Peanut Whitley ADD

A Day In The Life Of A Musician #79

04/12/2011 by Peanut

Greetings Brothers and Sisters.

Peanut here once again.

Well the Chris Puma & Stable Roots train touched down at Amos At The Lake in Charlotte N.C. (3/9/2011) and at Martini Kitchen in Richmond Va. (3/11/2011) for reggae Mondays.

Well, let's see.... we all met at my house to pack the van a head up to Charlotte which was a 5 hour drive. About 3 hours into the trip we started having some van issues. The fuel pump kept giving out so we had to keep stopping to figure out what was going on. Luckily we have Mr. Rasta Good wrench himself, Guitarist Greg Ward ha ha on board. He went under the van and took off a piece to see if that was the problem but it didn't work. We all decided we are this close let's just get to the gig and figure it out afterwards.

Reached the gig at sound check time and unloaded and sound checked. It went over well. The venue was a nice place and the vibe felt good. Nice sound system as well. We all ordered some food and chilled till show time.

Soon they where ready for us. Started out the night with Rockfort Rock instrumental featuring solos by Saxman Jones and Greg Ward. That got the crowd and the vibe right as we brought on Chris Puma with Feel This Joy into Reasoning. The crowd loved it. I could tell the band was having fun playing in Charlotte for the first time.

The first set had the dance floor packed the whole time and having the crowd asking us where are you from and please come back. Always good to hear that kinda of feed back.

Puma had them in his hands. He has such great stage presence and the people really felt it. The band was sounding great as well Jayson on bass, Brent on drums, Greg on guitar,Saxman Jones on sax and myself on keys,

We ended the first set with Love and Hate.

At set break the promoter came up to me and was like: "man I got to have you guys back for sure. I love you guys. You guys bring the energy and the message." I told him thanks as I went into the dressing room to get some water. Soon it was time for the second set. We started out with Come Around which mashed up the place right into Roller Skates that kept the vibe and energy high.

The rest of the set we did songs like Front Door, Too Experience, Suzy Wong, Broader Than Broadway, Waiting In Vain and originals like I Can't Wait, When The Morning Comes.

Man I must say, Charlotte was full of vibes and speaking for the band, we shall return to do it again. Big Up Charlotte massive.
Well the next gig was at Martini Kitchen for reggae Monday's. As usual reached and set up and ordered some food at the Chinese spot around the corner. Puma, Greg and myself ate there and talked about the music. Reached back over to do sound check. Didn't have alot of time till the show started. The vibe was irie. Crowd was starting to flow in early. Started out the night with Queen Of The Minstrel Instrumental featuring Ras Mel and Saxman Jones on solos.

Then we brought on Chris Puma. Right from the start the vibe was right and the crowd responded. The whole first set was full of vibes and the crowd kept coming in. Original songs like Nice Thing,Be A Day,Feel This Joy,Reasoning went over well. Covers tunes like Beware,Stir It Up,Jah Live,I Feel Good,Can't Stop A Man went  over well. Puma was in fine form and the band followed right behind him.

At set break i got to reason with alot of the elders in the place. It was so great to see alot of the Richmond Rasta Community starting to come out and support Reggae Mon.
Soon it was second set time.

Started out with Come Around right into original tune Much More which got the place rocking again. The energy was flowing and the people where ready to dance. Can't Be My over and Too Experience mashed up the place as well.The whole second set Puma had the crowd singing and dancing with him. The vibe was nice.It felt good to see everyone enjoying themselves. I want to big up all the Rasta Elders and Sistren who came forward. Please do come back.

Ended the night with Murderer featuring solos by everyone  which had the crowd mesmerized. Afterwards we packed up and chilled for a little and headed home.

Blessing until next time Peanut.

Bless