The Rock Boat is our company’s flagship event and just celebrated its 10th annual sailing.

I say flagship event not because it’s necessarily our favorite (we love all our children the same) but it is the event we have produced the most amount of times and the community of guests we know the best.  This community has been patient while we learn how to create vacation experiences and just as supportive as we bring other communities together for new events.  It appears that we are operating with the understanding that says “We will be your biggest cheerleaders as you grow other communities so please promise to be good shepherds of our community.”  Sounds fair to me.

This past Saturday I got the rare opportunity to go out and see music without having any responsibility.  I went to see a concert featuring Graham Colton, and Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers (both veterans of The Rock Boat), and a new band we just added “sight unseen” called Needtobreathe. I was feeling a little vulnerable for adding Needtobreathe to the lineup as a headliner without seeing them perform first but after the 3rd song all I could think of was that I was experiencing what must be known as “Buyer’s Rejoice” rather than the common phrase we all hear of called “Buyer’s Remorse”. This band was awesome I can’t wait to see them next January on The Rock Boat XI.

Why would we put ourselves in this position to book a band we haven’t seen before?  For 3 years, the guests from The Rock Boat have been telling us that they want Needtobreathe to perform on The Rock Boat.  Every year we have made the band an offer to appear and for some reason or another, it has not worked out.  Finally the stars are aligning and I am so glad we listened to our community.

As I look back upon some of the finest moments in our history, they have all been shaped by listening to our communities.  The concept wasn’t our idea, it was theirs.  The experience guests receive wasn’t our idea, it was theirs.  And inviting a band like Needtobreathe to join us which has gotten me this excited?????

Yep, their idea.

I can’t recommend strongly enough to have the right tools in place to listen to your communities?  It has given us “Buyer’s Rejoice” so many times.

-Andy

If you’re interested in staying up to date with the Sixthman Blog, sign up to receive regular updates via Email or RSS Feed!

It’s now been more than a week and a half since we’ve returned home from Cayamo 2010, and we’re already itching to get back out there for Cayamo 2011.

How about you?  We thought today would be a great day to highlight some of the articles and blogs that have popped up around the net since our return, and then ask you to contribute your own stories or share links to your own blogs.  Sharing is caring, people!

From Paste Magazine: 7 Cayamo Artists Share Their Favorite Moments

From No Depression Magazine – “In all, to say I’d recommend springing for Cayamo next time it rolls around, would be an understatement.”  Here is their day-by-day recap:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Cayamo Wrap-up

From Blurt Magazine: “While I’ve endeavored to describe Cayamo as best I can and in as much detail as possible for one who’s weird and wacky, in reality the only way to truly appreciate all it has to offer is to experience it for yourself.”  Here is their day-by-day recap:

• Day 1
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Day 4
• Day 5

Have a story or two of your own from Cayamo 2010?  Add it to the comments or post a link to your own blog where you discuss your experiences.  We’d love to hear from you!

-Steve

###

If you’re interested in staying up to date with the Sixthman Blog, sign up to receive updates via Email or RSS Feed. All the cool kids are doing it.

This is a guest post from Daniel Hutchens of Bloodkin, written while cruising on the Simple Man Cruise 2010 last week.  The floor is yours Daniel!

January 21, 2010
3:00 PM
onboard the cruise ship Inspiration
docked in Tampa FL
Kristy and I just got settled into our cabin here, and the rest of the Bloodkin guys have found their rooms elsewhere…we’re playing the “Lynyrd Skynyrd Simple Man Cruise”, five days onboard, to Cozumel, Mexico, and back…which will mark the first time I’ve ever been to Mexico. Eric and I used to talk about beating it to Mexico and having crazed adventures in the tradition of Kerouac and Burroughs…but those trips never materialized. Also back when I was touring with Moe Tucker, and Sterling Morrison at the time lived in Texas, and he and I were making vague plans that “sometime” I’d come down and visit, and he’d take me into Mexico to see some ancient Mayan ruins…but then Sterling got sick, and so that trip never happened either.

