Sunday, November  1, 2009  6:30  Sunday Spotlight with Kraig Kenning, no cover;  8:00 Writers Night with special guest Hugh Moffatt - Hosted By Steve Goodie, no cover

Monday, November  2, 2009  6:00 Open Mic hosted by Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:30 Mike Henderson Band with Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree, no cover

Tuesday, November  3, 2009  6:00  In The Row with AFTRA Presents: Larry Cordle, Beth Anne Musiker, Leslie Satcher, Caitlin Evanson, Ron Wallace, Kira Small, Angela Hurt, Jim Ferguson, Vickie Carrico with host Robert Bailey, no cover;  9:00 Brumley Music Group Presents: In The Round with Jamie Johnson of the Grascals, Charley Stefl, Thom Jutz, Susanne Mumpower and Peter Cronin, $8.00   

Wednesday, November  4, 2009 6:00 ASCAP Presents: In The Round with Better Angels Music, no cover; 9:00 In The Round with Tom House, R.B. Morris, David Olney, Matt Urmy, $8.00 
 
Thursday, November  5, 2009  6:00 In The Row with Judy Rodman, Michael Hodges, Michael Sturgis and Gerald Trottman, no cover;  9:00  Chick Singer Night Presents:  An Evening with Jessica Frech, Christa Ciotti, Aron Wright, Jaclyn Brown, Malea Boss and Belinda Jane, $10.00

Friday, November  6, 2009  6:30  In The Round with Tommy Karlas, Erin Enderlin, Brandy Clark and Charlie Stefl, no cover;  9:30 In The Round with Lari White and Big Tractor
Music: Jennifer Zuffinetti, Jason Matthews, Kerry Kurt Phillips and Sherrie Austin , $12.00 – A Benefit for the YMCA

Saturday, November  7, 2009  6:30  In The Row with Joe Doyle, John Jarvis and Roger Ferris, Jim "Moose" Brown, no cover; 9:30 An Evening with Pam Rose, Chuck Jones and Chuck Cannon, $15.00

Sunday, November  8, 2009  6:30 Sunday Spotlight with The Wheels, no cover;  8:00  Writers Night  with special guest Byron Hill - Hosted By Steve Goodie, no cover

Monday, November  9, 2009  6:00 Open Mic hosted by Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:30 Mike Henderson Band with Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree, no cover

Tuesday, November  10, 2009  6:00  Songwriters Guild Presents: In The Row with Jesse Goldberg, Kacey Jones, Steve Goodie and Rich Fagan, no cover;  9:00 An Evening with  The Original Blues: Les Kerr, Blue Mother Tupelo, Stan “The Man” Hedges and  Little Johnny Kantreed, $8.00

Wednesday, November  11, 2009  6:00 In The Round with Chris Caminiti, Lisa Hentrich, Madison Cain and Jonathan Cain, no cover; 9:00 In The Round with Jason White, Swan Dive, Will Kimbrough and David Mead, $8.00 

Thursday, November  12, 2009  6:00 In The Row with Jordyn Shellhart, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Roxie Dean and Paul Sikes,  no cover; 9:00 An Evening with Tim O’Brien featuring Bryan Sutton, $20.00

Friday, November  13, 2009 6:30 In The Round with Michael Logen, Matthew Perryman Jones, Jonathon Kingham and Lizanne Knott, no cover; 9:30 In The Round with Thom Schuyler, Fred Knobloch, Don Schlitz and Jelly Roll Johnson, $12.00

Saturday, November  14, 2009  6:30 In The Row with Tonja Rose, Mark Narmore, Adam Wheeler and Rob Harris, no cover;  9:30 Kathy Ashworth Opens For An Evening With Mark Germino, $12.00

Sunday, November  15, 2009  6:30 Sunday Spotlight with Chad Harris, no cover;  8:00 Writers Night with special guest  Chris Wallin - Hosted By Steve Goodie, no cover

Monday, November  16, 2009  6:00 Open Mic hosted by Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:30 Mike Henderson Band with Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree, no cover

Tuesday, November  17, 2009  6:00 In The Row with Jason Elliott, Tanya Leah, Brian DesVeaux and  Leslie Black, no cover;  9:00 An Evening with Robbie Fulks, $10.00   

