Not much to report. Chris and I rehearsed a few more songs from the new album, and he tried to show me an Everly Brothers song he wants us to learn, but my head was not in the right place to concentrate on learning it. We touched on "Fall on Me", the R.E.M. song we will be playing at Carnegie Hall in a couple of weeks and finally decided who would sing what parts.
Chris went back over to the convention with Robert, who had a gig. They both returned fairly early, and everyone hit the hay long before the festivities at the Folk Alliance had run their course. I'm so grateful we got to stay here with them rather than bunking in over at the Marriott Hotel, where I believe I'd be serenaded to sleep (or awake) every night after two.
In other places around the globe, specifically Brazil and New Orleans, people are celebrating Mardi Gras. My host and hostess here in Memphis have been putting the finishing touches on their family costumes, in anticipation of the six hour ride they'll take today to return to New Orleans, former home to many of us. Candace and Vivian are dressing as dinosaurs and Robert will be the paleontologist whose backpack will store supplies for the day. I hope they have a great time, catch a lot of beads for Vivian's class and that they stay safe on the way and back.
This has been a long time away from home for me. In times past, when I found myself riding a bus across the country with Hootie, nine days didn't seem so great an amount. The solitary nature of this journey has been good for my head, I think, but it's hard on my heart. I long for my kids and wife and home, and to be out of the van for a while. I believe I've done the right thing by my career to make myself known around the Folk Alliance crowd, as best as I was able to do. But it's almost time to go home, a long trip by myself back across Tennessee and NC, listening to music and losing myself in thought about the future.
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