Now, when this cruise docks in Cozumel, they’re offering a ferry to the mainland, and a trip to see some Mayan ruins. Kristy and I are planning to go…better late than never.

January 22, 2010
10:15 AM
onboard the Inspiration, en route to Cozumel
This morning we’re just about smack dab in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico; tomorrow morning we’ll be docking in Cozumel. Last night was foggy and wind-whipped––this morning is bright and clear and the sea a shimmering royal blue, and the sky more a pale milky bluewhite…earlier Kristy and I walked to the extreme forward observation deck and watched the nose of the vessel slicing through the waves, extreme wind making us lean to retain balance…

Last night Bloodkin played our first set of the cruise, on the Lido Deck––but no, we didn’t play “Lido Shuffle”, though the thought did cross my mind. It was a fair set to a fair crowd, picking up steam as we rolled along––the first time all six of us (with both Tonks and Martino at the same time) have played together in several months. Cool to get all the spices a-bubbling in the same pot together again––but I look forward to tonight’s latenight set in the Candlelight Lounge; I think last night we tuned up the engine, tonight we’ll rev ‘er up.

January 24, 2010
6:35 AM
en route from Cozumel back to Tampa

Just waking up, and just watched the sun rise from the sea out our cabin window…Kristy and I will head up for breakfast in a few minutes.

Last night our whole entourage took in The Outlaws out on the Lido Deck… “Green Grass And High Tides”, “Ghost Riders In The Sky”, and a bunch of songs I’ve never heard, but, man, they were excellent…I’ve certainly never “studied” them before, but they have more of a pop songwriting bent than most of the old-school Southern Rock outfits, mixed in with an absolutely top-shelf dual-lead-guitar attack and precise harmonies…I was duly impressed and have decided to quit Bloodkin and follow The Outlaws around on tour. Well…maybe not.

The only act I’ve seen on the cruise so far who outgunned The Outlaws were Hill Country Revue, who I caught the previous night in the Candlelight Lounge (right before Bloodkin played, which turned out to be fun but sparsely attended; we indeed revved ‘er up a notch, but were sunk by competing performances…ah well)…but Hill Country Revue features Cody Dickinson on guitar, and anything I’ve seen Cody (or Luther Dickinson) involved with, absolutely rocks…no surprise, as Cody and Luther are the sons of the late Jim Dickinson, a monumental rock icon, who was also a brilliant pad-roducer and bad-ass keyboard player, and he also happened to be a personal hero of mine––so I may be a tad bit biased here, but hey, I never claimed I wasn’t––but anyway, the Revue killed it, they were no-nonsense downhome Mississippi boogie n swagger, catch ‘em anytime you have a chance and they’ll damn sure deliver the goods, you have my personal guarantee…they’ll make you feel like you just knocked back a swaller of pristine Mississippi moonsnine, then got kicked in the head by a supernatural muse of a mule.

I haven’t yet caught my old Athens acquaintance Kevn Kinney and the rest of the Drivin n Cryin boys, but I’ve received rave reviews, heard tell they’re in top form and rockin’ harder than ever, which I’m certain is true. Hope to catch them later tonight.

9:40 AM
So yesterday Kristy and I ventured onto the island of Cozumel. Our guided tour to the Mayan ruins was canceled “due to not meeting the minimum number of participants”…so we were left to our own devices.

We quickly made our way through the tourist-trap giftshop strip mall built right around the dock, and got out into the streets proper. We talked to a few “guided tour” representatives and before long secured the services of a very helpful taxi driver named Elias. He gave us a personalized tour of the island…we saw beautiful stretches of beach, I mean I was fairly stunned at the raw beauty of undeveloped sand n surf, amazing scenery, and if I can use the term “vibe” or whatever, it got to me, and I really want to return to Cozumel someday and bring the kids along…we saw great “kiddie pool” areas on the beaches, little wading pools naturally barricaded from the surf by rock formations, little Mexican kids happily frolicking in the crystal clear blue water…one such “kiddie pool” was about half a mile from a thatched-roof establishment called “Hotel Ventanas Al Mar”, a ridiculously scenic spot…Elias told us the hotel was used frequently for location shoots for Mexican films; I could see why…I’m fantasizing already about staying there a week or so, a big family vacation…

