Guest Book

Back at the FishCamp after another annual brain cell spillover in Macon. Woooooo! Started great, got greater, ended great. Got off on the right foot when Tim Hudson e-mailed the secret route to Macon. Only got lost twice (missed one turn, made another I shouldn't have) and slid into Macon about 11:30 Thursday night. Friday started with David and Ellen Wyatt picking up Laura and me and giving us a mini driving tour of Macon and seeing all the houses shared by the band and crew. Then we slid into the H&H for some vittles. First off I get to meet Red Dog scarfing down some of Mama's finest yardbird, fried to perfection. Then a full plate for me from the kitchen washed down with the sweetest lemonade in Georgia. We then took a roundabout trip to the Douglas to register for the GABBA events and worked our way over to the Rookery for a few brewskis. I knew I made the right choice when they started bringing David his gin and tonics in Big Gulp cups. We were soon joined by Carol and Kevin McDonald and friends. We talked of Sweet Heather and her life, cried and laughed a little, tipped a couple more cold ones and headed back to the Douglas. There we started running into more old friends, old friends we were meeting for the first time, and the wonderful GABBA folks, who do such a great job every year putting this on. After sociablizing for a while we headed over to pick up the sled and followed David and Ellen up to High Falls for attitude adjustment prior to seeing Barry Richman. You know, David's good friends with Barry, so anything he says might be taken with a grain of salt. As an unbiased observer, I will state that Barry Richman is the best guitarist I've seen since Duane. Tone, phrasing, quality of music, dynamics, and anything else you would like to hear is right there in one package. His discs are spectacular, but live it's a whole 'nuther thing. That fellow that David reeferred to earlier sat in front of me and when he offered me that handful of picks said he'd been playing professionally for 30 years and said you should appreciate what you're seeing, because that is the best guitar playing you will ever hear. He said he wasn't sure he even wanted to play again any time soon. I'd love to see GABBA put Barry on that stage at the Douglas. After that Laura and I were able to negotiate the route back to Macon for a restful night and looking forward to the rest of the weekend. More as the memories reappear...JohnnyOh yeah, I gotta stop attending these functions. Last year's Beacon Pony Girl says I look like an accountant, this year's Beacon Jeanne pegs me as a hayseed from Mayberry and now David's calling me a respectable businessman? Wow, I'm morphing into Mr. Haney!