Day Three of Ernie and Cynthia Have Fun: The Americana Fest Edition

Saturday was a great day. We started off with Brock Zeman and Blair Hogan at 11:00 at Hatwrks and good god I just loved them. I'd listened to some of their music and really liked it, but this was the first time seeing them live, and it certainly won't be the last. I leaned over half way and whispered to Ernie, "We must have them come play" and he nodded happily. 

When we first got there and sat down on a little wooden bench I thought, "damn I don't think I can sit here for three hours," but I was completely wrong. The time flew by and I never noticed the bench. After Brock and Blair was Anne McCue, whom I love. She is just absolutely amazing. And she had my beloved David Olney come up and do a song with her. No wonder I didn't notice the wooden bench. Mary Sack did a brilliant job setting this up. I'm sure the bands that played after were great too...

We chatted with folks in between and then David played. Damn. I just love that man so much. And he was wearing an orange shirt which oddly worked with the orange details near the ceiling. Few people look good in orange. Owen and David. Anyway, he was amazing of course. He completely made Ernie cry when he sang Vincent's Blues. Ernie said he thought it was one of the best shows he'd ever seen David do. Hmm. I couldn't agree with that...it's kinda like saying you love one of your children more than the other.... Oh, and he did Red Guitar. EEK!!! So happy! I got a chance to give him a hug and say hello and to wave at his wife Gine but as much as I hated to, we had to run because I really wanted to catch Aaron Lee Tasjan at Little Harpeth at the Cafe Rooster show. I'd wanted to catch Brian Wright too, but well, Olney you know... We got there just in time for Brian Wright to say thank you. Oh well. Then Aaron Lee came out and blew the place up. It was perfect because it was the exact opposite of the Brown's Diner show, but equally intensely wonderful. Totally rock and roll, banging and loud and perfect. We hung out there for awhile, listened to Hunter Begley of Yellow Feather. He had a Kevn Kinneyish voice...I liked him. Also heard Darrin Bradbury and then Jon Latham with a full band. Lots of records to buy

At that point it was after 5 pm and I needed a goddamned glass of wine. We went over to my beloved 5 Spot to catch the end of the Aussie BBQ show. Mostly I just wanted a glass of wine. It was packed and hot in there. We ended up wedged in the corner by the door to the patio which wasn't bad--at least we had a place to lean. Kasey Chambers did a set and was pretty incredible. It was so crowded I could barely see her but damn she was great. The Captain. But Ain't No Little Girl was a fucking knockout. At some point Tom Mason had walked by and I'd grabbed him for a hug. As we were standing there he asked about my leg, as we'd texted the night before and I'd told him I'd fallen and bashed it up a bit. I told him it was fine...stiff and sore, but fine. He told me I should sit down but I said we'd looked, there was no place to sit. So then somehow he escorted me to a table and got me a seat next to Phil Kaufman. Tom Mason, my guardian angel. Good God I love that man. He truly is one of my favorite people on earth. So I chatted for a minute or two with Phil, Ernie got me another glass of wine, and all was right with the world. After Kasey played she had her back up band, Grizzlee Train, do a short set. OMFG. They were incredible. Two babyfaced boys, an acoustic guitar and drums and they blew the place up. Damn, I already used that phrase---think of something similar, will you? They kinda reminded me of a harder Lonely Trailer. I loved them. Phil left to hunt down Kasey Chambers and Tom left to go home to his wife. I finished my wine and we headed out to the next venue, Bobby's Idle Hour.

We walked up to the place and there was a group of people standing in front of the door. Ernie asked them if they were waiting to get in and they said, "No, they're still playing music." Cracked me up. I guess it was a deterrent for them...not us. We walked in and ran smack into the wonderful Amelia White, Rodney Metoyer and then the Wild Ponies, Doug and Telisha. Lots of hugs all around. In the corner stage was Kevin Gordon playing not just with Ron Eoff and Joe McMahon, but also our beloved Paul Griffith. Damn, damn, damn that felt good.

After they finished the Wild Ponies, Rod Picott, Will Kimbrough and Phil Madeira all did a song or two. It was called songs of love and protest and they were just that. Will Kimbrough has to get top pick for turning the President's grab them by the pussy rant into a musical composition. Heartbreakingly, sickeningly, brilliant funny. I love those people. They ended and people started to tumble out. We said goodbye to a few folks, gave Jon Byrd a kiss, and headed home. There was lots more music but we'd been listening for 9 plus hours and I'd sweated through every stitch I was wearing and would have sold my soul for a hair tie...so we headed back to our little home and tried to stop vibrating. I took a long shower while Ernie picked up junk food and lord, I just felt so good. Damned good.

I needed that.

Thank you all.