Liberian Orphan Aid Festival

Last Saturday I had the pleasure to attend a festival to benefit Liberian orphans in Cartersville. The festival was organized by Ernie Palmer and was held on the lovely grounds of Roselawn Museum. I decided to attend because many of my friends were among the performers. It was like a who's who of local songwriters. Many of these songwriters I had met through the Cartersville Songwriters Exchange. I was fortunate enough to see E.Z. Powell, Jim Haigler, Ernie Palmer, Debbie Grooms, Randall Collins, Michael C. Smith and Samuel Holladay perform. The Lacy Jags, a four piece electric band was playing when I arrived. Among the songs they performed were hits by the Black Keys, Lynard Skynard, the Allman Brothers.

I got a chance to back up Debbie Grooms and Randall Collins on several numbers. I almost always carry harmonicas to performances where I know the musicians. Debbie and Randall write their own material and their voices blend beautifully. Lots of fun!

My friend Lonnie from Cartersville Songwriters Exchange was there too, and it was fun to have someone to hang out with. Lonnie is working on learning the guitar so that he can put music behind the lyrics that he writes.

The event raised about $1500. We can all thank Ernie for doing such a great job organizing and running this event. I'd also like to thank the performers and the guys who set up the equipment.

Our Songwriter Showcase in Cartersville

Our songwriter showcase was a hit last week. A respectable crowd showed to hear myself, Jeff Putnam, Allen Hicks and Cindy Smith play some of our original music. I did O.K. for the most part except for my final song that I flubbed because I forgot the lyrics midway through the second verse. I was very happy to see some of my friends from the Atlanta area in the audience. The staff of Antoninos Italian Grotto did a great job. Randy and Patricia Owens as usual did a wonderful job promoting and managing the event.

In addition to supporting Jeff, Allen and Cindy I was honored to join Ron Caird and Tom Hamlin of Elderly Brothers fame on one of Ron's original songs, playing blues harp. I always get the most compliments on my harmonica work, and I am considering teaching harmonica to make some extra bucks. After all, Patricia Owens gave a local Cartersville newspaper a bio on me that said that I was a well known Atlanta blues harmonica player. A bit of a stretch, but I will take it.

As of this post, I am planning on playing next Tuesday at an open mic Ron Caird runs at The Place in Woodstock. Spread the word! Until next time... Davey Bryans (My new stage name).