Tour Diary – Charlotte, NC (March 7, 2013)
I awoke today to the news that Stompin’ Tom Connors had died. Most of you (anyone who isn’t Canadian) probably wouldn’t know who Stompin’ Tom was: he was an original. He made his mark as a folk singer, in the true sense of the term, he wrote songs about the people and for the people. I got to know his music through the tv show that he had in the early 70’s. I watched him pound his board each week and was fascinated by this stern looking man, with the cartoon songs and black cowboy hat. If I was honest about it, I would probably list him as one of my first influences even though I haven’t listened to his music in many decades. He was an original, and the passing of an original should always be mourned, because there aren’t a whole bunch of them out there.
The tire that we got put on two nights ago was faulty so we had to sit 2 ½ hours last night at a truck stop waiting for a bay to open up. That’s ok, it just meant a quiet patch to sleep through, until they started changing the tire and the power tools came out. We got in to Charlotte late, set up, soundchecked, ate and did the show. We have played this venue (Spirit Square) a few times and it is a beautiful sounding hall. We had a very enthusiastic and excited crowd, thank you for sharing your energy. I made a truce with my guitars tonight….there were a couple of quarrels, but I think we made up. We had a fun night, the audience would not be denied.
Pete's ipad sketch of Spirit Square:
