Sweet Magnolia blends the genres of powerhouse New Orleans brass with pop and soul music. We recently released an album, Miss Missed Connection—our biggest project to date—and, in a fit of bravery, toured it across the Midwest on a 10-date tour. The first four dates of our tour were supported by a grant from Jazz Road (a national initiative of South Arts), which we were very honored and grateful to receive. Our roster had the most fun musicians and warmest of humans: Brandon Ramone (trumpet), Glennon Davalos Stanton (trombone), Ben Herrington (keys, vocals), Ben Hillier (tuba), Dane Schindler (drums), and Meg Dwyer (saxophone, vocals, and your narrator here). This is a little peek behind the scenes of our very first tour. Well, at least the interesting parts. Not featured: me googling “how to budget” or “how to compare car insurance rates?”
LITTLE ROCK
Our first show was in Fayetteville (Arkansas) which, for being only one state over, is very, very far away! Since we are such a big band, it worked out better for us to rent two cars using the grant money. Once we picked them up, we made our way to Little Rock, where we would stay overnight before continuing to Fayetteville. We drove mostly to the soundtrack of the Britney Spears autobiography and Car Talk reruns.
Upon arrival in Little Rock, we quickly frightened the hotel’s front desk lady with our tuba (I swear she thought we were moving a dead body) before picking up dinner salads at a real Arkansas Walmart. Which, if you ask me, is exactly like getting pasta in Italy, no?
FAYETTEVILLE
The next day we left a very frantic front desk—due to the global computer crash—and continued on our way to Fayetteville. We were super excited to play the legendary venue George’s Majestic Lounge, but when we loaded in we were greeted by what I would only describe as the “country guitar crowd.” We were a bit apprehensive as to how they would receive us, but an hour-and-a-half later, that crowd left and soon we had a decent amount of new people appear, ready to dance and sing along to our show!
Quite honestly, we were caught off guard by their enthusiasm. We had a trumpet player stop by and sit in on a song, a radio DJ live broadcast our set, and a photographer came through to take photos. After the show, folks were so excited and extremely supportive. A couple of people even put $50 in my hand. “For gas,” they said. I couldn’t believe it.
On top of that, the other band on the bill, Flipoff Pirates, were absolutely stunning and sounded exactly like they had been playing together for 23 years—we really enjoyed their set. We couldn’t have asked for a better first show of our very first tour. I will be forever grateful.
KANSAS CITY
The next day, we woke up to the loveliest, fuzziest emails from the previous nights’ fans and a new trumpet for Brandon from the trumpet player that sat in with us the night before, delivered, as one does, in a casual parking lot handoff before we set off for Kansas City.
Once we arrived, we checked into my cousin’s house and immediately sought after some Kansas City barbeque. We tried this place called Gates and immediately fell in love.
This show was probably my favorite—we couldn’t believe that we were playing to a full room with an incredible crowd. They were singing, clapping, dancing, and just buzzing for our music. Once again, we weren’t prepared for their enthusiasm! The other bands on the bill (Friendly Thieves and Big Fat Cow) were super tight and so brilliant—we’re honored to call them new friends and can’t wait to play with them again.
DES MOINES
Following such a fun show, some of us stayed out late and partied with old and new friends, so the next morning was a little bit slow. That said, we made it to another barbeque spot for lunch. A last minute but necessary decision. Our local friends recommended a place called Slap’s, and as advertised—it slapped!
After lunch, we continued on to Des Moines where we were playing a very different type of show: the city of West Des Moines’ summer concert series. Also known as your grandma in a lawn chair eating Subway and listening to music. Goals!
The venue—an outdoor amphitheater—was gorgeous, and the weather could only exist in our dreams as summer New Orleanians. The crowd was quiet, older, and far away on the lawn, so we couldn’t tell if they were into the music at all. But afterwards, folks came up to us, bought our merch, and told us how much they loved our show. Like our other elder crowds, they sent us emails the next morning—so charming!
