the birth of -SSS- shows

i guess the seed was planted when i was living in Dallas & met this amazing young lady named Damaris. she is a chick i was able to get along with from the beginning! (which, for me, is kind of a big deal) her outgoing, friendly nature drew me in & i feel so blessed to have her friendship. she told me about how she & her friends were named the Diehards. then she kinda explained what they do, how they try to bridge the gap between bands & their fans. it sparked my interest. it made me think that's something i'd love to do! if only i wasn't so shy...

in May of 2008, i moved back home with my parents in Harlingen & my thoughts of diehard-ing diminished. for a while, i was in a bit of a funk. it was like i'd hit a plateau. then i had the opportunity to travel to Houston for Winter Wonder Slam 2008! (early December) i was so excited! it was supposed to be an amazing, life-changing experience for me, but it didn't happen the way i'd hoped. don't get me wrong now, the concert itself was amazing! even got autographs from Family Force 5. but other than the concert, the rest of the trip was basically a major let down.

about 3 months later, (March 2009) the Keep Breathing Tour came down to the Valley (Mission, to be exact). i was excited because i would get to see Philmont... live! that was the only band (of 4) that i was familiar with so i had to go check them out. my cousin went with me & we had a blast. after that experience, i decided i wanted to bring them back down to the Valley but to my neck of the woods. for a few days after that show, i was talking about how much i'd absolutely love to bring bands down to Harlingen, not only so i could go to the shows, but so i could share them with the kids in my areas. since i was in school at that time, this was all just a dream - something nice to think about doing some day - but it was never an actual plan to do anything.

skip ahead to January 2010. i saw a tweet by my good friend Damaris that some friends of hers, Outside the Camp, would be traveling down to McAllen for a concert. i decided that if i could get some house work done & convince my parents to let me go to McAllen on a Saturday night by myself, i would go to support the band. that morning, i see another tweet by Damaris that she was in town with the band! i was so excited at the prospect of getting to see her after so long! to my surprise, it didn't take any convincing at all for my parents to let me go. it was a great show & even better because Damaris was there... i was higher than a kite that night!

the next day, i was talking to my parents about the night & without me saying anything my dad suggested i become sort of a music promoter. maybe he remembers all my talking from last year. but it was so uplifting to get his unsolicited "go-ahead" on this thing. we talk a LOT about it with no opposition from my mother & the fire in me was reignited. he said i shouldn't wait & to really get going on this thing, so i am. as of this week, i'm celebrating the birth of -SSS- shows!