DESCRIPTION:
John was invited by Rocky Caron, his good friend and bandmate in several of his project bands for over 20 years, also performing together in "Audio Rodeo", who is also the drummer for Country Legend Johnny Lee (Urban Cowboy, etc.), to go with him to OKC where Johnny was performing on Saturday, July 11, 2009. John went with him there and back on the tour bus (formerly Mel Tillis' bus), and was it HOT outside (over 105 degrees)!

John assisted the person providing sound, as John had engineered much larger shows for Johnny Lee in the past. This was a fun night and trip for John. The show was at a smaller venue and as a favor to Fred Cortez, owner, well-known in the OKC area for many years. Ironic, John performed at Fred's original "Chastain's" club back in the early '80s when performing with his 2nd journey with "Touch of Class" merged for this gig with a local favorite band, "Magic".

This night's show was packed and all had a great time. John spoke with some folks he hadn't seen in a long time, including two of the band members, Mark and Rusty. Johnny's former guitarist, Steve, and his musician friend Mike Myers, were in attendence and were a lot of fun. Steve sat in on a couple of tunes. The keyboardist sitting in this night, David, who performs with Roy Clark, did a great job and is a super nice guy, also...one of the many drummers John performed with in his experience with concert/club bands, was Rick Gomez, who also performed with Roy for many years...small world.

Johnny and band were great, lots of fun. John respected their professionalism and positive attitude despite the lack of proper sound and lighting this night. Johnny's sister, Jan, was in attendence selling merchandise, and kept John company during the band's sets, sharing stories of music industry persons they know in common, as well as military stories, as John is an "Air Force Brat" and as she was active for many years in the Air Force, Johnny in the Navy. Both Johnny and John spent time in Vietnam, Johnny active Navy, John as an Air Force dependent.

John thanks Rocky very much for the invitation, it was a small vacation and wonderful trip which John needed and enjoyed.

(SIDE NOTE: One of the first country tunes John ever performed after his experience with Charlie Rich, his first experience in country music, was a hit sung by Johnny Lee!)