16 May – Eddie’s Attic
w/ Kristen Hall
18 May – Park Tavern
w/ Kitty Snyder
I got a phone call from Eddie’s on Thursday night, asking if I could open for Kristen Hall the following night. I had a cold which was in full swing that night, I was already thinking there was no way I was going to be able to go to work the next day. But there was also no way to say no to a chance to play a show with someone who is such an automatic draw at that place, on a Friday. Not to mention that she’s amazing, and also, to be a little crass, she is connected and it would be good to just meet her. So I said yes, not really knowing if I’d be able to pull off singing.
Well, I needed it. This show. It wasn’t so much that it was a rousing success. The crowd was good but it wasn’t packed or anything. But it was a crowd that, since I was added at the last second, had no idea who I was. A very good sized crowd of people who didn’t know me at all. My voice was okay and I felt okay about the show. I didn’t have them on their feet but they laughed as I made smart ass remarks and I talked with some afterwards and sold some CDs.
Kristen was really very nice to me. I’d never met her before but she knew who I was and treated me as if we did know each other. I talked with her after the show was done and she told me she heard me talk about how I had a cold but she could tell that I was, like she was, my own worst critic, and that my voice sounded great. We talked about doing shows together and I told her anytime she wanted me to do a solo thing in the southeast to just let me know when and where. She also said she’d like to try to write together. This is someone who has written with more people than I really want to begin listing and worked with even more.
Just like that.
Sunday’s show was part of a series of shows all summer put on by the major alternative station in town (WNNX 99.7FM) called “Unplugged in the Park.” It’s an outdoor show under a huge awning overlooking Piedmont Park and downtown Atlanta. I have been on the particular show, called “Organic X” that is actually putting on the series, though not for a while. But they had asked me to open this show solo, and had also said they’d try to book the band in for later in the summer.
This show looked as if it was going to be the counterpoint to the one on Friday. I had spoken to Jen from A Few Degrees on Friday, they had played this last week and had to be moved inside because of the rain and there was no crowd. When I got there, not only was it raining but the area under the awning was flooded. They had to pump the drains to get it cleared so we managed to keep the show outside and there was actually a crowd. Unfortunately, they didn’t really pay much attention. It wasn’t easy to begin with, because with the size of the ‘room’ and the way the acoustics worked, I felt dwarfed. Playing solo just didn’t carry very well, and three or four songs in I was really just playing to myself in my head.
But it was a good show for outside things… talking with Matt from 99X again. Finding out that there is a demand to see me playing at Eddie’s (it’s a long story and one maybe I’m not supposed to tell), and also that there are people inside Eddie’s pushing me to open big shows (which was why I got the call to open Friday’s show). Talking with Kitty Snyder (who I saw for the first time a few weeks ago and really like) about doing shows together. Having someone out just because they heard “It Was Something” that morning on 99X.
So it’s not such a bad feeling at the end of the weekend. Nothing is fixed, but at least I can feel a little more at ease.