Knoxville

Day 4  – Charlotte, NC: It was as hot as Megan Fox in Transformers 1. I barely left the bus: once in the morning to find coffee, and a second time to check out a very disturbing anti-abortion rally on a downtown corner, complete with raging preacher and photos of butchered babies. This is a strange town. But why wouldn’t it be. Lots of money floating around, lots of poverty too and then there’s that Southern thang adrift in the humidity. This venue (the McGlohan Theater) is a beauty. It looks good, it feels good and it sounds great. It’s always a treat to play here because the audiences are always enthusiastic. What comes first, the venue or the audience? I think that each feeds the other. I had a tough show tonight and could never really find the handle. It wasn’t a bad show, it just didn’t take off. But the audience cheered and egged us on throughout, which is always much appreciated.

Day 5 – Knoxville, TN: I woke up in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The best thing about it was that I didn’t have to change out of my PJs to go shopping. A great way to start the day. We then moved on to a very good record store called the Disc Exchange where Margo, Jeff and I played a very fun acoustic set to a very appreciative gathering. Jeff and I watched Ed Harris and Vigo M play a couple of real cool cats in Appaloosa. After soundcheck some of us had a crappy dinner at a big brew hall down the street. Tonight, another very fine music venue, The Bijou, and a small, but excellent audience: enthusiastic and appreciative. I had a lot of fun. Our late night movie was 44 Inch Chest: a nasty and very twisted English gangster film, which doesn’t quite hit the mark.  Not too hot today, but steamy as a lobster pot in a Maine kitchen.