Friends old and new

Double D and I went up to Play By Play tonight on business and ran into some old friends. It's never a bad thing when you walk in the door of some club and you see people you've played with, brothers of the musical sort - in fact, it's a good thing. We knew Perfect Norm was playing but the surprise was Sleepy Andy Tracy, who stepped in to fill a void when the headliner's van broke down and they had to cancel. Freddy Brackmann, another friend (formerly of the Layers) rolled up after we'd been there about an hour. By then The Norm had taken a set break and we were all outside lovingly complaining about the music business and discussing many other things. I hesitate to say commiserate, we all do it because we love it so that's not strictly an accurate term. Like boaters and Jeep owners, we've all shared this common experience that defies explanation. Some things you just have to experience.

Andy started his set and as always put on a strong performance. If you haven't yet checked out Eazy, Andy's main project, try it now. Machine Gun live... wow, that song is a jam. I didn't notice if Andy went barefoot on stage tonight, though (he's prone to doing that). Old friends... and a new friend: Frank, who was running the bar. I don't know his exact title, but I'd guess bar manager at the very least. No matter what his title might be, the man supports live and local music and for that reason alone I consider him my friend. Come out and drink some of his beer, especially if we book a show there. It's a nice venue more or less centrally located in Deer Park. Don't expect a cover band here - you can find those anywhere. Places like Play By Play are where it's at.

S'ok, it's 4:00 in the morning and it's time for me to hit the lights and sleep... right after one more song...