Gerald has recently started co-writing with Tom Manning. Tom is best known around town for his Tuesday night songwriting workshop, and at one point, he also had a publishing deal with the late, great Buddy Killen.
Well, tonight, Tom was booked to play in the early show at the Bluebird. When Gerald and I said we'd love to come and see the show, Tom told Gerald to come prepared to sing a song!
This is a common thing to see in Nashville. Someone in the round will give up one of their songs to let a promising songwriter friend come up and do a song. It's just one more sign of the friendly and generous atmosphere here in this city.
Gerald has written 70, yes seven-zero, new songs since moving here, so choosing just one is always an issue. He settled on a really new one, "Whiskey and Dragonflies". I love this song - it's very cool with a Tom Waites feel.
The whole round was fantastic. Mersaidee Soules, the host, and Lisa McCallum both performed in the round before us at Tin Pan North in Toronto, so that was very cool. Both women are great performers with killer voices. Trent Jeffcoat rounded out the group with a great voice and fun songs. He had a gorgeous ballad called "I Let Her" which is just waiting to get cut. Tom's songs were hilarious, my favourite being "Prenup", and yes, it's actually about getting a prenup.
Gerald stepped in about three-quarters through the show, and he just nailed it! Yes, I'm biased, but I'm also a performer, and he nailed it! His guitar playing was spot on, his vocals were strong and flexible, and his entire performance was committed and passionate. Even his stage presence entering and exiting the round was great. The audience gave him a terrific response, and several people stopped him after the show to pass on their compliments.
I was just so proud of him! My only role for the night was to look pretty and support my husband, and I couldn't have been happier with it! It's been so amazing to see him creating all these fantastic songs. But then to see him play them in public, and get such a strong response, well, that's just awesome!
It's just so satisfying to get these moments of confirmation - We're in the right place. We're doing the right stuff. We're on the right path.
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