Main Street

recorded a CD in their studio and it’s available for purchase in-store and online. While we were there, we didn’t record the next hit single (you’re welcome), but we did get to have a little bit of fun. Papa Chum himself put some ukeleles in our hands and Daniel taught us a few chords. Are we professional uke’ players now? Not by a long shot. But I think it’s pretty evident by Joanie B.’s face that we had a great time. This first day in Cumberland Gap didn’t feel real. We were walking around town with a group of people we had just met, and somehow it felt like we’d all been together for years. We felt connected with this town we knew abso- lutely

nothing about. At this point in the trip, we didn’t know how special this place was. We’d connected quickly with a lot of our Small Town America favorites. Being the anti-social butterfly that I am, I did my best to soak in all of the conversations happening around me, interjecting when necessary, but holding onto my camera for dear life. Tony threw us head first into The Gap, and I was just hoping I would be able to keep up. You don’t get to see it on camera, and most people don’t see it in real life, but when I’m at the center of a group my heart is racing and I’m just waiting to say something stupid. It’s that good old buddy, Social Anxiety, always making himself known in moments when I need to turn the confidence on. But on this day, racing heart and all, there were moments that felt as smooth as Norris Lake. I can remember later in the afternoon, all of us sitting on the porch of the Estepp House, drinking frozen lemonade, that I actually found myself relaxed. My shoulders weren’t pushed back quite as far. I was sunken down a little deeper into my chair. And I was tasting every delicious sip of that lemonade. I was surrounded by strangers, but it didn’t seem so strange to me. With Linda, Phyllis, and Jerry, things didn’t feel very strange at all.