Shaun Barrowes – CRAZY TOUR STORIES

In this Crazy Tour Stories segment, the soul artist, Shaun Barrowes, talks about some of his crazy moments from touring. You can check out the feature, after the break.

We were stranded in Brigham City, Utah. Our new manager wanted to impress us with his negotiating skills by renting us an RV for half the price. What we got was half of an RV. There were six in the band, at the time, three of whom were minors under the age of 18. At the ripe old age of 25, I was the oldest and the only “responsible adult” of the group, so it was up to me to figure out a solution. I pulled out my cell and started making calls.

First, the local police showed up. We told them our situation and asked for a ride to the nearest car rental dealership. With a hard pass and a solid “no can do”, the officer left us on the side of the road. He apparently had better things to do in the thriving metropolis of Brigham City, Utah. The rental car dealership was 3 miles away, so I called them to see if they could pick us up. Once again, they gave us a hard pass and said we needed to find our own ride. The cruel irony wasn’t lost on me, and I gave them an earful. What’s the point of renting cars to people who don’t have cars if you can’t go and pick them up?! The manager who brokered this steal of a deal that left us in our predicament called the only person who trusted him: his clinically insane girlfriend. She drove 2 hours to pick us up, so we could go 3 miles to the rental car dealership. I got in the car, and my life passed before my eyes and this crazy woman continued talking about how we could die at any moment and she’s not sure if she even wants to live anymore. She kept mentioning how easy we could get in a car accident and die. I clung to life and prayed.

We reached the rental car dealership and I wanted to throw eggs at the ridiculous establishment, but I needed a vehicle. This scholarly car salesman stared dumbfounded at his computer screen for what felt like two hours supposedly filling out the necessary paperwork to get us on the road. Finally, I was off! Driving a 15-passenger cargo van for the first time in my life, I headed back to where my ragtag team of musicians was waiting for me. By the time I reached them, they looked like sad puppies looking for a home. I arrived, we packed up the cargo van and finally were on our way to Portland. We arrived in the early hours of the morning, dog tired and dragging our feet to the hotel rooms. Fortunately, our gig in Portland provided us with hotels, so we at least had beds to sleep on. We had a great show in Portland the next day, so in the end, it all worked out. We will always remember Brigham City, Utah, and the good times we had.

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