CEDAR FALLS
The next morning we set off pretty early for the University of Northern Iowa where we would conduct a songwriting class and concert for kids. They were mostly in middle school and attending a music camp called Amp Camp. As we drove through Iowa we marveled at how it really is just corn fields for days.
Once we arrived for load-in, we went with the campers for lunch at the student dining hall. Those of us who had gone to university reminisced about the joys of college dining halls, and Dane was so excited to meet another Dane—a camper who was equally as shocked as he had never met another Dane before. I’ve never seen a 12-year-old so excited.
We had an absolute blast playing for the campers and teaching them about the beginnings of writing songs. They had such great questions regarding songwriting, learning an instrument, and being a band. Considering my previous life as a middle school teacher for nine years, the whole experience made me so happy!
After the clinic we went on to Minneapolis where we split up, staying between an aunt of mine and Glennon’s parents. It was fun and quite a welcome reprieve to enjoy our first night off with family.
Performing at Amp Camp, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls
Photo: Dr. Kevin Droe
MINNEAPOLIS
We spent the next day off. Glennon and Brandon did their own thing, Dane went to spend time with a college friend, and the Bens and I went for a beautiful waterfall hike, hoping to stretch our legs after all the driving. We came together for a steak dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house and enjoyed getting into some local brews we picked up at the grocery store.
The following day we arrived at the radio station KFAI to broadcast a live performance hosted by Harold Tremblay. It was a fun way to add a radio gig to our already diverse set of performances and we had a blast.
After the radio show, we hopped into the cars to get to 331 Club. We were the only band on the bill and it was a Wednesday, so truly expected for the audience to be only our families. I prepped the band to expect an empty room but once again, to our complete disbelief, the room filled right up! We played two sets to an eager crowd—the support and enthusiasm they had was crazy. The majority of the band considered this the best show of our tour. Glennon, our merch manager, killed it—I saw a line at the table during the entire set break and well into 30 minutes after the show. For no good reason at all, we had a late dinner at Cane’s, and perhaps due to the magic of a fun show, it never tasted so good.
The next day was also an off day so we spent it exploring the city, rehearsing, and having dinner at Glennon’s parents’ house. They charmed us with their homemade pizza and homebrewed beer in their garden—a delightful end to our stay in Minnesota.
MIDDLE OF NOWHERE WISCONSIN
On Friday, we headed to Northern Wisconsin where my extended family has a small cabin on a lake. You truly feel like you are at the top of the country, and in the middle of nowhere, but also in heaven. I tried to prepare the band for the primitive nature of the cabin, as it’s an old fishing cabin that recently went from an outhouse to indoor plumbing. But I think the beauty of the woods and the luxury of living right on a lake won them over immediately. They told me I was holding back.
That night we played at a biker bar called Happy’s, which was our first mostly empty room on tour. Apparently, it was the first warm, sunny day of the summer lake season, so many folks were too day-drunk or still out on the lakes to come into town for a drink. As the name promised, we were happy anyways, which says a lot about the chemistry of the group. We had the whole night to fill, so we entertained ourselves by expanding songs and playing pool between sets. We met a man nicknamed Cheese because his last name is Berger—it was just that kind of night.
MANNY’S
The next day we enjoyed the fun of waking up in the Northwoods. My cousin, who stays up there, taught us how to use the boat and Brandon (that’s now Captain Brandon to you!) drove it. My cousin introduced the band to the concept of the “lake shower” which is using biodegradable soap in the clean lake—quite helpful when your cabin barely has indoor plumbing. I like to think that we bonded quite a bit taking one big communal “lake shower” in exhilaratingly cold water.
That afternoon, we packed and loaded into Manny’s, a restaurant in Manitowish Waters. After dinner and sound check, we took a group nap on the lawn by the lake. Next to a lake, the venue had a robust stage and gorgeous patio. However, the crowd was more there to eat dinner than listen to a band—which happens, and we enjoyed ourselves anyway.
