Then the early show ended and the standard chaos that comes with the early show ending began; the audience and songwriters chatting and filtering out, combined with resetting the room and preparing for the late show before the late show writers show appear for their line check. It was just like every other night – until it wasn’t.

Bobby Bare Jr. arrived (surprisingly early). And then Eef Barzelay showed up shortly thereafter. They didn’t line check. Because they didn’t need to line check. Because they decided they were going to do the entire late show unplugged. Ok. . . this could not get loud, but it might get interesting.

And, guess what? It got very interesting. I think last night’s show – An Evening with Bobby Bare Jr. and Eef Barzelay – is one of my favorite Bluebird shows of the last few years.  Bobby and Eef are, of course, outstanding songwriters. Duh. But did you know that they are also completely charming and totally hilarious? I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard during a Bluebird show. Some of the songs were humorous, but the between song banter was killing me. It felt a little like sitting around with friends, shootin’ the breeze, telling stories, cracking jokes and, oh yeah, playing some awesome music in between. I love it when The Bluebird feels like my living room.

Bobby would occasionally leave the stage and wander into the crowd, singing and playing guitar. A move that always makes me swoon. I love it when performers actually  leave the stage. It feels like you connect on a more balanced level. It crushes that invisible barrier (or sometimes visible barrier depending on which venue you’re at) between the people on stage and their adoring audience. In a sense, it brings everyone together. Makes you feel more a part of the show experience. I know that may sound a little hippy dippy, but, hey, that’s cool, man.

Eef closed out his portion of the set with back-to-back Journey covers; Don’t Stop Believin’ and Yours Faithfully – on ukulele. Enough said.

I usually call my dad (for Paul McCartney I called dad, for Tom Petty I called dad, for Bruce Springsteen I called dad), but last night I called my mom. As soon as Carole King started singing Up On The Roof I called – it took a second for the call to connect, another couple of seconds for my mom to answer, but she heard most of the song. Sure, it’s not the same as being in the room, but it’s better than nothing. Though I really wish she could have been there.

It was an amazing evening of stories and songs, tucked away in The Bluebird’s intimate setting, off of the always busy and anonymous Hillsboro Pike. Carole King, Gary Burr, Georgia Middleman and Jim Photoglo performed for 2 ½ hours to an audience of just 100 people. The show benefitted Alive Hospice, but it also benefitted all of those in attendance (and even some who weren’t).

Day 2 of the New Year already had me tired. In fact, my mom called me the night before the show, Day 1 of the New Year, to remind me of her love of Carole King (one of her only true musical loves, whereas my dad and I have many), how Tapestry came out the year she and dad got married and how it was the soundtrack to their just married lives – when they were young and crazy – and how it continued to play a role in the soundtrack of all of our lives, well into my childhood and beyond. I was tired and moody and may as well have said, “Yeah, got it, but it’s really important that I continue my marathon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer because Zumba really kicked my butt all over the gym earlier and I need to relax. And did I mention I was tired? Thanks.”  I’m still very much a petulant child at times.

But then I walked into sound check on Day 2 of the New Year and I got it. Like, really got it. It could very well be the first time I got it so quickly. Perhaps even more quickly than the first time I heard The Clash (but that’s another story for another time). Carole (can I call her just Carole?), Gary, Georgia and Jim were running through I Feel The Earth Move and I just got it. Everything my mom told me the night before. Why Carole King was frequently on the record player, then the tape deck, then in the CD player when I was younger, why my mom always turned up the radio when she came on. . . It suddenly made so much sense. Carole King scored my childhood (sure she had some help from the aforementioned McCartney, Petty, Springsteen, etc but she was just as present as the others). She wrote mom and dad’s early life together. She was there for it all. Sure, we had never actually met before yesterday, but she started a conversation –through her music – with my mom and dad years ago. I joined in and we’ve been talking and sharing experiences ever since.

When sound check ended and we had an actual conversation. Person to person. Instead of person to record/tape/cd/radio. I think she could tell I was nervous. She spoke to me with the utmost kindness and gentleness. It calmed me down almost immediately (I tend to be tightly wound). I told her about my mom. I told her I wished my mom could be here and she said she wished it, too. She asked for my mom’s name – I told her “Sherry like the wine.” And she said her daughter’s name was also “Sherry like the wine.” We laughed and for the rest of the evening I was “Sherry’s daughter.” And this made me happy on two levels; one being that it felt like an inside joke between people who had known one another for a long time and the other being that it’s totally true – I am very much my mother’s daughter.

I’m a lot like my mom. We are both hot-headed Italians with very limited amounts of patience, but we are also extremely caring and fiercely loyal to those that we love. Here’s the interesting thing that I also began to understand last night. . . I always assumed I got my love for music from my dad. We can sit for hours and listen to music, toss bits of trivia back and forth, watch old documentaries. The music thing always felt pretty dad oriented. It’s why I would call him during McCartney, Petty, Springsteen, etc shows. . . but last night I realized this love of music, this crazy passion that I have for it, also comes from my mom – it’s yet another thing I get from her. Which is why I called her last night. I knew it would mean as much to her to hear Carole as it meant for my dad to hear Paul (McCartney).

Sure, it would have been absolutely amazing if my mom could have been there in person to both hear and see Carole sing So Far Away (which I believe she said was written for her second husband when she was out on the road a lot and missing him), You’ve Got A Friend, Pleasant Valley Sunday, to hear her stories, to laugh at her jokes (there was a good one about tuning and how Georgia’s guitar, though slightly out of tune, was “good enough for country”), but mom actually being there was an impossibility. So, as the tiredness of Day 2 of the New Year faded into the excitement of Day 3, I sat with my phone in the air so my mom could hear, so that she could continue her conversation with Carole – started way back in 1970 – over the phone.

