I played my first Saturday night at the St. James Gate pub at the Sands Casino with my good friends Kris Kehr (Pavlov’s Dawgs) on bass and Donnie Mayer (RockRoots) on guitar. These two good friends had never met or played with each other, but I knew it would work, and it did. Both are superb listeners, and it was cool.
We played a mixture of blues, swing, R&B and Celtic, and it sounded great. Especially since Ed, the sound guy, installed nice speakers for the gig, and, for the first time at this bar, there was the fat sound of acoustic guitar and bass that has been missing. It made for a very enjoyable playing experience, and different from what I was expecting. Lots of room for improv for all, and it sounded phat.
Da Boss man was there and gave us a thumbs-up. You have to realize this is the only bar gig I’ve played in years, and I’m not confident in my repertoire for these gigs, but the fullness of sound, coupled with it being a bar gig (low expectations) made for a good evening, especially for Kris and Donnie. It cooked.
I’m beat.