David Freeman Music

Yacht Rock played a Thursday night private party in Atlanta. One big set and home by midnight. killing time Minor weirdness on this one--our gear has already left town for our shows out west, so even thought we were local, we had backline gear, most of which was a little rough looking. One of the Nords (the one on Bencuya's side) was so weird that they ended up swapping it out, and the guitars and basses were a bit wonky. Jason Nackers subbed on drums tonight, and played well, though he had some phantom count-offs that nobody caught. Oops!

Two more good shows for the Yacht Rock Revue, and home in plenty of time for the Super Bowl. Friday: We didn't get very far before we stopped for gas, at which point Zach realized that we had a flat tire on the trailer. Luckily, he's dealt with plenty of these while driving our gear back and forth across the county, so he'd swapped tires in about ten minutes. Our show in Charlotte was at the Fillmore Underground, our second time in this room and our second time selling it out. Unfortunately, we messed up on the load in/soundcheck/start time and had to make a quick pizza run around the corner before the show. This evening's crowd did not disappoint! They were great for the entire show. The Fillmore was also very pleased, and it sounds like we'll be graduating to the big room next time. photo by Zach Wetzel Saturday: We spent the night in Gastonia, slept late, and headed to Asheville after lunch (which was really bad Mexican place). The ...

Monday evening, I got a random email asking me about playing a gig Tuesday night at City Winery here in Atlanta. I'd be playing tenor, flute, a little bit of piccolo, and some bass clarinet backing Alejandro Escovedo. Sure, I said. No idea who Alejandro was. The gig was a performance of his album A Man Under the Influence , and also an opportunity to raise awareness about Hepatitis B and C and the link to cancer (he is a Hep C survivor). Here's the record. I guess you'd call it alt-country? Whatever it is, it's really good. This guy has a great voice and these songs are extra cool. I met up with the music director and a local violist and cellist for a run through. After working through the music, we had soundcheck (I'd forgotten how long it takes to soundcheck with wedges, even with your own sound guy), a meal, and then the opener began. I drew the unfortunate spot on stage between two guitar amps. Brutally loud. I didn't hear much of my flute. That...

Off we go...the Yacht Rock Revue was in Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta last weekend for three more sellout gigs. No plane rides, though...how am I supposed to accumulate Skymiles in the van? Friday: This was our first time playing a Top Golf, which is basically a two story driving range attached to a music venue. How these go together, I don't know, but the room sounded pretty good and the load in was not too bad. This week, we added the Doobie Brothers' Minute by Minute , so we spent a fair amount of soundcheck trying it out. Here's my chart. It took a long time to sort out those voicings! Bill Payne (of Little Feat fame) played the synth stuff on this as well as What a Fool Believes. I think he has six fingers on each hand. After a few swings at this one, we sound checked Magnet and Steel with our old friend Walter Egan, who sat in with us at the end of the show. Before we changed, though, we ate, and before we ate, we took a few swings. I am really bad ...

Only one Yacht Rock gig this week, but we had to go a long way to get there: Park City, Utah. We performed at the Sundance TV party for the Sundance Film Festival. Salt Lake City/Park City got a foot of snow the night before our arrival. I had no interest in the festival (the hipsters are thriving in independent film), so I walked a couple of blocks up the hill to escape the crowds. all hail the heated driveway SLC 2002 I stayed outside for as long as I could, and then headed back to the HQ. At that point, they were about begin another event, so I ended up sitting in the hallway outside the restrooms until it ended. Also in the hallway: a display with bags of "bark THINS." I ate three bags. Major tummy ache. So...finally! Set up time on this tiny stage. Most of the gear worked (guitars and drum pad did not). Also, the in ear monitor system that we ordered did not make it on the truck, which meant that somebody probably had to d...