It was raining again last Friday as I drove to Johnson City to perform at The Down Home. It seems the past few times I’ve made this short drive it’s been raining, but at least it’s a Spring rain…warm and humid.
I was running a behind schedule. We had a busy day at GoTriCities as it was ‘Eric Miller Day.’ Eric has been a programmer with us for a couple of years and a terrific talent. He recently got a new job in Lee County, Virginia working for a new tech form called ‘CGI’ and we hated to see him go.
Nevertheless, it was a night of change and transition. When I got there, it wasn’t long before Kevin Light showed up ready for his last night with the Reagan Boggs Band. He was wearing the tie and dressed up like he said and he has a lot of work ahead. He shared with us that he was leaving the band to focus on his music students and his new home. He is appearing this week with his new bluegrass at the Down Home. Good luck Kevin.
Last Train Home came in right before our soundcheck and Kevin and I were charged with going to Colonol Sams in Johnson City to pick up a bottle of tequila. It was during the first set that they thanked us for the chivalorous delivery.
Reagan met Last Train Home in Arlington, VA a few months ago at The Iota Club and she loved their music. They were great fun too and a seasoned act that had good material, a good look and a terrific soloist.
Bridging the gap between country, folk, blues and swing, the band’s lead singer, Ed Bruce reminded me of a clone of Gordon Lightfoot and Michael Stipe. He’s tall, got one of those shiny crownds and their music had a folk ambience about it that entertained the 90 or so people at The Down Home around 9.15 or so.
I liked Eric’s songs and especially enjoyed listening to him break out a Tom T. Hall song and though about how my dad might have like to have heard this one.
Most impressive was their guitarist and I can’t remember his name. Not only did he have the hat and the guitar, but he was a great soloist who spliced in some very groovy rockin’ solos on a hollow-body Gretch. He was completely entertaining and brought about great feedback from the audience during his solo riffs.
There were lots of friends in the audience tonight including Bobby Starnes and Tim Stafford – one of the regions great bluegrass singers. Our favorite fans Lenny, Rich and John were on hand again with lots of other folks and we’re always thankful to see the loyal clan and see them well.
We finished our sound check early, so it didn’t take long to get the stage reset for the big band. Our sound tech, Mike did another great job getting the Down Home stage and monitors mixed well. At 10.30, we started the first notes of Out In The Rain.
That set started out well, but it seemed there was something wrong tonight and I would be self-serving to ignore the fact this was one of my most underwhelming performances and there seemed to be an overall muddled uncertainty about our set. Strange vibe altogether and I guess as much as I hate to admit it, these nights are gonna happen. What we do about them will deserve some attention over the next weeks.
So far, no critic was writing anything and that may very well happen sometime in the future, but Eric Brace had favorable things to say about Reagan and her music, but his fair critique (he is a former music critic) was that the band didn’t seem ‘committed.’
That hurts, but so does the truth. The worst thing you can do after a bad performance is over-react. That’s a good philosophy anyway and this week, we’ve decided to go back into rehearsals and work on many things including set changes and we’re committed to a battery of rehearsals to get ready for performances across North Carolina for the rest of the month and most of May.
We appreciate all of our friends that came out to the Down Home. It was a pleasure to perform with Last Train Home too. These guys shed some light on our own project and although this is a night we’ll long remember shrugging our shoulders, this may be one of the best things to happen with the band before we begin the summer of performances. We only hope we can make this up i the future and appreciate all of those who continue to support the band.
Below, Kevin Light bids farewell with Jeff Malone backstage at The Down Home.
