Traveling through seven countries in 25 days would be grueling for anyone, but try flying in a plane where the pilot has to perform evasive maneuvers, or try walking around an area dotted with "minefields," and you'll get an idea what Indie rockers and former Putnam County residents The Redding Brothers -- along with manager Doretta Osbburn -- experienced during their tour of American military bases in the Mideast.

On April 29, The Reddings left for three-and-a-half weeks to entertain in Djibouti, Afghanistan, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The three brothers played before the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. They also performed for British, Canadian, Bulgarian, and Dutch coalition forces.

On Saturday, May 31, they were back in more familiar territory -- the St. Albans City Park -- where they played before those attending the City of St. Albans' "Kickin' in Summer" event, singing many of their own songs such as "Solid" and "Unfaithful," and cover songs that included "Time After Time."

Although The Redding Brothers -- Micah, Josiah, and Gabriel -- are now based in Nashville, they are originally from Scott Depot, and have also lived in Oklahoma and Seattle because of their father's job as a minister for the Church of Christ. Micah said the trio moved to Nashville about two years ago because mounting tours was easier from a city built around music and touring.

"Geographically, it was easier to tour from," Micah said.

The group seemed destined to play music from birth. According to Micah, the brothers grew up surrounded by music and musicians.

"Dad used to sing and play Johnny Cash songs. Our grandfather played guitar and sang folk songs from the '40s," he said. Micah started writing songs before he could play a musical instrument.

"I started to write songs at 13 or 14. I didn't play an instrument. It occurred to me I could write better songs if I learned guitar," said Micah, who plays lead guitar and sings the lead vocals.

Last year, the trio challenged themselves to write a song a week for one year. They wrote and released 53 songs in 53 weeks.

"We wanted to challenge ourselves. Every Saturday at midnight we released a song. You get tapped out -- the pressure gets hard, but it allowed us to try out more genres than we normally could," he said.

The idea to tour the military bases came about when their Marine brother returned from Iraq after a six-month stint.

"He told us they were trying to get musicians over there. We got interested. It was a long process to get arranged -- about a year and a half," Micah said.

Entering that part of the world from Nashville was a true culture shock for the group. They ran into everything from mine fields to dust storms, and the sleeping arrangements were strictly military -- the brothers' lodgings were the same as the soldiers'.

"However they slept, we slept. However they traveled, we traveled," Micah said.

In Djibouti (Africa), they slept in large tents. While in Afghanistan, they slept in what looked like bunk houses, said Gabriel Redding, drummer for the group.

"None of them had latrines. They were in separate buildings," he said.

Although water was available to wash with, the brothers were told not to drink it.

"It said it was disinfected, non-potable water. You could wash your hands with it, but they said not to brush our teeth with it," Micah explained.

Although they enjoyed seeing that part of the world, Josiah, bass guitarist and singer, said it left a sobering effect. While they were there for a musical tour, they would soon go home. The soldiers were there for months at a time.

"Those places were interesting to see because it's unique, but you miss home and you appreciate they are there every day. Some are there 15 months at a time," Josiah said.

While in Kuwait, they understood their music was also a contribution -- that their music could make a difference in someone's life.

"The General said that soldiers would be entering Iraq from there and for some of them, this would be the last concert they would ever hear," Micah said.

Micah said in Qatar, some soldiers who had been fighting for six months were given four days to relax.

"They were really tight. They'd been under fire for too many days in a row, being bombarded with rockets, under stress. We're able to bring them a little taste of America and let them relax and get it off their minds," Micah said.

Although they were not in the danger soldiers faced daily, a few times they faced enough to gain an appreciation for the soldiers' daily lives.

"We were flying in a military transport plane coming into Afghanistan and the plane was doing evasive maneuvers (swerving back and forth, ducking and spinning) to avoid being a target. It was pretty scary," Micah admitted. Gabriel said that, too, had a sobering effect.

"Someone asked, 'Where is your body armor?' We said we didn't have any. They said every other musician does," Gabriel said.

For security reasons, they were never told where they were going until the night before they left.

"We'd just finished a show at 10 p.m. They told us we were leaving at 2:30 a.m. We packed up and stayed at the airport. We got to our final destination at 2 p.m. and played at 5 p.m. No sleep for us," Micah said, laughing.

Although they mainly ate meals at the base, they were allowed to go out a couple of times and try the local cuisine. Unfortunately, no one told them enough about local customs. Following a meal in the United Arab Emirates, the waiter came over with very small cups and offered them coffee from his coffeepot. Bearing in mind the coffee was incredibly strong; only a tiny amount was poured into the cup. They finished the coffee while the man stood near them. He stood by the table and waited. They, too, waited. He continued to stand near their table.

"We didn't know what to do and there was no one to tell us," Micah said.

Still unsure, they handed the cups back to him. He then proceeded to the next table and handed the same cups out to some other customers. The brothers still are not certain what was going on. However, some local people said it was not a custom they recognized, either.

In each country, the brothers found different rules. In Kuwait, they found Americans were not allowed to go into any neighborhoods without a military escort. In Bahrain, they were given security sheets listing what they could and could not do such as not wearing shorts.

Afghanistan was a heart-breaker.

"People lived in mud houses. Some of the kids were living in bombed-out buildings. It struck me they make in a day what I pay for a cup of coffee," Josiah said.

It was also in Afghanistan where they had to contend with mine fields.

"The bases are dotted by minefields. The mines have barbed wire around them with a warning sign. The Afghans know they are minefields, but allow the animals to graze," he said. "We did see a mine explode, but someone said an animal had probably set it off."

Josiah said he and his brothers were impressed with the way they were treated, and they were never in any real danger.

"They took really good care of us. They didn't put us in any situation that was harmful," he said.

One thing they appreciated was getting to really talk to some of the soldiers. Some were forthcoming and found it good to talk to the brothers.

"We got to talk to a lot of people. They said it was sometimes hard to talk to people at home because they needed to be here. Because we had a little taste of it, we understood," Micah said.

They said the group has been asked to come back and they will probably go again.

"It was just a great experience -- to see them and talk to them. It wasn't statistics or politics -- they were real people. It was just an amazing experience," Micah said.

And by the way, all that listening to Johnny Cash songs when they were little finally paid off. His music turned out to be the crowd favorite, according to Micah.

"They liked Johnny Cash. Even if they didn't know the song, they knew who he was," he said.

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