The past month has been really dead, but before that, there were about three weeks of gigs, so here we go...
Friday, March 10, 2023: Lexington, KY. This place was slammed--I'm pretty sure we sold it out again--and it'd be nice to find a bigger, better venue, but in the mean time, this will do. Not much to report about the gig. It was solid and we were a bit out of gigging shape. That's about it.
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| photo by Deb Ponder |
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| photo by Deb Ponder |
Saturday, March 11, 2023: Nashville, TN. We played a private party at Marathon Motor Works here, the venue where we've been playing our public Nashville shows as of late. It felt like a real gig instead of stiff party, so that made the night go by. We dig this room.
There was some boredom/silliness.
And treats after the show!
We spent the night in Manchester, TN, about an hour outside Nashville, and my room was this close to the front desk. Pretty noisy spot.
Sunday, March 12, 2023: Atlanta, GA. We rolled back into town in the middle of the day, with enough time to set up, soundcheck, and play a show for The Giving Kitchen (a non profit that provides emergency support to restaurant workers).
Greg Lee left town for vacation, so we had Seth Waters on bass. He did a really fantastic job, even if he looked like a goober in that captain's hat.
Thursday, March 23, 2023: Macon, GA. We played the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon, GA. The weather was perfect.
It did get a bit buggy, though--this scary looking guy kept pacing across my top keyboard, and sometimes ventured down onto the keys, and just generally freaked me out. I encouraged him to go see the drums, but his grip was too strong.
Friday, March 24, 2023: Atlanta, GA. Back in town, we played a private event. I honestly don't remember what this one was for. I do remember that I was really late, having drastically underestimated Atlanta traffic on a Friday afternoon.
They fed us, and everything had twice as much salt as the recipe asked for. I mean, I like salt, and this was a lot of salt.
Anyway, the gig was ok. We played at American Spirit Works Distillery, and for the first time (we've played at least twenty-five gigs here through the years), the stage was rotated ninety degrees, so that we were playing into the longer length of the room. Surprise! It didn't sound nearly as bad as it used to when we were blasting the bathroom doors.
Saturday, March 25, 2023: Savannah, GA. I slept nearly the entire way to Savannah--still a van sleeping champion.
This gig was for a party at a golf club, put on by a golf cart company (can't think of the name of either). I do remember, thought that this gig had THREE HELICOPTERS!!!! YES! I love helicopters. Each crew would even let you go inside. It was soooooo cool.
The Chinook. Incredible!
The Coast Guard helicopter, which is a Dolphin. Some kind of Euro copter kind of thing with an enclosed tail rotor.
We had golf carts to drive ourselves to the green room.
Near the green room was a Blackhawk. They let me sit in the front seat. It was amazing.
Before our part of the evening began, the helicopters had to fly out, and we were nearby to keep the stage gear from blowing away.
First to leave was the Dolphin.
And finally, the Chinook.
We started right at dusk. It was a pretty night.
Once it got dark, though, the big LED screen on the back of the stage attracted every bug on the golf course, and we were soon overrun. Turning down the intensity of the screen helped, but it was crazy for about ten minutes. I was sure I would end up with something crawling through one of my sax mouthpieces!
Vegetarian food options at the gig were slim--I think I ate some salad and a big plate of rice--so I bought a microwave burrito at the hotel.
My room had a microwave, but no plates, so I used what I could find.
Monday, March 27, 2023: Atlanta, GA. I went to meet the van and pickup my gear, and we discovered that someone had broken into the band's storage unit. The gear that we'd used on the road was fine, but some things that were in storage went missing. Apparently someone rammed the door, grabbed what they could, and took off. That's not good.
April 1, 2023: Destin, FL. My family spent the week in the Florida panhandle.
I had a zero gigs, but still lots of homework, so I spent a part of every day writing out my parts for the next batch of Yacht Rock songs.
April 17, 2023: Atlanta, GA. A tough of week of rehearsals, with lots of new stuff. It'll probably be fun once I've caught up on all the sleep I've missed.
