Black River Barn

Went back to the Black River Barn, and actually played this time. The house band had no keyboard with them, which was a good thing, so I could use mine. They had a substitute guitarist, and they let me play along during the warmup set at the beginning of the open mike.

The guitarist was a bit inexperienced, so he forgot I was there. As a result I just comped, played no solos. I played through the house sound system (a necessity because there was neither time nor room for my own amps). This made it difficult because the house system has no monitors at all. Just three PA speakers, two at FOH and one 12" one in the rear near the ceiling (a fact which I discovered later). So I could hardly hear myself, and played by Braille. I'm sure I was playing in the wrong key at times.

There weren't too many people raring to play. When my turn came I played solo; I did New Frontier (first time playing this for people), also Hello It's Me and Big River. I did the best I could; the mike was extremely hot and the keys sounded distant. I didn't get much of a reaction, but was glad I came. I was able to load out before the night got too long.