Spanky's - 3/2/06 - Leesburg, VA

I had played at Spanky's once before as a solo act a few years ago. It was cool to revisit the place with the full band. Pretty much the same as I remember it, untouched by time.

An interesting night crowd-wise. I would describe the flow of the crowd as a tent shape--slow in the beginning, growing and peaking somewhere in the middle with folks up and dancing, and then a gradual decline. There were quite a few interesting folks to talk to.

The first was a lady named Melissa who watched us for a while and then told me she had a gift for me that she had to run home and get. Not knowing what to expect when she returned, I was delightfully surprised. Her gift was a framed charcoal drawing of a man walking with his back to the artist. It had an uncanny resemblance to our logo. Even the footsteps seemed to line up. Melissa said the drawing had been in her family for a while and had been sitting in her basement, but when she saw the logo on our sign she decided I had to have it. She believed it was too much of a coincidence and I myself was pretty taken aback by it all. Crazy. I'll be hanging the drawing in my studio area at home. What a great surprise. This proves that I really truthfully never know what might happen when I load up the car and head out to a gig.

I also met this lovely and gorgeous German chick whose name I have difficulty spelling and pronouncing. She was very friendly and a true traveler--she had just returned from Breckenridge, CO. There was also a pretty friendly blues guitarist named Jeff who I spoke with for a while about music. I really hope that someday on the other side there will be a giant party with all these people I've met and crossed paths with over the years.

Thanks to our friend James and his crew for coming out and seeing us (and for his generous Jager donations). We played a few never-rehearsed first-timers including "American Band," "Glory Days," and a very interpretive version of "Melissa." Tonight we're playing a return date at Journey's roadhouse on the outskirts of Frederick, out in the "Coun-try." Here's hopin' for a raucous Friday night crowd...