Here on the Eagle page you can see a brief bit about the Doobie Brothers being in McCall this past weekend. I had the pleasure of driving two of the members to McCall on Friday night. Like some of you, yes…I work a second job, I drive limousines (and SUV’s, Town Cars, Vans) for Boise Limousine. The band flew in on various flights Friday and Friday night, I had the pleasure of driving lead singer and founding member Tom Johnston, along with Saxophone extraordinaire Marc Russo, from the Boise Airport to the Shore Lodge in McCall (in one of our nice SUV’s). Typically in the limousine business, when it comes to driving “stars” of any sort, you don’t really strike up or carry on a conversation…unless they initiate things, or ask questions. Tom and Marc were very cool, down to earth guys, and we talked a number of times, and it was interesting to hear some of their conversations regarding “times in the music business” and the like (and no, I can’t share any details, sorry…another part of the limo biz).

People always ask me about driving famous people or “stars”, but most of the business is driving everyday people, and rarely the “rich and famous” (well ok, maybe the rich quite often). In the 6 years I’ve been with Boise Limousine, I’ve driven just a few stars, and in 4 years of driving in Portland OR, pretty much the same. The biggest names (besides Tom and Marc)…Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, former NBA star Jason Kidd (#2 pick in the 94′ draft) making his first visit to the Nike Campus at the time, country star Reba McEntire (with a police motorcycle escort back to the airport following a concert), another country artist Trace Adkins.

Plus John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the Lord of The Rings trilogy, among other movie and voice roles.

This weekend, its back to a birthday party or a wedding etc., and it may be a while before I drive another star, but I do enjoy the limousine driving as a second job…hey, rent one sometime…and perhaps I’ll drive you! – Ron