see, i do not find myself an audience member very often anymore – i spend so much time travelling & doing festivals & shows where i do hear & see music being played by friends or new discoveries of folks i have never met (often backstage or side stage) that when i am home it is nearly impossible to get me out to receive music – it is like my ears are off limits or that they close down so i can tend to more pressing things like...wondering where in the house my new cat is going to have her kittens (& when) or whether to make my daughter pay for all, none or half of her requested hot yoga membership

however, i just returned from a trip to danville, kentucky (my home state) to hear lyle lovett & john hiatt swap songs to 2,000 to 3,000 people – after, i quickly calculated what kind of money could be brought in at the gate (let me see, X dollars per ticket times 2,000 to 3,000 people = Y couldn’tidodat!) & how the 2 guys could get their 3 guitars in a single minivan & even have a minivan driver who doubles as guitar tech as their shared overhead-----then, the lights were lowered, and the song swapping & the story swapping began – they played & talked for 2 ½ hours – 2 great songwriters singing songs – simple & powerful ---- they are great solo, they are great w/ their respective bands, they are great together

also, the day i left for danville, i got to hear 2 different friends’ new works – guy clark had been over at the house the night before and left a copy of his new record of 11 songs w/ me – after song 5, i called guy & left a message (it was early) that i was flipping out at how great his songs & record were/are/is/will be and i was only half way through the record – i listened to the rest & the whole record was/is astounding and great – i called him again (this time getting him) and continued to foam at the mouth at how great it is... and it is

later that afternoon, friend and arranger, don hart, who has arranged over 20 songs of mine for string quintet & orchestra, called to see if he could come by with an orchestral work he’d just finished w/ trey anastasio – he thought we’d just spot-listen to it, but we listened from top to bottom at my insistence and really loud too (the low end scared the pregnant cat into the other room-no kittens yet) -- excellent sounds, beautiful orchestrations , a huge work ----and another friend doing great work and sharing it w/ me

so, it got me to thinking of getting in a minivan w/ a guitar tech/driver or just guitars, or doing new works myself of huge undertakings (like a full orchestra or a no-frills recording of great, honest songs) – and i loaded the truck to drive to danville and met my dad at his favorite catfish place in russell springs, kentucky –

and, i did burn a copy of guy’s new recording in the kmart parking lot in russell springs and gave it to my dad for valentines day – guy would want it that way

Back