What better way to kick off the new semester than to tie a guy up, light him on fire and shove swords down his throat? That’s exactly what the students at Juniata College in Huntingdon, PA did last Friday with me, and what a show it was!

An amazingly interactive, fun and outgoing group they are, and they turned out in droves to completely pack the venue!

Never was I short of volunteers (actually had to turn some away!) or enthusiasm, and they were kind enough to give me a standing ovation at the end of the evening.

The funniest part? Well, there were many, but the guy who threw his clothing on stage after the sword swallow takes the cake. Some things you expect. That one I didn’t.

“We’re just in a band. That dude swallows swords!”

listen to the audio clip

I’m a very far cry from what you’d call a country music aficionado – I don’t think that Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsodies count – but for various reasons I can sometimes be found associating with people affiliated with the industry, and as a music-lover in general I can certainly appreciate great musicianship, regardless of genre.

More than that, I appreciate when someone does something nice, and “nice” does not begin to describe the country music band Whiskey Falls and how they gave up a huge portion of their own promotional appearance on the Bill Breakfast Show (Bill Country, 95 FM, a Clear Channel station) to plug me, my work and my website a few weeks back.