Tara Humata & Athens Botanical Gardens Oct. 30

Nothing like being a week behind in my posting.  Thursday I was with the AAG at Java Monkey.  We played as many "scary" tunes as we could muster up - Frankenstein, In-a-Gadda-da-Vida, Witch Hunt (Wayne Shorter, not Rush), the Munsters Theme, ...  We had Chris on sax and a special guest whom I've since forgotten, but they sure added a lot.  Adrian always nails those kicks so we are rhythmically enriched when compared to some other jazz settings I find myself in lately.  Played at Tara Humata last Friday with Martay & the related Partay.  Good to see Brent again, and Bill made it out to sing with us as well.  It was a good family oriented crowd with lots of little ones up front dancing and getting into it.  The sound of the band has improved tenfold since M ponied up and bought some PA speakers.  He got a deal on some huge 15" cabinets made by Yamaha, so they do sound good, if not a little overkill for our typical needs.  Nice to have a monitor and some effects in the mains as well.  It looks a lot more pro too. 

Meanwhile, my Genz Benz 12" combo is at the shop since it started cutting out big time that night.  The preamp potentiometer has become disconnected from the board.  I looked at it when I took the amp out recently and it seemed to be beyond my capabilities, so I hauled it over to Northwest Speaker.  They do good work but the 2 guys I usually like to see in there were out.  The dude who rang me up complained about my debit card which has to be rung as a credit.  It's for my protection but he has to pay more for it.  Oh well.  Saturday I went out to Athens to play a reception with Platinum.  I was sick at this point in the week - I still am actaully - but I was nursing a fever and it wasn't fun.  Still, we made it through and I sorta learned Single Ladies all the way through for once, thanks to Glen.  We all enjoyed the privlege of eating from the buffet line in our little backstage room.

Yes, another shot of Gus - hey, he's always to my right so that's who I see.  He killed it as usual.  And this night Kevin called me by my new name - Diesel!  Does it sound right?  Hard to tell if it will stick.  Before the gig I made it over to Hendershot's Coffeehouse but Seth wasn't there.  I left him a note and tried the expresso - not sure if it was my favorite but it was very good.  Cool stage he has for the live music - I hope he continues to grow the business.