On a beach called “Punta Sur” Kristy and I came across a huge iguana, sunning himself atop a 6-foot stack of stones, and he was so still and poised and perfect, that at first I thought he was some sort of stone sculpture…but he was real, alive, seemed ancient and mystically wise and the undisputed steward of that shoreline…

Then later we came across a cool, no-frills little beachside bar called “Senor Iguana’s”, so of course we had to check it out. It was one of several joints we saw that struck me as beautiful places to get lost––slow, even timeless little Mexican joints––where the barflies just appear like driftwood, suck down a few ice-cold Sols and just gaze down the shore dreaming, hypnotized by the waves rolling in and out…

We also noticed tiny concrete dollhouse-sized shrines along the road, turned out to be the Mexican equivalent of “crosses by the highway” in America, little memorials to people who have died along that particular stretch of road…and these little shrines are variously painted, inscribed with the name of the departed and facts about their life––I stopped and photographed one such shrine to a man named Hector Arredondo.

So the bottom line is, Cozumel struck me as incredibly scenic and “fun in the sun” gorgeous, but also somehow a bit poetically mystical, even a little sad at moments, but genuine, and possessing some kind of secret I’d someday love to come back and investigate.

But for the time being we’re back on the boat, with one more full day of heavy-duty Southern Rock awaiting us. Do I love Southern Rock? Well, officer…you got me dead to rights. Rock n roll sure did save my life at a pretty young age…and really, to quote Duane Allman, “The term ‘Southern Rock’ is redundant.”

Daniel Hutchens
Visit Bloodkin at:
Bloodkin.net

This is a guest post from Kevn Kinney of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, written while on board Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man Cruise 2010.  The stage is yours Kevn:

Good morning sunshine
9,000 feet above the floor
my head is spinnin
not from the sea
but from the sounds of the next generation
blackberry smoke
runnin through my veins
hill country revue dancing in my head
high tide blues…
old school of fish
Bloodkin from my old hometown
Athens GA
It is no coincidence to me
This boat
Inspiration
It is a wonder
Get out of my comfort zone
And dig the inspiring sounds
On the sea
With the other 2000 folks
Roamin the deck
Lookin for a good conversation
A simple nod and a wink to that fella
I’ve passed a dozen times
a most awesome benefit concert
put together by Ricky Medlock
by far one of the coolest shows
to witness…I bear witness
to rumblin tumbling sounds
of the simple man cruise
like a f***in freight train
waves crashing off the bow
an honor indeed to be counted among one and all
rock on brothers and sisters
p.s. my friend Robert Kearns originally from the Bottle Rockets
on bass with skynyrd
FREAKIN AWESOME
Leon would be proud

Kevn Kinney
Drivin n cryin

This is a guest post from Zach Daniels, banjo player for Oakhurst.  Take it away Zach!

Hey its Zach with Oakhurst, out here on the open water,  just trying to figure how this boat could possibly get any wilder and crazier.  Sure enough, the minute we think it can’t, it does.

The music is awesome, the people are awesome, all-you-can-eat soft-serve is REALLY awesome… just  so many forces coming together creates this powerful  (and sometimes overwhelming) energy that gets our creative juices flowing.   We really feed off that energy and use it. We are inspired. Its been a fun four days and as we approach the mainland, with the hours and minutes ticking away, I thought about everybody getting in their cars or on a plane heading back to that “grind”, and realize that this is special few days we all spent together is one of the biggest highlights of our year and I’ve got to believe everyone involved feels the same way.

Even when this comes to end, I keep in mind, that it will be here again next year as something to look forward to-to get us through that “grind” and think about how we have a whole year to come up with ways to make an already wild and crazy ride, even wilder and crazier.

Thanks to all for making this the best Skynyrd boat yet.

