Gustav.

This is a picture I have been dreading for days. I have been watching Gustav since mid-week and hoping all the forecast models were wrong about ultimate Gulf Coast landfall. In fact I was just wishing this one would just go away.
I called my friends in New Orleans on Wednesday and asked them when they were leaving and offering my thoughts to them. Let's hope everyone down there is somewhere safe tonight. I will be watching in the days to come.

Another Day Another Magazine....

As I was sipping my morning caffeine and thinking of my chores for the day I decided to check my email down in the office. First on my list was a trip to the recycle bin downtown. I had spent the last day going through a stack of magazines to weed the pile down some. Maybe I should say "piles." I read way too much... if there is such a thing. I get way too many free periodicals. I also subscribe to a multitude of mainstream and obscure rags to keep my brain up to date on the latest gadgets and late-breaking news on all kinds of varied topics.
Given it is Labor Day weekend I thought I would organize my office and get ready for a long upcoming cold spell. The back of the Land Cruiser was piled with various versions of Jessica Alba and electric guitars staring back at me. Here's hoping I read all the fine print. These jewels are headed for another round of printing after my ride is over.
Back at the computer, Outlook has finished it's chore of retrieving a hundred or so messages and spam. In my music mail inbox I see a message from Tallgirl.com. "Marshall" I think to myself. I wonder what she is up to. In seconds I find out as I click the email. http://www.tallgirl.com/

New gig!
I am now a contrubuting editor for Garden & Gun magazine!
I know, weird name, but you might want to check it out.
It's sort of a cross between Oxford American, Southern Living and Field & Stream.

In the current issue, I interview rising country star Miranda Lambert.
If you haven't heard of Miranda, think: a young Dolly Parton fronting Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The cover photograph of Miranda was shot in my yard here in Nashville; the interiors were shot in my house.
It's a beautiful magazine. Even the paper feels good.

Click here to read my articles -- Minton Sparks, my obsession with Southern coaches, crazy relatives... it's all here!

To subscribe to Garden & Gun, call 1-800-800-8336


Uh oh...just what I need, another magazine. Before I click the magic link I say to myself...Southerer,gardener,guns....hmm...should I really look at this? Then I click the link as my brief low-end will-power breaks.

http://gardenandgun.com/stories/search.html?words=MArshall+Chapman

Bear Bryant is the first thing I see. I am in trouble. If there is any ball sport I love it is SEC football. And of course Marshall is an awesome writer so I am glued to the article. Then I click the link to the magazine. http://gardenandgun.com/magazine/ Oh no..cypress trees and a Native kayak. Yes I am a canoe and kayak nut. This model is made in Greensboro which is just down the road from here. Not only do I know the guy who designed the boat but also the guy who owns most of the company...Andy Zimmerman. http://www.shopgetoutdoors.com/ He sold me my last kayak paddle at his store in Greensboro. http://www.heritagekayaks.com/ What a small world this is.

After the Bo Didley article I see another familiar author. Jimmy Buffett.
http://gardenandgun.com/stories/features/who_do_you_love-150#1


http://www.margaritaville.com/index.php?page=videos

I walked 47 miles of barbed wire,
Used a cobra snake for a neck tie.
Got a brand new house on the roadside,
Made out of rattlesnake hide.
I got a brand new chimney made on top,
Made out of human skulls.
Now come on darling let's take a little walk, tell me,
Who do you love,
Who do you love, Who do you love, Who do you love.

OK I will stop right there. Looks like my magazine pile will be growing at a faster geometric rate. Off to the recycling center...

Join the Band....

Gimme an "F" Gimme an "E" Gimme an "A" Gimme a "T"
I have always wanted to introduce this band before a show...I have been at two FEAT shows where this was done and it is very cool..... I will have to admit that the band Little Feat has always been one of my favorites. http://www.littlefeat.net/index.php?page=welcome
This afternoon I opened my mailbox and found my brand new autographed "Join the Band" cd in my mailbox. I scanned a picture of the title page for your viewing pleasure...Ah life is good. I have heard many of the tracks on this cd and I have been waiting for this moment to listen to the whole thing until I hear every moment of every track. And I did today.

