Life On The Road

The first couple years we were dating, my husband was on tour with Frankie Lee, an old Blues man from Texas. Though they traveled all over the US and Canada, it was the tour stops here on the west coast that I was always waiting for. Those were the times I would pack a bag and hop on the van and hit the road with him.

I'd always had friends in bands, so I'd been backstage to most of the rock clubs in the Bay Area, and they usually were too small and dirty to hang out in. At the time I started dating my husband those dirty closet sized green rooms was the extent of my "with the band" experiences. Going on the road with a professional was a whole different thing.

The first time I ever went on the road with him was to a show at a place called The Blue Cafe in Long Beach, CA. I fully expected to pull into a Motel 6. and that would be that. Not quite. We pulled into what I think was the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. It was gorgeous! It was right on the beach and we were all treated like celebrities. Well, because they were. 

At the club that they played, I was served White Russians, and treated like a queen by everyone who worked there. They never questioned or even noticed that I was barley 18! This was treatment I could get used to, and did. Luxurious hotels, classy gigs like The House Of Blues and B.B. Kings club in Studio City. Where we stayed at the celebrity filled Sportsman's Lodge. Probably one of the most beautiful hotels I've ever seen.

The royal treatment continued even after he left the band and began playing for someone else, and eventually on his own. To this day there are still clubs that  he can walk into, and is treated like a star. Which of course makes sense, because he truly, truly is.

Though the days of luxury hotels are over, whenever I hear Frankie Lee on the radio, it takes me back to those days of being on the road, with the man who would turn out to one day bring me more riches then I could ever imagine.