-Zach

This is a guest post from Cody Dickinson of Hill Country Review:

So as I boarded INSPIRATION, someone asked me which band I was with. I explained my partners and co-conspirators go by HILL COUNTRY REVUE as realized I was speaking to Johnny VanZant. My girlfriend and I continued to check in through security with VanZant, Rossington, and family. They were so friendly and hilarious. At this moment my mood for SIMPLE MAN was set. Good people, good times, and great music.

Blackberry smoke, Dead Confederates, Drivin and Cryin, Hightide Blues- the list goes on and on. Amazing bands I admire and people I’m proud to call my new friends.

Finally, let me just say that SIXTHMAN are the most professional and friendly hosts a band can ask for, and that is a combination hard to find.

As I lay drunk in my cabin last night watching the final Conan episode, Will Ferrell led the band through an inspired version of FREEBIRD to close out Conan’s stint at the Tonight Show. Serendipity at it’s finest.

F***ing cheers mate. 2010-

Cody Dickinson

On cruises, it is customary for Sixthman to have a late night staff meeting, after most of the day’s work is behind us, to prepare for the next day.  On Thursday night, our meeting directly followed the 1^st headlining Lynyrd Skynyrd show (which rocked).

One of the greatest parts of my job here at Sixthman is that I get to work directly with our artists and the teams that support them- not on all year long – but also onboard. I casually mentioned to Tom on Skynyrd’s team if he thought we could get one of the guys from the band to stop by our staff meeting after the show, to say a personal ‘thank you’ to our team – the people behind the scenes.

To my surprise, he casually said right back “yeah, we can definitely make that happen.”

He even had the idea that maybe Rickey Medlocke could kick it off and stop by on the first night, and Johnny VanZant could end it on the last. I could not have been more excited!

Melissa and I were the only ones that knew… and we decided to keep it that way.

So, as the midnight hour approached on Thursday night, I waited outside of our office for Rickey to come down.  And as I waited, members of the band Oakhurst started showing up, with instruments in hand.  And a cooler full of beer appeared as well.

Hmmm… interesting I thought.

Rickey came by, gave our team a very genuine ‘thank you’ and fired us up for what was to come the next 4 days.  As he left… Oakhurst slowly walked in, belting out “Wagon Wheel,” playing the hell out of their instruments, and getting our entire staff to sing along.

It was only after the applause died down, and the boy from Oakhurst were gone, that any business was talked about.

When was the last time you came out a meeting with a big grin on face?  This one will definitely stick with me for a long time.

-Ape

I only have time for a quick update, but I was reminded today why I love these cruises so much:

Discovering new music.

Because I just found out three weeks ago that I would be going on Simple Man Cruise 2010, I hadn’t got a chance to check out any of the new bands coming on board.  Tonight, I went to the back lounge to announce Hightide Blues and ended up staying for the entire set.  From the first chord to the last note, these guys kicked ass.  They brought a great level of energy, turning a room full of seated concert goers into an all out party on the dance floor within a few songs.  It was cool to watch them spread electricity and enthusiasm from the stage to every corner of the venue.  Great songs, great stage presence, tons of energy,

I will definitely be picking up their EP and I eagerly await their first album (which they’ll be recording as soon as they get off the ship on Monday).  If you’re a fan of the Strokes and bands of that nature, make sure to catch these guys in concert if they roll through your town.

-Steve

Up next, we have a 100% unedited blog from TRB artist Marc Broussard.  I know this because I watched him type it with a giddy look on his face.  Take it away Marc:

I wish there was a pill that would undo the damage that we bring upon ourselves on a given night of partying on The Rock Boat.

This pill would not only completely counter the “hangover” feeling of the following morning, but would also act as an alarm clock to get you out of bed after only minutes of sleep, thus increasing your “party time experience.”   As we all know, drugs have side effects.  This pill is no exception.  In men, it causes temporary sterility and an unpleasant fluid secreted from the nether regions of the body.  In women, it creates an overly active sex drive as well as a total lack of judgment when picking men.  The female side effects are incurable.  This pill would be readily available in restrooms around the ship and would cost nothing, as you use your “sail and sign” key to purchase for an imaginary sum.

