I Heart Birmingham/Huntsville

Our show at the Bottletree in Birmingham was quite fun. The club has a deer head mounted to the wall, a camper/trailer in the back for the bands to hang out in, and the nicest sound guy you can ask for. We got to play with our friends Through The Sparks, who pretty much packed the place and were incredibly awesome. They're also incredibly nice. Too much fun. Here's an ad for the show which includes a poster they made for for it. Doc Dailey brought some friends from Sheffield to hang out and see the show. That guy just keeps getting better and better.

My friend Ellen was a wonderful hostess. We heart Ellen. I would put a link to Ellen's picture/bio from her law firm's website, but I don't know if she'd appreciate that.

Yesterday I got to go see the Pompeii exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

With a few days off in between shows, we decided to spend some time in Huntsville, Alabama. When we got to town, Dylan had somehow arranged places for us to stay, with people that he didn't know. When I asked him who knew these people, he said he didn't know that either. Skepticism ran high. He and I ended up staying with our new best friend Breanna, on the floor in her wonderfully carpeted living room. While Kristy is staying two doors down with the marvelous Rita.

So we still don't know exactly how we found these people (I think it's like 6 degrees of separation), but they apparently host bands all the time. My only question is if other bands have as much trouble with Breanna's cat, who is clinically insane (literally). He spent most of last night jumping onto me from a nearby table. Breanna also told us a fascinating story about how the first time he "got excited", he didn't understand what was going on, so "he attacked it" and had to be taken to the hospital. This very second as I write this, he's slapping me in the face with his tail while pawing at the window and whining loudly.

Our first night in Huntsville, we went down to an open mic night so Kristy and Dylan could play some songs. Kristy's host Rita went too and was the last person to play right before the place closed. We were shocked when she got up with her ukelele and belted out an amazing soulful bluesy spiritual. When we asked who wrote it, she told us that she had written it. That was the tip of the iceberg for Rita.

Rita's house is covered with artwork that she has painted. Rita wears 1950s glasses and has a bob haircut. She is one of the kindest, warmest people I've ever met. She plays the accordian and who knows how many other instruments, and recently started writing songs on the ukelele. She is white, but attends Alabama A&M University, an historically black college where 98% of the students are minorities. She is also the mother of two super cool daughters. She volunteers at The Flying Monkey Art Center, which is like a mega-mall for artists.

Last night we had a house concert at her place which was attended by numerous adults, a bunch of children, and some animals. Late in the evening, Rita finally pulled out the ukelele to play more songs that she had written. I couldn't believe the soul that comes from this woman playing a ukelele.

Here is some of her other music here. It ain't on the ukelele, but it does the trick.

Some day someone will write a book about Rita.