Life is a series of good and bad days that are strung together to help define our own life experiences. Friday August 4th, 2017 at Country On The River in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin was a good day. A VERY GOOD DAY!

Decades ago when I was serving in the US Navy and traveling the world I was often heard uttering the words, "this is why I signed up"! Last week as I was traveling from Rochester, MN to Duluth, MN, then back to Rochester, and then back on the road to Prairie du Chien on Friday for back-to-back nights on Chris Stapleton's All American Roadshow Tour 2017, I think I once again uttered those same words again, "this is why I signed up" several times en route to Wisconsin. Only this time I was referring to the world of commercial radio.

Since October of 1990 when I was allowed to crack-open a LIVE microphone for the first time I've had my fair share of interesting and unique encounters with many different recording artists, from many different genre's of music. Not all of those encounters happened because of radio, but this one did !

Chris Stapleton in my humble opinion is a "Generational Artist". Simply put, one of those unique talents that only comes around once or twice in a generation. His meteoric rise from general obscurity 2 years ago to the top of the recording industry highest tier is a sobering accomplishment for him, and now, alongside his dear wife Morgane as well. Having the distinct pleasure to meet him and ask him one question relative to his career was satisfying for me both personally, and professionally.

As the formal Meet & Greet opportunity began to unfold, I had prepared several questions to ask him. Then, due to enormous time constraints & pressure on his personal time before the show, the M & G line moved along a lot quicker than what I anticipated, so I knew that I had better just ask only one. Also, it was announced beforehand that autographs would not be allowed, nor personal photography.

As the line of approximately 20 other lucky souls inched closer and closer, I noticed that most in front of me were getting like :30 seconds to extend their greeting to him, and get their photo taken by the Stapleton Team Photographer. (supposedly, he was the only COTR artist who used his own photographer - Brand Awareness baby!)

After gently shaking his hand, (that's a separate story in itself) and introducing myself I asked him a fairly detailed question with regards to his participation in the Skyville LIVE tribute to Gregg Allman. (see video below) He took the time to answer thoroughly, and even interjected a couple of personal experiences from earlier in his  career opening for Gregg. He was totally engaged, looked me in the eye, and kept calling me 'sir'.

He then threw an arm around my shoulder and the photographer did his work. All in all, he gave me a little over :90 seconds of 'face time'. Polite, humble, and engaging is how I would describe our encounter overall, and way too short!

Steve Richards ~ Quick Country Weekends (Chris Stapleton #Travellers -fan group)

NOTE: If you are interested in staying plugged-in to Chris Stapleton news,music, and more, or would like to engage with other Chris Stapleton Fans from around the world, check out the Chris Stapleton (The #Travellers ) Facebook Group.

photo: Steve Richards ~ Quick Country Weekends ~ TSM Rochester, MN
photo: Steve Richards ~ Quick Country Weekends ~ TSM Rochester, MN
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