The Ghost of the Blackwolf Barn Dance

This weekend was one for the memory books. Having a country band, you’d think we’d play a lot of shows in barns, cause that what you do right? Surprising, even though we do a lot of “barn parties”, they are never really in a barn. Well not this weekend. We played a show for the Blackwolf Barn Dance. Now that sounds official, but here’s the real story to the best of my knowledge. Blackwolf is a now ghost town outside of Ellsworth, KS where this barn used to be located. Some ol fella from their used to host barn dances in this barn and folks would come for miles for a chance to two-step some pretty lil thing into their heart. (At least that’s my dramatic interpretation of what went down.)

So years later, after Blackwolf

is hosting only ghosts of a past, this amazing family buys the Blackwolf barn for one dollar and moves it to their property. We had the honors of being the first band to play in the barn loft. Now I don’t imagine the bands that played the Blackwolf Barn before were showing up in a 50ft rig loaded with gear to haul to the top of the barn, but we’ve got the best band and crew and everyone was more excited about the venue than the added work.

From the loft, Mike our stage manager & guitar tech quiets the crowd with a loud sheep calling whistle and our amazing hostess prays for the meal and everyone there. As we sat there pre-show eating BBQ and a thousand different potluck dishes, I started to grasp what Luke Bryan is doing with his farm tour. Cars were parked everywhere on their massive home acreage and people just kept coming. Everyone was so excited to be there. I don’t recall seeing much use of cell phones except to take pictures. During the first couple songs, everyone started folding up chairs and round tables to clear the way for my earlier dramatic interpretation to take place.

If there were any Blackwolf ghosts left in that barn, they surely had the time of their...um...lives? We owe it to our new friends in Ellsworth, KS for giving us the remembrance of what small town living is. Every experience is a moment to live and every moment has an experience to give. Thank you for the one you gave.