I got ya... understand perfectly...

After all these years I can tell ya what brings out the best in me, Steve, when it comes to music.. and it's not what most would think. It's not actually crowd approval, (although that's certainly important, even critical)... nor how 'on' I am at any given gig. It's not our song choices for any given gig.

It's acoustics. When the 'sound' is right. As you know every 'venue', even outdoors venues, have completely different acoustics. When everything is balanced and the overall tone is that throaty, woody, full, powerful sound, I'm in heaven. I may get aggravated if the acoustics are right but we're not playing well BUT... I still love the 'sound'.

Long ago we used to play at a very old hall, I don't even know what it was originally built for... but there was wood everywhere... floor, stage, walls, ceiling. Almost no 'glass'. You could pull a guitar out of it's case, do NOTHING to it, strike one note... not even through an amp, and the sound would strike you like an angel singing.

Couple years ago we played a gig in old Virginia City, (old west town still upright), in Nevada. We played in place called Piper's Opera House... built LONG ago. It was perfect. The sound was so good it brought tears to your eyes. It was not the BEST place for acoustics we ever played but it was GREAT. This photo will give you an idea: