Yep, I know, I’m posting a few days late. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and I’m a married man, so I have an excuse. Anyway, playing at Ashton’s on Friday was very, very fun!!! It was so good to be playing in Decatur again. I haven’t done that since the last time I played at Azul, which was about a year ago. Thanks goes Luma (the owner) for letting me play.

This was the first time I got to gig out with my new Bergantino 2x10 cabinet. It held up wonderfully to my looping and effect laden abuse. Man, the sound of that thing! It’s pretty transparent, so the sound of my Warwick basses really shines through. I recommend Bergantino cabs to any bassist that really wants to hear the true sound of his or her instrument. Good stuff.

There were some nerve wracking moments, though. First of all, I was worried that there would be a low turn-out since this was the night before Valentine’s Day. I was battling post nasal drip and a scratchy throat (good thing I’m not a vocalist), and it was wearing me out. My mic died, so I was unable to really communicate with the crowd. Almost my entire set was completely new material…most of which I was playing live for the first time. I just replaced my BP8 effects unit with another BP8, and the new one responds a little differently. To top it off, my Boomerang crapped its pants on a few songs.   After 3 years of using the Boomerang, it's never done that live.  I'm just gonna chalk it up to Friday the 13th.  Heh heh. 

All that aside, I made it through and really enjoyed myself. There was maybe about 40 people that showed up throughout the evening. I sold a few CDs and met some nice folks. Cindy seemed to be having fun hanging out with her friends…thanks to you guys for showing up by the way. Even the Boomerang mishap wasn’t too awful…it forced me to think on the spot and cover up the problem with some pretty interesting technique (heh, if I do say so myself…). Even better, Luma invited me back. I’m gonna play again on March 27^th in addition to the brunch thing I’m doing on Feb. 29^th. Also, there’s a possibility that I may be a featured artist for some of Ashton’s open mic nights. That’s pretty much like being the house band for the night. We’ll see about that one…it sounds like fun to me.

So, it was a good night, and there will be many good times at Ashton’s to follow. Oh yeah, I think I finally may have gotten some good live recordings. I’ll chunk ‘em up on the site soon for your listening bliss. Okay, I’m escaping now. Cindy and I have to start planning our May trip to Spain. Cindy’s speaking at a conference on American drama. It should be cool…maybe I’ll get a chance to play some solo bass out there as well. ‘Til next time…

I had such a great time last night! Sweet Java Brown feels more and more like home every time I play there. Thanks to Mary Delaney for letting my play there so often. Unfortunately, there was only a handful of people that came out. I don’t understand why I can’t get a crowd out there. Maybe the place is a little difficult to find. Next time I play there, I’ll be sure to post a link to a map or something.

Thanks to everyone who did show up. My good friend Mark Pitner drove all the way from Chattanooga, TN, and he has a cold. By the way, he’s the fellow who signed my guest book as “pop”. When we were at Victor Wooten’s Bass Nature Camp in May of 2003, one of the younger campers thought Mark was my father. Heh, Mark’s not even ten years older than me. Anyway, the damage was done. Mark will always be known as “pop” to me, and he calls me “son”.

Some of Cindy’s friends, Sabrina and Yun (hope I spelled your names right), showed up. Apparently, they had gotten lost for almost an hour and a half. I’m so sorry for that! Thanks guys for not giving up on finding the place. Also, my old webmaster, Rusty Wade, made an appearance…the rest of the Ken Stanton crowd are a bunch of wankers (just kidding). A homeless lady named Josephine dropped by and sang new melodies to some of my songs. Heh, some of the lyrics were very interesting…”Get in line with the divine. Go inside. It’s coffee time.” Neat stuff. All in all it was a fun and interesting night. I recorded a bit of it, so maybe I’ll chunk up some live mp3s on the site. Be on the lookout.

To get folks out to Sweet Java next time, I’m gonna bribe you guys. When I perform there next, the first ten folks that come up to say they read this will get a choice of a free CD or t-shirt. So come out!