So, just a little background here... Grandmama (Brady's grandmother) participates in a little open-mic night at a senior center. All the guys and gals bring their guitars, fiddles, and basses and they sign up to take turns singing. Anyway, it was suggested a couple of months ago that maybe Ian would like to learn a couple of tunes and we could all make the trip up for him to perform. And so it happened, Ian chose two songs, Woody learned the guitar parts, Brady learned the drum parts and Jerry (Brady's uncle) learned the bass lines. There was about 2 months of preparation involved and it all came to fruition last Saturday!
We packed up the kids and left for Ft. Worth with the folks. We stopped in Burleson to pick up Grandmama and drove into Ft. Worth to meet up with Jerry, Anita and Leslie at a Grandy's for lunch. Sadly, this Grandy's had obviously not been cleaned since approximately 1982 and I ended up with a heinous stain on my rump from the greasy chair! I had to suck it up and walk across the street to make an impromptu Wal-Mart purchase of $15 cargo pants! Not cool. Anyhoo... we finally made it to the Senior Center where Woody, Jerry, Brady and Grandmama busied themselves getting set up and Linda, the kids and I hung out in the back room making origami cats and penguins! Before too long, Ainsley was charming every person in the place (surprise, surprise)! Ian waited patiently, paying close attention to the 8 or so performances before him, and then it was his turn!
His first song was "Livin' On a Prayer" by Bon Jovi but we don't have that video converted yet, HOWEVER, he got the chance to do his second song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor which we HAVE converted so ENJOY!
Ian was accompanied by his grandfather on guitar, his great-uncle on bass and his Daddy on cajon. Behind Brady you can see a very, happy and proud woman, THAT is Grandmama. So this is 4 generations of Woodalls on one stage! And although Grandmama didn't accompany Ian on his songs, it doesn't mean she can't rock! Here she is layin' down the low notes for one of the old standards!
And just as an FYI, I adored the little man behind her! He was so cute and played some mean harmonica! ;)
Ian received lots of praise, he was definitely a star that night, but of course, Ainsley was not to be outdone! She smiled and hugged and charmed the pooey out of everyone in that room!
It was a long day and Ainsley had a bit of a rough time on the trip back (curse you carseat laws!) but really it was a great experience. When we got in the car, we asked Ian if he enjoyed himself. His response? "It was the best thing I have EVER done!" And if that didn't make the entire day worth it, the look on Grandmama's face did! She spent the day playing music, surrounded by her family! So in conclusion...
Drive up to and back from Ft. Worth--exhausting.
Staining my pants at a nasty Grandy's--annoying!
Happy little boy and beaming Great-Grandmother---PRICELESS!
