We were set to play St Jude’s in January. The night before we were to travel to Memphis, I was a little sneezy. I thought, if I get a good night’s sleep, I’ll make the gig. I woke up at 1:30am. And 2:30. And by 3:30, I was texting the band to say we’d have to cancel. I called my contact person at 5am, apologizing profusely. They, of course, were wonderful, and pitched a few more dates that we could perform.
A month later, the same thing happens: I got sick and we had to cancel. 🙁
In my defense, pollen count was a record high here in Nashville. So, the St Jude’s people are, once again, very tolerant, and we begin to reschedule (they like me, they really like me!) A week before the gig, my percussionist, Tony, says he can’t go due to a work audit issue. We absolutely cannot cancel again! So, I call my people to find a replacement for him. The lucky thing about Nashville is that there are plenty of musicians here. I found a guy willing to go with complete strangers to Memphis for a day. The first time we try to get together to rehearse, his car has battery trouble. In my younger days I would have panicked, but I took a deep breath, let my stress go and said “We’re going to play as well as we can, and hope for the best.”
It worked out great, Billy was a lot of fun and a good player. We brought some smiles to the patients and parents and that’s why we were there.
It’s wonderful to be able to “give back” through music.