Good People Matter

Good People Matter

I cannot stop thinking about the Aaron Lewis concert Kathy and I went to in Emigrant, Montana.

At the risk of boring you, I’m gonna talk more about the night because it was something I will never forget.

We decided to go to Chico Hot Springs to have a snack and a couple of beers.

Sitting at the bar, we meet a woman and her daughter visiting from Illinois.

We chat it up, tell them about places to visit, and they are in love with my new home, Montana.

Then a woman walks up to say hi, she owns a business in Helena that we visited a few weeks ago.

We talked for 30 minutes.

They are also “pre-gaming’ for the concert.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/8bbd3d_f15f3e002cb24eabbb5ddec9375c5983/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

So we drove to the concert, had special parking cause our kid knows “someone,” so that was nice.

Every line we got in, whether for a drink or to get in, no one was worried about anything.

As I think harder about it, the word that comes to mind is respect.

As we waited for a gin & tonic, people chatted it up with us. A group of women kept shooting selfies of each other, and I photobombed every picture. They caught me and laughed their heads off.

Several folks came up and said, “Are you the guy on the internet? I follow you.

Montana has a lot of conservative people who, like me, are thrilled our nation is finally climbing out of a 40-year slump.

We found a great place to stand and chatted it up with the folks around us.

Told our story, they told theirs, it was just life.

No hedging, no holding back, no wondering what they’re politics are, it didn’t matter they were Americans.

We ran into friends from Oregon, so weird.

When the concert started, Lewis set the tone, and people jumped right in.

I ran into a guy, and rather than a dirty look, when I said I’m sorry, he said, Nothing to be sorry about.

That defines the night.

There was nothing to be sorry about, sorry for, only a group of people finding hope in the lyrics of a man who truly loves this country.

Yes, it was about Aaron Lewis and his vulnerability when it comes to writing and performing songs.

Yes, it was about the scenery, you can’t beat it.

But, honestly, it was about the people.

A group united by a man who knows how to put into words what we are feeling.

What I love about Lewis is that he doesn’t mind being a minor star.

Reminds me of another musician I feel the same way about.

His name is Dan Fogelberg.

It was a night I will never forget.

Good People make all the difference.