May 282009
 

Last night I threw some more of my songs out there for folks at Bangkok Blues in Falls Church. This was another songwriters night with six or seven performers, hosted by Ron Goad.

My set went well. My friend Al Bernier played Mandolin with me for my first two songs. We did my “Breathless” which is already in the can for the new CD. We also did “Reuben and Sandy” to try it out. I got some good comments on it, so we’re definitely going to try it in the studio. It’s a flatpick tune written by a guy named Charlie Hall, someone Al knows in Colorado. I did some of my stuff from last year’s CD, and I also put my recent 12-string arrangement of “Cripple Creek” out there. Last night was the first time I had people ask me to autograph my CD. Until last night, my plan had been to turn down any requests for autographs. I figured that I had the right to say “no” on the basis of being blind. But I just went for it as soon as the first person asked. I thought that I wouldn’t like my scribble being out there, but I guess it feels good to have folks ask for it.

The only problem I had last night was with time. I did six songs and was ready to get off the stage, but I was told I still had lots of time. So I fit eight songs into twenty-five minutes. Two other performers did the same thing, so there was something funny going on with worm holes or something.

My favorite part of these songwriter variety nights is hearing other folks. There were a lot of good acts last night that I hadn’t heard before. Alex Culbreth had some outstanding lyrics in his songs. He told some cool stories with just a few lines. Dana Wells was just excelent. Her stuff was very polished, and her melodies were interesting and unique. I started listening closely to her lyrics about halfway through her set, and there was something subtle and emotional about them. She reminds me a bit of Suzanne Vega as far as composition goes.

On we go.

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