September 22, 2003 - Fayetteville, AR

THIS IS THE DAY EVERYBODY'S BEEN WAITING FOR!! Our first overnight stay! The ride to the next gig is so short that we can stay the night in Fayetteville and leave for Little Rock, AR in the morning. And we each get to have our own hotel rooms, even if it's only for 7 hours, we're excited about that. The trip to Fayetteville took longer than expected. There was a lot of traffic on I-40 West and there was construction on the street of the venue. Also, as we pulled up to the venue which was the Dave's on Dixon, there was an accident right out front. So I got off the bus and I walked to the University of Arkansas bookstore to see if they had any good music theory books and then, since the bus was stopped behind the accident I walked to the venue. When the bus finally got there we set up and were ready to go very, very fast. Victor even commented on how fast we set up.

I realize that I hadn't even commented on food yet in this tour Diary - that's because I haven't really had the time to get out and enjoy some good food. But after we got set up, 5 of us went back to the hotel and along the way we scoped out some restaurants. Divinity and I decided we would go to a Thai restaurant that wasn't too far from the hotel. Once I got in my hotel room I was so excited about having my own room that I unpacked all of my luggage. I put out my candles and my incense, my books and all my CDs and stretched out on the bed like I was home. I took a shower and walked over to the Thai restaurant, but it was closed, so Divinity and I decided to go to a Mexican restaurant that we saw. We went back to her hotel room and ate and the food was very good.

After we ate we caught a cab back to the venue. We performed the show and it was really great. I know I keep saying this, but this band is SO good!! I've been with Victor for 4 years now and this is the first tour that I've been so comfortable that I don't freak out before I need to play or solo. I spotted Sabrina Lafield from Bass Camp in the audience so I ran out and gave her a hug. When I got back on stage I pointed her out to Victor. He told me to bring her on stage - I knew she would be nervous and say no, so I told her to follow me to the side of the stage to talk. When we got to the side of the stage, he introduced her and invited her out to sing a song that she performed on jam night at Bass Camp, which was Stevie Wonder's 'I Wish'. She told me she'd be more comfortable if I invited her boyfriend up who is a singer. So together they both sang that song and it was really cool.

So here's to all the Bass Camp alumni - there is a chance you'll be called on stage so be ready!! So far on the tour 2 Bass Camp alumni have been invited on stage and that's not including Divinity. Later in the show, Divinity asked me how many black people did I see in the venue and I said 6 and they're all on stage holding instruments!! She started laughing! But later I spotted a cute black waitress and later found out her name was Mallory and I saw another black woman in the audience also.
After the show the band signed a lot of autographs and this one woman kept hitting on me big time! She was kind of persistent even though I told her that I was married. I guess that means that I still got it!

(uh huh…yeah - you're gonna' get it all right…!)

After the show I went back to the hotel room and lit my incense and candles and called my wife and we talked for a couple of hours. I finally got to bed at 4:00AM. I had my alarm set for 8:30 so I knew that I was only going to get a little more than 4 hours of sleep, but other than that it was a great day!

peace & blessings,

anthony