Pittsburgh

Well hello all. After reading Lauren’s last post, I apparently am now responsible to tell you all about our trip on Saturday! My pleasure...

So we left on Saturday afternoon and drove down with Aunt Kim and Uncle Daniel and Danny and got into Pittsburgh (after a short detour due to a faulty GPS reading, which was rather hilarious) just in time to see Susan Tedeschi and the band do their sound check. We walked in and it was so cool to be there on the stage with them while they were playing. One of the songs was so amazing I almost started cheering when they finished. That would have been pretty embarrassing considering there wasn’t really anyone else there. I suppose I should mention that the reason we were able to be there for soundcheck and get to meet the whole band and everything is because Toto, Uncle Daniel’s son, plays bass for her.

Probably the best part of the whole thing was how cool everyone in the band was. As soon as sound check was over they all came over and said hi and introduced themselves and seemed so grateful and genuinely excited to meet us.

We went to dinner with them and Lauren and I got to sit next to Dave the guitarist who was a great guy and so cool to talk to. I’ve been around a fair number of bands and have never found one that everyone was so nice. I know I keep saying that but I don’t know how else to put it. I was just so blown away with how they received us and made us feel so welcome.

Then was time for the show. After hearing the sound check I was really excited and they absolutely did not disappoint. They were incredible. There is such a difference between “performers that play music” and “musicians”. This was a band of musicians. You could tell that they were having so much fun doing what they love. Susan has this phenomenal HUGE voice for being such a little lady (just like Lauren!) and the rest of her band was awesome. There is usually a point during almost every concert that I’ve been to where it’s like, “ok, this can end whenever, I’ve heard enough” but not this one. Lauren and I agree that we could have listened to them for hours.

Another really cool aspect of the whole night was that Uncle Daniel brought his bass down for Toto to play. This is quite the huge deal because Uncle Daniel’s bass is a 1962 Fender Jazz bass. I don’t want to go in to too much detail but let me just say that it is very very valuable not only in monetary terms but much more so in sentimental value. This is the bass that Uncle Daniel has had his whole life and career as a musician. It is pretty much irreplaceable. There had been much speculation as to when (if ever) Toto would get the bass passed down to him. Well, this was the night. Toto played it for the whole show and then when he was finished and giving it back, Uncle Daniel told him to keep it. Toto was like a little kid, so excited. It was a pretty huge moment to be there for. I dunno, it was just cool.

Overall, the whole experience was super inspiring. Both for Lauren and I. As most of you know I’ve been playing bass for about 8 years now and I’m currently learning how to play guitar. As I mentioned before, Lauren has an INCREDIBLE voice and loves to sing. We’ve talked a lot about taking time and writing music together and getting more serious about it, but we never seem to find the time. Like I said, this weekend was very very inspiring to both of us and motivating for us to make time for that to happen. Hopefully once we’re married and living together it’ll be easier to find the time.

So... yeah. Great weekend. Probably the BEST concert that I have ever been to (and I’ve been to quite a few) and probably some of the coolest people I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

A huge thank you to Susan and her band and Aunt Kim and Uncle Daniel for letting us tag along :)

tim.