First of all, a big thanks goes out to everybody who came to see us at Egan's tonight and even asked after a few demo CDs, a most particular thanks going to Blaine Duncan And The Lookers for having us there. We had a great time playing and sweated buckets.

Tonight, Mark "I'm Mark fucking Kimbrell" Kimbrell and Ra-Jaan Parmely comprised Arkadelphia, Mark thumping the ever-loving shit out of his weird-looking bass and Ra-Jaan switching gears between shuffles, two-steps and deep-down-church-funk like a ninja (Sidenote: Ra-Jaan is actually a ninja). I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship(s).

As if all that weren't enough, Blaine Duncan and his boys tore it up tonight, leaving all us Birmingham folks with a wonderful impression of Tuscaloosa and its music. I think one of the most amazing things about Blaine and them's set was their selection of covers; they covered the Dexateens, Ham Bagby, Jeff Evans and the Drive-By Truckers for a soundcheck. In case you were wondering, ALL of those folks hail from Alabama, if not Tuscaloosa in particular. These covers by slightly famous to straight-up local artists weren't a ploy to have the frat boys re-book them or to get the drunk chick to shake a tail-feather; they were to pay homage to good musicians and to good friends. To say that I was impressed would be selling the whole thing short.

Anyway, the folks at Egan's were very nice as well, Beau (sp?) from Baak Gwai being a more-than-helpful sound dude and Ashley being a more-than-entertaining host. Plus, everybody at the bar, it seemed, was into hearing the music. I think it's pretty damn cool that a bar not only hosts independent, all-original bands on a Friday night, but doesn't charge a cover, either. The whole thing is to be commended.

With that, I'm going to try and get some sleep before my schedule is thrown out of whack like a fat kid on a tilt-a-whirl.

- Lee