Nashville and Ben Wisch

Arrived in Nshville for the North American Folk Alliance two days ago. Its been a hectic time with little sleep. Its hard to desribe this event but imagine around a thousand singer/songwriters with little box`s of CD`s trying to get on in life and you may get some idea. Its a bit of a zoo but a friendly one. I was fortunate enough to have been offered one of the major showcases a while back and thats why i`m here.I got twenty minutes to play to a big hall of a lot of influential people in folk/roots/acoustic music in N.America. I have to say it went very well, got a couple of standing ovations, one after playing the Great American Novel (second song) and at the end following The Good In Me Is Dead. It made for a nice moment. Eight years ago, i toured with Art Garfunkel and the last thing he told me was to `go to Nashville`. I dont think he meant for this particular conference but in a way i felt like i had done as i was told and we will see what happens. Have talked with Agents and Record companies and will chew it over in the coming weeks. I have also played a number of very small showcases that are set up in the rooms of the hotel here. At one of those came my old friend and `Being There` producer Ben Wisch (www.benwisch.com). I hadnt seen him for ten years and my first thought as we greeted each other was of all the gigs i have dome in the last ten years he decides to see me play to a handful of people in a hotel room!! It has been so good to hook up with him again and over some lunch today we talked about the possibility of working together again. We also had a great talk about the fun we had making `Being There` in 91, strange to be both still at it all 120 months later. Strange also to be in the USA right now. The media is of course covered in the `war` story. Some of the coverage i find bizzare and i could write a lot. However, George Bush is flying into Nashville on Monday to speak at the National Christian Booksellers convention where he will no doubt be applauded for all he is doing. I`m hopeing to bump into him at the airport as i fly to Toronto, i got a song to sing him. Ok, i`m off to my last showcase, at 2.00am in Suite 1813. It can all be pretty surreal sometimes.