Want to know what it's like to play in a touring band that's on the road away from home for weeks at a time? It's like this: At the beginning of a recent phone interview with Brittany Holljes from the rising local country band Delta Rae, I asked where she was.

"I literally have no idea, but it's very pretty," she said, and I could tell she was looking out the window. "I just go where life takes me. I fall asleep, I wake up in a whole new place -- that's touring."

That's touring, especially on the fast track Delta Rae has been on this year. They'll probably be on the road into 2013, but Friday night brings them back for a rare hometown show. For details, see the preview in Friday's paper.