I've been drinking diet coke lately. I'm not sure why. I've always been fundamentally opposed to diet drinks, mainly because of the horrible chemical taste so I'm not sure how this snuck in. But you know what? That diet coke chemical is totally addictive! I crave it fortnightly... (Also Mexican food and breakfast at Bongo Java coffee shop have been high on my list of things I didn't realize I spend so much money on each week. If anyone ever wants to meet me at Bongo at 7:30 AM someday or at La Hacienda for lunch, just say the word and I'm there.)



So The Broadcasters and I played at The Basement last night, or rather, early this morning. We didn't take the stage until after midnight. I think we started playing about 12:15 AM or so. To those tireless folks who stuck around: Thanks. We could not have anticipated that it would be such a late evening. We certainly had a good time in our set and we enjoyed relaxing beforehand while acts like Repent Or Forever Be Damned and Korean Is Asian performed. I've decided the ONLY good thing about being last in a weeknight lineup of 8 bands is that you don't have to rush your set once you get up there. To those folks who could not make it through and decided they had to leave before we played: Thank you for making the place look really full for the bands who played before us. My favorite of the "Sorry we can't stay" apology excuses was "My designated driver is leaving." I have to assume that the designated driver had borrowed a Metro Bus for the evening because I think I saw about 20 folks leave in that exodus. Yay designated drivers. Boo designated bus drivers. Maybe Grimey will let us come back and play in the middle of the evening next time.



So speaking of decent time slots, we're playing a real show at Cafe Coco this Friday night with Elizabeth Foster opening at 8pm. This is going to be a rocking show, possibly our rockingest to date, as each show we play rocks with a rocking that outrocks the last. Those of you who may have seen me do my "guy with a guitar and his eyes shut because he is trying to remember his not-so-complicated-but-still-hard-to-recall lyrics" may scoff at the idea of a rocking Tom Yarbrough show but what you are failing to realize is that I now front a very cool band called The Broadcasters who refuse to not rock, but rather, insist on rocking. The Broadcasters are Jonathan Surratt on drums, Aaron Sands on bass, Kenny Meeks on electric guitar, Robert Phaneuf on mandolin, and yours truly on electric and acoustic guitar. I think everyone except Jonathan sings at some point in the set and that is only because Jonathan's deal with the devil when he was offered his magic rock and roll drum powers involved the exchange of his voice box for enchanted drumsticks or something of that ilk. (I forget the story because Jonathan mimed the entire account for obvious reasons and quite frankly, I'm sick of people who talk with their hands...)



All that to say, even if you have seen me play before you really ought to come out and enjoy the show Friday. The cover charge is $5 and simply allows me to pay The Broadcasters a love offering for their rocking ministry. Elizabeth Foster is always a treat as well, with her southern sensibility and her easy-going presence. I never get tired of that gal, I tell you. 

By the way, my wife and I found out that our third child, due this fall, is a boy. So for our family that will put the score at 3 to 2 in favor of boys. But for the record, my 5 yr old daughter is still the coolest of cool. I caught her singing "Shake It Off" from the latest Wilco record the other day. She totally played it off by claiming it was "stuck in her head." I said "It's ok, sweetie. Don't let the Nashville elitists make you feel like it's not cool to like Wilco anymore." She responded by giving me "Star Wars Kisses" which was accomplished by kissing the tune of the Imperial Death March on my cheek. I'll bet John Williams never gets that kind of treatment from his kids.