The home stretch! Days are starting to run together, sunrise has come to mean bedtime, instead of breakfast time, Steve’s home has become our home away from home, and we’re loving every minute of it. The past two days we’ve been in and around Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I’m pretty sure we played the Julep Room on Tuesday night…maybe. Then on Wednesday, we took a band field trip to the Walter Inglis Anderson museum where we learned all about the famed Gulf artist. We spent the afternoon admiring his life and work. That night we treated the Porter Avenue Bistro to a four-hour set. The long timeslot allowed for some performance freedom, and, as a result, the swanky bar was presented a set from the original Star & Micey three-piece, which proved very nostalgic, in that, the original trio had not performed by themselves in quite a long time and they broke out a number of songs they had kept in the vault for a while. Next up was Aron Shiers, then a Big Star tribute featuring J.B. with the guys, then Jeremy Stanfill with White Lightning, then came this tour’s wonderful incarnation of Star & Micey. The show was an outstanding display of the immense talent in this remarkable group of musicians.
The night was even further augmented by the kind people of the Lazy Magnolia Beer Company. They provided discounted brew for the band, as well as the guarantee that for every beer we consumed, they would let us keep the glass in which it came (see picture). We played until about 2:30 in the morning, and then made our way back to Dewittland for one last night. The following morning and afternoon were extremely bittersweet. I cannot emphasize enough how hospitable and phenomenal Steve and his family were. It was an absolute treat and privilege to stay with such a kind group of people. Thinking about how we could possibly pay them back for their compassion, we decided that there existed nothing materialistic that we could purchase that could demonstrate the immense amount of compassion that we felt, so instead, we decided to write the Dewitts a song.
As I type, Uncle P is leaving Baton Rouge after we were attacked by the sound system at the North Gate Tavern last night. Tonight The Baressi Crew plays Neutral Ground Coffehouse in The Big Easy. There is no telling what kind of swirly nonsense we’ll come across. Stay tuned.
Love as always.
-Connor
