Well, it all started on Tuesday night last week. I packed my bags for my trip to Nashville, to showcase for an independent A&R company. My flight was not until Thursday morning at 6:00, but I had work and a late gig at Captain Hiram's in Sebastian on Wednesday. I had to pull an "iron man" shift. I was up at 5am for the 2 hour commute to my jobsite in Palm Bay. Work flew by surprisingly quickly, mostly due to the fact that I had so much to catch up on before I went out of town. At 4 o' clock it was off to Hiram's for dinner with my grandparents and then 4 hours of acoustic rock from 7pm to 11pm. Then, already exhausted, it was time to break down and load the car back up. I arrived at my grandparents apartment to unload my equipment (to the second floor) shortly after midnight on Thursday. I decided then to skip a nap on their couch, as was my plan, and just shower and head straight for the airport. I thought I could check-in and sleep at the gate till they started boarding. I arrived at check-in at the Orlando Airport at 3am only to find out that check-in would not start till 3:45am. Well I couldn't just sleep for 45 minutes, not as tired as I was. So I stuck it out. By the time I got checked in, through security, and over to the gates it was 4:30am. Boarding started at 5am. Still no sleep. As I'm sitting at the gate having an odd sort of wrestling match with my eyelids and wondering if there was really going to be room on the flight for my guitar, a gentleman walked up to the gate desk with 3 guitars. If there was room for mine, surely there would not be anymore. Lucky for him, they made hime check 2 of his instruments as he was only allowed 1 carry on item. He wasn't happy, but my baby was safe in overhead storage with me just below.
Sleep. Land. 2 hour layover in Memphis. Sleep. Board. Sleep. 30 minute flight to Nashville. Sleep. Land. Get rental car. Learn about driving in Nashville. I hate cities where there are no roads, just Interstates. Especially when I am unfamiliar and trying to navigate with the map on my phone. I reached my friends apartment and she was nice enough to have the inflatable mattress ready for me. Sleep.
I woke up hungry so I searched for Publix on my phone. I went out and picked up provisions for the few days; soup, chili, hot dogs, beer, salad, and, as a treat for my hostess, tilapia and red beans and rice. I surprised my friend with dinner as a thank you for letting me take over her living room. She, a fellow singer and songwriter, was happy to help and also happy to eat. Then we went out.
Music row was our destination for night one. I was told that this is where the musicians and industry people spend there time. A good acoustic trio was playing at the first bar we stopped in. A friend showed up and told us he was working the door at another club, so we went to check it out. The worst band in Nashville was playing, but the Bud Light was $.50 so we sang along for a tune or 2 then went away from the stage and hung out in the lobby area. $1.50 later we headed across the street to a club where some of the older songwriters were testing new material on each other. The gentleman we watched was singing a new song he wrote about wanting to move to Florida and play Jimmy Buffet tunes from a Tiki hut. I laughed. We went home. Sleep.
Friday morning I woke at 9 and got ready for my showcase at 11. I arrived at 10:50 and was told I'd be first. I took the stage with my trusty six-string in hand and soundchecked for the nice people at the paltic card table and the 14 other acts there to perform as well. No nerves. I've been doing this solo thing long enough to be over the nerves. The head of the panel came up and told me to play 3 songs with no lag time between. So I did. I started with a mid tempo number to warm up the aural palette. I followed with an emotional ballad to show some performance skill. I topped it off with an up tempo love tune I wrote for my wife to leave the energy high for the next act. When I finished the panel critiqued. They liked my songs, my lyrics, and most of my arrangements, however, they felt I rushed my performance. I was told to rush it. Oh, well. As I packed up, one of the gentleman from the panel told me he worked for a publisher and was interested in my music as was the producer next to him. I got their contact info and went into the parking lot to scream like a girl.
Friday night we went downtown to Broadway. The club we hit was called Tin Roof and the band was awesome. Real musicians. We stayed there for awhile before venturing out to The Stage where another great band was playing. These guys could work a crowd too. No shame in the game in Nashville. "You want to hear 'Sweet Home Alabama'? Put $20 in the tip jug and we'll play it!" I'd never play in Florida again. But these guys were getting it and they played it GOOD!
I spent Saturday inspired. I hardly left the couch and didn't put the guitar down except to use the restroom. I wrote 3 new licks and recorded them to my phone for lyrical enhancement at a later date. By Saturday night I was ready to hear some more music. My hostess informed me we were going to a birthday party for a friend. A limo would be picking us up from the friend's house to take us downtown. It started off fun. The limo was a little cramped, but I guess they didn't plan on so many people attending the party. We arrived at Tin Roof and I struck up conversation with the guitarist from the band I heard the night before. He told me all about how easy it was to get on the circuit once you made friends with the other bands. He informed me that it was more than possible to make a living just playing music in Nashville. In fact, that's what most of his friends do. The limo was leaving, so we piled in. Something was wrong. There seemed to be even less room this time as well as some unfamiliar faces. Everyone was drunk. I sat observing, as I do, when I noticed the guy next to me kind of smirking and shaking his head. "If my wife knew about this...," he said. I smiled back, "Tell me about it." I clicked on my phone to check the time when he noticed the picture of my son as the wallpaper. "You have one of those too?" he asked. "Yeah. You?" "2," he said. We chatted about kids and Florida for awhile. He went on to tell me to be wary of publishing deals and shoot for a development deal. If I was as good as I thought I was someone would invest in my talent. I thought he gave good advice.
The night continued at The Stage with another great band. They're everywhere in Nashville. We abandoned the limo party and opted for a cab back to our vehicle. On the ride home, my friend comented on my new friendship from the limo ride. She said, "That guy that was sitting by you; he's got a Grammy."
Sunday was the long journey home. I don't know who plans these flights, but to go North West to Memphis before heading South East to Florida makes no sense. I got home close to Midnight Monday morning. My wife was up and happy to see me. We hugged and kissed. I set my bags down and kicked off my shoes. "How was it?" she asked. "Honey," I said, "we're moving."
