Always Late (Part 2)

Hello again...

After re-reading my last post, I noticed a GLARING omission. I totally forgot to mention the AMAZING restaurants that I ate at when I was in Florida.

The first was the Old Bay Steamer in Fort Walton Beach. We went on Tuesday night and the food was absolutely amazing. For an appetizer we had Crab & Cheese dip on crackers along with a wonderful salad. Then the main course came.

Lauren's parents were kind enough to pick up the tab (which was VERY much appreciated), and they purchased TWO of the Family Steamers. The Family Steamers were $78 a piece, but were well worth it. They came with Alaskan King Crab clusters, Snow Crab clusters, Royal Red Shrimp (with the heads on!), raw oysters on the half shell, clams and mussels. Piles and piles of everything along with boiled red potatoes and corn on the cob.

Of course we didn't bother with the corn and potatoes, as we all stuffed ourselves silly with the wonderful seafood. For those of you who've never enjoyed Royal Red shrimp, they are possibly the best shrimp known to man. They are smaller. but they taste just like lobster when dipped in drawn butter.

Lauren and I also ate at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe in the Destin Commons outlet shopping center. Not much out-of-the-ordinary, but it was pretty reasonable and the food was outstanding. It was a bistro/sandwich shop kind of a place with waistline friendly dishes. (Good for me!)

Update on my music: Played a gig last night with Dustin Bogue at Debbie's Place here in Nashville. It was right around the corner (basically) from where Lauren and I live, but it was the BIGGEST dive I've ever played. I'm really surprised that they didn't have chicken-wire in front of the stage!! The good news is that I made $65, and got to use my little Camco kit again. It was fun playing on a stripped-down kit again. It made me focus more on my timing and groove rather than being flashy. Dustin was very impressed with my drumming, singing and harmonica playing, so I think I'll be getting some more work with him in the future. Slowly but surely.... it's getting there.

Always Late....

... with my postings! :-) Sorry I've made you all wait so long, but lots of things have been happening lately, and Lauren and I have limited internet at our place. Since I've been busy, I'll give you all the shortened version of what's been going on...

Had a couple shows with Tequila Sunrise in Nashville and Vegas... both shows were GREAT! Vegas was a blast, but it sucked that I was only there for a day. Came back and got settled into the Nashville life.

Played two shifts on Broadway, one with John Warren and one with Adam Wade and High Maintenance. Rehearsed for Germany. Rehearsed with Tequila Sunrise. Took a trip home for a week and brought Lauren with me.

Packed up and moved the rest of my stuff from Mom and Dad's house (:: sigh ::). As soon as we got back to Nashville, we unloaded my new 1998 Chevy Astro Van and loaded up my drums and headed to BB Kings in Nashville for a TS gig. After the gig we returned home around midnight and rose again at 7 am, loaded up Lauren's Isuzu Rodeo with our bags and took off to Florida with her parents.

Spent 2 1/2 days in Destin, Florida and got a sunburn. Lauren and I were able to have dinner with Kathy, Ron, Kiel & Katlin at the Spicy Noodle. All I can say is YUM!! Then Lauren and I went back to Destin with Kiel and his friend Kathryn. Went to Cold Stone Creamery and had some AMAZING ice cream!

Drove Lauren's mom's BMW convertible (hell, yeah!) back from Florida on a Thursday and got home at 2 am. Then I had to get up at 5:30 am to meet TS to head for a weekend of shows in Kansas.

The shows were rough because I got sick while home in Iowa and lost the top range of my voice on Sunday at BB Kings. The Friday show was odd because Kansas City was experiencing some unreal thunderstorms. We didn't even know if we'd go on because it was storming something awful. We ended up going on and playing 4 acoustic songs. I didn't sing lead in an attempt to save my voice for Saturday night. Didn't work. Played the show on Saturday and sang lead on three songs. They weren't the greatest. Sang all my backups, but had no voice on Sunday.

Lucked into a gig with Keith Driver for this past Wednesday. Loaded up on Tuesday night to head for Virginia. Keith Driver had a gig Tuesday night so we weren't able to leave until around 2 am. Drove all night and arrived in Emporia, Virginia at 3 pm Wednesday. Went to the club and set up, headed to the Pork Festival, and then went back to the club to start playing at 8 pm. Played the gig, loaded up and headed right back to Nashville. Arrived back in Nashville at 3 pm on Thursday and got a little bit of a nap before I went to Jesse Zane's Nashville Nights club to play a gig with Keith Driver. Started the gig at 8:30 pm and didn't get done until 2 am. Went home and passed out until 3:30 this afternoon... and I'm STILL tired! No rest for the wicked I guess!

Anyway... that's been my life for the past two months. Hope you've all enjoyed reading my novel... feel free to comment and PLEASE visit the TS website!

Take it easy....