Saturday morning sunshine & dirt

June 06, 2009

By Debbie Ingram

The sun is shining and it is beautiful at BamaJam.

From where we sit at the campgrounds in the Friends and Family area, the highly-traveled road in front of us is nothing but a mud pit. And it stinks, BAD. I have tried to come up with something to compare it to and my mind went back to Missouri and one of the other lives I had. It smells like a hog pen. All part of the adventure! And there is a reason I left that life behind.

We should see lots of bikini tops today—I am wearing mine, as a matter of fact. The sun is intense. Rode over to Dothan this morning to shower and shave the legs, get a good hair washing and dump off Sid Rock. She won’t be around tonight to hear Kid Rock. BamaJam goes too late for a 7 year old.

We ended up not participating in the Bikers for Babies ride, but saw that it was a group of about 75 or so. The mud was a deterrent. I couldn’t see coming back in here through the mud on a bike after I dropped the bike just last weekend on a gravel road.

What’s that sound? OMG—an answer to a prayer. It is SAND!! By the truckloads, sand is being dropped on our mud pit road!!! Ask and it shall be delivered unto you….. He is dropping little piles. I just asked baby to go get the shovel out of the back of his pickup truck. Give the man a little help.

BTW, for second-time festival goers…. I have not seen the first grasshopper! I did hear of one sighting however!

Ok, signing off… time to lay out!

A wonderful day for music

By Debbie Ingram

Mother Nature’s blessings have fallen upon BamaJam today. The weather is beautiful and the musical roster is fantastic.

In our coverage, we have tended to focus on the huge crowd of people—over 100,000—attending this festival in a field, but lest we forget, the masses come for the music. As one camper said yesterday: It’s just pretty cool at all these big dogs are in OUR backyard. Lest we forget, we do have Ronnie Gilley to thank for that.

Alan Jackson was awesome last night. Let me back up, EVERYBODY is awesome and they seem really pumped to be here. It is a bit inconceivable that today will bring Kid Rock and Brooks & Dunn. In Coffee County, Alabama.

Let me tell you what the rain and mud did Friday—it gave some good ole’ Southern boys the time of their lives pulling folks out! As Joe with BamaJam said: “It’s like Christmas Day for these Southern boys.“ Have truck, will have chain. Have truck and chain, will pull.

A neighbor of ours showed up yesterday and every time he passed someone in the crowd last night—oh, about a million times—he would simply say the words: “BamaJam!“ Which was always answered with a loud “Woo!“ “Hell yeah!“ or “BamaJam!!“

The music is certainly the reason for BamaJam, but it would be nothing with the people who came. Everyone is friendly, sharing beer and other beverages, chairs, umbrellas—thanks guy from Ashford—it is a true Southern party with Rebel flags, beach balls and red necks.

Oh, yeah, and MUD!

I can’t say enough good things about security and the BamaJam staff. With few glitches, things are running smoothly. Gilley and his staff are working around the clock. Some get 2-4 hours of sleep. Others, I think do not go to bed at all. Sleep will come next week, as they celebrate the huge success of BamaJam 2009.

If you are reading this and aren’t here yet, get out here. Tickets available at the gate. This is an event NOT to miss!

Oh, did I mention all the girls in bikini tops??? It’s a sunny day!

It just turned Saturday morning

By Debbie Ingram

Alan Jackson just closed out a great show.

I only stayed for three songs; my 7 year old was really beat. I could still hear the singing as we walked back to our camper, until the Alternative Stage kicked back up. But, I received a blessing. Maybe it was a changing act, but the nearby stage fell silent and I opened the camper window to hear Jackson sing “Way Down Yonder on the Chattahoochee.“ THAT was the song I wanted to hear!!

Black Crowes playing on Alternative Stage now. We are beat. Tonight there’s me and Sid Rock and the husband and his daughter, Jamie, in the camper. What’s that song about love grows best in little spaces?

Just heard Gilley and the BamaJam folks will be on FOX News in the morning at 6. I mean, Saturday morning at 6. How cool is that!

Tomorrow is going to be another full day. Plan is to head to Dothan and ride in the March of Dimes Bikers for Babies ride back to BamaJam. That is the plan right now.

Goodnight.

A sleepy, rainy day

June 05, 2009

By Debbie Ingram

We started this day really early and just before 10 a.m. Sidney and I drove over the campsite to visit with campers for a story.

We got stopped at the entrance ... nobody was allowed to come or go while the Sheriff’s Department was working a death from natural causes.

Sidney and I left the SUV and took off on foot. It is muddy and yucky, making the camping adventure all the more, uh, adventurous. I love camping. The husband and I take the camper on motorcycle trips as much as can, and campers are a friendly bunch. (I can tell you which campsite has the best bacon, after sampling a good dozen pieces this morning!)

We chatted with people as we walked through. Nobody complained of the rain. They understand the adventure aspect.

By the time we wrapped up our little walkabout and headed back to the truck, a light rain began to fall. I wrote the story, the rain stopped, and we headed out to meet JT, the latest Survivor winner from Samson. Sidney gave him about eight hugs. JT is just too cute and too sweet and do you know most of his million dollars is going to pay for college for his 11 nieces and one nephew? He makes Alabama, and especially Geneva County, proud. And girls, he has a girlfriend—broke Sidney’s heart.

Rain began to pick back up and Sid Rock and I were dragging, so we came back to the camper, where we found my step-son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Wanda. Then, the four of us did something we never do. We napped. For a while!

The more rain that fell, the deeper we fell into sleep. Working BamaJam is hard work for someone whose first concert was Leon and Mary Russell. This is Sidney’s first musical concert event. I think she’s got me beat.

Decided to hang around as long as we can—we can hear the alternative stage music good outside—watching the weather and knowing we are in for a long night. I did not come out here NOT to see Alan Jackson. He starts playing at 10. I am usually alseep by 10. Yet another thing I do not have in common with the rich and famous.

Signing off for now.

Oh no, you didn’t

By Debbie Ingram

Seems some people do very little fact-checking before arriving at BamaJam.

All bags are being searched. Among the items that are not allowed into the actual BamaJam complex where the music takes place: food and drink.

So, this dude goes cruising in with a pull-behind cooler. When the folks open it up to check the contents, it is full of beer, chips, and other snacks in Walmart bags. What are you thinking, dude? You don’t carry popcorn into the movie.  Same premise here. Leave the cooler in the campsite or the car and make a trip or two there when you need a break, but come on! You can’t bring a cooler of food and drinks into the gates of BamaJam.

Speaking of food, we have purchased food from three vendors thus far. None of it was very good. The husband brought in our Walmart bags when he arrived around 3:30.