I had a special treat this past Friday night. One thing I think I owe to my Dad is my love of music. We grew up listening to great singer/songwriters and I think that is one of the big reasons I do what I do. There are some musicians I have been listening to for as long as I remember.

I spent most of last week painting the inside of our house. It was a lot of work and by Friday afternoon I was ready for a fun night. Cynthia was reading through a newspaper and discovered that Bill Staines was going to be in Maryville that very night at the Palace Theater. I called right away and got tickets. Bill's songs have been part of the soundtrack to my life forever!

I haven't met too many people in the music industry here in East TN yet. It just so happens one of the folks I have gotten to know does sound at the Palace Theater. I called him and he said it would be fine if we met him there early and watched while Bill did his sound check!

I'm a music gear junkie. I have spent so much time and money on music equipment always trying to sound as good as I can. Now Bill Staines is considered by many, me included, to be one of the all time great singer/songwriters. I was so excited to see what equipment he would use and to check out his music gear. He walked into the theater with just a guitar case and a very small shoulder bag. I had been expecting some impressive looking racks of gear. He told the sound man that he doesn't need anything but a vocal mic and a mic for his guitar. He brought out a 63 Martin that looked very road worn and that's all he used! No pick ups no preamps, nothing. The sound man put a Shure SM57 on his guitar and gave him a Shure SM58 for his vocals. (if you know mics, these are kind of the industry standard, known for durability and quality but are nothing fancy.) He sounded fantastic! He is left handed and plays a right handed guitar upside down! He worked his way through so many great songs and told some jokes and some wonderful stories in between. Cynthia and I sat in the front row and I got to meet him and I talked with him breifly. He is a very nice man.

We had such an enjoyable night. But the simplicity of it all just blew me away. I'm getting set to get on a plane an fly to a gig for the first time in my life. And I'm trying to figure out what to bring and how best to get it there. I'm wondering how I'm going to do my show with out this piece of gear or that piece of gear. And here is one of the true masters of singing/songwriting and live performance with just a mic in front of his guitar. I feel kind of silly!

The show I am flying to this week is PHINS to the West in Laughlin, NV and no matter what gear I manage to bring, it's going to be a great time. You can visit the website from a link on my Tour Dates page. There are tons of great acts all weekend long. Thanks for reading! Big news coming tomorrow!

Take care,

Matt