Thursday, December 07, 2006
"12.07.06 Journal; Latest Heath-Fitzgerald Travels"


Above photo: Debbie Davie, Matthew Heath-Fitzgerald, Tony Sinclair, Sonja Martinez, John BeeBee at the 16th Annual Sonja Martinez Loaves & Fishes Benefit.

Matthew and I are back once again to Krebs, Oklahoma after being gone for the past week and now it's time to catch everyone up on what's been going on!

Last week Oklahoma was hit by a blast of winter weather, which I didn't much care for, however it was not bad enought to keep us from hitting the road to make it to Oklahoma City where Matthew had 5 nights of shows ahead of him.

The winter storm moved in early Thursday morning and we headed out on Friday afternoon. By the time we were on the road most of the major highways had one lane clear, so traveling was slow, but not too dangerous. We made it to Oklahoma City within 3 hours time and got checked into the Habanna Inn, our home away from home.

We had about an hour to shower and get to club Partners, where Matthew was performing friday evening in Sonja Martinez's show "Sonja & Friends." Also appearing in the show was Melody Micheals. In spite of the weather, there was a good'n rowdy crowd ready for the show! Matthew's two brothers stopped by to watch the show, as well as a friend he hadn't seen in some time. The show was wonderful and the crowd grew more cocktailed as the evening progressed and I joined right in with them. When the show was over and Sonja, Matthew & Melody had stopped to pose for photos we all decided to move next door to The Boom for more drinks. Cassie, Amy, Luke, Jeff, Matthew, Melody, Micheal, myself and a few others stumbled over to The boom where we found an almost empty bar, but a great place to create our own party, so that's what we did. Lots of bullshit and cocktails later, the evening ended with Whattaburger and bed.

Saturday morning came- we went on a search to find a new electric cord for Matthew's laptop. Then, that afternoon, I had an appointment with Sonja Martinez to discuss her new website which I will be running, www.sonjamartinez.com, so Matthew and I jumped into the jeep (who's heater is working only when it is in the mood) and headed to Sonja & Dee's home. We had a great afternoon visiting with Sonja and Dee, planning Sonja's website and talking about the upcoming Dinner show that Matthew would be working in the following Monday & Tuesday nights.

We made a point to get back to the hotel with enough time to get a bit of a nap in before Matthew's show that night. By 10:00 we were back in our cowboy hats and walking into the door at The Boom, where the night before we'd kept the bartender busy. On this evening, Matthew was appearing in The Boom's Saturday night show with the one & only Ginger Lamar. Also in the show were Kitty Bob Aimes and Stephanie DeBarge. In the audience were two friends from the McAlester area, Cody and Allen and it was great to see them there, and Sonja & Dee also came by to watch the show. As always it was a great show and once again we headed back to the Habanna Inn.

Sunday morning I, once again slept in. Matthew had rehearsal for the dinner show at 2pm, I stayed in the room to relax. When rehearsals were over, Matthew and I met Greg and JL for dinner at On The Border. Then it was a mad dash back to the hotel for Matthew to be ready for his Sunday night show which started at 7:30. We arrived at Tramps around 7pm. Bill and Eric, our friends from Midwest City were in attendance, as well as Greg (Ginger Lamar), Sonja & Dee, Floyd and many others. It was a great night and the cocktails flowed endlessly. Now for those of ya'll who don't know Tramps- this is the home of what Matthew and I like to call 'Big Girl Drinks'. There is no such thing as a weak cocktail at Tramps, those are the strongest drinks you'll find anywhere... It was decided some time after the show that we should move our group down to the Copa, which we did, where we continued letting the cocktails flow endlessly. I'd like to finish telling you about the rest of Sunday night, but I can't. I can't tell you, because I don't remember it.... UGH. Matthew swears I didn't embarass myself, though, and I hope he's right.

Monday morning Matthew and I had a lucheon with Bill Lorance and Daro. Bill is a fellow Kay Starr fan and we had lots of interesting Kay Starr gossip to catch up on. I was nursing a bit of a hangover all through lunch, but the food helped it a bit.

