Montana in Missouri: The Lil Smokies
There are a lot of things that remind us of our time back in Montana. Whether it is the natural world on the rivers, or seeing community characters that mirror old friends, there is always a feeling that Montana is only an arm’s length away. This couldn’t have been truer when Amity and I found out that one of our favorite bands from Montana, The LiL Smokies, would be coming to St. Louis. This was a must do for us. Like any other adventure, we hopped into the car and hit the road. There was one slight difference to this trip. With St. Louis being such a short drive away and the show ending relatively early, we thought we could make this a quick there and back again kind of night.
Miles: 10,327
Quote of the Blog: “Good friends are like stars. You may not always see them and you still know they are there. When you do see them their shine reminds you why they are your friend.” - Anonymous
Song of the Blog: “Might As Well” - The Lil Smokies
It has been so long since we have seen the LiL Smokies play live. They are a fantastic bluegrass band from Missoula, MT. Their music is a blend of foot stomping bluegrass and velvety smooth acoustic strings! Their lead singer and Dobro Guitar player, Andy Dunnigan, is a great friend of mine. II grew up playing t-ball and baseball with him and his whole family is a great group of people. The kind of people we miss when we think about Montana. The last time we saw them play was two nights before I got knee surgery. Seeing them play over one thousand miles away from there is awesome!
We had some time to kill between our arrival in St. Louis and the beginning of the show. We looked into where we could get some dinner. That is when Amity found that the St. Louis Cardinals had tickets for $7!!! What could symbolize “Live Rad” more than having dinner at an MLB game before going to see one of my old friends I used to play baseball with. We knew that his father, the Legendary John Dunnigan, would not want us to do this any other way. Dinner was your standard baseball stadium food, but upgraded. We were both craving some BBQ. OH, SO GOOD! I got a brisket sandwich and amity got some pulled pork nachos. We enjoyed are dinner and watched the Cardinals have a couple good innings of baseball before heading to the music venue. The Cardinal’s ended up losing this game.
The show was not far outside of downtown at a bar called Off Broadway. This is a really cool venue with a large patio in a neighborhood with a bunch of cool old brick houses and apartments. One of the stand out things about this venue we loved was their large selection of non-alcoholic beers. This was much appreciated, since we had a drive at the end of the night. We immediately realized we were going to be at a small intimate show. We later found out from Andy they had put this show on their tour just a couple weeks ago to help give a new member some more experience before they go to larger festivals and shows. We didn’t mind this at all. The new member crushed the Banjo and has my personal seal of approval! We are used to seeing them play in a venue that smells like someone is always farting, and you are pressed up against everyone else in the place. This was nice to have room to dance and move around.
Seeing, listening and dancing to the LiL Smokies resonated so many good memories in Montana for both Amity and myself. For those of you that don’t know of the LiL Smokies, go to the top of this page and press play on the song of the blog. We have featured them already on our blog when we drove into Kansas City for the first time. They are a five piece all string band. The way they can generate rhythm and energy is amazing! They bring so much energy into each show. Andy is an ABSOLUTE BEAST on the Dobro Guitar. The way he can make that guitar sing as he slides along it is amazing! They are the real deal!
After the show it was really cool to catch up with Andy. Hearing great stories of adventures around the world as he was just getting back from Thailand and the band was gearing up for a summer of concerts, festivals and travel across the globe. It is awesome to see a childhood friend take his skills and open the world up. It is very inspiring to Amity and I as we are on our own adventure. We are grateful to have friends like him. We laughed that we would see him again in another town during another contract. Trust me when I say, it will happen! Cheers to an amazing night and a LiL Smokies memory!