North Kackalacki (& compton)

Asheville, NC is one gorgeous mountain town. From the smelly little candle shops, to the quaint little restaurants, to the indie coffee shops. Oh, and of course the fresh, crisp mountain air. And, The Orange Peel, and great, liquorless, music venue.

The Biltmore Estate is one of the most historical landmarks of Asheville. Some great movies have been filmed at the Biltmore or around Asheville such as Mr. Destiny, Bull Durham, Dirty Dancing, and Being There. If this city can attract such luminaries as Michael Caine, Peter Sellers and The Beloosh, Jim Belushi, it has to be special.

Other such notables who once called Asheville home, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Robert Moog (inventor of the Moog synthesizer), and Shirley Hemphill (yes, THAT Shirley from "What's Happening).
Beyond that, the gig was a good one. The Orange Peel has a great P.A. and comfy feel to it. The band played well although Sean was still struggling a bit with his voice but as always, he's a ringer and the charm and talent prevailed.

I was looking forward to Chapel Hill, a town I once called home. I lived here for about 4 years in the 90's when I worked with those pop-rockers Dillon Fence. Dillon Fence's drummer, Scott came out and met me, my brother and sister-in-law for dinner and took us to a great little Japanese nook that Scott has a knack for finding. He pretty much knew the entire staff by name, but as expected, it was wonderful.

My friend, super drummer and super funny guy, Jon Wurster came out. Jon and I had a beer after the gig and caught up on the past several months from when I worked with him in the Robert Pollard Band. He is now playing with a group called The Mountain Goats.

My other notable and good friend Jay Brown, from the Tift Merritt band and Stillhouse came out with his new-rawkin' girlfriend Tracy of Wembley Stadium. It was great to see them, unfortunately we didn't get to hang out too long, I had that "work" thing to do and they had a gig early the next day so had to skee-daddle after the show.

It was a really good show. Great crowd, Sean was extra chatty tonight. And the best part, it was snowing. Yes, snowing, in April, in Chapel Hill. What the F&*$??? Maybe it will be sooo much warmer in Charlottesville. Yeah, right!!!