Brad Paisley Surprises Houston Coffee Shop With Acoustic Set
Ahead of his RodeoHouston performance on Saturday (March 16), Brad Paisley surprised patrons of a coffee shop in the Houston area with an acoustic performance. More than 100 patrons of Blue Door Coffee, a family-owned cafe in the Woodlands, were on hand to see Paisley sing, just him and his guitar.
The Houston Chronicle reports that Paisley performed some of his hits — including "Ticks" and "Alcohol" — and even an unreleased song called "No I In Beer" during an hour-long set. Also on hand was Paisley's family, including his wife, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley.
How does a coffee shop be so lucky? Blue Door's co-owner, Chad Gauntt, is friends with Paisley and his family. They've even vacationed together in Lake Tahoe.
"He's a huge coffee guy," Gauntt says of Paisley. "He said, 'I'm gonna play there. I promise you.' Every time we would talk, he'd ask."
Gauntt, a lawyer, opened the coffee shop in November. Although the performance was supposed to be a secret, he admits that his 15 employees each "told about 10 people." Still, for unsuspecting patrons, Gauntt kept the ruse up as long as possible: He introduced Paisley by his first and middle name, Bradley Douglas.
Paisley's March 16 RodeoHouston performance was his 13th at the annual event. The moment that's going viral from the night, though, didn't happen onstage: A volunteer firefighter is earning praise on Facebook for carrying an older woman who recently had a stroke and is fighting cancer up to her seat at the massive venue.
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