I didn’t get a direct flight home from Nashville, so I had to get home by way of Philly. Yeah, a total PITA. But I did have fun…
You never know who you’re going to end up sitting by on the plane, right? So imagine you’re exhausted after not sleeping all night, you’ve been up since 4, it’s 7:15am, and this somewhat loud and crazy guy stops next to you and says that’s his seat.
Lordy.
Except there was something about this guy that didn’t scream OBNOXIOUS like you might think. At least to me. 🙂
We shared a few small bits of small talk (he told me right off the bat that he’d had a few drinks because that was the only way he’d be able to stay awake since he’d been up for like 36 hours) and long story short, I could tell right away I liked him. And he said he was glad to be sitting by someone cool…so it was a good start. That said, I thought that would be that and I could try to get some sleep. But we kept chatting. And we were laughing. Yes, me…the one who generally doesn’t chat with strangers.
He asked why I was in Nashville and I said I was coming home from the Garth concert, which got us onto the topic of music and he asked if I had heard of a few country acts and I said yes. He asked if I knew Rascal Flatts and I said of course (Bless This Broken Road is one of my FAVORITE songs ever). So then he said he had something he’d like me to listen to to get my thoughts. So we plugged in to his iPod and I listened to a really great song called Endlessly. It was totally my kind of song—one I could see being a new song for me and Tom.
Of course I was wondering how this guy was related to Rascal Flatts—a producer or songwriter or something? We hadn’t even introduced ourselves at that point—but even if we had, there’s no way I’d recognize a producer or songwriter’s name (hell, I wouldn’t even recognize a band member’s name). Then I thought maybe it was his own music—but I wondered why he hadn’t said anything. So we talked about what I thought, then he had me listen to two more songs—both of which I also liked quite a bit. But then, I am a big country fan.
I asked who the artist was and he said “Taylor somebody” and I asked if the song could be purchased somewhere and he said yes. So I got out my phone and made a note of the song name and Taylor. And that was that. We finally introduced ourselves (his name was Brian) and he excused himself to the restroom. When he got back, I asked what his last name was and he said Taylor. And I said “So it IS you!” Yeah, I had caught him off guard. 🙂 So then we talked about the music and I made him promise to send me his CD (signed, of course!) and I took two pictures so I could have a memento (and I’d have proof that I knew him before he was famous!).
Overall we just had a really fun (nice) time. So much, in fact, that since we both had long layovers in Philly, we decided to eat lunch together. He gave me the website to buy his music and I Friended him on Facebook.
When I got home, of course I had to Google him, and I found this blog post on CMT…so he really WAS for real (not that I didn’t believe him, lol).
So, definitely an interesting end to a fun overnight trip!