ROAD SPIRITS
Being on the road with your band can be a lot of fun, but can also be dangerous. Road conditions, weather, vehicle problems, unfamiliar territory, and many other factors can turn a good time into a nightmare in a hot minute.
While on a road trip with my band Black Market III in November of 2012, we were headed out to (what was uncharted territory for us) Virginia City, Nevada. A few days prior to the trip, the transmission in our Suburban completely quit so we were using my niece and nephew's Suburban. We already felt fortunate that it was available to us, and more so that the breakdown didn't happen on the trip!
When we arrived in Virginia City, we were met by some good friends from Reno, NV. As we were talking before the show they told us a little history of Virginia City, and the place we were playing, the Ponderosa Saloon. They said VC was known to be one of the most haunted cities in the United States. Furthermore, the Ponderosa was a bank back in the Gold Rush days and had the original vault still in it. There is a mine entrance and shaft in the back of the bar, and it is said to be the site of many ghostly encounters. We were told about how the spirits there were drawn to music, and many pictures taken of the bands playing there had ghostly orbs floating around them. Of course we had our friends take many pictures of us playing that night.
While we were playing our bass player, Roxanne, saw a penny on the floor in front of her. On the break I noticed her bend down to pick it up, but then leave it there. I didn't think anything of it since it was just a glance over as I headed to the bar. After the show we were all hanging out, and we all mentioned a feeling of relaxed calmness on stage and a real positive energy about the place.
After a great time we all said our goodbyes, and we went to our hotel. Being November it was getting really cold, so Roxy turned on the room heater for the night. As she looked down, in front of the heater on the floor was a penny. She then turns around and proceeds to tell me about the penny on the floor, in front of the stage, at the Ponderosa Saloon. She said, as she went to pick it up, she heard a distinct voice say to her "put it back". So she did! We kind of laughed and joked that it was the ghost of a banker.
After spending the day exploring VC and strolling through the old graveyard, we drove over the mountain to play a show in Reno. We checked into our hotel, cleaned up a bit, then went down to the casino for a drink and a few pulls on the one armed bandits. Roxy and I then went back to our room to start getting ready for our show at the 3rd Street Bar that night.
As we settled in, I happened to glance down in front of Roxy's nightstand. "Roxy! Look!" There was a penny on the floor. It had not been there before when we first came into the room.
We met up with our friends who were at the show the night before, and they were very excited about a picture they had taken of us. Clear as day, hovering above the band was a solid orb! (I later had a photographer and 'ghost hunter' examine the photo. He couldn't explain the orb.)
We had another night filled with positive vibes and a lot of energy in the room. Our friends took more pictures of us that night and there were a couple more shots with clearly defined orbs, one big one in front of my chest!
The next day we drove to my parent's home in Fresno,CA. As we are telling them about all of this my dad stops us and says, "What do you see in this orb (the one from VC).?" We zoomed in on it, and we all saw the same thing. It looked as though there was a man and a woman embracing!
We have always believed that we are being looked after on our road trips and tours. So many times disaster has been averted by maybe even a couple minutes. Sometimes we are given reminders of this. The penny showed up on stage in Modesto, CA as we loaded in for a show at T's Cocktails. On a return trip to Modesto a couple months later, the penny greeted us on stage as we loaded in for a show at a place called Hero's.
We are on another trip to Fresno, Virginia City, Reno, and Sacramento as I am writing this. I'll let you know if the road spirits made themselves known to us again.
–Scottie Blinn
Being on the road with your band can be a lot of fun, but can also be dangerous. Road conditions, weather, vehicle problems, unfamiliar territory, and many other factors can turn a good time into a nightmare in a hot minute.
While on a road trip with my band Black Market III in November of 2012, we were headed out to (what was uncharted territory for us) Virginia City, Nevada. A few days prior to the trip, the transmission in our Suburban completely quit so we were using my niece and nephew's Suburban. We already felt fortunate that it was available to us, and more so that the breakdown didn't happen on the trip!
When we arrived in Virginia City, we were met by some good friends from Reno, NV. As we were talking before the show they told us a little history of Virginia City, and the place we were playing, the Ponderosa Saloon. They said VC was known to be one of the most haunted cities in the United States. Furthermore, the Ponderosa was a bank back in the Gold Rush days and had the original vault still in it. There is a mine entrance and shaft in the back of the bar, and it is said to be the site of many ghostly encounters. We were told about how the spirits there were drawn to music, and many pictures taken of the bands playing there had ghostly orbs floating around them. Of course we had our friends take many pictures of us playing that night.
While we were playing our bass player, Roxanne, saw a penny on the floor in front of her. On the break I noticed her bend down to pick it up, but then leave it there. I didn't think anything of it since it was just a glance over as I headed to the bar. After the show we were all hanging out, and we all mentioned a feeling of relaxed calmness on stage and a real positive energy about the place.
After a great time we all said our goodbyes, and we went to our hotel. Being November it was getting really cold, so Roxy turned on the room heater for the night. As she looked down, in front of the heater on the floor was a penny. She then turns around and proceeds to tell me about the penny on the floor, in front of the stage, at the Ponderosa Saloon. She said, as she went to pick it up, she heard a distinct voice say to her "put it back". So she did! We kind of laughed and joked that it was the ghost of a banker.
After spending the day exploring VC and strolling through the old graveyard, we drove over the mountain to play a show in Reno. We checked into our hotel, cleaned up a bit, then went down to the casino for a drink and a few pulls on the one armed bandits. Roxy and I then went back to our room to start getting ready for our show at the 3rd Street Bar that night.
As we settled in, I happened to glance down in front of Roxy's nightstand. "Roxy! Look!" There was a penny on the floor. It had not been there before when we first came into the room.
We met up with our friends who were at the show the night before, and they were very excited about a picture they had taken of us. Clear as day, hovering above the band was a solid orb! (I later had a photographer and 'ghost hunter' examine the photo. He couldn't explain the orb.)
We had another night filled with positive vibes and a lot of energy in the room. Our friends took more pictures of us that night and there were a couple more shots with clearly defined orbs, one big one in front of my chest!
The next day we drove to my parent's home in Fresno,CA. As we are telling them about all of this my dad stops us and says, "What do you see in this orb (the one from VC).?" We zoomed in on it, and we all saw the same thing. It looked as though there was a man and a woman embracing!
We have always believed that we are being looked after on our road trips and tours. So many times disaster has been averted by maybe even a couple minutes. Sometimes we are given reminders of this. The penny showed up on stage in Modesto, CA as we loaded in for a show at T's Cocktails. On a return trip to Modesto a couple months later, the penny greeted us on stage as we loaded in for a show at a place called Hero's.
We are on another trip to Fresno, Virginia City, Reno, and Sacramento as I am writing this. I'll let you know if the road spirits made themselves known to us again.
–Scottie Blinn