Everyone must be wondering...how was the gig last Friday?  Well let me tell you that I can sum it up in one word - HOT!  Now I don't mean "hot" as in we were awesome, which we were, but hot as in the place was about 120 degrees.  No lie, it was unbearable.  We played there at The Muse last summer and it was in the middle of a huge heatwave, so the AC being on the fritz was expected.  This time we were in the backstage area and a dude comes back there to mess with the fuse box to check on the AC.  Well when sparks shot out of the fuse box, I knew it would be a long night.  Now let me say that I had a blast, but oh at what price.  Yes, the things I do for my fans...hahaha.  The first band Letters From Earth finishes (they were pretty damn good...one of the only bands we've gigged with that had actual guitar solos), and it was time for the equipment change.  First, I also have to say that their singer said the mic was shocking him during soundcheck....yeah...just like the last gig we played at The Springwater.  So I let him use my foam mic cover and that took care of the problem.  Anyway, they get done and we start changing out the equipment which is always the worst part of a gig.  One band is taking theirs down while we're setting ours up.  Once we got done I was already drenched, I think I sweat off about 5 pounds at this point and was thinking "wonderful....just pace yourself and don't go all out on the first couple of songs and you'll be fine".  Did I heed my own advice?  Of course not...I'm a rock star dammitt!!!  We open with "Incinerate" and I'm belting out the vocals...the lights start going and I'm in full-on rock god mode.  We go right into "End of Days" and I'm still in 5th gear.  After that we lead right into "Never Meant To Die" and about halfway through that I thought to myself "huh...my fingers don't seem to want to work anymore" as my forearm started to cramp, but I made it through the song.  After that I hit the Gatorade and felt all right.  Even though I was getting more and more worn out as we went due to the heat, I was doing ok until we got to "American Wasteland".  It was the first time we played it live and I was rocking beyond belief.  During the second verse I heard this HUGE hum and thought it was my bass amp, but I also couldn't hear my vocals much so I REALLY started to belt the vox out.  Well it so happens it was the mic that went out and my screaming just about blew my voice out.  Once I realized it was the mic, I ran over to Don's backup mic to use it.  I look at him, he looked at me and we start laughing.  Well guess what, this mic didn't have a foam cover on it so when I leaned in I got zapped pretty good.  I finished that tune and it was time for the final number.  Oh I was supposed to have this intro to it mentioning the song being on the Nashville Rock comp CD and everything, but I'm trying so hard to suck air in I probably spoke about 5 words.  During the last tune it literally felt like someone was pressing in on my chest because I couldn't breathe deep enough due to the heat, yet I persevered because I care that much about the fans...hahaha.  We finish and I instantly went to the stairs off to the side and sat and chugged down the last of my Gatorade.  I literally had tunnel vision.  But you know what?  It was worth it...I swear as hot as it's been both times we've played that club I just really dig the vibe there.  Plus...and this is a big plus...hot chicks actually talked to me after the show...YES!  Normally it's not like that, I'll get some dudes going "hey man, you rocked" and stuff...but that night a couple of real hotties came up afterwards and wanted to say "hi".  They told me they loved me and would do anything to make me happy.  Well...not really.  They just wanted to say we were awesome and we were definitely going places.  So that was cool.  I swear, I think sometimes I am the anti-lead singer.  I say that because the thought of a one night stand does nothing for me.  Other dudes in rock bands might really get off on that, but it means nothing to me.  No, I'm actually someone who has to care about the woman.  Oh well.  All joking aside, anytime someone comes up to me after a gig to tell me how good we were, it embarrasses me beyond belief.  I mean I truly appreciate the compliment and all, but I just don't take compliments well and I don't know why.  I guess that's a good thing because it keeps me from thinking I'm just sooo incredible and stuff, I do like to maintain a sense of humility believe it or not.  It was a good show though, I had a blast even though I felt like I was in a microwave oven the whole time.

This is the big week...my radio interview!  Oh yes, I'll be on 97.7 FM out of Jackson, TN on Wednesday afternoon from 3-5 PM.  It just boggles my mind.  If you want to listen, here's the link - The Patriot.    I mean I get a HUGE public forum to talk about me and what I think about stuff for two hours.  It's just unreal to me.  I'm just a regular Joe and I get this kind of time on a major radio station in Tennessee?  Trust me when I say I plan on making the most of it.  Once I get started on politics I am very difficult to keep quiet.  Yeah, big surprise huh?  hahahaha.  My goal was to get 1,000 votes when I started this whole thing, and with the emails and everything I've been getting from people since the primaries ended, I hate to make boastful predictions, but I think I will far exceed that.  I truly want to win, but sadly so much of it all comes down to money.  I've been keeping good notes during this whole thing and honestly plan on writing a book about it all when the election is over.  American politics are so screwed it's not even funny.  If you have money then you can win, it's that simple.  What someone truly values doesn't seem to stack up against the money spent and it's sad, especially the way the Equal Time Laws have been setup to make sure those with money stay in power.  It pisses me off so bad to see first-hand just how much of a game the whole process is.  I'll go more into that another time.

That's pretty much it for right now.  I just read an email from someone I know who had to put their dog to sleep today, and I honestly want to go outside and spend some more time with my buddy Vick.  If you don't own a dog, I doubt you would understand, but my buddy is like my son and I just want to spend some time with him right now.  I took him to the dog park at Centennial Park in Nashville this weekend...it did nothing for me except the happiness I got seeing him having so much fun.  It's not like I could go "wow, I had fun", it was all for Vick.  He had a blast.

Until next time sportsfans...all the details of my radio appearance!