CMT Blog: Archive

The 6:05 to Denver, my old nemesis. Every time the band travels west, it’s on the 6:05 to Denver. For some reason, every single airline has at least three flights leaving Nashville between 6:00 and 6:05 every morning, making 4:30-5:40 the absolute busiest times of the day. It’s inexplicable why anyone would choose to navigate an airport at this hour, but every few weeks I find myself singing Danny Barnes’ song, “My Baby, She’s Workin’ for the TSA,” (quietly, I wouldn’t want to arouse suspicion) in the security queue, praying I’ll be directed toward my bag and not the little glass box. I’m very thankful for the additional element of safety the TSA provides, but it can be difficult to feel that way when you’ve got rubber-gloved hands making their rounds ’round your person.

Fortunately this week we were headed to the Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival. Clean air, a small but enthusiastic crowd and the best lineup I’ve seen all year combine to make this the mother of all mountain festivals. Even torrential downpours couldn’t keep the masses down. This is the best festival in one of the best settings in the country and its remote location only makes it that much better once one arrives.

Our early evening set was one of the best I’ve ever played, fittingly punctuated by Billy Nershi (String Cheese Incident) nearly storming the stage during our last song. It was midway through the set — sun shining, rainbow in the sky, crowd dancing — that I realized in spite of the exhaustion that this was about the most fun I’d ever had on stage and worth every second between 4 and 6:05 that morning. Long live the early flight, long live Grand Targhee and long live the TSA. “I think she’s pretty, she thinks I’m smart. My baby she’s a workin’ for the TSA, my baby she’s a workin’ for the TSA.” - Travis Book