We left Atlanta and the 70 degree weather. Just north of Chattanooga, it started raining. We went up and over Monteagle in the pouring rain. When we arrived in Nashville, it was mid-30s and still raining. Yuck!
We set up and sound checked as we've done here plenty of times before. For supper, we met up with the guys from our booking agency for pizza at DeSano. If you've ever been to Antico in Atlanta, it's the same sort of thing--the DeSano guy purchased the concept/franchising rights from Antico and set up shop in Tennessee.
Anyway, it's soooooo good. It's kind of embarrassing--this is the kind of place where I will eat right up until I'm about to throw up. If I had access to pizza like this more often, I would weigh 1,000 pounds.
Back to our gig! We had a good time and played pretty well. That stage is always loud, and for me, it takes some time to get comfortable with the volume. First tune of the night was Greatest American Hero (Believe it Or Not). This one hasn't been on the set list in over a year. I did pretty well--the last measure of the bridge has an intimidating sixteenth note run that I can play most of the time. I think I got it. I had some other minor flubs on the string part, but it was alright.
My solo on Biggest Part of Me was kind of blah, as was Baker Street. I couldn't get any kind of epic energy happening in the latter. On the former, I tried to hold off on the altissimo stuff for as long as possible and try and play something meaningful in the middle of the horn. I couldn't really get anything going. My EWI solo on the end of Africa went very well, however, and the flow of my ideas felt logical.
The crowd had kind of a weird vibe--or maybe it was the stage volume/ear plugs thing. It felt like they were into the first sixty seconds of everything, and then it felt like they wanted us to hurry up and get on to the next song.
Walter Egan made the trip in from Franklin and played Magnet and Steel and Go Your Own Way with us. It's always a pleasure to hang out with the real guys, and Walter is gracious with his stories of the 70s, and he tolerates me taking pictures of him.
We spent the night in Smyrna. The next day, it was back over the mountain in the fog. 1, 2, 3 Greg Lee!
No gig Saturday night, but I did get in some good practicing.
This is a crazy week! I have a quartet gig Monday night, rehearsal Tuesday morning, rehearsal Thursday morning, a gig with Will Scruggs Thursday night, a gig Friday night, and the big Yacht Rock Holiday show at the Variety Playhouse Saturday night!
