I'm on a Roll...4 nights, 4 shows

and i haven't got a care!

A Classic...

not much can be said except...watch

Family, Friends & First Birthdays

last friday, mark (my nephew in law) and i headed down to atlanta for braedon's (my great nephew) first birthday. i had just been down there a couple of weeks earlier so this was another quickie trip, mark and i hit atlanta about 2:00 am saturday morning. tracey and braedon were already there and his party was planned for saturday afternoon.

we, along with family and friends, celebrated his first birthday with a party at my mom & dad's and it was a blast. he was in a great mood, very wound up, having a lot of fun and putting on a little show for everyone. the big fun was that he had his own cake and enjoyed it...a lot, as you can see from the pictures above. he got lot's of great gifts...toys, books, clothes but seemed to enjoy the boxes and wrapping paper far more than any gifts that were inside of them. i gave him a couple of books, "pat the bunny" and "goodnight moon" they were callie and zach's favorites when they were little (and i wanted "clive eats alligators" but it's out of print) and i'm looking forward to sitting down and reading them to him. i have some great memories reading those books and i'm looking forward to more.

it's great how kids bring family and friends together, he's a blessed boy, with a lot of love surrounding him. it was a good weekend.

Patty Griffin @ The Brown Theatre (07.15.2007)

i went to see patty griffin last wednesday night (07.15) at the lovely brown theatre here in louisville. and as usual, she delivered a beautiful set. she and her band, led by the incredible, yet understated guitarist, doug lancio played a set mostly pulled from her new record, "children running through." the highlights were: "get yourself another fool (the opener, what a way to get a show rolling), poor man's house, long ride home, be careful, (a rocking) no bad news, up to the mountain."

she was in great spirits, very playful and joking around. she also told a quite touching story about playing at the "twice told" on bardstown in her early days (1996) and talked about the former owner, rick told, who passed away a few years ago, mentioning that he was among the first to try to teach her to pronounce "lou-ah-vul" and then dedicated a billy jo shaver song "to rick...wherever you are." i had no idea that she played there early days on or that she played the benefit for him after he passed away ('til scott told me). nice moment...

this was the 6th (i think) time i've seen her and right up there with the best, but she is pretty consistantly amazing. i hope i get the chance to do it again soon.

Such a night...Over the Rhine (w/Dar Williams) @ Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids (08.09.2007)

somewhere between ft. wayne and grand rapids, i seriously started questioning my sanity for making this trip, what a freakin' haul! but in the end, it turned out to be worth every single second of the long and frustrating time on the road. the venue, the "frederik meijer sculpture gardens & amphitheatre" was amazing, just amazing, the only negative was there just wasn't enough time there. it's nice to see american commerce generate and support such a beautiful public space. and it turned out to be a beautiful, comfortable night with just a few small drops of rain (quite a nice break from the 100-102 weather here) and a nice cool breeze.

while the music is what draws everyone in, the meeting of friends has become an overall and very important part of these concerts. this is truly a communal experience with people coming in from many places gathering and sharing good times and conversations. some old friends, some meeting for the first time. as always, it was great to spend time with sue, kent and alan and to meet and talk to molly, betsy & myron and carrie and brookd.

dar williams opened w/a very nice solo acoustic set, a little under an hour, hit several of my favorites (from "beauty of the rain") and was in great voice and very funny.

OtR did a great hour-fifteen/twenty minute pretty traditional set (it was a co-headline w/a curfew). karin was in top vocal form and all were having a great time. linford looked spiffy in a suit and barefoot, karin explained that he forgot his boots in the hotel and just decided to forgo his shoes in general. the crowd was a nice mix of fans of both acts and subscribers/patrons not familiar with either. but they were polite, quiet and responsive to both dar & OtR, a pleasant surprise for these types of subscriber type shows/venues. there were singles, couples and quite a few famalies with young well behaved kids in attendance, karin and linford both especially seemed to enjoy two little girls (prob 4 or 5 years old) that danced ballet in front of the stage on a few songs, looking down from the stage and smiling at them several times.

the show was prob one of the more all around professionally managed that i have seen in a long time, excellent sound system, worked & tweaked to the max by juicy. mickey and jake were up on risers that added some nice dimension to the stage set and the lighting was really nice (a little tricky for pics when mixed w/the daylight). these guys run a pretty spiffy place. more pics are HERE and the setlist was:


*"trouble" replaced "hush now" as the final song and "i'm on a roll" wasn't played.

yep, a great night...