The Ride on Center for Kids, Sound Check -April 11, 2026
The sound check/volume level check at the stables went well. The horses were okay, staff was happy, and now I was going back for rehearsal. I arrived, checked in, handed in my invoice and located Suzy. They were doing the show run through and it was being timed down to the minute. We ran through my instructions again and I was just about to head to my starting point.
I mentioned before that this all seemed very serious and at this point it still was. But then…
But then she asked “Do you know Chet Garner? He’s going to be joining you for part of the performance.” ??? Yes, I know who he is. I watch his show on weekends but have never met. Does he play pipes? If you don’t know the name, he hosts a show on PBS KLRU series “The Daytripper.” Chet is a very nice guy but if you do know the name, you’ll know that Chet Garner is kind of… whacky, or clowny… NOT too serious. I thought that there might be an on-screen Chet and an off-screen more serious Chet. No… there’s only one Chet.
“We got him this little bagpiper costume complete with a tiny little set of bagpipes. Can you show him how it works?” I’ve seen them- more of a toy than anything but they do make some noise.
Sure, no problem. And at that point Chet introduced himself. Again, he’s a very nice guy but will laugh at almost anything, even easier than I do. Serious is not in his DNA I don’t think. I gave him a quick intro on how to hold the miniature pipes, and he managed to make a very unpleasant sound with them, which was similar to what anyone sounds like when first learning.
Now, the plan had become that when I stopped playing after the march-in, there would be some announcements, another set of songs, more announcements, I was thanked by the emcee, more applause, and as I was blowing up pipes and ready to march out Chet would appear from some unknown location and we would have an interaction of some kind (it was totally unorganized at that point, but it was going to be a Chet Garner level of crazy… I could tell. Did I mentioned before that this was all going to be very serious?
Surprisingly, and I gained a new respect for him in this… they really wanted him to ham it up to a crazy level. He said that he respected what I was doing too much to interrupt and make a joke of it and that he would let me finish my part first and then jump in. I thought that was exceptional.
He worked out some details with the sound guy and directors and I played the march out, followed by Chet in a “ministry of funny walks” kind of jiggy walk. We wrapped it up and I said my goodbye’s, to return in about 5 hours for the Chet and David show.
-More to come