After a long day of work, I was pumped to be heading downtown for a gig I long looked forward to: Buddy Greene's CD release show at the Station Inn for his new bluegrass/acoustic album "Happy Man".
First, I'll disclose that I have the honor of doing radio promotion for Buddy Greene's "Happy Man" CD. But even as a regular fan, I would not have missed this show for any reason. It's been way too long since I heard Buddy play live--I think it had been at the last Gaither "Praise Gathering" event I attended a couple of years ago.
The place was sold out to capacity and people were being turned away. All of us lucky people who made it in were treated to an incredible evening of true virtuoso musicianship by Buddy and his two bands (yes, two sets with different bands!). All of Buddy's bandmates for the evening appeared on the "Happy Man" CD: Pat Flynn (guitar), Kenny Malone (percussion), Byron House (upright bass), Jeff Taylor (keyboards, accordion), Luke Bulla (fiddle), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Aubrey Haynie (fiddle, mandolin), Dennis Crouch (upright bass).
Some guest musicians stopped by also...it was great hearing Sonya and Ben Isaacs back Buddy on vocals on "Wrasslin' Jacob" and "Walkin' In Jerusalem" (joined also on this tune by Todd Suttles). "Hambone practitioner" Keith Compton sat in on "Little Rabbit". At one point in the evening, Buddy stepped aside and let his players shine on a little "Hillbilly Jazz", led by guitarist Richard Smith.
Along with the stellar musicianship, there was a lot of fun. The guys joked throughout the set and everyone had fun with the good-natured "Denomination Blues", a song described as an "equal opportunity offender."
My personal highlights: a beautiful rendition of "Hard Times", featuring Buddy and Jeff Taylor; Cajun boogie with "Happy Man"; and "Bonaparte's Retreat" which featured Buddy's harmonica wizardry and solid picking by the band.
I told myself I really should leave a little early because I did have to get up for work the next day. But there just was no way I could. I'm glad I stuck it out and opted for getting by on little sleep. Just like at "Praise Gathering", when we'd go out to eat after the evening concert and make it a late one, but got up early the next day because Buddy was doing the music for the early worship service. Sleep deprivation's a small price to pay to hear artistry like Buddy's.
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