Wow! It’s been a very busy week!
Tony and I were in Franklin, Tennessee Tuesday recording at Tom T. and Dixie Hall’s. They are making a Christmas compilation CD to send out to bluegrass radio during the holidays. We recorded a beautiful song of theirs called “One Empty Chair”, and think it turned out just great. We would also like to thank our friend Bobby Davis for helping us out on bass! What an awesome musician he is! So y’all be listening for “One Empty Chair” during the Christmas season, and don’t forget to call your local DJ’s and make a request!
Then as we were heading home from Tennessee Wednesday we got a call from James King saying that he had been hospitalized due to blood clots. We were very concerned, but glad that he was stable. Unfortunately, he was unable to fulfill his engagements over the weekend and all of them were cancelled except for the Pickin in the Pasture festival in Lodi, NY. The promoter was kind enough to let us come play in his stead. The lineup included myself and James King’s regular band, Tony, Bobby Davis, and Ron Spears. We all missed James and wished he could have been there, but the show went really well, and we got a great response. We were very pleased because we wondered how everyone would take to us without James being there.
The highlight of the evening for me was in the second set when someone in the audience called out for “Thirty Years of Farming”…one of James King’s big hits. Tony and Ron of course only know the words to the chorus, so they debated on what to do for a minute or so, then finally came up with a solution. Ron stepped up to the microphone and said “Well, I guess the only thing to do is to play the song the way we always do with James…” So Tony kicked it off on the banjo and the audience was clapping along, then came time for the first verse, so we all backed away from the mics and played it through with no one singing…. and when the chorus rolled around Tony and Ron jumped in singing the harmony lines, then backed out for James’ big solo (which of course was total silence) and by this time we were all laughing so hard that we had to just end the song! The audience loved it, and I thought that it was a great tribute to James, and just wish that he could have been there! I think he would have really got a kick out of it!
Please remember to keep James in your prayers, folks. We are really hoping for a speedy recovery. It does look like he is going to be back on the road this coming weekend, and we are so glad!