Tellico

In July 2015, we played for the folks at Tellico Village Baptist Church in Loudon, Tennessee.

We were delighted by hundreds of fans who had a great time listening and dancing, and we were impressed by the energy and generosity of the pastor and his wife, Charlie and Teresa Barnard.

We love Charlie and Teresa. Their ebullient sense of adventure is captured by this photo of them on their Yamaha motorcycle.

If you want to read the story of our first visit there click on this link:

http://thewannabeatles.blogspot.com/2015/09/fourth-of-july-pt-3.html

Because of Charlie and Teresa's energy, and the enthusiastic response we received, we were asked back this year, for two shows on Saturday night, April 30.

This time we were heading out in WannaBeatle Nathan's new 4Runner, while our sound man Allen Waugh carried most of our gear, along with his sound system, in his Ford Transit.

We also carried with us a young intern, an audio student from MTSU named Jeffrey Jenkins. He rode in the van with Allen, which we believed would be an educational experience for him.

We headed east on I-40, stopping for road food along the way.

Nathan, Allen and Jeffrey at Subway

Nathan's new 4Runner, this time without a trailer,

thanks to Allen's large van with room for most of our gear

When we arrived, we were greeted by Charlie and several other church members ready to help us unload.

Charlie, Allen, David, Nathan and Jeffrey at work

Working as a team

WannaBeatle Dennis strategizes the load-in

With a little help from our friends

We faced a time crunch, with a first show at 5 pm. We were playing in the same fellowship hall we had played in last year, which holds over 500 people. The entire hall had to be filled, emptied and filled again for the second show. And they got to see us for free - the church used their ministry budget to offer this concert as a community service.

We moved quickly as possible to set up, sound check and get dressed in time to play. It was close.

But everyone did their part, and the shows went well.

David setting up drums

Jeffrey learning his way among Allen's equipment

Allen demonstrating how his job requires,

and develops, muscular strength

Allen and Jeffrey in position beside stage

One big surprise was the appearance of a full-size Chick-fil-A mascot, the famous cow in the promotional red jersey, who came out to dance in front of the stage during "I Should Have Known Better." This became an opportunity for Bloggin' Bryan to pick up his camera and document the moment, even if that meant a few guitar notes would go missing.