Big Gig coming up February 6 & 7—two full nights of rockabilly music at Johnny B.’s, that will feature (among other artists) Screamin’ Gulch, the legendary fiddler Don Maddox (playing with Screamin’ Gulch), and early rock guitarist Deke Dickerson (also playing with Screamin’ Gulch, I’d expect—I don’t think he’s bringing a band with him). Don and Deke may even play on each other’s sets—I understand they’ve known each other for a long time.

Wayne the National Steel player won’t be there—he’s on a buying trip in the Far East (that’s his job) for the better part of a month. That leaves me to take up the slack as Screamin’ Gulch’s lead guitarist (at least, when Don Maddox and Deke Dickerson aren’t being the front men). We’ll practice all the Wednesdays between now and then, and try to squeeze in a practice on another night, too. I need all the help I can get.

I’m on the Big Gig agenda, too, separately—my set’s only about 20 minutes, which is time enough for 4 songs. (My songs work out to an average of 5 minutes each, including The Rap, which makes it easy to calculate time for a set.) I’d like to do those with a band, too—but we’ll see. I’d bet I open for the other guys—Johnny’s used me in the past to quiet audiences down and get ‘em to start listening.

Three performances in three days, this weekend—six songs at the “Quartet” thing Friday night, three at the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night, and two or three at the open mike at the Wild Goose Sunday night. And of course, I’d like everything to be different each night. A lot of the same people will be showing up at all three events.

Folks generally liked the “Quartet” poster, and have advised I’m now their “Poster Boy.” Easy to do, actually; the “Quartet” poster is a template now, and I can just change dates, names, and photos. I’ll do one for the next “showcase,” too, with a group shot of all the SOSA members I can round up at Saturday’s showcase. I keep harping on the need for publicity; this is one way to get it.

The “Quartet set” came off well—James is a dynamite guitarist, and his lead work really stole the show. We got an encore—which was (by request) “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” By that time, college kids were showing up for the next show, which was a punk-rock band, and they got to hear it. And were impressed, I think.

Is there potential for cross-pollination here? Could we put on a country-music show that would actually attract the young people? Maybe. It’d be fun to try.

Joe