PCB, OCD

Panama City Beach:

What I remember about being here as a kid on spring break - 12 years old - is airbrush shops and amusement parks. Now it's a two night stand at the club on the beach I used to gaze at longingly, but was was too young to get into. What a long, strange.....whatever.

This leg started exactly where the last one left off - with me being late and inconveniencing everyone. It started promisingly enough, with Kim passing her driver's test (congratulations, sweetie!), and us running by the bank and getting to the tour van not too late. Then came the realization that in my haste to get out of the house, I left my merch at home and needed to detour back through rush hour for it. Two hours later, we hooked up again in good spirits and headed to Florida. Fortunately, everyone in the band is much nicer and more patient than me, and they all seemed to get a kick out of my scramble and repeated apologies. I can be kind of squirly and get under peoples' skin, I'm just hoping it doesn't happen with this lot. I mean - it will - it's just a matter of whether it will be a big picture problem or if people can hopefully see that I hate it more than they do. It's a condition I've been fighting since 2nd grade. There's a kid I blame, I just can't remember his name. But I can't seem to shake this one, try as I might.

Jacksonville was fun - outdoors, sunny, big stage - then I left my jeans in the hotel room and am now trying to figure out if I can get them UPS'd to me. I don't know if my car insurance payment can wait till we get home or not, thus I don't know how much money I actually have. I had the info on my old computer....but I lost that in New Mexico. And so it goes.

But hey, some cool things have happened. Last Sunday, I went to Billy Falcon's and demoed the new song Rose and I have. And as it turned out, he was doing a live stream that day. There was a dude with the thickest New York accent I've heard in 8 years, it made me teary eyed and nostalgic. I told Billy I've missed that accent. Then Billy made us macaroni and gravy, er...spaghetti and red sauce. Simple, easy...classic. There was even italian bread for gravy sopping - all that was missing were Dean Martin pics on the walls and overcooked escarole. Mmm...escarole.

Here is the stream:

Free TV Show from Ustream

Somewhere about 20 mins in, Rose and I do our song, and I sat in with most of the tunes as well.

Billy and Rose's tunes are always great, and a particular high point for me was Peter from Norway on the piano. And what a cool guy! I had 2 friends from Norway once, they were nice. Peter said he was gullible, almost paid $4500 for a B3 organ because a particular guy had said there was unlimited work in it for him if he did. Then Billy and Rose told him not to believe anything this particular person says (all the good Nashville studios have B3's already, and no-one wants to take a B3 on the road because they're too freakin' big). They said this guy texted them once and tried to back up a previous lie by saying he was jamming with Steve Gadd at Kenny's Castaways in New York. So they called Kenny's Castaways and Kenny's didn't even know who Steve Gadd was. Oops! I said yeah...he has said things to me that seem a bit fishy...but I still like him. They said, "Oh yeah, man, definitely...he's the best!" I love all these people.

We're going to be in PCB until Monday. It's cold, but the people who frequent Spinnaker's are apparently crazy, so they'll be out no matter what. I made pasta for everyone last night. Personally, I felt it wasn't up to snuff, regarding the standards I've tried to set for myself. I was going to use kale as a green, but Publix had none, so I used broccoli rabe, which is really bitter and I love it. But I wasn't sure if everyone else...it's an acquired taste, you sort of hate it at first. So I tried to tame it a bit, and the whole thing just ended up seeming a little overambitious to me. Sometimes the most effective way to get somewhere is a simple straight line. Simple, easy...classic. But everyone seemed to dig it, so no harm, no foul. Still, I was a little pissed.

We did a radio show today. Natalie kicked ass, sung great. We were a bit far from the mikes, and our harmonies (well mine anyway), were a bit wonky, but overall we decided we made a passing grade. We all want the best for Natalie.

Looking forward to Spinnaker!