Last night in Hammondsport was just marvelous. The weather was perfect for most of the evening and the audience happily persevered through the moments that weren’t. A gentle rain did little to dampen their enthusiasm and the synergy betwixt band and happy audience always makes for a happy band.
After the show Kristen, Heather and I headed over to an open mic at a local Irish pub that ironically served some of the best gyros I’ve ever had. A lot of things appear to be family-run and our friend Andrew (who’s aunt runs the gazebo Music in the Park series and booked us on his suggestion) introduced us to the open mic host (PJ, great player) and his aunt (who also owns the pub) and his cousin (who run the gyro stand) and we generally had a great time (minus burning my mouth on the mega-hot gyros) playing music to a packed bar, hanging out with the locals and wishing the bartender a happy birthday with a song and a pita with a candle in it.
Life’s pretty good. Last night we crashed in a hotel and made enough money to cover the gas and needed rooms for the entire next couple of weeks. I was beginning to really second-guess myself because last night’s show was about 6 hours total out of our original path, but math and morale shows I made the right decision. We’ll be back in November!