Before I discuss that in detail let me say that saying 'stars' reminded me that while we were having our GREAT week in Indiana with Kyle & Devin that we pulled out a telescope one night and looked at THREE planets in the sky! Venus, of course, which is easy to find. It's still amazing when you look at it through a telescope and you can see the crescent - like a far away moon!
(note - these images are NOT mine, but they give you a visual idea of what we saw)
Then we moved the scope up to Jupiter. No, we couldn't see 'the spot' but we COULD see the four moons that you can watch on a nightly basis and track their movement...
Then we took it across the street to get a better look at Saturn. This was the first time Kyle had scene the rings other than pictures.
Again, it was a GREAT trip and we made some good memories. :-)
Once we were back in Tennessee I had three gigs to follow up on. The first one was Friday night at Gibson County Relay for Life in Dyer. This was the third Relay I had done this year and was BY FAR the most fun! I did Haywood's a few weeks ago, but they put me on early so two dear friends that were coming to see me missed it. Linda got there a few songs in and caught the last part of the set but Royce got there "on time" as I was coming off stage. Sorry about that!
Then I performed at the one in Dyersburg but was only given time for three songs. I had several people ask me later why I didn't perform more, but of course that was out of my hands. Thank you to those that did let me know you enjoyed it!
Fast forward to this past Friday... I got there early, as usual, and our friends The Joylanders were setting up the sound! It was great getting to talk to them for a while and even string a cable or two... I went on stage and my sister Tammy came along a song or two in and I got to visit with her a while after my set.
I did sell one CD to someone after my set, but of course all the proceeds went to Relay. She actually was hoping "Can I Get a Pepsi" was on the CD. I promised her I would put it on the next one. :-)
But another VERY cool thing happened as well... A gentleman came up to me and introduced himself and asked if I was currently in a band. We talked for a while about bands and "band situations" and of course I indicated I'm playing on Saturday nights with Pure Country but otherwise "Bare Basics" is not currently active. He said he has a band, Southern Thunder, that performs at a family friendly dance place on Friday nights. He said he could use a lead singer and invited me and my Takamine to sit in with them this coming Friday night so we can see how it goes.
I'm looking VERY forward to this for as you know, gentle reader, that I enjoy performing and enjoy making people happy! He said they have a lot of line dancers that come out and they have a great time, so it sounds right up my alley! He also liked the original songs I did that night and doing 'my music' is ALWAYS a plus.
Saturday morning was the opening day of the Dyersburg Farmers Market and I had promised to come share some music there starting at about 9:30. I got there early (of course) and Alan Hestor was packing up, so I went ahead and got set up and ready and started just after 9. Vanessa came up a few songs into the set and joined me for harmony and duets and did a few songs too. Later on my buddy Ken Jones (who now works for the local newspaper and wants to do an article on me) came up and had brought his harps (harmonicas) as I had asked him and he sat in and played a few songs with me too! Always fun sharing the stage with great musicians!
I played and sang till about 11:30 and we closed it out and got out of the heat. :-) I had 'that old feeling' again that I love so much! If you're a performing, especially a singer/songwriter, then you know the feeling I'm talking about... You're in front of people and baring your soul and making connections while making them smile and the world feels right!
I can't share details yet, but there was a specific connection made that morning that will potentially lead to more performing...
So riding high on the first two gigs I went to Henderson/Finger for the last one of the weekend. We didn't have a large crowd, but we had a lively crowd. :-) The ones there really enjoyed it and we did several songs we had not performed before, including "I Thought That I'd Forgotten" from my CD.
The best part of the afternoon and evening though? Getting to spend time with Vanessa! It's the first Saturday afternoon/evening that we've had together for a while and we did some shopping in Jackson and enjoyed a BLTA at Red Robin (we had had one when we went there in Indy with Kyle & Devin before seeing Mad Max again, but that's another blog post).
Hope your Friday & Saturday has been at least HALF as fun and fulfilling as mine has! Till next time...
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