NIGHT RIDER UP TO TRUCKEE -- Chapter 3

NIGHT RIDER UP TO TRUCKEE

An original story from Appaloosa Radio

Chapter 3 

Winds of the Roaring Plains

Stan, my private investigator friend, finally finished his two massive chili burgers, gulped down a 22-ounce Coke, and then shared the results from his latest investigation.

“They are a country-western group, but they are not called Winds of the Plains. No, they named themselves the Winds of the Roaring Plains. By all accounts they really roared! A bunch of old rockers, perpetually on drugs, and living wild, playing what they called ‘red dirt Texas music.’ They thrived on live concerts and recorded only when they felt like it.”

He continued, “Remember the old rocker, Bob ‘Crooked Leg’ Andersen, well he started the band to rebuild his own career.”

“’Crooked Leg’ Andersen. Wasn’t he a headliner back in the Woodstock era?”

“The very same. According to the band’s former agent, Andersen formed it to re-start his own career. It was a hybrid of old-time rock and Texas-style ‘red dirt’ western music. Woodie Guthrie thrown into a bubbling cauldron of acid music. Loud, raspy, but very Texas!”

I mused over what Stan was telling me. “Wow! ‘Crooked Leg’ Andersen. That goes way back. That guy must be over 60, or even dead.”

“Try, 70. Not dead, but very retired. Winds of the Roaring Plains broke up in the late 1990s, probably while your David Wayne guy was still in prison.”

“So, they weren’t getting ready to perform a gig in Truckee?”

“They haven’t done a gig any place in nearly 15 years. And the agent says that he doesn’t remember the band ever playing in Tahoe, Truckee, or Reno, for that matter.”

“So, Bicycle Guy was riding all night up Interstate 80 to go to a concert by a group that no longer exists, and never played in the area.”