Shows 7 and 8, Nashville and Knoxville

Nashville Show 7:

We arrived in Nashville after another night of bus dancing. It was very nice out and i felt charged for the show. We arrived at the Exit-In to set-up and soundcheck. There was a large wall listing some of the famous artists who had played there. I felt honored to be on the same stage as them. My dad came into town from Phoenix to see me play so i was able to let him backstage before the show to hang out. He was excited to see the production in action. I took him on the bus to meet the rest of the crew, Derek- our tour manager, Rob- our visual/lighting guy, and Tom our Front of house. My dad is a guitarist as well (a much better one than I) so he could appreciate all the work that went in to the show.. 

Show-time came without fail once again and Imogen introduced me with kind words once more. I played for the sophisticate and warm Nashville crowd. I have to say it was a little intimidating playing in a city with such extensive music history. Some of the best songwriters and musicians in the world still live and work here. This town has a heavy hand in shaping the climate of the music industry of yesterday and today. All in all i think it went over pretty well. The crowd seemed to enjoy it. Tim Exile followed doing his mixture of glitch improve future music. I think he is doing some of the most inspiring music around. He is really on the edge of music production techniques. 

Imogen took the stage with grace once again to an enthusiastic warm crowd. Playing with her has become one of the great joys of life. She is a beautiful talent. Staring out at the crowd is like a strange meditation. Everything is moving, there is sound coming out of everything. I look over at Imogen, at Tim an Chris Vatalaro without much of anything floating through my head. Just emotion and energy pass through as we dance this movement. I imagine it is somewhat similar to playing basketball or ballet. Things just flow. Occasionally thoughts or concepts enter, good or bad. They can either improve or derail what is happening so its important not to attach to deeply to them. Just look at them for a sec and decide wether to let them in.  Then in the blink of an eye its all over. I'm left spinning once again. I say goodbye to my dad and before i know it we're off to Knoxville....

Knoxville Show 8:

We arrive at the Square room to some really delicious Sweet tea and steak sandwiches. On the walls are some really nice large format black and white photos of local musical talent. I have a feeling this is going to be a fun show. The backstage is like a beautiful hotel room complete with bunk beds and a giant bean bag chair. We set up and sound checked as usual. This venues seemed fairly new and modern so it was cool to hear Tom tune the p.a. and get it sounding proper. Everything checked out good, the staff and promoter Ben were so nice. We waited upstage munching some food as we heard the doors open before we played. We could hear the crowd cheering already before we even played. This was going to be a fun one. Imogen brought me on stage nicely again and the crowd was super enthusiastic. It was one girls birthday and it seemed like the whole crowd was there to celebrate. We dance laughed and sang the set through to my finale of "the war is over".. I jumped down in the crowd to dance with the super fun fans. What a great time. Tim followed with his amazing wit and charm, winning over the heart and minds of knoxville. Immi was nice enough to hire a masseuse  for us for all the hard work we've been doing. Right after Tim started i ran up to a quiet candlelit  room where i proceeded to get an amazing massage to the sound of Tim's electro noise fun downstairs. It was like running a mile in 20 degree rainy weather then jumping immediately in to the hottest Jacuzzi you can stand. Such a contrast of energies back to back. I could hear Tim's set end as my massage was ending. Boy that was great. I was so relaxed and ready to go on stage. My body felt great. 

Imogen took the stage with her wine glass full of water, playing it like a beautiful glass harp. She sang her opening lyrics "bodies disengage our mouths are fleshing over".. the beautiful ambient hum of that intro mixed with her voice in those lyrics still give me chills.. before i knew it we joined her on stage for Headlock. Followed by Bad Body Double where i do a cameo as her Bad Body Double. The crowd loved it. After this Tim and i have a 3 song break so we headed to the basement below where the fans stood and watched. It was a wood floor above us and we could hear the crowd shift and sway to the songs above us. It was like a crowd of calm animals swaying in a tide pool to her songs. This was one of the most amazing thing i have ever heard. Feet scampering and swaying to Imogen's beautiful music. I could have listened to it all night, But had a set to finish. Things went off without a hitch. The crowd was so warm and i felt so relaxed and grateful to be having these experiences. We ended the set, left the stage, Imogen went out for the encore and finished the night once again. We met the fans and loaded out. A splendid night indeed. Thank you knoxville for your enthusiastic hospitality. I look forward to returning.