About that Nashville music...

[Rip Lee]

OK LI Dog - I guess that's why I couldn't find you - had my PPL tee on and my husband was getting embarressed by my asking around "does anyone know LI Dog". You would have loved it The evening was pretty much sensory overload! The venue was great for music and the sound was outstanding. The music literally went on for about 8 hrs. The 2 rounds of songwriters I think gave a nice insider look into the music industry and they were great. Curtis seemed to be everywhere and put on quite a show with Shenandoah and then with PPL. Poco was outstanding - Rusty Young and Paul Cotton just keep getting better. Because of all the auctions etc our guys didn't take the stage till 11:30. They played the usual line up we've seen listed here but it was the first time I've seen them live in too many years to count and it was thrill for me. I had tears when they played Tears! Did get a couple of good pix and sound clips which I'll try to post soon. Lonnie Mac jammed with the band and kicked things up a notch. Does anyone know who that lady was who belted out some songs with Lonnie and Craig> Man, she could flat out sing! And Craig's voice sounded great and I'd love to know the make of his acoustic guitar - it rang like a bell. The evening was pretty emotionally filled with the feelings from the family spilling over to the crowd. Made it very special. Pat did an outstanding job - couldn't have been better except maybe if Reilly were there in the flesh. Hope it helped the big man emotionally and financially. Well, we stumbled onto the streets of Nashville about 1:30 a.m. and the town was still rocking everywhere you turned you could hear music. Have to return when it's not snowing!
Thanks, Pat for the opportunity to participate in such a great evening.

Rip Lee

[LJDJShow]

The Lady that got up with Lonnie Mack was Bonnie Bramlet.
She was good but the whole dang show was really good.
It was good to see a few of the guys in the crowd from Cimmaron a band that Curtis was with back in the 80's from Roanoke,Va.
Anthony Smith was really good to.

[LIDog]

Rip Lee,
I'm really sorry to have missed you. I should have posted something on the site about my not going, just in case. I definitely owe you and your husband one!
I know what you mean about "Tears". When they came up here in 2005, it was the first time I'd ever seen them, and I tried not to get my hopes too high about what songs they'd do. To see Craig do Tears was the greatest. I was grinning from ear to ear.
Hopefully, another opportunity (maybe based on a happier circumstance, like Mike's full-time return!) will come up, and I'll get to meet you.
Thanks for the cool descriptions of the night. It sounds like I really missed out, first on meeting cool people, and then on seeing Curtis doing his Superman impression!
Best wishes,
Dog

[Voiceman]

Hey Rip, thanks so much for the kind words. We enjoyed putting the show together as much we did doing it. I'm really glad you all had a good time. I think everyone did. The vibe was cool, I met tons of great folks and Mike couldn't have been happier. Most of the show was filmed in HD with digital sound tied into the board so be watching for it on the website soon. Thanks for coming al the way to twang-town.
Best of everything to you
Pat

[Tom]

Hi Rip,

You sure picked a fine time to finally get to see PPL again. Certainly, as the ads said, " the biggest night of the year in country music" in Nashville.I can't help but feel ill everytime I read a post like yours, knowing what I missed ! Just reading that phrase you used "we stumbled onto the streets of Nashville about 1:30 am...." well, that about sums it all up. I knew you were going and I'm so glad to hear you and your husband had such a wonderful time...and you wore your colors !!! Yes, those PPL tees go a long, long way. Thanks for such a colorful, vivid description of the evening, Rip.

LIDog, I know, I know. The phrase "next time" feels very old, outdated and shallow by now. But I can't help but think (really , what choice is there? ) that when Mike returns, yes, there will be a "next time" and we'll be there along with the rest of the prairiedogs.

All the best,
Tom