My memories of Chordiestock 2013... Picture heavy
The flight in was a piece of cake and I got terrific service from Delta Airlines which surprised me a great deal considering the service I last received from them. To get to Madeira Beach, FL, I drove to a bus station, took a commuter bus to the Metro, and then the Metro train to the airport. This involved a fair bit of outside waiting or walking, and so I had to be dressed for the cold morning. It was 20 degrees when I awoke. It had warmed up to 30 by the time I got to the airport. Once in the airport, I stripped my down vest, and then my fleece jacket. When I stepped out of the airport in Florida, I was still overdressed in my flannel shirt and big ragg wool socks under my beach sandals. I must have been a sight.
Jeff (Topdown) took me back to his condo, which is a nice spot in a lovely community. Paul (Normtheguitar) was there and after greetings and a couple drinks we went to the beach to watch sunset. I took along my guitar and we gave a concert there on the beach. Mostly Paul and Jeff did.
Saturday was all day to go nowhere but down to the club house. Paul and I helped Jeff set up a tremendous snack and booze buffet, plus a few non-alcoholic beverages, at his condo community. There we had a tremendous time and I met with some of my friends who took me to dinner. The club house was by the pool, and we attracted a crowd of neighbors to come and listen. One fellow said he was a drummer, so I handed him a shaky egg out of my guitar case and he sat in on a few songs and made a big improvement to them. This was my first chance to meet Wayne (WLBaye), his wife Liz, and Toney (Southpaw). All are great people. We played for a long time, and I literally had to glue my fingernails back together for Sunday.
Sunday was a misty morning. Paul and I went fishing. I had brought a fly rod hoping to rent a kayak and go to the flats, but I was unable to locate a rental place that delivered or was on the beach in walking distance. So we went to a fishing pier at Jeff's condo and had a good bit of luck. At one point, Paul was off taking photographs and when I set the hook on a fish I heard a big plop on the pier. I had thought it was Paul setting down his camera bag to take a photo, but it was an enormous pelican. The pelican had some fishing tackle stuck in his wing. Feeling responsible for other fishermen, I gave my fish to the pelican. It is a terrible idea ecologically to train wildlife to humans, but considering that this bird knew the difference between setting a hook on a fish and a simple line retrieve, I think it wasn't his first time.
Photo courtesy of Paul Wood.
That afternoon was an event at the London Bus Pub not far from Jeff's home. Toney is the MC for the event. It is scheduled to run from 4 to 7. We jammed until 10. I think everyone did a great job. Toney had me do a set playing bass behind Wayne. Wayne was doing some song I'd never heard in C#min/dim7- with a capo. Or something like that. I had not played bass with anyone for eight years. I stunk. Wayne was unflappable. He has a terrific stage personality and kept attention on him. Paul simply rocks. He did his solo set and then later a British Invasion set with bass and percussion and harmonica for a band. It severely rocked. Jeff had people dancing. I had people laughing and laughed along with them.
Wayne - photo courtesy of Paul Wood
Paul and Roger.
Jeff and then Liz (Wayne's wife) dancing with Roscoe (87 year old bluegrass refugee)
Jeff's photo courtesy of Paul Wood.
Beer is cheap at the London Bus Pub. I bought the table a round and gave a generous tip, spending only as much as two beers would cost near my home. The food was likewise delicious and affordable. They even let me have a crack at the mic.
Photo courtesy of Paul Wood.
Sunday night I had hardly slept for several days for the excitement and had consumed some adult beverages. After getting back from the pub, I sat down in Jeff's big easy chair and promptly fell into a deep sleep. Some time later - it could have been hours or minutes - Paul woke me to hit the sack. I had laid my bedroll out as soon as we returned, so all I had to do was crawl into it. I slept like a log and it was wonderful.
Monday was quiet time. Paul recorded a song and then we went to lunch and I came home, getting decidedly worse service on US Airways than I did on Delta.
Granted B chord amnesty by King of the Mutants (Long live the king).
If it comes from the heart and you add a few beers... it'll be awesome! - Mekidsmom
When in doubt ... hats. - B.G. Dude
