Last night...

...was a pantload of fun.

Melissa and I went to a Pat McGee show at the Birchmere. It's an interesting venue because it's in this small auditorium, with people sitting at tables. People sit through the whole show and are generally pretty tame. It's cool because artists and bands take their performances really seriously at the Birchmere. Since people are sitting and watching, the artists/bands tend to focus on their music more than their performance.

Anyway, PMB was freakin' awesome. Seriously, I haven't heard them sound so good in a LONG time. There's a couple new band members: a keyboardist (who, incidentally, has a daughter named Ryan Elisabeth!) and a bass player (who's good but looks like he's about to die when he sings--pretty funny).

Being there with Melissa was awesome. We've been going to see PMB shows for.....it's gotta be seven years now. Since I was a junior in college. Holy crap that was a long time ago--I'm so old! I formed a nice little friendship with one of the guys in the band--the crazy congo player. He's a great guy and he always makes an effort to come see Melis and I after the show.

I got to talk to him for a good half hour last night about music and his life and my life. It sounds like he's got some interesting goals in mind. (In case anyone knows this guy or knows the band, I won't air his laundry here....) I am happy for him, though--he's really happy. We talked about my life, too. I was able to tell him completely honestly that I'm the happiest I've been in YEARS. He was pretty psyched.

I told him I'd been seriously thinking about giving the music thing a real shot. He kind of looked like someone had just poured cold water on him. He said, "I can't believe it's taken you seven years to tell me your a fuckin' musician!! What the hell???"

So I explained to him that I didn't want to be one of those girls who chatted him up after a show and then handed him a CD or something.

He laughed and said he understood--but that I could send him some of my stuff if I wanted and he would give me some feedback. This next part is a bit fuzzy because I had had a LOT of beer, but I'm pretty sure he also said that he was looking for some people to play music with on the side.

I almost fell over!

Anyway, I am really excited at the thought of:

1. recording some stuff (even if I just record it on my computer)
2. getting the opinion of someone who's making it in the industry.

Of course, I've got pipe dreams of being a rock star--I won't lie. But the truth is, it's just exciting to think about making music again. And with a purpose!!