I believe this drug should be invented and be under the sole control of  Sixthman LLC. I say we skip the animal testing and go right to human trials right here on TRB. Those who participate get to cruise for free in perpetuity!

In all honesty, I am having a blast on The Rock Boat this year. Other than the year I married my beautiful wife on this boat, this year is one for the record books for me. My relationship with TRB is similar to that friend we all had as kids that your parents thought was a “bad influence”.  You know they are right but you can’t stop hanging out with him/her because they really are too much fun! Thank you to everyone for giving me an opportunity to live this enchanted life.

I’m just livin’ the dream!

Later,

Marc Broussard

This past week we had a chance to interview Jason from The Rock Boat band Sun Domingo.  We threw as many ridiculous questions at them as possible…and they were all answered in equally ridiculous fashion.

Carnival gets mad when we refer to a ship as a boat. What is the difference between a ship and a boat? Obviously the word “ship” referrs specifically to Viking knarrs (duh, Carnival!)

Who is in your band is “the smelly guy?” Definitely Edgel. You can go in any room he’s just left and tell that a real man has been there. In the early days of the band we were kicking around the idea of trying to bottle the scent under the name “Eau de Musk Ox” but our financial partners backed out at the last minute.

You recently played a show here in Atlanta with Michael Tolcher, do you guys find him as dreamy as we do? After that show at Piedmont Park we all went around the corner and drew straws to see who would get to go up and talk to him at the merch table first.  Nathan won the pick and proceeded to slowly make his way through the gaggle of fans all jockeying for position in the autograph mass.  Now, from here the details get a bit foggy, but there’s something about Nathan’s jumping through his own leg (which he does in times of great social stress), an escaped llama, a power drill and a bottle of cloroform…at least that’s what the police report says.

On The Rock Boat, you will hear about things like “chocolate melting cake” and “all night pizza buffet,” what is your typical work-out regimen like? We have an endorsement with Tony Little’s product line, which we use exclusively. Those that follow our band are well-aware of the attention we obviously pay to our physiques, and we are happy that you chose to bring up physical fitness, as it is intrinsic to our music and our personal lives. Tony Little’s fitness products exist at the very cutting edge of kinesiological technology, far exceeding other fly-by-night operations like P90X or Jack Lalane’s Juicer.

If you had to pick one other Rock Boat artist to be stranded on a desert island with who would it be? Whoever uses the best hair care product.

Last year Gaelic Storm challenged Sixthman in flip cup. They won (we think they were cheating just by being Irish). What is your flip cup strategy? Punch them in the [crotch] until they pass out. If that doesn’t work, we always have our soundman Jerod. He has an iron liver which he’s been training for the better part of two decades. Jerod will crush his opponents.

What are you most looking forward to doing in Cozumel, swimming with the dolphins, shopping for tiny sombreros, or visiting La Pharmacia? As a nature lover, I’d have to go for swimming with dolphins. To my knowledge I’ve never been in close proximity to dolphins in the wild. Can’t help but wonder how close a shark has been to me.

Who would each of you be if you were a member of the cast The Love Boat? Nathan would be Gopher.  No doubt about that. He’s the most amiable of the three of us, a generally good all around guy. No vices, plenty of smiles, etc. Edgel would be Captain Stubing, except with a peg leg and a penchant for high school volleyball players. I would have to be Ace, the creepy guy with the camera.

Unicorn, Pegasus, or Narwhal? Pick one. Unicorns are [lame]. Narwhals live in water that hovers just above freezing all the time, and I’m totally cold-natured, so I’d have to choose Pegasus.

What song would you pick to use as cruel and unusual punishment to force an enemy to their breaking point? “Time To Change” by the Brady Bunch.

There you have it!  Rock Boaters, if this interview is any indication of what we can expect out of Sun Domingo (it’s exactly what we can expect by the way), we’re in for one hell of a party on The Rock Boat.

Less than a month!

-Steve