On the road with Pipes & Sticks on Route 66: Day 5

Our trip to Lubbock, Texas, took us off the route, heading south on the Texas panhandle. As we entered Lubbock we drove past The Buddy Holly Museum and continued on to the beautifully restored Cactus Theater. Next door to the theater artists from The Tornado Gallery greeted us. There we were fascinated by a life-sized, metal sculpture of a piper, complete with a replica of working bagpipes. The pipers took turns operating “Dusty McHoover” as we affectionately renamed him, while the drummers snapped away with their cameras.

The Cactus Theater proved to be a wonderful venue for our Thursday night concert. The audience was enthusiastic, and the murals painted on the walls lent a warm feeling to the experience. The crew there was terrific. “Dusty McHoover” had a prominent spot at the side of the stage, and the audience went wild during the second half when Willie began to play the pipes attached to “Dusty”; Stuart came onstage, and then we had Willie, Stuart, and “Dusty” playing a number. The dressing rooms were a throwback to the 1950s with wall-to-wall signatures of the artists who had performed there over the years. We added our own trademark signature Pipes & Sticks on Route 66 with each of our signatures on the metal door entering onto the stage.