Take me to Church, Eric that is!

Music is a huge part of who I am. It always has been. It is the one stable force that is always there for me no matter where I go, what I do, who I'm with or how I feel. It never leaves me and is something I can always depend upon.  It makes me happy. It makes me sad. It consoles me. It reminds me.

A few years ago, I was asked by a friend to accompany him to a Kenny Chesney music festival at FedEx Field. I have seen Kenny more times than I can remember, have met him a few times, was part of his fan club and even made friends with his keyboardist, Wyatt.  But Kenny wasn't the draw for me this time. Being at FedEx Field, the home of my beloved Redskins, is always a joy and I had never been there for anything other than a game.  Free tickets sure did sound good as well. But the reason I wanted to go to this concert was for one man and one man only:

ERIC CHURCH!!!!!

 

That night, I fell in love with Eric. He was raw. He was natural. He was real country with a hint of bad boy. Eric isn't flashy. He stands there with his guitar, his baseball cap with his infamous aviators and sings the hell out of every song!  Unadulterated Eric - THAT is what I saw that night and that is what I have longed to see more of ever since. In fact, after that night, I vowed to never miss an Eric show when he was back in town. I'd also love to sit at a honky tonk bar and drink whiskey with him. Maybe one day.....

Then it happened. Eric came back to the area in March!!! I couldn't have been more excited! My favorite guy and Red were excited too because they had never seen him before. So off we went to the Verizon Center in the pouring down rain to see THE MAN!

 

But first we had to make a stop at Hill Country Barbecue Market!!! Voted the "Best New BBQ restaurant in America" by Food and Wine Magazine, I don't know what we were doing more of - smiling or drooling! Mac and cheese, brisket, wings, cornbread, baked beans....

 

 

and of course adult libations....

Country music is three chords and the truth.

~Harlan Howard

 

In our seats and ready for show to begin!

I wanna rock some sheetrock, knock some pictures off the wall.

Love you baby, like a wrecking ball.

That's damn rock and roll!

 

 

Carolina....

keep calling me home

 

 

 

What dreams forget the whiskey remembers... kinda like molasses in late December

 

When the winds go cold and it blows October,
I think about us shoulder to shoulder,
Like those cars my thoughts roll over and over and over,
 in my mind.....

 

 

 

 

 

These sleepy streetlights on every sidewalk side street,
Shed a light on everything that used to be....

Give me back my hometown.

Funny how a melody sounds like a memory....

 

 

Yeah if you want to impress me, baby, here's my plan
All you got to do is put a drink in my hand.

 

 

 

 

Wanna little more right and a little less left
Little more right now, a little less what's next
Act like tomorrow's ten years away
And just kick back and let the feelin' flow
Drink a little drink, smoke a little smoke, yeah

 

 

You can't hold back the hands of time,
Mama's goin' grey, and so is daddy's mind.
I wish you'd come on back and make it all right.
Before they're called home, boy

 

 

Jack Daniels kicked my ass again last night.....

 

They're the in crowd, we're the other ones.
It's a different kind of cloth that we're cut from.
We let our colors show, where the numbers ain't,
With the paint where there ain't supposed to be paint.

That's who we are.
That's how we roll.
The outsiders.

 

 

Not many men can leave me speechless.

Eric is one of the lucky few.

Every. Single. Time.

 

Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together.

Anaïs Nin