Guest Book

If there is anyone who smiles more and enjoys life more than Todd Smallie [EDIT - corrected spelling], I haven't met them. Todd mentioned that is 13 years this month that he hooked up with Derek Trucks. He sat in on at least 3 tunes and had a mile wide grin the entire time. William Greene from Susan T's band is also one who THOROUGHLY enjoys playing and it shows in his expressive performance. How gracious is of Susan to let him do his own thing and be himself. Not too many stars would let him ham it up the way he does on stage. He sounded very Billy Preston-ish for sure. Also of note is that all the extra performers in the house & others who support them (Mike Mattison, Paul Olsen, Todd Smallie, Oteil Burbridge, Dave Yokel sp? who played guitar wonderfully with Scrapomatic, Marty Wall, Derek's guitar tech who's name escapes me and others)all watched Susan's entire set from the floor on the side. You know they've all had a chance to watch her before many times but she's one you don't want to miss, so they caught every note. Yeah, there are a few more pure beautiful runway models in this world, but there is no one more sexy than Susan Tedeschi when she is taking a guitar solo. She flirts with the crowd right before she concentrates for the powerful build up in her solos. In another era, she would have been playing to 10,000 people last night. I tend to forget how good she is in between times seeing her. What Hophead said.

Hey now - I saw Scrapomatic and Susan Tedeschi at the Variety Playhouse tonight and I'm still riding high from the music! Many thanks to Brother JNB who made it possible for me to be there. Mike Mattison lives in Atlanta now and I hope that means they'll be playing around town a lot more, because Scrapomatic's unique sound is addictive! I love their interpretation of the blues as well as their original tunes -- I was sad when they left the stage. Kofi Burbridge played flute with them on one number and Susan sat on a stool and sang with them for a tune. Susan took the stage after a short break and quickly established her presence. Her charisma is so strong that she is exhilarating, almost intoxicating. During the third song, In the Garden, I hit a sweet spot on the scale of trancendental musical enjoyment. Every aspect of the show -- the young people in the crowd who knew all her lyrics, Susan's shining vocals, the haunting melody, and my own state of mind -- combined to give me an out-of-body experience. I felt like a love bomb had gone off in my heart. For a moment I could step aside from myself and channel all the happiness I was feeling -- it was a peak experience for sure. I saw a few GBers at the show -- PatrickCrenshaw was wearing shorts, birthday girl Barb Potter was soaking up the music, hotlantatim looked blissed out, and WillieHoward was there with his daughter Hannah. I also saw old friends Michael Rothschild (Landslide Records, Scrapomatic's label) and Flournoy Holmes. After the show I got to hug Susan and thank her for making me feel so happy. She later signed autographs and met any fan who wanted to talk to her or take a photo. Sorry I didn't think to jot down a set list, because this show was really special. During one tune she said was a Keith Richards song she made eye contact with me up at the front, smiling and nodding her head -- it made me feel really special! At one point she urged everyone to drink a beer and then added, "But no smoking!" with a twinkle in her eye, as the sweet smell of pot rose through the venue. She then covered her mouth, giggled, and did sort of a curtsy, vamping on the joke. Kofi sat in on two songs, one on organ and one on flute -- he and William Green had a mutual admiration society going, pointing at each other in respect. Todd Smalley also sat in for two or three songs and showed his ear to ear grin. For the first encore Susan did Don't Look Twice, slow and sweet. She had each of her sidemen, William Greene on B-3, Ron Holloway on sax, and even her bass player take long solos. While they were each playing, Susan sat on her amp, leaned back, and closed her eyes while playing beautiful rhythm guitar on her Telecaster. I was close to the stage where I could see her clearly and I focused on her face throughout the night -- she is so beautiful and so expressive. Plus, she's got a great guitar face! I love Susan!

Thanks Lana. Much appreciated. I am assuming Bushkill and Saratoga will be announced soon as they go on sale on Ticketmaster with some kind of password on Saturday. So far the Music Today Presales have been very good. The Beacon all worked out in the end too but the absence of anxiety going into the summer has been a sweet relief. I do appreciate all you do. Truly.

My thoughts and prayers are out to Bob O'Brien and his family for the loss of Bob's dad.

Peace to you and your family bobo.

Thoughts and prayers going out to Bobo.

Bobo, his spirit will live on! Really sorry as well 🙁

Where are Herring and Molo? Can we get some Que action? maybe bonarrooo.....

That Haynes boy sure does seem to get around!