Here are just a few things that have been happening here at The Bluebird Café:

We have officially partnered with the RIAA (for those of you, like me, who are confused by abbreviations initials, etc, RIAA stands for Recording Industry Association of America) and Nashville member labels.  It’s a super exciting partnership – directed at the  “Bluebird Café’s incubator” of rising and developing talent; including The Bluebird Café’s Open Mic Nights, Sunday Writers’ Nights and the Early Round throughout the week. Super cool/exciting/awesome!

Speaking of super cool/exciting/awesome. . . have you heard (because we have certainly mentioned) that Toby Keith played a show here at The ‘Bird on the eve of June 21 and raised a mind blowing $20,000 for The Bluebird?! Amazing! With him that night were his sometimes co-writers Bobby Pinson and Scotty Emerick. It was a night of much laughter, great music and amusing stories. We’ll try to get some more photos up on the facebook for those of you interested.

Let’s see. . .what else? What else? Oh, probably lots of things. . . I was going to discuss how I cannot believe the year is half over, etc, etc, but I suspect that might lead to some sort of long winded, nostalgic diatribe and I refuse to put you good people through that. This time, anyway.

So, it’s 2011. I can’t really wrap my head around that fact. Kinda crazy. 2010 seemed to go by in a flash of color and sound. I’m still processing 2010, but living in 2011. If I were in therapy, I think my therapist would say that I tend to dwell in the past. And shim would be right. But I don’t think it’s because I am overly nostalgic – I think it’s because things happen so quickly these days, I don’t always have time to think about what’s happening while as it’s actually happening. So, I tend to look back a lot. For example, our Bluebird staff holiday party – SO much fun. Was just thinking about it and just now had a chance to look at the silly pics from that night even though it took place over a month ago. Or what about that awesome Songposium show with John Lefler, Tyler Bryant and Kevin Griffin – was that really back in September? I was just thinking about that, too. And what about all of the shenanigans that took place between these two events? There were so many memorable moments that I tend to lose track, go back and miss what’s happening right in front of me. Well, one of my many New Year’s resolutions is to just stop it. I need to be present in the present!

So, this blog is about what happened JUST last night. I am so on the ball (to borrow an expression from my grandfather). So, last eve. . .last eve was another awesome Alive Hospice benefit show with Jeff Black, Sam Bush and John Oates (with special guest Jimmy Wayne). I was stoked! First of all, Jeff Black’s songs just blow my tiny mind, Sam Bush is one of the most talented (and nicest) musicians ever and John Oates – OMG – John Oates!

I arrived a little on the early side to, you know, just kinda check out the scene. Everyone started arriving and it was like a happy reunion of old friends. Everyone – from artists to guests – seemed stoked to be here and we were all ready for an awesome night of music.

***AUTHOR’S NOTE: I started this blog at the end of January – it is now March 18th. We stay busy here in the Bluebird office, y’all. My New Year’s Resolution = FAIL.

Anyway, to quickly finish off the above. . .the show was, as predicted, amazingly awesome. Jeff Black’s songwriting can’t be beat, that Sam Bush sure knows his way around a mandolin (pretty much any instrument with strings) and John Oates, well, damn – he’s John Oates. My favorite part of the evening was when Jimmy Wayne got up to sing Sarah’s Smile and it turned into a big sing along – all of the performers and the crowd got in on the action. It was a great moment at The Bluebird. I actually left shortly thereafter because I knew it wasn’t gonna get any better than that!

So, okay, now it’s March 2011. Spring is pretty much here (huzzah!), Tin Pan South is on the not-so-distant horizon and it’s about 11:50am on Friday, March 18th and I have boatloads to accomplish before 5:00pm – till next time!

This is Kathy, guest blogger, coming to you from behind the scenes at the Bluebird Café. I have been helping out a little bit, answering phones and watching Jaime and Erika work really hard.

Usually my role is of Door Girl, so I get to hear some pretty great music and meet really cool people. Not a bad gig for sure! Jaime asked me to recall some interesting/funny memories, so let me see…

I think people are often surprised at how small and unfancy (for lack of a better word) The Bluebird is. One time a first- time Bluebird performer came in and asked where the Green Room was. I tried not to laugh and motioned to the closet in the corner where he could put his guitar case. It’s not about the fancy here, that’s for sure.

One of my favorite things is watching people’s expressions when they hear a writer perform a huge smash hit they have written like when Tony Arata plays “The Dance” (which Garth Brooks performed). I also love it when Dennis Matkosky plays “Maniac” from the movie Flashdance. Eyes light up, mouths drop open and a lot of hitting and nudging goes in. I love it! People will say to me, “No way! He wrote that?” Way. Which is why this is a way cool place!

Often people read about us or have seen the movie, “A Thing Called Love” or have heard that Garth Brooks “got discovered” here. One teenage girl came up to me at the hostess desk and said, “Is it true that…” and I knew she was going to ask about Garth but she said, “Taylor Swift got discovered here?” We have definitely seen a larger percentage of young girls coming in. It is really neat to see how Taylor is influencing girls to learn the guitar, write their own songs, etc. And it is true (although there was clearly a big buzz about her). I knew something was up as every record label and publishing company was represented that night! That is a fun memory! I should have gotten her autograph! Thanks for tuning into the Bluebird Blog!

Bluebird Girl