I remember months and months ago, more than a couple of years as I recall reading a first-hand email about the recording of some of the tracks on this cd. It seems Jimmy Buffett had invited his good friends Little Feat down to Shrimpboat Sound in Key West to work on this new compilation cd. Mind you this is no ordinary cd. This disc has tracks featuring the likes of Dave Matthews to Bob Seger singing some of the more awesome Little Feat tracks. There are many other contributors..too many to mention, and they are all great.

Oh wait...I have to mention one of the many. On "Spanish Moon" there is the triple threat of Sam Clayton, Craig Lee Fuller, and Vince Gill on vocals. As Billy Payne explains it in a recent Feats at Five http://www.featsatfive.com/ interview "I was in Nashville when Vince laid this track down. He was not feeling well that day but his voice was wonderful. I asked him to record a Spanish influenced acoustic track and he did. We included the solo and it turned out perfect for the track."

I don't want to review this cd and give you all the details. There are plenty of places to read about this album so I will just simply leave you with my thought. This is the best cd I have heard in 2008. Hands down, no contest. You can get it on Itunes, you can buy the cd. Whatever you do go treat yourself and buy it... Hint: It's available at Target for a limited time on sale... You won't regret it. 'Nuff said.

Here is a preview link:
http://www.429records.com/sites/429records/ecard/littlefeat/target/

John Hiatt & the Rain....

OK so I struck out twice...First a couple of months back I saw my pre-sale notice about John Hiatt being on tour in North Carolina. So at the designated time I logged on and proceeded to buy two third row center tickets to the Hiatt show in High Point! Third row! Woohoo! I was elated until exactly two hours later when I discovered that the John Hiatt show in High Point was the exact same night as Jack Johnson in Raleigh....OH NO!!!

Oh yes..so I proceeded to work with the ticketing company and they graciously refunded my money the next day. Wow. That was nice. Third row center...$#@!.

So then I log on to the web site to see if any other tickets are available for a North Carolina date. It just so happens that there is another date in Raleigh at a place I kind of like....the NC Museum of Art. The bad news is there are only lawn tickets left...well I think to myself...the lawn is not bad at this venue as I can bring a nice chair with a picnic and purchase a glass of wine...top it off with a John Hiatt show and this can't be all bad...so I push the button and buy the tickets..

Fast forward. Friday August 15. I have not worked much this week to recover from the Jack Johnson show and catch up on some rest in between....besides I have an eleven mile trip planned on the river for Saturday so I need a bit of extra beauty rest.
As I wake up and slowly begin my first sip on my espresso I click on the weather underground...Uh oh. RAIN. Bummer with a capitol B. So I start to drag the rain gear out and start to ponder what this evening will bring.

A couple of hours before the show I call my pal at the venue. Seems I missed some great seats released by the band by about five minutes. Great. On the other hand, the voice on the other end of the line tells me it is barely raining. So I throw my gadgets and chairs into the car and take off on a one point five hour trek down the interstate.

Halfway to Raleigh the traffic is chugging down to 45 MPH, I have the wipers on high, and I am struggling to see the tail lights in front of my car. Oh boy. About now I am thinking super cell and visualizing a computer doppler picture with all this red shading in it right over my head. The only good thing about this moment is the extra pickles on the chicken sandwich in my right hand.

As I arrive at the venue parking lot there are lots of cars, ponchos, and zero tailgating going on....In fact my wipers on on low but that did not last long.
I hit the gps and notice Crabtree Valley Mall is right down the road. I am thinking this might make for a rain refuge....

I made my way to the Apple store which is as close to a candy store as I get these days. On the 24 inch Imac I notice that the big red cell is directly over the venue.
Well. That's it. I give...so I go to plan B. Buy that Apple TV I have wanted for a while and go home to catch some podcasts. Game over.

