After last night’s Eddie’s Attic show in Atlanta, I was crazy tired. Wrung out, like an old dishrag. I’m sure I looked just like that dishrag. My vocal cords were shredded. I went and ate a salad with some chicken in it at an anonymous fern bar. Sitting alone and eating like a starved man, my mind seemed to be racing and empty of thought at the same time.
Do they call this exhaustion?
I slept late, or what passes for sleeping late for a 46 year old man—maybe 9 am? Stayed in the room until the maid knocked on the door. Curtains closed, air con blasting, pillow over my eyes for maximum darkness.
Then I limped into the Super 8 shower, got clean and drove off in search of coffee, which I found at the local punk rock girl Decatur Georgia coffeehouse. Iced coffee; it’s 100 degrees today.
Drove back to Nashville, listening to Kathleen Edwards’ “Summerlong” over and over again. It’s one of those perfectly aching, wistful anthems, with perfect chiming 12 string electric guitar and her sweet vocal. This is a great song, not unlike those great Kim Richey songs, like “Girl in a Car” that make your heart ache and also make you hit repeat over and over again. Buy it now.
It’s been a wild roller coaster ride ever since “Wings” came out. An obvious high point was playing the concert at Gulf Shores with Jimmy Buffett, Allen Toussaint and Jesse Winchester in front of 40,000 fans and millions of TV viewers. But there have been many other high points, like the Daddy duo tour of the UK and Europe, like many of the small venue shows all over the country.
Don’t get me wrong; it ain’t over. But for the first time in a long long time, I don’t have a show to play until September 8 (or something like that).
I have talked a lot about being thankful and trying to live in the here and now, especially when talking about the songs on “Wings”. I am still thankful. But I will freely admit to doing a lot of living in the future and living in the past over the past few months, as exhaustion set in. I would get a night or two at home if I was lucky, then haul my bones back into the van or the Camry and zoom around the country. The countries. The Western Hemisphere.
I am truly lucky, truly blessed to have a passion for my family, my friends, and my career. It’s a complicated existence, but who’s adult life isn’t complicated from time to time?
I’ve hooked up with Burriss Amps, Novelli Guitars and Recording King Guitars this year, and having the support of folks who make great amps and guitars for someone like me who gives his amps and guitars a very hard time out there.
So even though I’ll be back on the road in four of five weeks, I feel like I’m at the end of one long run, and looking at the beginning of the next one. So I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has come to a show, bought “Wings”, kept up with Lick of the Day, paid attention to musicians like me who live a little bit outside of the mainstream. And thank you to my fellow musicians, whose soul and talents are treasure to me. And thank you to my family, who have the patience and tolerance to let me run around on these crazy trips. They were with me in Gulf Shores the other day, by the way, and it was a good day for us all.
Take care. See you in September. Now go buy that Kathleen Edwards song:
“Summerlong”. I’m taking my almost 15 year old daughter to see Paul McCartney tonight! On Aug 12, Jessica and I are going to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!
