NY, Part Deux.

After some well needed two days of rest, I picked up a bagel and coffee and headed for Central Park - the weather was lovely and I intended on soaking in as much of New York as I could.  This was, after all, to be my last night in NY.  After a stroll in the park, we walked all the way from the park to the Lower East Side - found a coffee shop with some free wifi and I settled in for a cup of joe while settling a little business and sending a few emails.  Then, it was back to the apartment to shower and get ready for the show at The Bitter End…

On the subway to Manhattan, I was a little nervous.  And tired.  Just worn out, you know?  It was a crazy couple of weeks, and I was definitely feeling the effects of touring.  I didn’t know what to expect - I’ve never played at The Bitter End, or in the village…and I don’t like not being in the know.  So I was a ball of sunshine on the way over, to say the least:).  I got there to soundcheck - and didn’t realize I was going to walk into a room full of polished and amazing musicians.  I happened to be playing on the same night the New York Songwriters Circle was.  If you’ve never heard of The Circle (which I haven’t, because I’m LAME) then finding out the way I did right before a show is not the way to find out.  Everyone in The Circle is handpicked by an awesome woman named Tina Shafer.  She’s the founder of The Circle that’s been going on for 20 years.  Let me tell you about these musicians…they are PHENOMENAL.  I had to sit through all of their sound checks and with every musician that checked, I got smaller and smaller.  So when it was time for me to sound check in front of these amazers, I WAS TOTALLY FREAKED OUT.  But when I got up there, something happened…I happened.  It was a combination of things…the Venue (which has to be the best place I’ve played), the AMAZING sound engineer (which once again, is the best I’ve ever had) to the people who frequent The Bitter End for their reputation of cycling through incredible musicians…everything combined and aligned….and there’s something about being scared shitless that makes me rise to the occasion….

So the set went well.  Paul said I killed it.  I felt pretty good.  Sold some CDs…and got together with Beth again for some ‘ono Chinese…then headed back to the room and got ready for my drive to Pittsburgh for my last gig at Seton Hill University.

Stay tuned for the rest……:)k.