Nikki thought the South by South West festival in Austin was a little inappropriate for our (almost) year-old son. The band would only be gone a couple of days, so we decided it was best if she stayed home for this one. Things could get pretty rowdy there, but to be honest, I was looking forward to it. I had to be so careful after my surgeries last year, and of course we had all of the holiday activities with family shortly after, that I hadn’t had much chance to let loose in quite a while. I would miss my family, of course, but summer was pretty light for touring, even if fall was booked solid.
Since festival shows are pretty much show up on time, with very little logistics on our part, we were driving down in Taylor’s Range Rover. We only needed a few instruments, Zac could rent a drum kit in Austin, and it would be cheaper than renting a trailer. We weren’t even bringing backup musicians. Austin was where our career really got started. We went around singing for people, and finally found someone willing to be our manager. He even quit his job at a law firm for us. Little did we know that all he saw in us was dollar signs, he didn’t care about our music at all. He even tried to convince Taylor to go solo at one point, but he refused. With all the turmoil we’ve had over the years, I wonder if he ever regretted it. I guess I owe him a great deal of gratitude. Taylor had the perfect mix of personality, looks, and talent to be a mega star, but he still chose to stay in the band with us. Zac probably could have turned out a decent solo career, too, but I would never make it solo. Maybe I could turn a decent living as a producer or radio show commentator, though. There was no use dwelling on the past, though. It was time to make our way as independent artists. That was the path we had chosen, and what better way to say it than by playing at South by Southwest?
“Don’t judge me, but I could do with a guys’ weekend,” Taylor said as we merged onto the interstate.
“Me too,” I said, leaning back in my seat.
“I miss Kate,” Zac said, almost pouting about it.
“We’ve been gone ten minutes,” I said.
“Yeah, but I worry about her. Especially after what happened last year.”
Kate’s miscarriage had taken a toll on both of them, but she was due to have their first child in a couple of months. She hadn’t had any complications this time, at least not any that Zac told us about. But he had been eating less and less, though I tried to tell myself was worry and that his appetite would come back once the baby was born.
Maybe all the good Austin food would be enough to convince him to eat at least a little bit more. Then again, if our Mom’s holiday cooking couldn’t do it, nothing could. I was looking forward to the libations. All manner of alcoholic drinks flowed freely at South By, and no one there would judge me if I had a few more than usual. I would just have to make sure to stay alert enough to keep an eye on my younger brothers, especially Zac. Taylor could pretty much handle himself, and trusted me enough to call me if he really got in deep shit. Which hadn’t happened for a while. I still don’t know every detail of what happened a few of those times, and probably never would. Taylor had a mischievous streak about him, but marriage and kids had settled him down a lot. Natalie’s soft influence over him to be more of a family man than a rock star worked him over better than yelling and screaming ever could. She did wonderfully taking care of Everette during my surgery, even better than Nikki’s parents. Still, through all these years there was something about her that I just didn’t trust, even if I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“I know it’s hard for you not to worry about her while we are away. I worried about Nikki when we were in Europe last spring, even after Everette was born.”
“I remember. You could barely get through a show, much less play the right chords, for obsessing so much.”
“I guess it just runs in the family, then” I said.
I saw Taylor glance at me in the rearview mirror, a classic dad look if I ever saw one.
“This car is too small for Zac vs. Isaac round four thousand,” he said.
“Ok, dad,” We both said.
“I worry my fair share about my family, too. But they are motivation to continue to make this band the best it can be. We wouldn’t have nearly the resources to provide for them if we had to quit the band and get day jobs. We have to trust that our wives can handle things while we are away. When we are playing a show, we have to be one hundred percent committed to that show. Then when we are at home, we have to be one hundred percent committed to our families. It absolutely can’t work any other way.”
“And when home comes on the road with us?” I asked.
“Still, work time on stage is work time. When we are traveling between shows or have a day off, then we can spend the time with our families.”
“Yeah, but then fans want autographs and pictures,” Zac pointed out.
“And we can leave it to our discretion if we want to accept or politely turn it down because of family time. And I think that is often a case by case basis.”
“Good point,” I said.
We passed the next several minutes in silence. I watched as we passed fields and prairie lands on our way south. The South by Southwest festival was one of our first public shows of the year. As we got closer and closer to Austin, I couldn’t help but wonder what 2008 had in store for Hanson the Band and Hanson the family.