For most people who attend Fan Fair, it often begins with room reservations after deciding when to arrive and when to leave. That's sometimes followed by deciding which fan club parties you'll attend and purchasing tickets, what events you want to attend, who you want to see perform, etc.. Then in a lot of cases, it's all followed up by purchasing the airline ticket.
For me, I never know if I'll have to cancel what plans I've made. But this year, that was not an issue. I knew I had to go this year! So for me, Fan Fair began when my friend Charmaine and I touched down at Nashville's BNA airport on the afternoon of 6/4. A 20 min. taxi ride from the airport to our room cost $40. I swear that taxi driver took the long way to get there. After we got checked in and found some dinner, it soon became evident that we'd be spending a fortune in taxi fares because of the gas prices, etc. Now mind you, our taxi driver knows he's guaranteed fares at the airport, yet when we got in his car, he immediately started the meter at $7...what's that all about? So we ended up renting a car and getting directions from our very nice hotel clerks. Nothing exciting happened that evening as we were pretty tired and just wanted to kick back.
The next morning after breakfast, we headed to 3rd and Lindsley for Trisha Yearwood's party. Trace Adkins' party was at the same place was beginning to break up. Once inside we were each handed an apron that was autographed by Trisha (reference her cookbook) and no sooner had we taken our seats, we were given a plate of food and a beverage. A short time later, Johnny and Heather along with her keyboard player entered the room, followed by Trisha and they took the stage. Some of the fans had written questions they wanted to ask Trisha, which offered up many humorous moments. She was also asked if her performance could be video taped. She said yes but she didn't want it to end up on youtube. It was a very laid back party and I had told my friend Charmaine to bring her video camera just in case. For those of you who have never been to artists fan club parties, this is one of the coolest things. A number of artists will allow you to video their performance at their parties because (especially if it's rather intimate) they know their fans and know that they will not do anything to profit off of those moments.
In between performing the songs Trisha had chosen and answering questions, she took requests. I was SO happy when she sang "This is Me You're Talking To"...my request!! In that small club, at times Trisha's beautiful voice rang out and gave me chills.
After the performance was over, it was time for photos. Trisha had to fly to Salt Lake that evening, so there was no time for individual autographs which is why she autographed the aprons before hand. As it was, it must have taken forever to have a photo taken with each person there. When it was my turn, I thanked her for the party, she put her arm around me just like a good friend, gave me a hug and said you sang all the words to every song! We exchanged "I love yous" and I stepped away for the next person. Trisha is one of my favorite female singers and while she's a married lady, she will always be Miss Trisha Yearwood to me!
