Gregg Allman Comes to Iowa’s Riverside Casino In March

There is no bigger fan of Gregg Allman than me. He is a classic hard-luck story teller that somehow keeps hope alive for all the protagonists in each of his songs. He was just announced as an Event Headliner for the Riverside Casino in Riverside, IA on March 28th, 2015. Tickets go on sale Friday here.

While Allman has taught me much from his music over the years, his most valuable lesson to me came as a one-on-one tutoring session about not putting too high a pedestal under your heroes.  I was able to meet him backstage in St. Louis where a cool friend of mine set the whole thing up for my birthday. It happened to coincide with K-SHE 95's big birthday jam that year, and I counted the days until I could tell Gregg Allman the effect his music had on my life.

It was a great day for a show, and the recently reunited Allman's played it perfectly! The right amount of heart, soul, and guitar solos had me rocking. After their set, my friend and I escaped into the herd of people backstage. I could barely contain my enthusiasm when I saw Allman alone at a picnic table. This wasn't a typical Meet-and-greet where fans get paraded in front of the artist. It was a casual opportunity for musicians to hang out after the show with guests. I went up to Allman, but I was no guest.

I had the wrong vibe from the start. I couldn't help but start listing off song titles and what they meant to me, in addition to a 45 second version of my life story. I overwhelmed the guy who's music meant so much to me. He tried to take it all in, but had just done a 2-hour show, and was decompressing. He stood up, presumably to shake my hand and continue "our" great connection, and excused himself from our (my) conversation by saying, "Listen man, that's great, but I don't really know you, and I know this guys over here..."

And with that he was gone. I was so mad for a long time, but as the story got told, I began to realize that it wasn't Gregg who was rude to me, but the other way around. I was so concerned with my own desire to be cool with him, I couldn't see he was exhausted, and not expecting to be rushed by a super fan. I wish I had it to to do over. Maybe I will in March.