneapolis, and representatives from all these local associations attend in order to see what is being offered. They return home to report on what they saw, and the local associations then choose which four concerts they want. It has been gratifying to hear so many times from audience members that ours was one of the best concerts they’d every had.

For weeks we had heard from Josh, who had toured through Johnson on a couple of occasions before, about Steve, the local association president. Steve was known to prepare a feast of gourmet pizzas for the performers after the show. We were hoping that we would be fortunate enough to partake. And did we ever!

Pizza #1: cilantro pesto, onions and thinly sliced sweet potatoes
Pizza #2: garlic, pine nuts, artichokes and feta cheese
Pizza #3: deep dish spinach
Desert pizza: apple tart

Wow! Thanks, Steve!

Miles traveled: 207
Hotel: Single Tree Inn