Kentucky State Fair

Every fair is different, and the Kentucky State Fairs uniqueness is that it is mostly inside and air-conditioned!

This is my second visit to this fair, I was here two years ago, in the Big Tent for 5 days. This time I'm on the Family Stage or, as it is more commonly known, the Fish Tank.

I meet Mark Sparks "Sparky" on arrival, it's good to see him and his big smiley face. He hands me a brown envelope and a key, how exciting...actually it's just the key for my dressing room and parking passes, so I can get in every day.....sorry.

Sparky shows me the dressing room, it's a conference room that has been curtained off with pipe and drape so all the acts have a bit of privacy, we each have a table and a couple of chairs, nice enough. The other acts are two stilt walkers, the Breaker Boyz (Kinda obvious what they do) and a ventriloquist. Also, the room is quite cold, which as it was so hot outside felt great.

I moved in my props and costume, and we went to see the stage and meet Tom, the sound guy. Tom is great. And within moments we have set the levels and arranged the monitors. The stage is rather big and is located in a very large atrium complete with a glass wall behind and one to the side, hence the Fish tank. I'm sorry to say that the acoustics are pretty horrible and if I want to be understood at all I am going to need to talk almost in a whisper!

My accommodation is a cute little Airbnb about a mile away from the fairgrounds in an area of Louisville called Germantown. It's a funky little neighbourhood, and I was particularly impressed by the large mural of Woody Guthrie, complete with his "This machine kills Fascists" guitar, how cool is that! The Airbnb is perfect and has a full kitchen (Minus a toaster) and a washer dryer. At this time I have been on the road since 11th June and cooking for myself is something I really miss, so with that in mind I go to Kroger (that's a grocery store) and buy food!

The shows are pretty well attended on opening day and all in all they are pretty good except for the sound issue which makes it very hard to discern what I am saying from the back of the audience. Sparky thinks I need a vocal compressor and on day three Tom manages to get one, and all of a sudden people are laughing more.

On Friday afternoon, I get a text from Sparky, press day is on Monday, and I am scheduled to be recorded for TV at 9 am. No problem, I reply. Another text arrives from Sparky, can you also do a live spot at 5.45 am. I won't print my reply here, but I did agree to do it. And with the magic of YouTube you can watch it here https://youtu.be/eSNCManCbi4 As you can see from the video it was still dark out.

The shows all went off pretty well, especially after we sorted the acoustics out, and nothing out of the ordinary really happened the entire run.

Sparky is staying on the fairgrounds (Did I also mention that he is my fair agent, because he is, and I am very thankful that he is.) in a huge 5th wheeler trailer (If you don't know what that is look it up online), it even has a porch and better still it has a great view of the main stage where the big bands play. He invites me round to see Blue Oyster Cult who are being supported by Jaimoe (The one surviving member of the Allman Brothers) and his band, they play all Allman Brothers songs, and I was impressed. Blue Oyster Cult were even better and as an amateur guitar player myself, I was blown away by them. Eighty years old and still rocking! I'm also impressed at just how much stuff Sparky has managed to clutter up the trailer with, and I thought I was messy! We had a great night and again a couple of nights later when we watched Grand Funk Railroad, who were also excellent, we were singing along to most of their songs. All of these bands are getting on a bit and the two of us were wondering who is going to step up and fill their shoes. In my opinion, it will be bands like Blink 182 and Weezer, but what do I know.

On the penultimate day of the fair, I am feeling tired and achy, I'm not sick, just very fatigued by the continual shows and travel. I get through the shows for the day and go back to my residence and pack. Interestingly, on the final day all my aches and pains have disappeared, which surely proves that so much of what we think is physical is actually psychological.

Sparky hands me a check, and we say our goodbyes until December and Denver, it was a fun hang and I hit the road. My next fair is the Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction, Vermont and I get to spend a whole 24 hours at home before I start on Wednesday.