What a night!

Last night was the graduation ceremony, CD release party and performance for the "Experience Songwriting Project," a joint venture between the Experience Music Project and the University of Washington's Extension Program. I've been involved with this thing for nine months now, and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. 22 original members whittled down to 13, but that group became, as Jon Auer described so eloquently last night a "community." I should have been exhausted last night from lack of sleep and sheer exertion, but the adrenaline carried me through. I met Nancy at the Liquid Lounge at about 4:30 p.m. She is grieving the loss of a dear friend who perished on mount Ranier just days ago, and she welcomed the break from all that. We headed up to the Science Fiction Museum at 5:30 and started setting up. The sound and logistics guys at EMP were great. I set up my Guild through the Trace Elliot amp, wired "pre-eq" so the sound guy could have his way with it. I hooked up the Fender Precision bass to a direct box for Jon to play, then I laid out the back and seat of his Producer's chair for the class to sign. Jerry started off with a very nice version of "This Cup," the title track to the CD, with Tracy doing some nice harmonies. Before I knew it, I was up, and I opened with "Unravel," to an appreciative crowd. Jon joined me with Kelly K's guitar for "Dreamline Alligator Revisited," and I have to say it is probably the highlight of my entire career, getting to play that song with one of my musical idols on stage in front of an adoring crowd. The rest of the evening was a blur, but everyone performed well. Especially worth noting were Ethan's two songs and Kelly Blackwood, who performed a sweet little set. Before Tracy's performance, I took the microphone and presented the producer's chair to Jon, who was genuinely touched. After Tracy, Sean Nelson said "all star jam," so the entire group, including Carrie, Sean and Jon stormed the stage for a very loose and often hilarious rendition of the "never ending 12 bar blues in G." It was a magic evening and the perfect culmination of the experience of a lifetime. I was grateful to be alive, to be sober, to be able to pursue my talent, to be surrounded with such loving and respectful people, to be part of something that is good and true in this crazy, mixed-up world. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures to either my website or this blog, I will share some from last night. Cheers!