Just Cyd.

You'd think with the bonus day, I could manage to fit in a concert in February? No such luck. March, however, is going to make up for it!

The venue
The Grey Eagle is in the River Arts District of Asheville, and southwest of the main city center. It's an older area of industrial buildings, mid-1900s homes, and gentrification and development. I got to town early enough that I scoped out the location in advance, and I'm glad I did. The un-widened roads that wound around up and down the hilly landscape made it pretty clear that parking, while free, was at a premium, and my offhanded thought of "I could just take a rideshare" would be the way to go.

It's a single story cement building that could have been pretty much anything in a past life. Accessibility was the norm for this type of building: maybe one step up to get in (minus the gravel parking lot), room enough to get in, make the turn to the hall leading to the music room and restrooms. The bar would be harder to navigate for someone in a chair, but the place wasn't so packed that no one could move. There was a steeper transition from the bar to the music hall than I was prepared to encounter (multiple times. klutz), which makes me think that the beautiful wood floor (or perhaps that whole section) had been added at a later date.

The bar & restaurant
the bar offered the usual local brews, with some wine and liquor, along with a fair selection of NA drinks (bottled root beer and mineral water were my two picks), plus giant dispensers of ice water on opposite ends of the room. You can tell I don't get out much if I find this a nice perk. They also run a taqueria, but the kitchen closes at 9, and I missed the chance to try it out.

The staff was all friendly, there was lots of outdoor space, the restrooms were clean and spacious (and not right next to the stage). The place had a great vibe, and I'd see another show there for sure, and get there extra early to get a bite to eat, too.

Darren Jessee
Darren and Zach were fresh off a show the night before in Atlanta, also opening for Chatham County Line. I ran into Zach in passing, and while I saw Darren in the bar, he was talking to a couple (his producer Alan, I think) and didn't see me, and we never connected after that. CCL's steel pedal player sat in on about half the songs, which was a cool twist. The volume balance seemed off, though, and the pedal steel got lost a bit at times. His set was shorter than normal by a couple songs, and he cut one song short. I think the crowd on the far side was giving him shit, and he was having none of it. First he said "Stay with me, folks," and then a minute or so later he shot back "Hey, you bought the ticket" to someone. Ouch. He did NOT play his brand new single, and I wonder if the decision was made based on the crowd?

Chatham County Line
I knew nothing about these guys going in, except what I'd read on the "about" section of the ticket purchase page. Clearly, everyone in Asheville knows about these guys, and they were ready to rock stomp. Joke's on them hecklers, though: Darren played drums with CCL! From what I gather, having a drummer is a new thing for the band, and while someone else had drumming credits on their most recent album,, I wonder if Darren is taking over for the tour? He has done gig/tour drumming for many different bands, so it's not out of the question. Anyway, it was a thrill for me, as I've never seen him on the drums before. soft-spoken acoustic guitarist to cymbal-smashing beast in just 20 minutes!

The band proper consisted of Dave Wilson on lead vocals/guitar/harmonica, John Teer on mandolin/banjo/fiddle plus harmonies, and Greg Readling on upright bass, the aforementioned pedal steel, and harmonies. three part harmony? I'm in! John Teer was probably the standout of the three, killing it on a fiddle bit that turned into a solo while the rest of the band got a break off-stage, to the intro to another song. just enough of the "show-off" to reel everyone in, but not so arrogant as to be off-putting. Dave Wilson had this really cool way of getting his guitars on/off around his 10 gallon hat that looked like a magic trick.

Getting there
I scheduled my Lyft once I got to my hotel, and the 5.5 mile drive cost $22 plus tip. I waited less than 10 minutes for the return Lyft, and it was $14 plus tip. (Uber doesn't have the ability to schedule a ride in advance, and I've great luck/service with Lyft)

I'm not going to separate my venue review for this show, because the Moody Motel is a private residence! It's been a decade or two since I've been to a house concert, but they are increasingly popular with the small bands I'm seeing on all the socials. the hosts were fantastic, the event was in their front room, with room to move about in the kitchen and living room behind, so accessibility would've only been an issue had we arrived super-late and had to park far away. Lights were dim in the front and back rooms, with lots of candles (most electric) and other dim lighting to set the mood. I spied a kitty at one point, who was clearly not a fan of the crowd.

