I'm gonna start right off the bat with a big Thank You, or Thank Yous, as we say in Bawlmer, Merlin. Thanks to WJZW in DC for setting the Blues Alley gig in motion, thanks to WSMJ in Bawlmer for the support of the show, thanks to all who came out--Ohio, Rhode Island, New York--people came from all over--and Big Thanks to Blues Alley, a place the New York Times calls ...the finest jazz and supper club in America. Blues Alley is a great little club in Washington, DC, right there in the heart of Georgetown, my favorite neighborhood in the area. Except when we play at Blues Alley, they might as well call it Booze Alley. Our bar tab was $75 Saturday night. And that was half price! Man, did we have fun. Did we? I don't remember... Blues Alley has a cover charge and a minimum. The minimum is $10, which means you have to drink $10 worth of booze before you leave. When we play there, they should put us on a maximum. But, about the show... Saturday night was slammed, jammed, full of people. The first show was sold-out. WOW!!! I gotta tell ya, whenever we play we have fun, especially these days. The Boys in the Band don't get to see each other that often, even though we talk on the phone all the time. We're best friends, and we love playing together in the band, so when we get to play a place like the legendary Blues Alley, we really look forward to jam-a-lammin'. Blues Alley is small--it only holds about 100-125 people. So it's got that intimacy that is hard to find when you see U2 at Wembley Stadium.

George (Hazelrigg, our pianista) was really looking forward to playing the acoustic piano--Blues Alley has a great Yamaha C6, and Georgio loves acoustic pianos. Synthesizers? No comparison. Gimme the real deal. And John E Coale is a drum nut. He makes his own drums by hand, and has a drum-making place in this old factory down in Greektown in Baltimore. John E made a kit just for Blues Alley, they use it as their house kit. But John wanted a different sound Saturday night, so he brought in another set of his drums, took the house drums down, stored 'em upstairs, and set up another one of his kits. I told you he's nuts. But he takes a whole lot of pride in his drums, and in his playing. Ain't none betta. John E was looking sharp in a black pin-striped suit with matching purple silk tie and hankie. He looked like he just stepped in off the set of the Sopranos.

Hit Man Howie Z was BYOB. Bring your own bongos. Howie plays the bongos, as opposed to the congas. Why? Because bongos are easier to carry than congas, I bet. I'll ask him next time. Howie is a natural on the bongos. He crouches over those things, and he has one hand on the bongos, one hand with a tambourine, and he has a little foot pedal that's hooked up to a woodblock, and when he starts rolling on all three, it's a sight to see. A veritable Rhythm Machine.

And Kevin Levi? He was happy to be back on the East Coast, where people are rude, rushed, confrontational, and condescending. Home Sweet Home!!! Chocky (his nickname) has been living on the West Coast for the past year or so. But he's an East Coaster, no doubt. Except Kevin is quiet, for the most part. He lets his horn do the talking. And there ain't none better than Chocky on the alto sax. We played a show with David Sanborn a while back, and David had his manager find Chocky and bring him on the bus. David gave Chocks a boatload of compliments. That's how good Kevin Levi is. And me? I'm the weak link in the chain. I play the bass the way Elvis played guitar. But what I lack in skill I make up for with enthusiasm. I gotta tell ya, I love leading the band, if nothing else. We play everything by ear. It would be a lot easier to use our hands... I tell the band at the beginning of the set what the first song will be, usually right before we go on. From then on, I just call songs off as I see fit, usually at the end of the previous song. The Guys never know what tune is next, or who's gonna solo for how long, or what the hell is gonna happen. I like it that way. Keeps the BOYS on their toes. A funny thing happens when you've been playing with the same guys for 6 years--you develop a sense of intuition, a sense of where solos are gonna go, where to get soft, when to get loud--the band becomes a living, breathing thing. And you know what a living, breathing thing needs? A drink, maybe? Saturday night was great. We went outside after the first show, and there was a line around the block for the second show. People probably waiting to get their money back. I gotta tell ya, the second show was pretty darned good, if I may say so myself. Pretty darned crowded with a rowdy crew. We didn't do the same songs as the first show, we mixed it up a bit. Slim Man has released 7 CDs. Bona Fide has released 2, with the new one "Soul Lounge" scheduled for a July release. So we have a lot of stuff to choose from. And we take requests, and in the second set we had some wacky ones. One guy wanted to hear some Lynyrd Skynrd. One gal wanted to hear Boz Scaggs. A gal from Jersey had a request--she wanted to know where George lived in Jersey. I told her the Molly Pitcher exit off the New Jersey Turnpike. We had a request for some Led Zeppelin. We did Kashmir. It was a little long, but folks in the audience started lifting up their candles from the tables, and it was pretty funny. But the Slim Crowd is always on top--a bunch of witty, good-looking, above-average, hip, sexy people, who know how to have a good time. Our Peeps!! And what a great time was had by all. Man!

I stayed at a nearby hotel that Saturday night. I was exhausted after the show. The night before (Friday), I went out to a great restaurant in Annapolis (O'Leary's) to see a friend (Wil) who Maitre' D's there. Will had a new baby. I took him a gift and a card, and when I was licking the envelope, I cut my lip on the paper. That was right after I cut my pinkie finger on the same paper. Paper cuts. I could hardly open my mouth Friday night, which was a good thing for my friends. Saturday they felt a little better, but not much. And Saturday night, right before I went to bed, I stubbed my toe on the hotel coffee table. I smashed it full-force. It swelled up to the size of an eggplant, and was about the same color. And Sunday night, when I was shaving (my back) I cut my neck, right on my Adam's Apple, with my razor. I have one of those razors that have fifty blades, and I had quite a cut on the front of my neck. I looked like Luca Brasi in Godfather 1, after they...well, maybe not that bad. But in spite of all my life-threatening injuries, I made it through. Sunday night at Blues Alley was a little more laid-back. There were about 40-50 people in the house for the first set, and we gave 'em a show. One of the many things I love about this band, is they never let up, they always give their all, always go for the high notes. And even though Sunday was a little more chill, the band still took it to the limit. One more time. The second Sunday show had about 20 people, 20 very enthusiastic people, by the way. How enthusiastic, you ask? Well, those 20 people bought 15 CDs...a woman tipped us $100 after the show, even after we refused it more than twice (the tip, that is), and the bartender gave us a huge compliment and free drinks. I gotta admit, we had a little too much fun Sunday night, jokin' around and playin' up a storm. Howie and I drove home together, got back to the Slim Shack around 1:00 AM. On Monday, I was T-A-R-D. Tard. Real tard. I unpacked the Slim V. Hickle and went down to the cemetary. Monday, April 18th, 2005. One year ago today, my Mom passed away.