rally round the family, pocket full of shells

after all the dust had settled, and we packed up all the gear, and scraped off the excess wax from tables and chairs, it looked as if no show ever happened. the lights were up, the tables put back, the room empty. Xhedos on saturday night was the culmination of many hours of thought, rehearsing, writing, and a touch of sweat. It was also the result of much support; moral and physical from the closes people to me. Of all the shows I've played, especially those I built up to be "special," this one actually met the hype.

The room was packed and remained packed for most of the evening. Sara Celina, what can I say? Her look alone is engaging. her songs and her performance (along with my boy drew phillips) really set the stage for the way the night would continue to go. She looked like she wanted to jump up from the chair she was sitting in, banging her foot down on the stage to the beats. However one might not know that she primarily plays with a full band and stands upright.

I was delighted to have to run around the venue looking for extra chairs because all of the ones in the entire room were taken. This was not so much of a surprise as it was a bonus. Bubs and I laid down an entire new front row in front of "old front row." and they filled up nicely. From the patrons, to the sound person (my boy tim williams), to JULIA (goolia, who booked the show for me and catered to my needs to make sure everything went off without a hitch) to my friend Katherine, who sat like a soldier at the door collecting the cover and pushing the cds, etc... people just rallied around me.

Not to mention the two other musicians that agreed to play and rehearse with me for a month before the show. Mike Komives had been rehearsing with me since he met me, which was just over a month ago, and agreed to do a show (the likes of which he hadn't played in years) with basically a stranger, and without having heard any of my music ahead of time. Of course Bubs, whom I've known for several years since college (but not as long as I've known his woman, Debbie). He never lets me down. he knows when to step it up and clear his schedule for me. Us three huddled in the cat-piss smelling confines of his basement. Bubs had a fan on him, and my regular spot was virtually on top of the littler box, but it didn't matter when the beats were a-flowing.










My brother Jeff brought a bunch of people out and I had some unexpected family show up for the show and stay the whole night through. It was such a bonus. All of thee stars seemed to align, what I was getting at before was that all of this came together with over 2 month of planning without anything resembling a blunder or major setback. Things just fell into place...

the songs seem to write themselves these days. I have enough now for a 2 disc release and plenty of live recordings for a possible live album. so much production and when i think of how seldom I've been touring in the past 18 months, I wonder if these songs would have ever been conceived if I was still out there focusing on directions, venues, driving, selling cds, hotels, maps, tolls (fucking TOLLS!!) and other distractions on the road.










Though I usually choose to thank people in person, I sometimes foolishly forget to thank some, so for those who don't receive the direct "thank you" e-mail or phone call, thank you for any and all support, for carrying the guitar stand, for grabbing me a water, for all the little things, and the big ones. saturday night was really one to remember. luckily, thanks to test pattern pictures, (kirk, sarah and the crew, thank god that i like to drink at the emory) we won't have to remember as much of it as possible, cos we got it on tape. I can't wait to see how it comes out, and what we can do with it.

all i can say, as somewhat of a consolation, to the peeps who have been sending me messages and support from far away is that i think every day of what i can do to get back out on the road and when i've put enough thought and energy into it, it usually comes through in some capacity.

all right, this was just a spur of the moment post. whenever i think of something that I left out, i'll just make an amendment.

uh-huh, all right...

jimmy

"this is the best song in the world"