1/27/06 - The International Bar at the Washington Plaza Hotel - Washington, D.C.

I drove right into the heart of the nation's capitol for this one. Surprisingly, I was able to navigate to the venue pretty easily, no wrong turns or anything. I arrived really early and set everything up with more than an hour to spare before I was supposed to start. So, I wandered around the city for a little bit.

Cities have always excited me. I'm not sure if I'd want to live in one for the rest of my life, but the energy is certainly capivating sometimes. It was a nice crisp and clear winter evening, so I walked a couple blocks up and down from the hotel just taking in the sights and sounds as the sun was setting. The buildings, shops/restaurants, the people, the construction, the intermittent honk of horns-- it reminded me of a visit I had taken to NYC years ago. Everyone walking around had thier own agenda and I was simply spectating. Conversations of work, a couple walking together, people on cell phones, they all passed before my eyes and ears like I was a walking movie camera filming a city scene.

The venue was a very dimly lit hotel bar/lounge, with an emphasis on the lounge. There were less seats/chairs in this place and more cushion-seats and cushioned semi-circular sofa-like seatings, one of which I sat on during my performance. Comfy. Candles on every table, a fireplace burning in the back. Very moody and straight out of a film. Upscale and quite different from the bars/restaurants I usually play. And they had the biggest bottles of vodka I had ever seen. There were a couple bottles that had to be 3-4 feet tall.

I started a half-hour early and beacuse of the atomosphere, I turned the "mellow" knob up to 11. I broke out a lot of my softer tunes and was finger-picking a lot of songs and changing keys for a very low-key acoustic feel. It was kind of fun to musically adapt to the environment.

The crowd was a little on the sparse side, but certainly not terrible considering the gig was only for a couple of hours in the early evening. My friends Tim and Megan, whose wedding I had played at about 4 months ago, came to the gig and it was lovely to see and talk with them. Another friend of a friend I had met in college, Kelli, had driven all the way from Richmond to visit friends in D.C and catch my performance. Thanks to everyone to who came to see me.

I had a little trouble finding the GW Parkway on the drive home, which I attributed to the dark and a lack of signage, but eventually I regained my bearings. Driving through the city at night was cool and I could see the lighted Washington Monument as I drove across the Key Bridge. All I could think about was how cool my "job" is and how great it is that I am to be able to have these musical adventures...