Saturday night was a pretty bittersweet night for me as it was the last time I will be doing a solo gig for a really long while. There wasn’t a whole lot of people there but this was actually a great way to go out. Only one of my buddies made it out to the show this night and seeing him really made me feel loved. I knew that a lot of people weren’t making it but it didn’t seem to phase me. I pulled out a lot of songs that I hadn’t done in years and played a mix of both old and new songs. Instead of a 2 sets, it ended up being an hour and 20 minutes. Why? Because I felt like I had said and sung all I wanted to say. I shared stories with anyone there who would listen and I sang and played as if they were all listening. So much that by the end of the night my voice was completely blown out. I just knew that the only person I had anything to prove to was myself. I could not let the lack of people there be a reason to deliver a half assed performance. Playing some of these older songs like “300 Miles From Graceland” and “Winds of Home” was really therapeutic and it felt good to breathe life back into them after so long.
Song after song I just sang them with all that I had and then it was over. No huge applause, so hollaring for an encore. Just me strumming my last chord and singing my last note for my loving wife and huge fan who cheered and looked to me with all the love and support that she always gives me. It was a bittersweet way to kind of wrap things up for a while but it didn’t end just then. After my set, this guy and his wife approached me to tell me that my songs really touched them and that they were huge fans of mine. This was a really great thing to hear because I’ve said this before. When a stranger comes to me and tells me that my songs moved them, that is what I call success. After doing this for 14 years, it was really great to hear that my songs were still able to make a connection with somebody in a really strong way.