Wednesday, November  18, 2009  6:00 NSAI of MTSU Presents: Anthony Smith, Marvin Whitehead, Sephra Osburn, Brooke Dunn, Casey Smith, Rebekah Weaver, Hannah Phillips and Bonnie Baker, no cover;  9:00  In The Round with Dylan Altman, Eric Paslay, Rodney Clawson and Lee Roy Parnell, $12.00 - A Benefit for Juvenile Diabetes  

Thursday, November  19, 2009  6:00 In The Round with Madeleine Slate, Tony Arata, Chris Tompkins and Marv Green, no cover; 9:00 In The Round with Brett James, Kip Moore,
Victoria Shaw and Marcus Hummon, $15.00 for regular seats, $35.00 for gold circle seats

Friday, November  20, 2009  6:30 In The Row with Steve Christopher, Dylan Taylor, Jason Wyatt and Ron Kauffman, no cover;  9:30 An Evening with MelDiBurPho: Vince Melamed, Bob DiPiero, Gary Burr and Jim Photoglo, $12.00

Saturday, November  21, 2009 6:30 In The Round with Tom Manning, Mersaidee Soules, Jon Michaels and Age McCann, no cover;  9:30  In The Round with Richard Leigh,  Pat Alger,  Larry Joe Taylor and Tim Johnson, $10.00

Sunday, November  22, 2009 6:30 Sunday Spotlight Wayne Jerrolds, no cover;  8:00 Writers Night with special guest Steve Leslie - Hosted By Steve Goodie, no cover

Monday, November  23, 2009  6:00 Open Mic hosted by Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:30 Mike Henderson Band with Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree, no cover

Tuesday, November  24, 2009  6:00 In The Row with Melissa Bollea, Jarrod Doucet, Brittini Black and JC Andersen, no cover;  9:00 An Evening with  Larry Jon Wilson, $8.00 

Wednesday, November  25, 2009  6:00 In The Row with Bob Spanburgh, Anna Sullivan, Josh DuPre and Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:00 D4A$ - A Cheap Date with Don Schlitz, $1.00

Thursday, November  26, 2009 CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING

Friday, November  27, 2009  6:30  In The Row with Jerry Vandiver, Tim Buppert, Misty Loggins and Steve Williams, no cover; 9:30 An Evening with Sweethearts of the Rodeo, $12.00

Saturday, November  28, 2009 6:30 In The Round with Bill Warrington, Gerald Smith, Donna DeSopo and Patti Ryan, no cover; 9:30 In The Round with Marshall Chapman, Danny Flowers, Bill Lloyd and Tommy Womack, $12.00

Sunday, November  29, 2009  6:30 Sunday Spotlight with Alison Carmona Bushnell, no cover;  8:00 Writers Night with special guest  - Hosted By Steve Goodie, no cover

Monday, November  30, 2009  6:00 Open Mic hosted by Barbara Cloyd, no cover; 9:30 Mike Henderson Band with Willie Domann and Kevin McKendree, no cover

Check us out on NPR!

8/15/07

CityGal here to fill you in on what you may have recently missed at The Bluebird Café:

The D4A$ Show on 8/14/07: Not only did you miss Don Schlitz for $1.00 (which you should never do, especially since the cover charge was/is only $1.00), you also missed Vince Gill! To reiterate: you missed a chance to see both Don "The Gambler" Schlitz and recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Vince Gill for $1.00. Seriously.

Crying yet? Yeah, if I were you, I'd be crying right now, too. You missed out. A lot. To avoid this type of error in the future here are a few helpful tips from me to you: keep an eye on the BBC newsletter, the website and the MySpace page (where we often post bulletins containing some not-so-subtle hints and other pertinent information. The same can be said for our e-mailed newsletter - you may want to sign up for that, too). Also, if you can't make it out to The 'Bird, you can always catch shows in Second Life: www.bluebirdcafesl.com. It's the next best thing to being here - except you are in the comfort of your own home and you don't have to tip yourself for drinks.

Anyway, not to make the waterworks start up yet again, but I just have to say (because it needs to be said) that of all the times I've seen Don and Vince play together (4 in all), this last time was/is my favorite. For sure. So, grab a tissue and come along with me as I recount the events of last eve - the events that have even been referred to by some as both "wonderous and magical." The events that YOU, dear reader, missed. . .

