Shooter McGee's - 4/5/06 - Alexandria, VA

A solo acoustic show, this gig was a first timer at the venue. Shooter McGee's is what my agents call a "menu venue," which pretty much means a restaurant/bar in a strip mall that has live music on certain nights. You set up in your little corner of the bar and play for the folks that are into it. Many times it's almost more of an atmosphere thing than a "show."

While setting up and loading-in my stuff at the gig, I couldn't help but think that it's kind of cool that I get to roam around in the Blue Dragon like a nomad. I get to experience and explore these new places, set up shop somewhere, and then pack it all up until the next place. Sure, a lot of these gigs are far from glamorous, but I try to always remind myself that I get paid to travel around and sing and strum on a piece of wood. Good stuff.

Tuesday nights are always tough. Not many folks go out during the beginning of the work week. However, I did meet and talk with some friendly folks including a lady named Donna and her posse. Plus, the Maryland girls basketball team won the national championship while I was playing, so people were happy about that. Eventually the place cleared out and the manager kindly let me pack up early.

Ri Ra - 4/1/06 - Bethesda, MD

Rock Bottom in Bethesda has always been a good scene for us, so I was looking forward to playing another venue in this town. Unfortunately, I think the usual flow got kind of tweaked out because of the George Mason game and consequently things were a little slow.

Ri Ra is an Irish pub and I liked the vibe of the venue. It was a smaller room and a little on the quiet side, but there were a decent amount of folks that came in and hung out and listened for a while. Overall it was a somewhat uneventful night, although I did get a chance to meet some lovely ladies who hung with us to the end. Thanks go to Sarah (sp?), Lindsay (sp?), and Kate (I think I got that one) for listening and dancing--you all were a lot of fun and really cool to talk to. Also, thanks go out to our friends and family that came, as well as a lovely girl who had seen us at Charles Town last week and came out to the Ri Ra show (she is featured in the FLB-Hinds, Week of 3-20-06).

We're really going to start hammering out our first CD in the coming months, so the calendar will be a little less full than it has been. No worries--there will still be plenty of opportunities to come out to a show. We'll keep you up to speed. See you at the shows.

Extra Virgin - 3/31/06 - Arlington, VA

First off, let the reader know that Chris and I actually had to dress up for this gig (this was just an acoustic duo show). I was rocking the khakis, a nice black button up shirt, and some wingtips. Not my typical show attire. That being said, this was probably one of the more upscale places I had ever played. Extra Virgin is a very nice Italian restaurant--there was a waterfall in the window and lots of very cool decor.

One of the nice things about this gig was that a PA was provided. For all of you audio-savvy people, the PA was one of the new Bose pole systems, which I had never used before. Not bad. Plus, the way they had it set up we were piped into the house speaker system throughout the restaurant, including the outdoor patio area. Our action was blasted into the streets of Arlington, and people on the outside of the windows we were sitting next to could hear us. So, it was almost like a weird, one-way intercom system. Chris and I sat on our stools and jammed, and it was very "chill."

At the beginning of the gig I asked for some water and the nice guy who was helping us (Jason) came back and handed me some liquid in what looked like a shampoo bottle or a small time capsule. I had never seen water come in this sort of a container and am almost positive it was the most expensive water that has ever touched my lips. I savored every drop and kept the container. Check it out:

Another note about this particular gig: the large majority of the patrons seemed to be in very good shape. Especially some of the older women. I saw some women in their 40s who had looks that some folks in their 20s and 30s long for. Not a bad scene at all.

The gig went well and after the dinner crowd dispersed, people were ready to party. Folks were dancing, and those who stuck around with us in the bar area seemed to be having a good time. I really enjoy playing with Chris--I think you could sit us anywhere and we'd be having laughs and a good time.

As we were wrapping things up, one of our new fans (Karen) came up and confessed that it wasn't her birthday--after we had announced it several times, sung "Happy Birthday" to her, and after she had undoubtedly collected at least a few free drinks. What a gal, she was fun (and audacious). Her and her friend Maria stuck around and talked with us after the gig as we were packing up. Here's Bell in the money shot:

Maria needed a ride home and since we were packing light tonight with no PA, we were happy to oblige. She lived somewhere off the beltway on the way home, so it was all good. Nice girl. Good night.