The Ups, the Downs.....the Ups

I thought I'd post a little story about two of our recent gigs and how they went. The first one was a Wednesday night show at the Gravity Lounge in Charlottesville. We'd been excited about this one for a while- we were opening for Pete Anderson and Moot Davis. Pete's just a guitar god, a real hero of mine.

Two days before the show, I get this little stye on my left eye. The day of the show, it's more than a little stye. It's huge. If it were any bigger it would need it's own Social Security Number. Any of you that know me know how much I love going to the doctor, but Telisha called and made an appointment so I went, got some drugs, the whole nine yards. I get home from the pharmacy just in time to pack up the car and head to Charlottesville.

We get there and no Moot and Pete. We wait and wait- me wearing sunglasses (not because of my rock-star persona, mind you, but to try and keep from scaring small children with my new growth...). Finally the folks at the Gravity get a call from Moot- he's about an hour away. This will put him in Charlottesville in time for a 15 minute load in and 15 minute sound check before our show is supposed to start. Great. There goes my little elbow rubbin'/ass kissin' session with Pete before we start playing.

Of course, the show must go on, so T and Joe (one of the Gravity Lounge sound guys- super nice guy, BTW) and I decided that even though we were playing first, we'd go ahead and sound check. Everything sounded great, and we were ready to go as soon as Moot and Pete got there, loaded in, and did their quick little check.

About this time we look around and notice that a fairly decent crowd has gathered for a Wednesday night show! This is good! In spite of what a tough day it's been so far, Telisha and I are excited to hit the stage and play our little hearts out for the crowd. We head up, grab our instruments, tune up, smile at each other one time, and fire into the first song. Well, at least I did- but something just wasn't right... Something was missing... I get to the part of the song where I'm supposed to play my first solo (remember, now, PETE ANDERSON is in the crowd!)of the night and.... I play it- but there's nothing there to back me up- just these blank notes heading out into space. Telisha's Mandolin isn't putting out any signal at all! CRAP!! What? We just tuned up and it was working! We make it to the end of the song and a very forgiving crowd claps enthusiastically. Telisha and I take turns sweating and making jokes with the audience while the other one of us plugs and unplugs all kind of things. At this point we try to do a few songs that we don't use Mando for and between them return to our jokes/banter and crawling around on stage trying to get a signal out of that damn mandolin.

Eventually, about the time all the cords, patch cables, preamps and tuners look like a huge pile of spaghetti at Telisha's feet, we decide to forget it. Let's just go with what we've got and make the best of it. What this means is no solos for Doug tonight. All of our songs will sound a little more sparse than usual, but hey, like I said before, the show must go on!

So it does. We end up haveing a ball. No, it isn't the best we've ever played, but we did make a few new fans. I think everyone appreciated the jokes about T's mandolin playing skill as well. What it boils down to is that even on one of those nights where it just seems like everything that can go wrong does, it's still great. There's still nothing I love better than standing on stage beside Telisha and playing our songs together.

After the show, we got to spend a few minutes with a good friend of ours in Charlottesville talking. A few minutes turned into a few beers, and then she invited us back over to her place to spend the night so we wouldn't have to get a cheap hotel room. It's about 1 in the morning when she calls her husband and says "Honey, put some clean sheets on the bed- Doug and Telisha are going to come stay at our house tonight." So we head over to the Cottage and sit around and talk for a while with two GREAT friends, and finally hit the hay.

The next morning thier son gets up and says "I can't belive you brought the band home..." Wow, how many kids will ever get to say that in their lifetime? Anyway- to round up this long post- we have a great home-cooked omlet for breakfast and thank our friends before we head out to face another day, fortified not only by the food, but by our friendship as well.

NEXT- Bynum with Hooverville- and the conclusion of what happened to the BIG STYE!!!