8/14/07 @ 8:15 p.m.: I arrived early - no one has ever accused CityGal of being "too cool for school," at least not to her face. I don't really do the showing up fashionably late thing for an event such as this - you end up standing by the door or outside if you do that type of thing at The 'Bird. Swallow your pride and stand in line with the rest of the folks that aren't "in with the in crowd" and then feel cooler than the "in crowd" when you get:

a. inside

b. an awesome seat

c. a feeling of superiority due to said awesome seat

Ah, the perks of being perpetually early. . .

Anyway, I arrived. Watched Don's sound check (yay for Don doin' some Dylan during sound check). And waited. I knew what many of the audience members did not - Vince was on his way. Probably. Fingers crossed. . . I waited. Then I waited some more and then, just like in the movies, just when I thought I'd be waiting forever, he showed. He walked through the front doors of the BBC just as I was stuffing sweet potato fries into my mouth. Great. It's always super attractive to see a starving person shovel food into her mouth. I ever-so-briefly contemplated spitting them back out, but realized that chewing and swallowing was ultimately the better way to go on this one. So, I chewed, swallowed and smiled. Nicely played, I know.

Back to the boys: Don and Vince talked it up, tuned up and then got up and left the stage. Don't worry. That wasn't the show. They, also not being "too cool for school," came back right on time at 9:00 and started jamming. They didn't stop until midnight. Just in case you are not as good at math as I am, I'll break it down for you: I spent .33 cents an hour to see Don Schlitz and Vince Gill play 5 feet away from the place in which I sat. Not bad, right? I know a good deal when I see/hear one.

Anyway. . . Don kicked off the show with Stand a Little Rain. I think that's one of my faves (I also think it's underplayed at Don's shows - hint, hint). After a brief conversation about sticking to a theme, Vince answered back with Pretty Little Adriana. It was, well, pretty.

And they went back and forth like that all night long; singing songs, telling jokes, swapping stories, giving each other a hard time, while simultaneously complimenting each other in a way that only people that have known each other for years seem to be able to pull off with any grace.

Other highlights:

There were so many I hardly know where to begin! Let's see. . . for the first time in a long time at D4A$ Don played Old School. I've always thought it was an incredibly touching song. . . plus, I just really like the term "old school." Vince sang back up and did an "air" drum solo during Old School. . . it was hilarious. Don said something about never having realized the comic potential of that song. I never had either.

They did a couple of songs that they had written together. . . .including one that starts out with "I've had my share of lovers. . ." Don wrote that first line. It's important to make that clear. Vince wrote much of the rest. It's a great song, but the name is escaping me. Anyway, it was great to hear 'em sing together and try to remember the words to the song they had written at Vince's kitchen table way back when.

Somehow, and I'm not entirely sure how, Grandpa Jones came up. . . (I think it may have been because Don and Vince were discussing The Grand Ole Opry. Oh, and also because they were discussing people that Vince could do good impressions of - apparently his out going messages on his answering machine used to be of him doing imitations of different people). Vince and Don told many a funny story about the Opry and Grandpa (and imitating people just for kicks), but one of 'em stands out among the rest (please keep in mind I'm paraphrasing here - but you'll get the gist). Vince told a story about Grandpa (in Grandpa's voice) being out at the Opry one night. . . he was getting' ready to introduce a couple of guys who'd been playing the Opry for years, and he said something like, "I'd like to introduce a couple of good friends of mine. . . [insert awkward pause here]. . . him and. . . . him!" At the last second, he'd totally blanked on their names, so "him and him" it was.

Don said something about how he thought Him and Him was a great name for a band and Vince said something about it being "all gospel, all the time." Get it? Hilarity.

Let's see. . . .what else. It was quite literally a night filled with great music and all kinds of laughter. Vince played three, yes THREE new songs - none of which he had ever played before in public, one of which he re-wrote while on stage, all of which were fantastic! One even left me a little misty-eyed.

Don played my personal fave Last of My Lonely, which he co-wrote with Kaci Bolls (who was also in the audience - she wouldn't miss Don and Vince for $1.00, either!). He also played everyone's fave The Gambler. . . Vince sang a little back up. Very nice.

12:00 a.m.: Vince wrapped the evening up with my favorite song off of his FOUR CD set: What You Give Away. It was the perfect note to leave on.

It's so very hard to capture an evening like this in a brief blog like this. So, here's what I suggest: Go see D4A$!