David Freeman Music

Last night Yacht Rock played "the place that used to be called Andrews Upstairs but is now called 8 Traxx Disco."  We did a set of Yacht Rock and then Michael Jackson's Thriller in its entirety. I used to really like playing Andrews/8 Traxx when the stage was a bit larger.  Since they converted it to basically a carpeted sidewalk, it's really hard to have fun on stage.  Now we're all in a row, with me on the opposite side of the stage from where I normally set up.  It's a drag. Sitting next to Bencuya feels like I'm taking a keyboard test.  Last night's grade was probably a B-.  I just couldn't get going and I was tired and made too many stupid mistakes.  I hope he doesn't think I play that poorly all the time!  I was pretty embarrassed about all of my screw ups.  On You're So Vain , he mercifully offered to double me ("to make it sound bigger") after I choked on it at soundcheck...

Yacht Rock played last night in Nashville at the Mercy Lounge.  There was an 80s band and a 90s band downstairs in the Cannery Ballroom, and we played upstairs (with some bad glam rock opener). Dig my John Oates look! The gig was pretty good.  That stage (really, that whole room) is super loud.  It feels to me like the drums are in the monitors, and then everybody jacks up their personal amplifiers to balance that. Anyway, the gig was pretty good.  We played Thriller again, to a pretty lukewarm reception.  In the quieter moments you could really hear the crowd talking.  When we finished, they wanted us to come out and play more Yacht Rock stuff (which I can dig), but it was like "Hurry up and finish Thriller so you can play Rich Girl ." I heard that Nick walked into the dressing room area after the show and one of the opening band guys was receiving some sexual favors on the couch.  Rock and roll lives!  It was the s...

Last night Yacht Rock played our usual Thursday night hit at the 10 High.  The 10 High is under the Dark Horse Tavern in Virginia Highland (816 N. Highland Ave, Atlanta GA 30306).  Here's a MAP . The reason I am being so specific is because THERE WAS NOBODY THERE!  Jeez!  The crowd was the size of an audience for an original act.  It was really sad.  We made no money. Most of the highlights were supplied by Mark Cobb , who played with more energy than he's summoned in some time.  Everything was leaning forward tempo-wise, and so all the songs had an extra intensity.  It was pretty cool.  I think the pushing left less room for us to screw around, and made the gig a little tighter--everybody was playing like they were holding on  to him for dear life.  I dug it. Ganesh Giri Jaya and Kevin Spencer manned the front tonight.  It seemed like Ganesh sang ninety percent of the songs.  I'm not sure why it worked out like th...

So...I've been out on the Jillian Michaels Wellness Cruise (she of The Biggest Loser TV show). Yes, she really is that tiny. This might be my favorite cruise of all the ones we've done this year (The Rock Boat X, Kid Rock's Chillin' the Most Cruise, and Zac Brown's Sailing Southern Ground Cruise).  The other three cruises were music oriented cruises, which meant that we were always out hanging with other musicians, being seen, and partying hard until dawn.  This one was a boat of people who we trying to get their lives together by getting in shape mentally and physically, and they couldn't have cared less about us.  As a result, I spent lots of time in my room (we had our own cabins this time), asleep--like ten or twelve hours a day.  It was great.  I needed the rest. We played three shows--Thursday night, Friday night, and Sunday night.  Playing on the deck of a cruise ship isn't bad--I usually don't even notice the motion of the...