‘It’s early August…92 in the shade.’
That’s the lyrics to one of Reagan Bogg’s new original songs on her upcoming second CD. We performed that under a tent today at The Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon, Virginia and it was never so appropriate!
It was an unusual performance for the band. The earliest down beat that we’ve had to play so far and on a Friday too. This was the noon-time concert series for this Abingdon arts festival that draws thousands each year to the historic and eclectic city of Abingdon, VA.
Greg Smith called me on my cell phone as I was leaving work and told me how to get to the stage right across the street from the Barter. It was a small tent and there were about 100 chairs empty when I arrived and a couple of large fans keeping a breeze moving through the caravan.
It must have been 11am when I arrived and most everyone was already set up. That bugged me too, because I really want to beat those guys to the stage, but it had been such a long time since we played last, that everyone was ready to play. Plus, it was better than being at work on a Friday afternoon.
Matt Smith Music in Abingdon was running sound and the guys had us ready to go in no time and it was great to be back on stage again. Although we hadn’t played since July 20th, the songs came off very well with the exception of a few glitches here in there. We played all of the new songs and Reagan gave the rest of the guys a break while we performed a couple alone including the Nora Jones song, ‘Turn me On’ and ‘Silver Springs’ by Fleetwood Mac. I was surprised with an applause after my solo and some guy came and laid a tip on my piano….one dollar and I’ll hold that one for a while as it’s my first for a solo….ha!
We finished our set close to 2.00 and Reagan was busy selling CD’s and getting her pictures taken with little girls. That was cool and it’s nice to see her gain recognition. There were a couple of new fans in the audience that keep following her around and it’s reassuring to know that people go to the trouble to watch where she performs and show up to share the experience with us.
This was one of the first shows we had played without a cold beer and it wasn’t long after we packed up our gear in the humid August afternoon that we headed for Wither’s Hardware for a round of cold Bass Ales with Greg, Jason and Alan Gamble. I really like playing with these guys and look forward to our next gig at Jonesborough’s Music on The Square in late August!
Reagan did mention that she would call in the next couple of days with more gig dates and that excites me. She’s finishing work on the second CD and it should be a fun fall promoting the new material.