June 4, 2019 – While Clarksdale and Red’s provided the best music experience for us, I think Kirsti will tell you that seeing her very best friend walk unannounced into a Dallas Irish pub was her biggest thrill.

She was mid-song – and she just lit up.

Kirsti and Annie Barkan have this bond that goes beyond friendship, which started before they went to University of Vermont together when both were seeking a roommate. You can see it and feel it just by the way they look at each other and smile. That bond was driven home further by the fact that Annie and her road-tripping friend, Cassidy Motahari, drove 14 hours from Georgia that day to surprise her on whim.

Cool, right?

And the fact that I kept a secret from early that morning until 8 or so that night, despite numerous secret texts and calls, is a miracle and made it that much sweeter. Annie first reached out before Kirsti was awake that morning saying she wasn’t sure, but they thought they were going to try to make the gig.

Little did I know, Annie had hatched the plan and basically put it into motion without initially even telling Cassidy! They were a week into a three-month road trip of their own and had tentative e plans to leave Georgia and camp in Mississippi that night, but both were also anxious to get to the west.

Knowing that, Annie said she seized on the opportunity, planning routes and figuring out if it was humanly possible to get to the Dallas gig while already on the road with Cassidy driving.

Annie recalled the day in a phone interview three years later.

“I finally said, ‘you know, Kirsti is playing in Dallas tonight and we could be there in 10 hours,’ and Cass was immediately down for it, which was a big relief for me because I would have been really disappointed at that point. But yea, it ended up being 14 hours of driving, which was totally worth it just to see the look on her face as we walked in.” 

I was so excited for Kirsti all day because she’d been hanging out with only dear old dad for days, which had to be getting old. During our visit to the Dallas Museum of Art, I would duck around corners to text Annie, getting updates on their progress, trying to keep the secret.

Kirsti, in an interview three years later, reminisced about seeing her best friend walk through the door and talked about how hard it was to keep playing like nothing was happening.

“I was so happy. So surprised. I don’t think I’ve ever had a surprise like that. It was genuine shock! Usually when people try to surprise me, I always have an inkling,” she said.

I love the photo I captured in the seconds after their arrival with Annie and Cassidy in the foreground sitting at a high-top table and Kirsti in the background somehow continuing to play and sing despite a smile as wide as she could muster.

After she finished her song, the three of them wrapped in a huge, lengthy embrace, the bar tab was open and food and drinks flowed freely.

Annie said she was so excited to “eat real food” after living for days on “peanut butter and cans of beans.”

And the night got even more interesting when one of my former Castleton University students Eric Mack showed up at the Trinity Hall Irish Pub. He learned through Facebook that I was headed to Dallas, where he lived, and told me we should meet up.

So, Eric and I, along with Annie and Cassidy partied down while Kirsti played away. When she finished the final set, she joined. Eric bought Jameson shots, there was Guinness and wine. He reminded me later that the bartender got caught up in the emotion and bought us shots too!

Eric then wanted to take us to a local haunt of his, the Truck Yard, which had treehouses and a huge open yard that looked perfect for concerts. It was late though, midweek and near closing time. We were basically the only ones there, partying in a treehouse.  

Confession: Outside of the treehouse bar, I may have gotten into one of those quarter-operated kid’s helicopter contraptions and Eric memorialized it with an embarrassing, but funny photo.

Eric, in a follow-up chat, recalled how much he enjoyed hearing Kirsti play and said the Irish pub was where he and friends go on weekends to watch soccer. He recalled Kirsti’s smile, when Annie and Cassidy walked in, saying it showed “there still are real friendships.”

After the relatively brief stint at the Truck Yard bar, Eric headed home and the rest of us headed to another pub to continue the reunion party. We’re not sure what the name of the place was, or how long we stayed before Ubering back to our Airbnb.

“I wish I remembered more,” Annie said.

Kirsti said the same.

“I don’t really remember much because we were just so wasted,” she said.

Fun facts from back at the Airbnb too: We were hungry when we got back and heated up some cheese dip to eat with tortilla chips. Kirsti may have heated it up a little too much because it left a ring on the kitchen table that we thought for sure we’d get charged for (but didn’t!)

And despite already having consumed our weight in alcohol, I thought it fitting to break out the jar of leftover moonshine from Clarksdale for a nightcap to toast a perfect day.

It somehow tasted much worse than in Mississippi, however, and although I choked my slug down, Kirsti wasn’t so lucky and ended up immediately hurling.

Bad dad idea.

“It tasted completely different than in Clarksdale and my stomach rejected it big time,” she said later.

Makes for a good story though, and another chance to root for Kirsti – and her survival.

Musically, Dallas was also really successful for her. They paid her well and asked about future dates to play again, not realizing we were from the north and headed west. But I think it was further validation, especially with Nashville still firm in her memory.

And in follow-up interviews with Kirsti and Annie, I got a further glimpse at just how special their friendship is. Annie talked about how they met using basically a “roommate dating service.”  They were both anxious about getting a bad roommate and invested greatly in the search. They even went camping in Lake George, New York, as a roommate test drive. It poured, they were under-prepared, and “everything that could go wrong, did.”

But the bond was already solidifying.

Both talk about how they don’t see each other as often as they’d like, but when they do it’s like nothing has changed.

“I wish it was as simple now as 14-hour drive,” Annie said, reflecting about their lives now that are so far apart, with her living in Arizona and Kirsti in Spain.

Post-script: Annie got married last summer and Kirsti was in the bridal party and performed their first dance. (video below) It was again great to see this friend bond in action.