Class, I'm your substitute, Mr. Mottley

Karma. Serendipity. Luck. Random.

People have a lot of names for random events that seem to emerge out of nowhere or happenstance. And I have the great fortune of experiencing many of these myself. I was first introduced to Tony Jackson because of my friend and neighbor who happen to know him, which lead to me playing with the band.

Last summer, my wife Lindsay and I had a wonderful afternoon at Upper Shirley Winery, looking over the James River and listening to a really great acoustic trio performing. They played a lot of the same songs I play in my sets, and did some cool arrangements of them. The group was called “Blair’s West”, made up of husband and wife Beau and Blair, and I made a point of walking by them on our way out to say “Great job”.

Fast forward to this summer, and I need someone to take my spot for a private gig. The AMAZING Susan Greenbaum stepped up and I can’t thank her enough. However, just a day before the show, she came down with a terrible sinus cold. (I could nearly feel the nastiness through the phone! Glad you got better Susan!)

I put out the SOS in searching for someone to pick it up, and the name Beau came up again. Beau couldn’t do it, but that lead to a series of text messages. As it turns out, Beau was in need for a sub for a bass player for a Blair’s West gig later this month! And since I’ve been playing with Tony Jackson on bass for so long, he asked if I’d be willing to sub with them. So, class, meet your new substitute!

I’m really excited to be playing with Blair’s West. They sounds great, and seem to be great people as well. So check out the band if you get a chance to see them live.

And until next time, keep your eyes open for the positive karma, luck, serendipity or random that may fall your way.

CM