The Food on a Stick Tour, '06

Starting in Knoxville, and ending up way out in....Knoxville, The Food-on-a-Stick Tour '06 with me playing for Greg Adkins began and ended in a spellbinding evening at the Tennessee Valley Fair. And we did get quite a few folks to sit and listen, despite being a stone's throw from the stage where The Chuckwagon Gang was playing. Many thanks to Kris Love of 89.1FM for being a wonderful host and emcee and to Randy who was phenomenal at making everything sound just perfect.

I actually can't tell you how much I simply enjoyed the evening. It wasn't really all that rushed, and Greg's stage presence is always pretty loose, so I get to sit back and play. Though we didn't ride any rides - I prefer a stationary, well-inspected roller coaster track - Kat and I did get the full fair experience otherwise, visiting the FFA and 4H exhibits and walking around to get heckled by the various game- and vending-hecklers. Didn't sell any cds, but the exposure is always good.

To other matters.....

Let me tell you: If you've never played the card game Apples to Apples, you need to drop what you're doing right now and go find some people and a game to play. Last Saturday, we had a potluck at our house, and Britta brought this game. I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, I laughed 'til my face melted off. That's right, no face. I'll keep the details of play a secret, so as not to spoil the fun, but you need to find this game and some like-minded people, and play. Also, I'm continuing in writing poetry for a poetry volume that I'm planning to publish, complete with some photographs and such. I've thought that it's just another thing to sell at shows, but I don't really know how else to get this stuff out there. And besides, writing poetry helps me as a songwriter. I've got a huge chunk of stuff to record as well, and I've got my ear to the ground for a good outlet for that. So, if you know anyone... It's definitely time to record again. Honestly, I'm going to seek out a lot more advice on this one, and I probably won't wait until I can afford it (eek!). But, to quote Vonnegut, "so it goes." I'm beginning to see bits of the outline of understanding in this unbounded realm of Christ in my life and the arts. I quite often wish that I could skip ahead to a little more knowing and less doubt and guesswork, but I suppose that would be akin to cheating. As far as the novel(la) goes, I've pretty much abandoned the idea for now, as my perspective changes so quickly that it's difficult to possess a focused drive in an ever-evolving work of fiction. The idea still stands, and maybe someday....who knows... I think that, for the present at least, poetry and small-potatoes sort of prose are the order of the day. There's a publisher in Oak Ridge that was recommended to me, but again if you know of a good company or individual, I'm all ears.

Hippocrates, Come Quickly

Sick. Always a pleasure, to be sick. So, I'm using the given "free" time to sit around the house, watch Law & Order, drink tea, eat soup, and appreciate the freedom of being able to walk down the road and smell the air without feeling crappy. This, of course, is a blessed ability, which deprivation has brought a little more into light.

Many thanks to all who came out to Greg Adkins' show at New City Cafe this past Thursday. I can't begin to tell you how much fun I had, and how cool the crowd was - especially Greg's son Connor, who stole the entire show with a heartfelt rendition of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I got to hear the exceptional talents of both Heidi Gilson and Dave Potts, who reassured me with our conversation over Wendy's hamburgers - mentioning the fact that he did his first cds himself and that they're....below par.....in comparison with his later material. That's good news to someone like me with a below par recording. It's not that the folks who helped me did poorly. It's more that.....I'm picky. But if you missed the show, Dave Potts is definitely a musician to look up, with songs in the vein of David Wilcox and Allen Levi.

At that, I'm going to leave you. I never really feel like doing anything when I'm sick.....