We had a couple of hours to kill before we had to be at The Copa for the Loaves & Fishes benefit, so I opted to spend it napping. It was a good idea.

This was the 16th Annual Sonja Martinez Benefit for Loaves & Fishes and it was an honor for Matthew to be apart it. Many great entertainers have been connected to it through the years. This year the benefit would enclude: Sonja Martinez, John BeeBee, Debbie Davie, Matthew and the Legendary Tony Sinclair.

We arrived at the stage entrance about 6pm and entered the dressing room. The makeup artist was preping Sonja Martinez and Debbie Davie. We said our hellos, got Matthew's wardrobe in place, then stepped out of the dressing room to glance over the club and audience. Well, to say the least, the entire scene was 'posh'. Very elegant... Matthew had worked at The Copa regularly several years back, but I'd never seen it look so good. Everything seemed perfect and there was quite a large crowd, which I'm assuming was around 200 people (large for The Copa). I quickly realized that in my cowboy hat and jeans I was going to feel underdressed even standing in the back of the Club, so I found myself drawn to the dark area near the front enterance that overlooked the entire club. Since I was wearing black, I made myself fade away in the dark corner where I was close enough to the lower bar so that it was easy to get cocktails, close enough to the front door-man, Eric, to have occational conversation and overlooking the buffet tables where the kitchen staff stood, therefore I could converse with them throughout the evening. Matthew headed back to the dressing rooms leaving me to drink and smoke cigarette after cigarette while watching all the folks eat their dinner... near 8:00 the show began with a duet by Sonja and John on 'Slow Boat To China'- the show was wonderful and Matthew fell right into it. The crowd loved the show and they loved Matthew. From the moment he stepped out onstage in his black fringe and rhinestones and started the first line of 'Live Like You Were Dying' they were in the palm of his hand.

So, the show was fantastic. They raised between $4,000 and $5,000 dollars that first night. I got to take matthew roses onstage at the end of the show and it was an honor for me to tell my husband what a great job he did. We left the club quickly after the show and retired for the evening.

Tuesday came and found us at Bill & Eric's house in Midwest City by 10:30 the next morning. Matthew had woke with a soar throat that day. We started worrying, because he had one more show to get through before his week was over. On the way to Midwest City we stopped by the drug store and purchased any kind of meds that we thought might help and we decided that it would be best for Matthew to not talk any more than he had to that day.

Bill & Eric took us out to lunch at a little greasy onion burger joint that we'd never been to called The 15th Street Grill. All I can say is DAMN! It was an unbelievable experience! Those burgers were wonderful! Chilli, cheese, onions on everything! Wow! I would suggest it to anyone going throught Midwest City!

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to let Matthew get as much rest as possible until the Tuesday night Loaves & Fishes Dinner Show.

Once again we were at The Copa around 6pm. This time I had a table reserved because Matthew's folks were meeting me to have dinner and watch the show. I opted to dress in slacks and a jacket insead of my jeans and cowboy hat... so that means I went hatless... and for those of you who know me, you know I don't go hatless very often! Dinner was wonderful, Matthew's parents had a great time and honestly- Matthew's voice had never sounded better! I was so proud of him that night. I knew he didn't feel well and I knew his throat was awfully soar, but he really put on a great performance.

Happy with the shows outcome, we said goodbye to his folks when the show was over, went back to the room to change and ended our night with drinks at Tramps and The Copa. Matthew's shows were finished and we'd had a great time getting through them.

The next morning, we both awoke with minor colds. We went to lunch at Allen's Cafe downtown Oklahoma City, which is owned by Tony Sinclair and husband Hayden. More Chilli Cheese Burgers ! Then it was time to pack up the old Jeep and get back to southeast Oklahoma.

We had a great week and thanks to all of ya'll who were apart of it and made it one to remember!

For those who are interested, Matthew has already been booked for the 17th Annual Loaves & Fishes Bennefit in December 2007 and has also been asked to do a valentines dinner show at The Copa in February of 2007.

Love to you all.
Jason Heath-Fitzgerald


above photo: Sonja & Matthew backstage at Loaves & Fishes Benefit 2006