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Lights. It is All About the Lights.

Thursday's City Pages article on my Rockyesque return to the stage set the tone. Friday's gig would be no ordinary show.

I thought about bringing my meager light rig to Mickeys, but decided against it when I remembered that there was a house rig... When I arrived at Mickey's and looked up, the lights were gone. [They are in the process of updating their rig.] So after a quick trip home to grab my lights, it was show time.

John Hocker (bass) and Sean McCue (percussion) joined me and the three piece Jim Carlson Trio was resurrected. [For the last few years, the Trio has been a four piece with the addition of Will Heisler on guitar/vocals/harmonica.]

With the last [four piece] Trio show over seven months behind us, one would think the event would have been nerve wracking. One less player, a ton of time since we'd played together. It wasn't. From the first song on, we clicked.

I should mention that performing as a three piece acoustic act is considerably more challenging than playing with Will. Will's guitar playing, harmony vocals and harmonica playing have become a huge element to our sound. Without him there, arrangements needed to be modified. The result of working as a true trio really forces us to pay attention to what we play and how we play it. There is simply less room for error.

The crowd was great. Thanks to all of you who came out and stayed til the end. I always appreciate it when the crowd entertains the band.... It was good to see familiar faces and catch up with you. Tyler, Rob and L Charles were guests. They all did a great job. To my new friends from the South, thanks for having a great sense of humor and supporting a band that really will never be mistaken for Southern Rock....

Next Thursday, I return to the Pub. I can not overstate the importance that Scott Street Steak and Pub has played in my development as a musician. Obviously, that will be the subject matter for my next post.

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