Too bad I just got the pre-sale notice two days late for the Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt show in Greensboro...but then again... three strikes, and yes you are out.

Jack Johnson

My closing shot of Jack Johnson.
This was a great show. He played non-stop for two hours. His band was very laid-back and quite good. Everyone on the stage seemed to have a good time playing. The mostly very-young-sold-out crowd seemed to really like the show. I know I did.
Jack likes to stay home in Hawaii. Maybe I will have to see him there next... Yeah that sounds like a plan...
Thanks Jack for a very nice show.

Looking Across the Pit....

I took this shot looking across the pit. All of the people in the pit had paid some big money to some non-profits for the privilege of being there. I was very happy with my seats. General admission and all....

The Video Screens are Lit....

Jack takes the stage and his video is very cool. Nice job of using LED technology to lower energy use. No details are missed with this guy.
http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/allatonce/
I passed him in the food court and he had his shades on. No one was really noticing him as he walked by. I was wearing one of my old radiomargaritaville t-shirts. As I passed by he was looking at the logo. I turned back around to look thinking "that was Jack." As I turned he was looking at the logo on the back of my shirt.
Rather than bother him for any reason I let him go un-noticed by the crowd. I gave him a wave of the hand to show him I knew who he was and he smiled and waved back. That was a cool moment.
http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/

Rogue Wave.

http://www.roguewavemusic.com/
Round Two. Rogue Wave. They have a cool web site with video and lots of pages of reading. Check them out.

Neil Halstead.

http://www.myspace.com/neilhalsteadofficial
As you can see from my picture of the opening act we ended up rather close to the stage. Second row in fact, near the aisle of the center section. We were right behind the pit.
Now I see the genius of Jack Johnson and the old general admission seating tactic. . No corporate people in front of the real fans. No scalper tickets sold to the rich who are there to be seen and could care less about the music. Although please allow me to interject the point that there were a few people in the pit in the "auction" section that seemed to be more interested in photographing their position in the facility that looking at the stage....oh well at this point my glass is full. I am happy about my seats, already thinking of a cold beer, and a great evening of music up close to the stage.

The Gate at Walnut Creek.

After being in the first of the group to reach the inner gate of what turned out to be yet another strip search of bags and water bottles we stood at a green fence.
Now I know what the Kentucky Derby riders go through. Peering through that green fence waiting to get to the shade and a seat hopefully near the stage was seemingly taking forever. All any of us want to do at this point is hit the finish line and see what the outcome of our plan looks like...
At this point I am thinking "General Admission"....hmmm...not sure this is going to work out. Always half-empty that glass is....

And Now a Word About General Admission Shows....

OK so it has been a longgg time since I attended a general admission show. I was uneasy about what was going to happen when the gates open so naturally I ended up getting there not one but two hours early. Of course I enjoy the parking lot at most shows as people who want to discuss music rate high on my "let's talk" list..
My daughter and I made our way to the main gate at Walnut Creek yesterday in a rather mild August heat. As we approached the main gate about one hour before the opening I was pleased to see the crowd was, well not really a crowd...
After giving us a pre-search and a ticket check we were given a blue colored wrist band for our pavilion tickets. That meant we could sit anywhere....it was all up to our feet and the speed of others entering from other locations....

Isaac Hayes.

Another brother left us today.
My life would have been different without Isaac Hayes. Although I never met him or even saw him in person his music runs in my veins. Although I have to admit it was Sam and Dave as well as the Blues Brothers who brought his music to me he was the man behind the lyrics. All I can say is I wish he was still with us and still penning some more of his soulful tunes. But your music will live on. 'Nuff said.

Comin to ya on a dusty road
Good lovin I got a truck load
And when you get it you got something
So dont worry cause Im coming

Im a soul man
Im a soul man
Im a soul man
Im a soul man


Well don't you ever be sad
Lean on me when times are bad
When the day comes and you're in doubt,
In a river of trouble, about to drown.

Hold on, I'm coming.
Hold on, I'm coming.