1st practice report....

No doubt about it... first couple of tunes scared me. It was NOT good.... and by not good I mean nothing was right... instrumentation, timing, harmonies were horrible. .

BUT... it began coming around somewhat soon. By the end of the night it was...........ummmmmm, ok. . I was worried about me, of course, with what I've had to deal with this year BUT.... and not getting a big head.... I think I was more ready than the other members. . I'm more than worried about our lead singer.... he was 'flat' all night which could have just been 'out of practice' BUT... he couldn't hear it. That's worrying.

Fatigue, that's my big issue. But we played for 3 hours and I made it. Obviously not as intensely as the gig will be but I was still quite pleased with the endurance I had. I noticed the fatigue mostly in my vocals... by the end of some songs I was OUT of air, but I got thru it.

The Good - well, just playing. . The hi light of the night, for ME, came at the very end when we did a popular country tune called "The Chair". Over the years we used to end our gigs with that song... very slow.... but this would happen at the end of a 6-8 hour gig at maybe 3am... .maybe two couples still on the dance floor and the others passed out in various locations ..... Moon overhead and about to load up and head out for a 2 to 3 hour drive home. GREAT TIMES!... and tonight it came back like it was yesterday.

So we finished the practice session reminiscing about the past 30-40 years... the many cow pastures, dairy bars, state Fairs, concerts, we had played at over the decades. Lot of funny stories, some sad ones.

I'm glad we have two weeks to prepare... we're going to need it. - JamesJM