Don’s Gig Journal

AUGUST 9TH, 2011
CHARLOTTE, NC

August 9th was yet another amazing day/night of music with my brother Bert Wray. This day would also prove to be the day that I discovered I am allergic to Soy Milk. That’s right boys and girls. After having some soy milk for breakfast that day, my face puffed up and had me looking like I had just gone two rounds with Mike Tyson. That wasn’t enough to keep me down though. After popping a couple of Benedryl and getting me some sunglasses to cover up the eyes, Bert and I hit the road and ended up back in Mooresville at a place called Miciah’s Speakeasy. Yeah, it was a pretty bad ass place. We rolled up in there in true Backporch Prophets style, announced our presence and asked where to sign up. Turned out there wasn’t a whole lotta people there so we decided that we would split our set in half each doing two songs on our own which was a lot of fun. When everyone had their turn the list went around again so we got up and showed ‘em all how the Prophets like to rock it! We kicked out the classics and just had a blast.

We were planning on heading to another open mic but the people were so cool and interesting. The people we met that night were really fun, cool and all of them had stories of their own. Everything from sharing the same name as a famous movie star to a woman with really big boobs telling us about how she busted her husband cheating by seeing all kinds of x-rated text messages on a “secret” cell phone that he kept hidden in the glovebox of his car. These are the kind of people that, as a writer, I find myself fascinated by and find myself immersing myself in conversation with. We ended up hanging out and doing 3 sets. We even were asked to close the night out so we did so with a Rolling Stone’s classic “Dead Flowers” which brought the place down and had the women talkin’ to the Prophets. What lady doesn’t love the Backporch Prophets?

After many beers and some great and interesting conversations, Bert and I hit the road back home. On the way home we laughed and talked about the great times we had and in just two days we managed to catch up on over two years of being apart and it was without a doubt what I needed. It was uplifting and it totally reminded me how much I not only love music but how much I love Bert Wray. From the day we met, I knew that I had found my musical soul mate. He has inspired me over the years and he has always been there for me a musical partner, a brother and a best friend. Getting back for just two days did so much for me and made me remember just why I love doing music. I love it because it connects with the people, engages the people and it makes me feel as if I’m contributing to the soundtracks of peoples lives when they’re around. Not a bad lesson to be re-learned in two days. Oh yeah, and don’t give me soy milk!

AUGUST 8TH, 2011
CHARLOTTE, NC

Anybody who is a singer, songwriter, writer, artist or any other creative type knows that sometimes inspiration runs a little low and that we just need a kickstart to get things back in gear. Over the past few months I was feeling uninspired and somewhat running low on creative fuel. One of my best friends in the world, Bert Wray, seemed to be going through the same thing so we decided to give each other a kickstart and do what we do best: play music together and take it to the people.

I showed up in Charlotte, NC on Monday afternoon and there was Bert waiting for me on his porch and the minute I pulled up he ran up to the car, I got out and huge hugs were exchanged. It had been over two years since we last saw each other so we were both ecstatic to see each other. It didn’t take long before we were both planted in chairs in his kitchen with guitars out and songs being shared. Bert and I many years ago played together as The Back Porch Prophets and we became known around the Queen City as the feel good podunk duo that put on a really fun show and did our best to bring happiness to the people through our music. We quickly fell right into Back Porch Prophets mode busting out some classic old songs and some new songs by each of us that totally resurrected the spirit of our long defunct duo. Playing with Bert is like riding a bike. Even though we hadn’t played together, we managed to just pick up where we left off playing these new songs like we’d been playing them together for years.

The first thing we did was find an open mic in the lake town of Mooresville, NC. After grabbing a quick bite we packed our guitars and other implements of musical awesomeness and headed out. We arrived at a place called Harvey’s which was this cool little bar and grill type of place. We were the first out there and signed up right away. The place was really cool and obviously occupied by a bunch of regulars. When it got to be our turn, we took the stage to perform my song “Crosby, Nash & Me.” Right off the bat we were back. Everyone laughed and seemed engaged so we caught them in our folk tractor beam and kept them there. Bert then delivered the song “Drinking A Beer” which totally brought everyone up but to me the highlight was singing “The Rain” with him. This is the song that Bert wrote for me years ago and now here we were performing it together and swapping off verses and harmonica licks. It was a moment I will never forget. Once the open mic was done we stuck around to watch a few others kick out some interesting renditions of a classic rock songs and then hightailed it back to Charlotte to try and make the open mic at The Flying Saucer. We showed up with our guitars and walked into what was a techno rave dance party. It was very obvious there wasn’t an acoustic open mic going on so we decided to try and hit the open mic at The Evening Muse.

Just a lil back history here. The Evening Muse is a VERY pretentious and snotty little folk music venue in Charlotte where Bert and I first met some 11 years ago. It’s always had a really stuffy “we’re better than you” vibe to it and very early on disliked us because of our rootsiness and lack of ability to be good looking and smooth folk! Anyways, we figured hey, it’s an open mic and we’ll get in towards the end of the list and rock it out bringing it around full circle. Upon showing up at the Evening Muse, we walked in and the lady behind the counter didn’t even make eye contact with us. We just stood there looking at her and then looking at other like “What the fuck?” the dialog went like this:

Bert: We’d like to sign up for the open mic. Can we get in a late slot?
Evening Muse : Um, I don’t think so.
Bert Wray: Well, is it yes or is it no? If it’s yes we’ll play and drink beers with you and if it’s no, we’ll leave.
Evening Muse Chick: Let me go ask… [she drags across the room to ask the host]
Evening Muse Chick: Yeah. It looks like no!
Bert: PEACE! WE’RE OUTTA HERE!

Damn! Denied and kicked to the curb. So I did what any other proper folksinger would’ve done after being ousted from an establishment. I just pulled out my guitar and played a set right there in the gutter in front of the venue. That’s how you do it folks. Aint no venue going to keep me down. They can’t have me inside, I’ll take my music outside and share it with the world. So shove that up your hole Evening Muse. As we sat in the gutter singing the blues, Bert’s buddy Monster Mike pulled up and said, “Let’s take this to my house!” We followed Mike to his place and proceeded to play a full on gig in his living room while drinking the absolute cheapest beer you can buy and just having fun. Mike refused to let us go playing for free so he paid us by giving us each brand new knives! Yes. We got paid in hand weapons! As the 2am hour hit we peeled out of there and headed home to pour ourselves into bed. The next day would prove to be another fun time…

Stay Tuned for Part II.