The next couple of days were filled with boat rides, board games, family dinners, lake showers, bonfires with s’mores, and a “brat girl summer” moment with Wisconsin brats (bratwurst). I felt like I was truly “summering” with my chosen family. We worked on some new songs before Dane left us to go back to work. He is a teacher, so “back to school” is both important and mandatory. It was a very sad day so we consoled ourselves with a traditional Wisconsin fish fry. I think that was my favorite night of the tour—driving back, high on copious amounts of fish and beer, listening to music on a very long, windy road where the trees practically reached out to touch us. We watched a movie before staying up late under the stars. A perfect night.
Fish Fry at Stillwater Restaurant, Star Lake, Wisconsin
Photo courtesy Sweet Magnolia
MILWAUKEE
Wednesday, we woke up and had a stressful morning of cleaning up the cabin to leave. After driving down to Milwaukee, we had to coordinate errands of returning equipment to Guitar Center and picking up festival parking passes. Eventually, we checked into the hotel and then loaded into a small bar called Bremen Cafe for our first show without Dane. I had gotten a sub drummer through recommendations and lots of research, but wasn’t sure what to expect. I was a little worried and hadn’t promoted the show too much because of that.
To our delight, the small room was so punk and so delightful. We decided not to use mics for our brass, which made the room acoustically joyful. It was the diviest of all the dive bars we had been to and also a pretty small crowd. Big shout out to the Bens and Brandon for figuring out the sound, which was quite an accomplishment; just trying to find the lights at this place was a quest! Thankfully, the drummer (shout out to Pete!) was a great hang and pretty fluent at playing our music. We had a fun show and definitely enjoyed listening to The Taxmen, the other band on the bill, who are a Beatles-inspired original band. It was a great, low-key kind of night that led to meeting new friends.
The next day, we hung out in downtown Milwaukee before continuing on to the Wisconsin State Fair for our evening show. My uncle works at the fair, so we spent the afternoon loading in, catching up with family, and checking out some dairy cows.
Our second substitute drummer of three (shout out to Hannah Johnson!) was also incredibly talented and really nailed our music. This was such a relief to me, as I secretly knew that several talent buyers and booking agents had come to see our set. We enjoyed playing a tight set to the crowd of the Wisconsin State Fair before getting cut off halfway through set two due to an insanely New Orleans-like rainstorm in the area. As we sheltered under the nearby bar we kept telling people, “This is some New Orleans style shit!” over and over again to their amusement.
CINCINNATI
We left super early the next morning for what would be the hardest day of the tour: a six-hour drive that ended up being eight, followed by a three-hour late night gig. We had a crazy welcome to Cincinnati. Near downtown, a truck refused to let us move over into the left lane. When we finally did, the very large and decorated truck of a very presumably small and let’s say undecorated man blew his train horn and threw a can of beer at our car in a fit of road rage. It jarred me for a moment until I was relieved to find that the rental car was undamaged. Phewf!
We arrived at Glennon’s partner’s house and were so thankful to be welcomed with a hot dinner. We quickly ate before heading to our last show of the tour, a small dive bar called Stanley’s Pub. Our third substitute drummer (shout out to Cole!) did a great job too. It was a fun and vibrant last show.
All of the band, except for me—I was too exhausted and Irish goodbye’d to bed—celebrated with our hosts well into the night. Needless to say, the next morning was slow before we headed to Nashville, where we would spend the night and drop off Brandon at his new home. We sadly parted ways and recognized that our last show of tour was his last show ever with the band (I’m not crying, you’re crying!).
HOME AGAIN
We arrived in New Orleans the next evening after a full day of driving, eager to tell Dane what he missed. Our last stop was dropping the Bens off at their homes near the French Quarter. On the way, we appropriately became stuck behind a unicorn mule carriage and there was no doubt that we were back home once again.
Sweet Magnolia will be at Carrollton Station on September 20. For more information, check out @sweetmagnoliamusic on Instagram.
Top photo, left to right: Brandon Ramone, Ben Hillier, Ben Herrington, Glennon Davalos Stanton, Meg Dwyer, and Dane Schindler in Minneapolis.
Top and bottom photos courtesy Sweet Magnolia.
