Giggin' again . . .

Yup, I'm jumping back into the bar scene as a performer. Used to play out all the time; did it for nearly 30 years before I finally burned out. Going back as a solo act at $75 per set (or per hour). Normally, nobody in their right mind would go out gigging at my age, but the extra money will help out a lot. Playing tomorrow night in Tarboro.

Wish you played the Maritimes, I'd be in the audience! Good luck with things! Or is it "break a leg!" for entertainers? Either way, good stuff!

Break a leg!

Good luck...

I'm sure it will go well, boys, and thanks. 'Bout the only thing could go wrong is I have a heart attack onstage LOL.

If you'd like to see/hear me playing, Melanie Johnson of Tarboro, N.C. (my employer Friday nite) posted a video of me on Facebook while I was auditioning. I don't do Facebook, but I heard it wasn't half bad. It was very informal and I was already half way through a cigar and my second beer. Or was it my third? LOL.

Checked the page out. Sounds pretty darned good to me. I wished I had your talent. A bit of a road trip for me to go for a listen live though

Ha ha...you go old timer! That's awsome. I'm coming down the week of December 17th maybe I can catch a set.

The Hobgood Players (of which I am a member) will be putting on a Christmas show the 13th of December, 7 pm, in Scotland Neck, which is 8 miles north of Hobgood. Our last Christmas show was awesome.

ok

Yee Haw! Keep it up and spread it around, never quit. P.S. 'any groupies?

Mac da Wife has been my groupie/roadie for 33 years now. That's her just to my left. The gig went very well last night. Mac says I nailed every song to the wall. Not as many as we'd hoped showed up, however. Well, it's their loss. Tattoo came with his girl and a few biker friends. He is a loyal friend.

This morning we all ride to the Biker Barn, about 60 miles west of here for a day of free food and a bike show from noon to three. It's the owner's way of showing appreciation to his customers, of which I am one. I am going to enter the show this year just for the fun of it.

Showed vid up here at work. Tell your boss your international now, as you have Canadian fans too. Should get you a few bucks more an hour!

Especially being a shovel head owner.

And man, that shovelhead was thumping today - Twelve of us met at Tattoo's place and then rode to the Biker Barn, where, among other things, we ate a home cooked lunch. We arrived early and I entered my bike in the show. My buddies decide they have to stay till three to see what my trophy will look like, (how could they know I was going to win?), but all we really want to do is get out of there and ride to the next watering hole. Finally, three o'clock rolls around and I hear my name over the PA. I won a trophy for 1st place in my something-or-other class, whatever it was. I forgot. So now I have my own 18" tall, gold plated plastic and particle board trophy, but more on that later.
We rode to our next stop to an establishment known as "the hard luck bar". Or maybe that's the nickname for it, I don't know. The guy who'd won the best of show and best in his class trophies over at the Biker Barn, had his bike parked prominantly at the front entrance with both trophies displayed off to one side. There he was, taking pictures. Granted, the bike had one of the prettiest paint jobs I'd seen in a while, air brushed flames with swirling, sharp fanged skulls rendered in browns, oranges and yellows. But to me it was all rather pretentious. Anyway, we ate again, me going up for seconds of baked beans with pineapple and shredded BBQ chicken. I smoked a cigar and drank some beer.
Afterwards, I walked inside and gave the manager my card and left her directions to the Facebook video of me playing as my audition. I will be hearing from them soon about a gig.
Back to the trophy. Well, it turns out I was the only bike registered in the whatchamacallit class, so there was no way I was not gonna win a trophy. Hilarious! It's not a real win in the sense where I beat out somebody else, but I have a funny story to tell people if they ever ask.

It's called a "square neck resonator guitar", very similar to a Dobro. I built it from a kit. The neck is square in cross section so it sits in the lap without sliding all over the place. The strings are set 5/16" above the fretboard. The only way to play it is with a steel slide held in the left hand.
Of course, bars aren't the best place to play in. They're a whole different animal than a concert setting. People go to bars to drink and make noise and most pay little attention to a solo performer tucked in a corner somewhere. I discovered I am going to have to build a slightly larger speaker cab with a 12" woofer instead of the 10" one I have now. Need to push more air out to the crowd. My little speaker cab just wasn't quite loud enough to overcome the noise levels at times.