Oklahoma City

I was reminded of how important it is to check and double check equipment at our San Antonio show Tuesday night. Though of you've who've seen this tour know that the first song, Sacred Ground, begins with a funky rhythmic groove set by the hammer dulcimer. It is really important that I am able to hear my cues to begin playing. In order to hear we all wear earphones. This is better than using traditional floor monitors because there are so many acoustic instruments on stage. In order to assure that everyone has sufficient volume in their earphones the sound engineers pump a lot of volume through the system. Each individual then has a tiny volume control they can regulate themselves. Being quite aware of how important good hearing is to a musician, I'm careful to have my monitor volume no louder than necessary.

For some reason, they gave us very little time after we got to our instruments before the lights dimmed and it was time to start the show. It was only then that I realized my volume control was missing. I pulled the monitor from one ear completely and just endured the pain in the other as the song Sacred Ground grew louder and louder. I struggled through my solo during which the volume actually increases in my headphones. Needless to say it wasn't my best performance as the harder I struck the instrument, the more it hurt. As soon as the song was over I was able to my tech, John Blom to quickly find a replacement volume control. My ear is still tender two days later. I don't think I'll make that mistake again.

The rest of the San Antonio show was great with an energetic packed house in the newly built home of the Spurs.

After the show we boarded the buses for the eight hour overnight ride to Oklahoma City. David Hudson recently chastised me for calling our mode of transportation a bus. He says I should refer to them as 'Motor Coaches'. Whatever you call it I'm just happy to arrive safely in the next city. Our 'this is to cool to be true' wireless network with internet access while rolling down the highway is functioning flawlessly. It is funny to see so many musicians with laptop computers sending and receiving email as we rolled along. I'll try and remember to snap a photo tonight.

Speaking of David, yesterday was his birthday (42) and bunch of us treated him to breakfast. I then helped him with his new computer for a few hours and then joined him for another birthday gathering in the evening. During the afternoon I visited a botanical garden which wasn't fully open yet, and the memorial to victims of the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing.

There are new pictures on the Photographs page. ¶ 8:59 AM