A house concert is nothing like a show at a bar. We were greeted by Jill, who welcomed us warmly and shared my joke about our mothers haunting us if we didn't do right as hostess and guest (her showing us around, and me producing the baked goods and beer to be shared). I'd been commenting on the Instagram posts, so once the word "cookies" was sounded, several people approached me to say hi and confirm i really DID drive in all the way from Ohio. A few were shocked to hear this was my 5th show of the year. One guy, Lance, pulled me aside and asked how I found out about Darren's shows, as he's yet to figure out how to get the info to come to him. I told him I stalk IG/FB and his website, but that the summer shows first appeared on Spotify. I joked that I was going to demand Darren let me take over his social media, but I wasn't 100% kidding.

The vibe was nice and chill, and eventually I saw Darren and Zach and waved hello, figuring we'd chat at some point. Many people were meeting them for the first time, and let's face it, we're old friends by now. heh. Ben was rather subdued, but introduced himself around, and the "where do you live?" game was played. He lives by a drive-in theater on the south side of town, which everyone immediately knew of. It was that or use the uber-racist name for the neighborhood. Eventually someone recognized his Pedro t-shirt du jour, and the two of them launched into Pedro-talk for quite a while.

At one point, Darren approached me and began talking about the book I'd given him, and how some friends of his spoke highly of her, and how much he enjoyed it. He's got such a soft voice that he's hard to hear in loud rooms, but it was a lovely conversation. He'd read Al Jolson, and talked about the chimp/gorilla that lied, and compared it to his line "I'm the boy who fell in and got the gorilla killed" -- the actual meaning being doing something for one reason but it having vastly different (bad) consequences. I chided him for the Harambe reference and confessed I have a very hard time seeing past the literal meaning of that line. I spoke a bit about how Hempel is the reason I write, and have been writing since I was a teen, and the challenges I have writing fiction. As always, there wasn't enough time, and he got pulled away by someone else.

Lance, another super-fan, had a box full of albums he wanted Darren to sign, but did not have with him the three that were for sale. He asked if I had paypal; I do. Then he asked if I had Venmo. I do. Darren was accepting Venmo (that's new), but Lance only had PayPal, so he asked if he could PayPal me the $$ for the albums, and I make the purchase via Venmo. I agreed. we completed the transaction, and I put in the note "for Lance, i promise!" and made him go tell Darren, so Darren wouldn't get mad at me. That was the first time I've ever seen Darren with his phone out, and it was just long enough to see the transaction, and then it was back into his pocket. an aside -- the cash price for his albums has always been $20. This is the first I've seen him take venmo, and I was happy to see the price increase, if only to cover the transaction fees associated with digital payments.

Then out of nowhere, Jay Gonzalez started playing. The show was a sell-out (40 people) and it got a little tight as we all moved forward to better hear and see. at one point, Jay had a tiny keyboard (smaller than a melodica) strapped to his guitar and was playing both. crazy. He didn't sound anything like Drive By Truckers, but I didn't hate it. after one song, he quipped "I'd always wanted to write a bosa nova about cunnilinguis" and the crowd lost it.

Eventually Darren and Zach took the floor, and Ben and I moved over to the side, on their right, to have a better view. I know that Darren often turns to look at Zach while playing, and when he plays his keyboard he'd be facing us, and that's what I wanted. Going into the show he was very calm and relaxed. He'd had a beer or two, and he really seemed to be vibing. At one point, he said "Zach, it's too quiet. Can someone grab something off a shelf and break it?" and we all chuckled. none of the bar background noise, no people coming and going, no TVs or loud conversations, just 40 people focused on the music. Some where there for Darren or Jay; others were there because they'd attended prior events and loved the atmosphere. either way, we all wanted to be there. Ben commented later that a few times Darren looked very please with himself, like he'd hit a chord/note just right, and had that look of bliss when things just line up perfectly. I have to agree. He got a little funky with the phrasing in a few songs which was nice to hear, loosening up a bit. Zach didn't have a microphone, so his harmonies weren't nearly as prominent, but he still added a lot to it. He played a song or two I'd not heard him play this year, but still no Wild Ascending Blue. I need to ask him about that; I'm guessing there's just not room in the Subaru for a 2nd acoustic guitar?

After the show we got to chat with Zach, and someone asked how he and Darren got connected. Zach had been hired to be a guitar tech for Hiss Golden Messenger when Darren was playing drums, and they toured together. sometiem after that, Darren called him up. Zach is in his own band, Canine Heart Sounds, where he plays keys and guitar and drums, plus sings. We talked with others that we hadn't seen prior to the show, and had many a good laugh with other fans. it was also quite apparent that the crowd was pretty queer-leaning, and the Moodys were queer-friendly. they had a rainbow flag in the main room with the words "abide no hatred" and the sign on the bathroom door was the one with "whatever, just wash your hands" on it. Ben loved it.

