Oh my goodness!! What a great time I had warming up for Phil Vassar!!! Moments like these are the reason I learned how to play the guitar!!! First of all, let me say that Phil is the nicest celebrity I think I have ever met! Granted, I haven't met that many, but still.... He is such a humble guy and he is soooo talented. Even though he had a gig the next night in Colorado, he stayed after the concert to meet and sign everyone's cd's, shirts, and pics that they bought. I left at 11:15pm and he was still there talking to people. If you get a chance to see him live, go!! He was amazing!! Even if you don't care for country music, you will love his show! He does some cool spins on top of his piano...it's awesome!
Anyway, on to the details... Now I know that being the warm up act is not as cool as the headliner, but it was a huge deal to me. I have been a fan of Phil Vassar for so long, to be his warm up act was just out of this world! This is the biggest thing I've done so far in my musical career and hopefully things will just get better from here. One of the the coolest parts of the whole thing was being there for the sound check. Just walking up next to Phil's piano was an experience!! It's like...yep, this is real! I didn't want to touch anything because I was afraid of breaking something. I wore a black shirt and jeans (my trademark) and I was ready to rock. My excellent guitar player buddy and faithful side-kick, Ric Campbell joined me on stage. He rocks! My heart was racing when they introduced me and I came out. I said a silent prayer and took a deep breath, then we were off. Right when I walked out I heard "We love you Mary!!" from my friends in the second row (Jacqui and Natasha), so that put me right at ease. Thanks girls!! They even brought signs that they held up while I was singing. Aren't friends great?! We started out the show with an original called "What'll I do." As with every show I play, I'm nervous until the first word comes out of my mouth, then I'm fine. (I'm always afraid that I'll try to sing and nothing will come out.) Anyway, we played Martina McBride's "Independence Day" after that and tore the place apart (If I do say so myself. :) ) Then "Lucky Me" and "Say Goodbye" came next. We closed out our set with Janis Joplin's "Piece of my Heart" and it was awesome!! Boy, there is nothing like that kind of applause! It feels like getting hit by a truck but it doesn't hurt. It's such a rush! After we sang, I went out front and signed cd's and met people. I love doing that! That's what it's all about. It's really cool when somebody says, I liked that song you wrote, etc. Makes it all worth while. Anyway, enough sappy stuff. I just had a great time!! Another cool part was seeing my parents there. They were in the front row and as happy and as nervous for me as they could be. They've been to basically every little concert/gig I've ever done and I could see the "Is this really happening?" look on their faces as they were sitting there. Priceless!
Needless, to say I had a spectacular time and hopefully the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center will have me back next year!! I'll keep you updated!!
Luvs,
Mary