june 8th - lafayette, LA

Well, last night was my first official SOLO show. We had sound check and rehearsal in the afternoon. of course, everyone was a bit rusting coming off the 3 week break, but it went alright regardless. I'm still getting a lot of the music under my fingers, but i'm sure it'll come along fine. it's a bit disconcerting to realize that all those people are hearing what we're doing - whether they're critiquing it or not. i get a little nervous about missing notes and cues, but an the moment of playing i'm just looking at the page and trying to watch the director. those two hours go by really quickly when i'm up there.

On a bright note, the Spurs won game 1 of the NBA finals last night! I am from San Antonio, Texas and very much a Spurs fan, as are the majority of my group of friends down there. Me and some of the band guys went to fast Eddie's, this pool hall chain, to watch the game. We went after the show and caught most of the 3rd and the rest of the game. Twas a very one-sided contest though the Cavs made a little run at the end. I called Spurs in 5 - and now I'm wondering if they'll win even the one.



We went to this place called Don's seafood Hut 2 of the past 3 nights here. Someone said if you find bas food in Louisiana, you've [done something wrong]. So, we put the aphorism to the test. We picked Don's out of a random list of places and loved it! We split a plate of fried alligator both nights (second night was better) and I had some of the best gumbo I've had in a long time.

So, Go Spurs and Go Don's!

june 6th - Lafayette, LA

yesterday morning i started off the day the way any self respecting southerner on the road would - with breakfast at The Waffle House. I opted for the All-star breakfast which included coffee, grits and, of course, a giant waffle.

there was a gentleman sitting across the room from me speaking in a thick cajun accent, and wearing a blue bandana around his neck the way a spoiled chihuahua would, asking if he could tell me some jokes. I shrugged and obliged and sipped my cofee. he started rattling off a variety of religious jokes aimed at various denominations laughing almost hysterically after each one with his cackle that told me he'd been a smoker for quite a few years and was missing about half of his teeth. he seemed harmless enough though his punch lines were a touch offensive, from what i could make out. He didn't seem quite right - he fidgeted quite a bit and wasn't having anything except coffee - lots of coffee. little bit of a twitcher that one.

Ealier, while waiting for my grits and sausage I went and perused the jukebox selections available to me. There was the expected array of country classics including Brooks & Dunn hits from the early nineties. (not that there were any others from other decades) and classic Eagles. However, I noticed a name that appeared quite frequently on this playlist. Mary Welch Rogers. Now, I'd never heard of her and the songs listed had interesting titles such as "Waffle Do Wop," "Good Food Fast, " and, of course, the perennial favorite, "Life is Like a Cup of Coffee." it turns out 'ol M.W. is co-founder of our beloved House of Waffles. Her husband, Joe, opened the first Waffle House in 1955 in Georgia with nothin' but a few bucks and a dream. Mary simply set that dream ... to music.

So, I want to say, thank you. Thank you, Joe and Mary for having a dream and seeing it through with good, old, fashion, American hard-work so that I can eat a waffle bigger than the plate it rests upon, sip coffee fir for a king, and listen to crackpot Cajuns shoot their mouth off.

first stop

I am here in Lafayette, LA. Eli and I arrived this evening around 10:30 p.m. after leaving San Antonio around noon. (San Antonio is home to both of us by the way.) Now, I've already been with the show for a month now. I flew up to Mass. at the beginning of May for training with the then piano player, but I'm starting the blog here because this will be my first city being completely solo.