I'd told Ben prior to the show that his mission, if he was up for it, was to get a pic of me with Darren. I've never bothered to even ask up until now, but figured I could make my friend be The Bad Guy :) so finally, I have proof that I've met Darren Fucking Jessee. Ben only took the one shot, and Darren was mid-blink, but that's OK, there's other photos, and it was a perfect way to end the night.

A couple months ago, I posted about my NY trip, and had an asterisk with "more on this later" in the tale. Well that situation keeps popping up, so I guess it's time to hash it out.

I was a bit perturbed that I learned about Darren's NY shows from Spotify, not any of his socials. In fact, it took a couple days before any of it hit his socials. The venues may have announced them before he did. Then, I got back from NY and knew he was playing AVLfest that first weekend in August, but couldn't find ANY details. it was like the day before that he finally shared he was playing Thursday evening, basically the first shows of the fest (multiple venues), so if you didn't know he was going to be there, you had literally NO warning or time to get there.

AVLfest was pretty much out for me, as the wristbands were $100, plus getting there and staying there and all that. Didn't know at first they'd have shuttles around town, so even just getting around felt like it'd be too much for me.

in the midst of all this, all I could think was "he needs someone to handle his social media. he needs ME to handle his social media!" I've mentioned his poor social-media communication to a couple friends, and they have both said he could benefit from my mad skillz. Given things Darren said in his show last weekend, and in an old interview (back when MySpace was a thing), he really dislikes being on the computer/phone.

Jo is curious how I could leverage SalesForce to manage bands (she's a SalesForce administrator) and Ben says he would greatly benefit from my organizational skills. I laugh at that, as I look at the state of my house, but at the same time, I'm once again working as an event planner for a friend, and kickin' butt and takin' names to boot.

No idea what/how to charge for something like this. I do know that when I approach him, I'll have done my homework. my dream would be to also work the merch table at shows and in general free him up to do what he loves to do (play/write music) while ensuring he keeps up a social presence so he's not lost to oblivion.

So yes, I've been mulling this over for months. and yes, I think there'll be an email going out to him soon.

Self Care comes in many different shapes and sizes and flavors. A LOT of the suggestions are "get a massage" or other semi-expensive, physical things. While I do like getting massages, there are issues with them as well. Sometimes for me self care means good chocolate, taking a mental health day from work, or even a road trip for a concert.

This summer, however, a photo grabbed me and tackled me to the ground (it's the 2nd one). I messaged the artist right away to ask if it was still available, but didn't hear back. I figured I was out of luck. never occurred to me to check his website. so when I commented on a different photo of his a couple months later, we had our wires crossed as to which photo I meant. We eventually figured it out, and I found myself ordering Audubon Sunset #1 in the middle of a work day at the beginning of August. Even though Tom was on tour with Better than Ezra, he was responding quickly, and followed up our DMs with an actual email once I made the purchase to hammer out the details. These were printed on demand, and he'd have to sign and number it once he got home, which was a few weeks away still. he laid out my options, which were to wait for him to get home, or have it shipped to me unsigned, and work out getting it signed later. Don't think that I didn't consider that second option quite seriously. it'd be a very long 2-day drive each way to NOLA. and while I could make the vacation time work, I've pretty much killed my discretionary spending for the year. part of asking about the print in May was to get it either delivered or signed at the Cincy show. In the end, I told him I was in no hurry as it was for me, and I'd me more than happy to wait until he was able to sign it and ship it. I think he was relieved by that. That he knew me on sight at the BTE show a week later was both a shock and quite a thrill. super-nice guy, but also clearly a professional businessman. He knew who his newest customer was.

It's been hard to articulate what this photo means to me. It reminds me of the Angel Oak on Johns Island outside Charleston, SC. and it reminds me of that whole experience - a weeklong trip with Dan, getting to see something that had interested me for a while, and just that snapshot of a moment in time. No, it's not the same tree, or even the same state. But there's a connection there, and I felt strongly that this needed to be mine. (it's probably also the dopamine hit, but whatever)

Tom posted yesterday that the print is shipping out. I DMd him to thank him and share my excitement, and he responded "Makes me happy you like it so much"!

the plan is to put this above my desk, as a reminder that there is joy out there.