I was asked by my good friend Jack Murray to open the annual Hank Williams tribute night. He assembled a big band: drums, steel guitar, fiddle, bass, electric guitar and several other players to do Hank songs. I had initially thought about doing Lost Highway, but with a mix of laziness and the opportunity to do some of my country weepers, I opted for doing Edge of Night (Mike Henderson), Louise (Paul Siebel) and Far From Me (John Prine). I was glad I could do them solo considering all the full-tilt band to follow.
Edge of Night and Far From Me are my signature songs that express my feelings about the divorce and come as close to exposing my still raw wounds. Country music lets you do that.
I had my fat and low voice on tonight after 6 sets yesterday. My voice was really on and it was enjoyable to have my George Strait tone, and coupled with the powerful lyrics in the three songs, I nailed the short set. Sometimes I get it right and tonight was the night.
One curious thing happened during the last song. The sound man, a new guy for the night, kicked in the reverb/echo during Far From Me. It sounded really, really false. I mentioned the echo was ‘far, far from me’ but he didn’t get it. I shoved the mike away from me and sang the last verse to the open room, unamplified. It worked and it was cool to sing out full voice. The audience got it, though the sound guy didn’t.
Few gigs on the horizon though.