Tuning Up

I live in a little town called Lawrenceburg. It’s a town of about 30,000-ish, give or take a few thousand; our census is never quite right. About thirty minutes west of here is Waynesboro, a recent haunt of mine and a town with only one red light to its name. Blink and you’ll miss it (the town, not the red light, though both are similarly inconsequential).

On the square in Waynesboro is a little musician’s restaurant called Jeanette’s. It’s a place with hardwood floors, mismatched dining tables, and a variety of chairs and characters. The guys that work here make up a really close-knit family, and the owner’s family lives below the restaurant itself. I started coming over here a few weeks ago for open mike night, and the lead singer of the house band asked me to do a couple of shows with him, which I gladly agreed to. He’s the owner’s son, so he knows the place inside and out and is generally a great guy.

I’m sitting at Jeanette’s right now, listening to the clink of mason jars and the chatter of the guys that work here. They’ve accepted me as one of their own, and I am eternally grateful for that. We all jive really well, so it’s cool that we’re playing together tonight. Dillon lets me play with him, there’s a guy over here filming a movie that may let me play the big drug dealer in the film, and we all sit around and talk for hours. I love it!

I’ve been looking forward to this show for a while now. Just today, I DIY’d a pair of shorts specifically for the occasion (and yes, I’ll write up an article about it!). Dillon is over here re-stringing his guitar, listening to his iPod in one ear. We’re all gearing up in our own ways. I was listening to Coldplay and The Gaslight Anthem on the way over (after successfully misplacing my debit card, to my dismay, because I was in dire need of gas. But as usual, Tye ended up with it. That man keeps me in line.) Now I’m here, typing, trying to keep my mind off of how nervous I am.

It’s a ritual, you know, trying to calm down and get ready. I got dressed and put on foundation for the first time in weeks. I made these shorts. Now I’m here, Dillon’s restringing, another one of the guys is sitting in a chair, playing guitar. We’re all relaxing, trying to pretend we’re not getting geared up for a show. It’s a game we like to play, trying to calm our nerves. Adam just walked by, my favorite of the group, the others are in the back cooking lunch for themselves. It’s nice, it’s calming.

Tye, Daddy, and the rest of the crowd will be here later, and I’m excited we’re drawing people in. Dillon and I don’t actually have a band name, so we’re letting the audience name us tonight. We’re gonna let them throw suggestions in the bowl and draw a name after the show. It’ll be fun. Until then, I’m just going to listen to the clinking of the mason jars and try to remain calm.

The video of tonight’s show will be up later this week, and I hope you decide to check it out! Let us know what you think.