Thankful on this day for that wild pursuit - Merry Christmas!

(if you're interested, you can check out my Christmas Eve sermon from last night HERE).

Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm very excited about a cool new thing our church is doing in conjunction with our two Christmas Eve services.  Here's a little more about it.  Hope to see you next Wednesday night!

So if you've followed this blog for any period of time, you probably know:

• When I lived in Mount Airy I played in a fun little band called Mediocre Bad Guys.  It was a blast.
• On a number of occasions we shared the stage with the late Bobby Keys.
• While we mostly covered songs, we eventually started writing our own stuff, and it was pretty good.
• Earlier this year, MBG released their first CD of all-original tunes, of which I managed to show up on most.

And now, the latest news from the band I no longer play with but still think very fondly of: this past week that album was released digitally - specifically on iTunes, Spotify and Amazonmp3.  Before it was only available in CD form, and there weren't many to be had.  Now it's just a streaming/download away.

A few quick thoughts about some of the songs:

Gonna Get It Right - this was Doug's first contribution to the band. Doug was always keen on writing songs that best fit Les' voice, and that's certainly the case here. 

The Dance - my contribution to the group.  A more ballad-style version of this song showed up on my 2011 "Let Go" release, but we amped it up with the full band ala Jayhawks and it worked great.  Fun note: we went all "Bohemian Rhapsody" on the aaahs, where each band member recorded all vocal parts.  It's a chorus of twelve you're hearing there!

Carolina Sky - playing this live I'd pull out the accordion, but multiple takes in the studio made me realize how blasted heavy that thing is.  You'll hear it very quietly in the bridge, but Nate's slide guitar rightfully took center stage.

Cold Comfort - A co-write with Doug, which meant I came up with a skimpy idea and Doug took it and actually made it good.  This song was always hard to play live - somehow it didn't come across with the same electricity.  But it was still fun to jam on.

Virginia Virginia - Jerry nailed a great "summer vibe" with this tune.

How Do I Get Here - from the very first time we ran through this tune, to the very last time I played it with the band, my favorite recording on the album and my favorite song to play, hands down.

So, have at it!  iTunes HERE, Amazonmp3.com HERE, and Spotify below.  Enjoy the sound of bad being good!

Sad news found its way to my email inbox today - that Bobby Keys, the saxophone player for a little British band known as the Rolling Stones, died at his home in Nashville.  In one of those weird twists-of-fate-in-the-universe things that defy any reasonable explanation, I've had the privilege of sharing the stage with ol' Bobby on a number of occasions.  

I've blogged about my various Bobby encounters before, but to recap: Bobby got connected with the Mediocre Bad Guys through a mutual friend. He just wanted some local blokes to jam with on Christmas vacation when he was in town visiting.  He had every reason to be a full-on prima donna with a bunch of no-names in Mayberry.  Instead, he was approachable.  Tremendously gifted.  And funny, oh so funny.  He put us at ease and made us feel we were part of something together, not just riding his coattails.

Bobby was the one who, in our very first rehearsal together, ripped his memorable "Brown Sugar" solo and gave us all chills.  And then when the song was over and we all were soaking up the moment, Bobby very nonchalantly mentioned that it was that very night, 40 years ago, when he actually recorded that solo on the original track.  More chills.

Bobby was the one who, in our first gig, leaned over in the middle of "Peter Gunn"  and directed me to solo by yelling over top of my keys, "Okay, Preacher Man, take it!"  Never mind that I'd never soloed on that song in my life.  When Bobby tells you to solo, you solo.  And I just think it's cool that a Rolling Stone called me "Preacher Man."

Bobby was the one who signed the poster for our first gig with, "Thanks, Let's do it again!"  When we played our second gig, he signed that poster, "We did it again!"  Both those posters are framed and hanging in our rec room at home.

Bobby was the one who posed for pictures with my boys before our third gig, smiling and listening to my older son talk about his drum lessons.

Bobby was an absolute menace on the sax.  He could make a sax solo work on any song, whether he knew the song or not, whether a sax solo on that song should even musically work.  Just give him the key and let him have at it.  On top of that, he was also a good person.  Authentic.  He was who he was.  And he engaged us with grace and warmth, us no-names from Mayberry.  Each time our paths crossed, it was like old times.  We had fun with him, and I believe he genuinely had fun with us.

In all the press releases that have and will be released in the coming days, no one will say a word about Bobby's time with Mediocre Bad Guys.  Not one of them will mention that one of the artists he shared the stage with was a Presbyterian minister from North Carolina.  Nor should they.  We were no-names.  Bobby was a big name.   And on a few special occasions, the no-names and the big name made some great music together.  And I'll always be grateful for that.  

Thanks, Bobby for the music - and thanks for the memories that music always makes.