Party Bellissimo

The morning flows by without realizing and I help James a little with getting his CD sales button onto his website and some other small edits. Later we meet for dinner with Gregg and his wife Allison. Gregg is a sound engineer and musician that worked on James’ last album. He’s a very sweet guy and great personality. Currently he’s working on the new Chicago album and his main music project Echoes Landing.

James, Melinda and me are driving to the Café Bellissimo in Woodland. I’m the featured artist in a Songwriter showcase hosted by Garret Swayne and later there is an open mic. Garret has a great style of writing and should be in Nashville. His songs are just perfect for that.

The Café is an Italian Restaurant and a lot of the folks that I saw at Kulak’s and McCabes are here again. The community her really inspires me and I hope I can communicate that to my friends in Seattle. The evening is grand and again there is a lot of talent in the room. One of my favorite songs is about 9/11 by Ric Taylor. He’s a great writer with a big heart. Mindi came too and invites us all over to her house and so (let’s see if I get all the names right)James, Melinda, Craig, John, Julie, Beth, Genevieve, Berington, Eric and me are heading over to party hearty. Man - what fun. We play everything from Neil Young to Paul Simon to the Beatles until it’s about 2am. I could easily go on for another two hours but James is my smarter half and points out that I have to get up early to drive about 8 hours North to the Harbin Hotsprings.

All in all L.A. was a wonderful and intense time. I certainly did not expect to make such friends and be taken into their community with open arms and when I mention that to Craig and express my gratitude he returns it by saying that I was an inspiration for them which causes teary eyes and I feel that saying goodbye is not so easy this time. There is so much more to say and explore that now has to wait.
They all will be in my thoughts for a long time and I hope to get back soon.