again. I hope she has a great life. Speaking of conversations, my friend
Craig Stevens, who I was visiting, has never met a person he won’t engage in conversa- tion, or at least attempt to. I often accuse him of being a closeted journalist and critic. He is very opinionated on the subject of music, and always willing to give his honest opinion. I
ate dinner there, and I truly enjoyed the baked salmon and veggies. Good food. Good music. That’s the Birchmere. Paul Thorn was his usual awesome self,
and his band is the best this side of the Pecos. We had a nice backstage visit, where Paul and the band were enjoying dinner. It was great seeing Paul and his partner in crime Billy Maddox again, as well as all of the band guys. All nice fellers. Opener Bonnie Bishop won me over in one set and made herself a fan for life. After the show we drove back to Craig and Belinda’s casa and I climbed the stairs to my temporary Buffalo hut. I was out like a light.
Saturday brought day one of my
The Paul Thorn Band and friends backstage pre-show feast at the Birshmere. (Photo by Buffalo).
like that. He is one of the biggest sports fans I have ever met, and knows the history, stats and names associated with most all sports, especially college football. Quite an interest- ing guy who I may have never met had he not read my Prisoner of Southern Rock book. He was happy to see that I had listed Richard Betts’ Highway Call among my all time top ten Southern Rock albums, so he reached out to me, and we have been friends ever since. Craig picked me up at the airport and
we went to lunch at a groovy little restaurant called Clare & Don’s in Falls Church, Virginia, a kind of beach hut located nowhere near the ocean. After returning to his home in Fairfax, Virginia where I said my hellos to his sweet wife Belinda, we rested a bit and then headed for The Birchmere in Alexandria, VA to see the Paul Thorn Band and my new she-ro Bon- nie Bishop. (See On Stage review this issue) Craig and I met some very nice people that night, and sat at a reserved table with some friends of Bonnie Bishop’s guitar player. We
“tourist” mode. We put the vehicle in the wind on another beautiful sunny day, and pointed the grill in the general direction if Shenandoah. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to the north by the Potomac River and to the south by the James River. The cultural region covers a larger area that includes all of the valley plus the Virginia highlands to the west, and the Roanoke Valley to the south. It is physiographically located within the Ridge and Valley province and is a portion of the Great Appalachian Valley. Named for the river that stretches much of its length, the Shenandoah Valley encompasses
Majestic view of the Shenandoah Valley. (Photo by Buffalo).
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72