I woke up this morning in South Boston, VA (still staying at the SoBo Inn for a bit longer) and went right to my Facebook account, a common practice. Not sure why it's the first thing I check in the morning; perhaps it validates that nothing too crazy happened overnight and there is still a semblance of normalcy in the world. Back to South Boston and why I'm here -- the new job is still going very well and I'll be re-opening the school in a couple of weeks. Just waiting on some computer cable to be installed and my admissions/job placement process to be completed.
Back to the point. First thing I noticed on Facebook this morning were wedding reception pictures posted by a W&M classmate, specifically author Sean Heuvel. Live from the Officers Club at Fort Belvoir. I had to laugh and make a pithy comment -- "hey an old karaoke haunt from LONG ago!"
Probably about 18 years for anyone keeping time.
I have tried over the years to obtain footage (mostly by my sister Carrie) that was taken of me singing - anything - just to prove that I did it once upon a time. Any footage is on VHS and I only know that it's at my parents house somewhere.
The funniest thing is that my singing comrades during the 90's might be surprised to learn that it has become a thing of the past for me. Never found a great spot in Newport News, although Elizabeth and I liked Chadwick's at Point Plaza back when we lived a stone's throw away. Many of my fellow songsters, have gone on to sing in bands (Five by Five comes to mind..ahem..Vicki! Billy Clemens is also rocking along, keeping the spirit of Cash and Haggard alive.) Some of my singing buddies are no longer with us - actually, more than I can count on one hand, possibly two.
With time to think tonight, and every night here, I took a trip down Memory Lane and ended up on the wooden platform of GW's in Old Town Alexandria. Back in the day, GW's was the open mike spot for country and our place to go on Sunday nights. Sunny usually won or placed high in the contests. She passed away a few years ago. Tommy was the classic country singer, complete with a ten gallon hat and stage name. He has moved back to the Ohio side of the Ohio/West Virginia line. We lost GW, also known as Gary Wayne Miller, last year. Heck, GW's is now the Rockit Grill. Point being, we'll never be able to relive this time, but it was SO MUCH FUN. After singing with the various bands, karaoke suddenly lost its luster, and it's little surprise that I essentially gave it up within a couple of years.
Some favorite moments included singing an eight minute rendition of "Mustang Sally" with Benny Dean and Southern Rain one New Year's Eve (1998?), a version complete with extended solos. Other memorable times for me included sitting in with a few of the bands at various honky tonks up and down Route 1.
During that time, my favorite guitarist to sing with was a dude named Garrick Alden. He played with City Slicker, and a couple of other bands. Didn't matter if you brought your voice to the stage or not -- when Garrick was playing, you were always going to sound good cause he rocked the house.
I found a recent video of Garrick and it's posted on the right. Just a minute long jam that gives one an idea of how talented he is. And yes, he has been a session player in Nashville. There's no way he'd remember me, but his playing popped up in my head this morning so I went looking for him tonight. Just glad to see that the old boy is still grinding his axe -- well!! Rock On Garrick!
Back to the point. First thing I noticed on Facebook this morning were wedding reception pictures posted by a W&M classmate, specifically author Sean Heuvel. Live from the Officers Club at Fort Belvoir. I had to laugh and make a pithy comment -- "hey an old karaoke haunt from LONG ago!"
Probably about 18 years for anyone keeping time.
I have tried over the years to obtain footage (mostly by my sister Carrie) that was taken of me singing - anything - just to prove that I did it once upon a time. Any footage is on VHS and I only know that it's at my parents house somewhere.
The funniest thing is that my singing comrades during the 90's might be surprised to learn that it has become a thing of the past for me. Never found a great spot in Newport News, although Elizabeth and I liked Chadwick's at Point Plaza back when we lived a stone's throw away. Many of my fellow songsters, have gone on to sing in bands (Five by Five comes to mind..ahem..Vicki! Billy Clemens is also rocking along, keeping the spirit of Cash and Haggard alive.) Some of my singing buddies are no longer with us - actually, more than I can count on one hand, possibly two.
With time to think tonight, and every night here, I took a trip down Memory Lane and ended up on the wooden platform of GW's in Old Town Alexandria. Back in the day, GW's was the open mike spot for country and our place to go on Sunday nights. Sunny usually won or placed high in the contests. She passed away a few years ago. Tommy was the classic country singer, complete with a ten gallon hat and stage name. He has moved back to the Ohio side of the Ohio/West Virginia line. We lost GW, also known as Gary Wayne Miller, last year. Heck, GW's is now the Rockit Grill. Point being, we'll never be able to relive this time, but it was SO MUCH FUN. After singing with the various bands, karaoke suddenly lost its luster, and it's little surprise that I essentially gave it up within a couple of years.
Some favorite moments included singing an eight minute rendition of "Mustang Sally" with Benny Dean and Southern Rain one New Year's Eve (1998?), a version complete with extended solos. Other memorable times for me included sitting in with a few of the bands at various honky tonks up and down Route 1.
During that time, my favorite guitarist to sing with was a dude named Garrick Alden. He played with City Slicker, and a couple of other bands. Didn't matter if you brought your voice to the stage or not -- when Garrick was playing, you were always going to sound good cause he rocked the house.
I found a recent video of Garrick and it's posted on the right. Just a minute long jam that gives one an idea of how talented he is. And yes, he has been a session player in Nashville. There's no way he'd remember me, but his playing popped up in my head this morning so I went looking for him tonight. Just glad to see that the old boy is still grinding his axe -- well!! Rock On Garrick!
No comments:
Post a Comment