Okay...it's Sunday Sept 22nd. Still in Denver, CO. Going to hit the Blues Jam at Ziggie's tonight. Going to say hey to the owner. Get down a little bit with some jammers (hopefully). Head out tomorrow.
First gig was in Evergreen at the Little Bear Saloon. This place was great. I had a Tuesday night gig and there was flood damage up there. Part of the road and a parking lot were gone. The other live music venue was closed for flood repairs that hadn't started yet. There wasn't a big crowd. But there were some partyin' folks. Had a great time in a very cool venue.
Tried to get some work done on some tunes for a recording the next day. Made some progress but fell a little behind as it was slow going.
Next gig was in Boulder at a bar/coffee house. Brian Casey, a Portland friend and musician whom I've had the pleasure of playing with a variety of settings was able to come down last minute and see the show with his wife. Brian and I share a love of scotch. I like to think I'm the guy that got him into it! Maybe not 100% true, but then again... Anyway, we had to see what he had on the shelf at home. It was awesome catching up. Gig was fun, a lightly attended. I made myself a couple of fans. That's for sure. I'll take it.
Hung out with some old friends here and there. Got a nice motorcycle ride in on Saturday. Saw an old Marine buddy. Hung out with my host and ran around town a little with him. Got some more tunes worked on.
Mark (Marcus) treated the family and me to tickets to Earth, Wind and Fire at Red Rocks. I didn't know Denver was Phillip Bailey's hometown. That was a pretty special show because of that. And Red Rocks is a very fine venue. It was my first time there. Very cool.
Friday gig was at The Mirage Sports Bar. I love that place. They keep having me back. This time I even had a nice crowd come! Mark rustled up a nice crew. I had a couple peeps show up. Plus there was a decent crowd there. I had a great time. They asked me to play a little longer because people were so intrigued. That's always nice to hear. Early show and then it was beer and pool and stories. A great time was had by all. Had some serious and deep conversations and some laughs. It was a very cool night. Perfect night. Saw a Marine buddy I hadn't seen in 20 years. That was awesome.
The weekend was largely social. I did get an afternoon in with another musician/friend/associate to catch up. That was nice to have a face-to-face conversation with him.
Most of the day Sunday was spent writing music. Got a ton done, started putting the project together. Still overwhelmed with that and the loopfests. Plus there's trying to get the San Antonio Fest up and going. That one is a bitter baby to be born. I have to say, the musicians I'm largely dealing with make this a very unpleasant experience. I left Texas floored by the quality of bands I have been recently seeing. Suffice to say I'm dealing with a lot of non-working acts. The attitude and inability to follow directions keeps the frustration level high. I started thinking about not doing it today.
Anyway...feeling pretty good about how things are going. The timing worked out well with gig/time off. It's allowed me to catch up on some things. I still have a ton to do for the loopfests, but that's all clean-up work now. I can start on some of that tonight after the Blues Jam. Shows are going well. I'm bringing it pretty hard. The shows I've been seeing lately have had a pretty serious impact on me. I've been changing some things in my delivery and the nature of the music performance. I think it's a lot stronger now. CD sales are up! Got things pretty well put together for the fests. Sleep is good, weight is down a little, feeling healthy although my neck and shoulder are still tweaked from working under the house. That should have been better a week ago...
Miss the wife, miss the cat. Miss my house. Having a great time. I have great friends and I love to see them. It's so good to see them all. And we have some fun when we're not working. Drinking a lot less. Hands are still swollen a little. Life on the road is good. I do love it.
Leaving for Moab tomorrow. Back to the courses!