Blind Willie's

Scott Glazer asked me to play on his Wednesday night gig at Blind Willie's, in a stellar band that included Akeem Marable on saxophone, Nick Johnson on guitar, Nick Rosen on keyboard, and Justin Chesarek on drums.

In spite of the rain, we had one of the best crowds we've ever had on a Wednesday night (maybe 25 people?), and they were into it, cheering with enthusiasm after solos and songs. This rhythm section was slammin'--blow-you-away moments from Nick, Nick, and Justin, all night long. I did my best to keep up.

Outdoorsmen

Last Friday, I was invited to participate in a local podcast titled The Drummers Weekly Groovecast, hosted by Phil Smith, a friend of mine for over twenty years. The topic of the show? Outdoor gigs! Tis the season...there will be heat and humidity, but there may also be blazing sun, ferocious thunderstorms, and swarms of bugs. Nothing too profound was mentioned, but here it is anyway...




So...ugh. I hate the sound of my voice.

Saturday: Boom! Outdoor gig! I played with Scott Glazer's Mojo Dojo at a place in Alpharetta called Matilda's. I've seen pictures of other people playing this venue, and it looked pretty cool--the band sets up on the porch of a small house and plays to people sitting in the yard. It's kind of a backyard concert sort of thing. Could be cool.

Unfortunately, Matilda's is moving from the old location to a new location, and in the mean time, their setup is in a lot behind an old barn. It's in pretty bad condition. That's a tarp bungeed over some cables, and old painter's scaffolding for a (bouncy) stage. The PA is sounds really beat up, and there are a few lights right at eye level aimed at the band. Also, the power is coming from a generator, and it may or may not have fried both the bass and guitar amps.

don't drop anything!

In spite of all this, we had a decent turnout, and the people were nice and liked the music, and I like the relaxed vibe of it. When they move to the new place, it's going to be cool, but this spot is not.

The Mojo Dojo gig is pretty loose, so there was no pressure, and we didn't crash and burn on anything, but we tried a couple of times.

Sunday: Yacht Rock was back in action, this time outside at a festival in Charlotte, NC. 95 degrees at load in.

There was a threat of a thunderstorm, so we put a giant tarp over our gear, causing the rain to immediately dissipate.

And then after a long afternoon of sitting around (I did squeeze in a run on a treadmill where we were hanging out), we finally hit the stage around 8 PM. Pretty good gig! I felt pretty connected to what was going on on stage (not always the case lately), so maybe I've turned some sort of corner.

The temperature mercifully leveled off once the sun went down, and the crowd of maybe 1,200 was very calm for all the beer and sun they'd had that day.

One more thing--there was a large drain right in front of the stage that was connected to a very foul sewer line, and every time the wind would blow towards us, it was like somebody had knocked over a porta-potty. How all those people withstood the smell, I'll never know.

Somebody recorded several songs. Check 'em out.




















Onward! Gigs this weekend:

1. Friday: Park Tavern in Atlanta
2. Saturday: Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC
3. Sunday: House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC
4. Monday: Music Farm in Charleston, SC
5. Tuesday: some kind of private thing in Sea Island, GA

European Vacation

Cool gig of the year for Yacht Rock: we were invited to play a birthday party for about a hundred people at a house (manor?) in Windsor, GB, just outside of London. Built into that was a couple of days to overcome the jet lag/hang out in London. Vacation time! I was able to bring my family to experience the trip.

Wednesday: we took an evening flight directly from Atlanta to Heathrow. No changing planes (some of the guys took a flight that had a connection in JFK and were delayed for hours).

I watched two movies: The Post and Hostiles. Both were excellent.

Thursday: We landed in England on an hour or two of sleep, took an expensive cab ride to our hotel, and then headed off exploring.

the British Museum

the Rosetta Stone

Piccadilly Circus

Buckingham Palace

Thursday evening, the entire band took a field trip to Royal Albert Hall for a special concert--the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the English Chamber Choir performed the score to Close Encounters of the Third Kind as the movie played on the big screen. The room was breathtaking. The sound was beautiful. While watching the movie, it was easy to forget that the orchestra was performing as well--everything was completely balanced and in sync.

We walked to the train station after the concert.

Harrod's is just down the street

Friday: Another band field trip--the London Eye!

From there, we headed across the river to Westminster.

After lunch in a pub, we made our way along the river (via the Underground) to Tower Hill.

Tower of London

From there, we crossed the river, via the Tower Bridge.

We staggered back to the hotel after this, destroyed by the jet lag.

Saturday: Gig day! The band Ubered to Windsor. Our driver drove us to the address, and upon arrival said, "I don't know where we are, but you are here!" Quite a home.

the backyard

the front yard, with horses grazing

the house!

This gig was pretty great--I have zero complaints! The gear worked, the people were cool...yeah! Piece of cake. It always helps when people are dancing from the first song, as was the case on this night. I think we made a lot of new fans from all around the globe--we'll see where this gig takes us next!

Andy Warhol kept an eye on me

Sunday: The band headed home; my family headed to Stonehenge.

boom

The nearby town of Salisbury is beautiful, and we had a few hours to eat lunch and check out the town before heading back to London.

Salisbury Cathedral

Back in London, we headed out for dinner and some more exploring.

St. Paul's Cathedral

the Globe Theatre 

St. Paul's Cathedral, from the Millennium Bridge

Monday: Off to Paris!

King's Cross Church outside the train station

We took the Eurostar train that runs under the English Channel from London to Paris at 180 mph. Amazing.

lunch in Paris

Arc de Triomphe

Place de la Concorde

Jardin des Tuileries

the Louvre

Got it! Then, off to the Eiffel Tower! We took the stairs as far as we could, and then the elevator to the tip top. Incredible!

Friday: Our first mission was to head to Notre Dame.

Saint-Jacques Tower

the River Siene from Pont Notre-Dame

inside Notre Dame

outside Notre Dame

From there, we headed South through the city.

macaroons!

Pantheon

Val-de-Grace Hospital

We tried to go to the Catacombs, but the line was two hours long, so...to the subway!

Our next destination: Montmartre.

Sacre Coeur Cathredal

the view from the front door of Sacre Coeur

inside Sacre Coeur

And with that, it was time to head back, collect our suitcase, and make our way to the train station for the ride back to London.

zoom zoom

Wednesday: Another expensive cab to the Heathrow, boarded the plane, and sat there for 8 hours. Fun! I watched three movies (Battle of the Sexes, Deadpool, and The Reverant). Dead pool was ok, but the other two were really good.

Customs was hellish--a miserable hour long grind at the end of a long week.