At 61, I can imagine that I might not be playing gigs too much longer. I’m aware that the Rolling Stones are still playing, as are my heroes Bruce Springsteen and Ian Anderson (of Jethro Tull fame), but these have been able to make gigging their life, which I haven’t done. Don’t get me wrong — I can play for three solid hours, just like the Boss, and as long as Leesa is listening, I’m content to do so. But if I want to continue playing for myself and the few others who listen, then I can do that at home–at mine or theirs. Anyway, I’ll start trying to commemorate the events I have left to me– descriptions of the place and the people in attendance, pictures from the staging area, set lists, etc.
The Riverside Taphouse had set up a tent that extended from its back door into the parking lot. It was a white tent, with, I think, windows that gave an impression of being in a room. Owners Michael and Cheri, formerly one of my honors students at ETSU, had set up a small but plenty-big-enough stage for me. The room had outdoorsy tables and two large heaters like umbrellas, one of which went off and stayed off, with the other joining in that state sometime near the end of the gig. While I was plenty warm doing my thing and Leesa seemed warm enough doing hers, the folks sitting throughout had to be cold!
When Leesa and I arrived, the front table was already occupied by 3-4 young couples and their children. The adults were eating and drinking, and the children, when not eating, were doing the things kids do. They weren’t as disruptive as the might have been. One boy even did a bit of the Floss (a dance) to a song of mine. These folks talked and half listened. They didn’t annoy me, and I didn’t seem to annoy them.
At other tables around the room were different groups of friends. At one table sat Teresa and Randy, good friends from Jonas Ridge, NC, who come out to hear me whenever they can. They are kind and faithful! At another table sat friends Loretta, Glenda and Tubby, Dave and Renea, and some of the latter couple’s friends. At the back table sat some of my beloved ETSU colleagues and friends: Alan and Barbara, Thomas, Theresa and Tim. And at the back, to the side, a fellow in an ETSU hoodie sold bags of a caramel popcorn-like treat that was darn tasty.
Pictures didn’t happen this time, but they will in the future. Set lists and notes are included below.
Set 1:
- Thunder & Lightning
- Landscapes
- Say the Word
- Fiesta
- There Was Always a Train —
- Heart of Gold
- The Weight — I’d never done this before, hadn’t even sung it all the way through until I was on the RT stage; I’d recently run across a video of Springsteen singing it and this video of Robbie Robertson and musicians playing/singing it around the world (simultaneously, I think)
- Wonderful Life
- The Bells of Vimperk
- Christmas Time
Set 2:
- She’s a Wild One
- Genesis Road
- Brandy
- Leesa, Listen
- Jamboree
- The Street I Live On — After my brief intro, which I don’t always do in solo performances (“Peep shows, pawn shops, Neon Rosie’s Lounge, / the Broadway Drugs & Diner, the Storefront Ministry, and the mission soup kitchen”), I mistakenly launched into the second verse first; so, I had to sing the first verse second. This wasn’t a problem for me or for listeners, as the narratives are only within verses, not across verses.
- Homecoming
- Empty Islands
- Freedom, Love, and Forgiveness (request) — sung with Leesa, of course. A couple of interesting things happened. First, a young man had come in, pulled up a chair, and sat listening through “The Street I Live On,” “Homecoming,” and “Empty Islands,” after which he got up to leave. As Leesa was coming up to the stage, Dave Smith caught the youngster and guided him back to the chair, saying, “You’re gonna want to hear this” (or some such words). Later, when Leesa and I were packing up, the caramel puffs salesman came up to tell us a story about when he and his wife were living somewhere in Illinois, I think. They once visited a local record store to attend a record release party for a Christian recording artist they’d never heard of — one Thom Shumate, who had a new album called Promise of Love. He was excited to hear us sing “Freedom, Love, and Forgiveness,” which he said was his wife’s and his favorite song on the album. When he learned that I wrote the song, he was amazed. We were all three amazed at this small-world moment. (Here’s Thom Shumate’s version of the song, with my friend Ashley Cleveland singing the female part, from an album produced by my friend Mark Chesshir.)
- Rain on the River (request)
- Complaints (request)
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas — This is the version by Johnny Mathis, from my favorite Christmas album when I was growing up.
