How many dads out there can say they spent 22-days and 5,000 miles in a minivan with their 22-year-old musician daughter as she gigged her way from coast to coast?
Well, journalist and college professor at Castleton David Blow can.
And now, after five years in the works having been derailed by Covid, Blow is hoping to take area readers along on that trip in his book entitled “Twenty-two: A lucky dad savors 22 days on the road with his 22-year-old gigging daughter.”
After self-publishing two prior books; “Blow by Blow” and “Covid Chronicles,” Blow decided to just give this one away on his website david-blow.com.
“Self-publishing is stressful and not that fun. And by doing it on my site and giving it away, I can do so much more with it, including adding tons of photos and videos — and I plan to do the introduction as an audio podcast-type entry into it,” Blow said.
The story will take readers through gig stops in D.C., Nashville, Dallas, Amarillo and Breckenridge. But it also includes crazy events like an unplanned performance at a historic Mississippi juke joint in Clarksdale captured by a perfect picture by a music lover from England.
It’s a story of bonding and reflection with his then recent college grad daughter through music, conversation, bad TV shows and more than a few beers.
The story will unfold mostly in a chronological fashion with breaks provided by chapters detailing misfortunes with Ubers, Airbnbs and the stressful attempt to sell the family minivan once they got to California.
It has highs, like the Clarksdale gig, and lows, like learning of the death of a friend the day after winning $1,000 in a casino in Reno.
It’s also a story about this really cool, vast country we live in and all the great people we encountered at every stop.
And it concludes with a chapter written by his daughter, Kirsti, detailing what the trip meant to her.
“That made me cry,” Blow said.
The book will be released one or two chapters at a time on Blow’s website starting Jan. 1.
“I just want people to read it and hopefully feel some of what I got to feel, both watching people react to her playing and singing and just feeling lucky to have been allowed along for the experience,” Blow said. “So much has changed in our lives since that trip, including Kirsti now being married and living in Spain, so I’m having a blast reliving that magical time through this book release.”
For more information and to read the first chapter of the book, visit: david-blow.com.
Courtesy David Blow
Kirsti Blow performing gigs as she and her dad embark on a 5,000-mile cross-country journey, which he turned into a free book.
