BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet

We played the Plaza Theatre in Orlando on Friday night. I think it was the first public appearance for the the band ever. Lots off fans in central FL! It was a nice venue, though the promoter made some errors on the payment check, but this was corrected by Saturday afternoon. On Saturday we played fir WNMF at Ybor City in Tampa. There were lots of people there, despite the rain. We were fortunate to play in a lull. Today we're returning home. The next band show is on Jund 13 in New Orleans.

Date: May 16, 2009 10:19 AM Topic: Plaza Theatre The Plaza Theater was a nice venue. We had a decent crowd for our first ever appearance in Orlando, outside of a convention. Though it's hard to fly on the day of a show, it was the best and most economical way to go about it. Fortunately we didn't have to leave early the next day! May 16, 2009 11:01 PM: Long day as usual. I looked at the check from last night and the moron didn't write out the correct amount! So we had lunch at a Viet Rest while waiting for Chris to bring the check. Jimmy had a meltdown over being treated badly yesterday. If only he understood, like Mitchell, that responsibility has a lot to do with your actions on the road. You cannot bring what's home along (like your problems and your women) and expect to be treated as if you are one of the group. Sometimes your actions interfere with your judgement, and considering how hard it is to travel, that is just not acceptable. However, no ...

Date: May 4, 2009 11:48 AM Topic: Jazz Fest It's been a busy few days since returning to Louisiana from Knoxville. The band arrived on Thursday night, flying from Nashville to MSY. On Friday, we all met up at the Acura Stage for our 12:30 set. Then we had to sign the Grammy winning CD at the NOJAZZFEST tent. Then we set up and sound checked at Southport Music Hall. We were the opener for the subdudes that night. That show went OK and we sold several CDs. On Saturday morning, we had a 10:30 set at CC's Coffee House on Esplanade. We sold several more CDs there and played for about 50 minutes. Saturday night we played at the Howlin Wolf in Mandeville for a crowd of about 15 or 20. Sunday we were rained out at Fest For All in Baton Rouge. The end of the tour! It's good to be back home and getting some much needed rest.

Travel day back to Louisiana. Still working out the details for this weekend. JazzFest is always a hard logistics festival, but we'll get through it.

Date: April 29, 2009 11:54 PM Topic: TN Shines, Knoxville, TN The day started with the Blue Plate Special on WDVX in Knoxville. This was a live broadcast both though the radio and on the internet. This was a good show. The DJ took us to lunch before we had to rush to the Bijou Theatre to do a sound check for Jim Lauderdale's TN Shines radio show. The band got a standing ovation after the short set, which means we need to come back to Knoxville for a regular BeauSoleil show sometime soon! Tomorrow we fly home to New Orleans. Big weekend in SE La coming up!

It was a 6+ hour drive from Willesboro to Lexington to do the Woodsongs show. We did drive through Harlan and Hazard, and for a while I was living out Merle Tracis' Nine Pound Hammer. Even saw a 'Fresh Beer' sign: get a little brew. The show was very professional and efficient (it was their 522nd show). The theater was sold out and we did sell a few CDs after the performance. Got a FB comment from some people from Opelousas who were unable to get tickets. Today: driving to Knoxville for the Blue Plate Special and the Bijou Theatre.

Date: April 26, 2009 10:17 AM Topic: Merlefest Day 1 Big day at Merlefest. Way too many groups to see and hear but nonetheless an interesting afternoon. Doc looked great and played wonderfully. I got to hear a bit of the Docabilly set. He really loves rock and roll! Hell, he loves music and likes to pick, simple as that. The workshop was good and well attended. We just played for 50 minutes and there were even a few questions from the audience. Since Tommy had left his snare at the Music Factory, he played a box. I really liked that a lot. The dance set was just that: a straight dance. I think we wore out the crowd, as there was barely 15 seconds between songs. I don't know how you could dance all that much after being at the festival all day, but I guess that's what youth is about. We were done by 12:10 and back at the hotel by 12:45. It was a long day. On Sunday, most of the big acts had left, and some of the vendors had gone as well.  We played on the Watson stag...