About the music.....

I'm getting excited about music again. We arrived in Knoxville last Friday evening in time to see Daniel playing in the Preservation Pub songwriter's contest with Brendon James Wright. Now that Scott Miller and R.B. Morris are sort of on a downswing, Brendon has emerged as the best active singer/songwriter in Knoxville. I'm a big fan. There were five or six other artists/acts in the contest - all actively gigging musicians - but Brendon and Daniel were head and shoulders above the rest. It was no surprise to me that they won easily.

I also can't help but brag a little about Daniel. In the Americana genre, he's been the best bassist in the region for some time now. Still, I hadn't heard him in a while and I was pleasantly surprised at how he has progressed over the past couple of months. He'd blush at me stating it, but he'll be in the same league with Edgar Meyer in a few years, and I'm not the first one to say that. Cory and Jacob are both taking big steps in their music careers too. I'm very fortunate to have such talented kids!


Last night, I had a very good jam session with some guys I'm playing with in Baltimore. I like them and the music is coming easier now that we're starting to move away from mechanics toward artistic interpretation. Afterwards we went up on Andy's roof deck and talked about band names and performance scheduling for the Fall. As I kicked back and looked out over the Inner Harbor, Fells Point, and the Baltimore skyline, I couldn't help but miss the downtown Knoxville music scene. I had no sooner sat down at the Preservation Pub bar last weekend when someone I didn't know came up to me and asked about my music. As the night wore on, several others inquired about where I was playing, etc. It was nice to be respected for my art. I wonder if I'll get to that point here? It's certainly a bigger pond. I guess time will tell. -S