No bull

So, Friday, my band played at the local cowboy bar/live music venue.

That's us. Bridgett (on the far left) plays the drums and sings. Her harmonies rock. Plus she sings lead on a couple of songs, one she even plays the guitar on. Kelley Pants is our new lead singer. She's a great addition to the band. Great sense of humor which is mandatory for me. If you ain't funny, I ain't listening. I'm next to Kelley with Laurena on my lap (that's right, she's sittin' on my lap ... woo). Laurena plays the bass and sings harmonies.

They are three very talented women and I'm lucky that they let me play along. But it's not like I don't have my strong suits. I play with enthusiasm. And really enthusiasm can get you a long way (at least that is what I keep telling myself).

So Friday night's show was a long one for us. Three sets. No opening band.

We worked hard getting ready. Kelly had mere weeks to learn two dozen songs.

But we felt ready.

Unfortunately, we struggled through our first set and with parts of our second. I made some stupid mistakes and we just didn't mesh like we normally do.

After the second set, we were all feeling pretty down. I was determined that we were going to bring it around for the third set and knew that drastic times calls for drastic measures.

I rounded up the girls and suggested we seek an attitude adjustment from Jagermeister. The four of us bellied up to the bar and after a round of shots and some beer, we were feeling much better.

And in my case, much, much, better. It's been almost two years since I quit drinking.

I'd forgotten how much fun it was to feel the buzz only alcohol can bring.

Our third set rocked. We were loose, we played well and most importantly, we had fun.

The alcohol went to my head rather quickly and thin veneer of inhibitions cracked.

I wouldn't say I was out of hand, but I was very happy to tell the story of the time I peed into our now-abandoned tip jar in a moving vehicle on our way into San Francisco.

And I do believe I spent too much time announcing, "I like beeeerrrrr!" into the microphone.

After the show we spent a long time horsing around the bar, singing funk songs into the microphones instead of packing up our gear.

While it wasn't a great show, it was great fun.

Oh and to the disappointment of some, they don't set up their mechanical bull during live shows. Oh, well, maybe next time.