Brain’s Tree Town weekend includes a trip to The Surf Ballroom [GALLERY]

February 2nd, 1959. The Winter Dance Party Tour rolled into Clear Lake, Iowa and The Surf Ballroom. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were on a tour of the midwest, hitting small clubs and venues that normally didn't see big rock and roll stars like these. After the show that night, Buddy Holly had chartered a small airplane to fly to the next show in Fargo, North Dakota. What happened next is rock and roll history. The plane crashed shortly after take off killing Holly, Valens and The Big Bopper. Country legend Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the plane but gave his seat up to The Big Bopper because he had the flu.

While attending the Tree Town Music Festival this past weekend, my wife and I stayed at a hotel in Clear Lake. Neither of us had been to the Surf Ballroom before. So on a rainy, windy Sunday we took a trip to the Surf.

The Surf Ballroom still hosts many shows every year. Country acts like Lee Ann Womack and Dwight Yoakam have played there recently. The stage, the wooden floor and the interior is all unchanged from the night that Buddy Holly took the stage that February night. It's my mission to see a show there someday. To relive the magic, before the 'day the music died.'