JD Souther

[sodascouts]

Just got back. I had a great time and I'm so glad I went! More details after I get some rest!

[Outlawman13]

I'm so glad that you had a great time Nancy!!!!! Can't wait for your review!!!!

[sodascouts]

It was a really cool experience! I had no idea what to expect. As I said earlier, I had just found out the night prior that JD was going to be playing the Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville the very evening I was arriving back in the city from Columbus. It seemed meant to be that I go! Even though I was tired and feeling a bit raggedy, I decided I couldn't pass up such a fortuitous circumstance. I drove over and lined up at about 4:30 for his 6:30 show.

Since I wasn't a part of Tin Pan South, I got let in after all of those folks - and the place only held about 125 people. However, luck was on my side! Not only did I get in, but a nice older lady who was a TPS Sponsor and thus had one of the best seats in the house let me sit at her table since I was by myself.

The only problem was that the seats were in the round, and I happened to be behind JD's back! Still, with a little craning, I could catch his profile. In the picture below, you can see me over the shoulder of the lady in the red shirt behind JD, a bit out of focus. The female singer in the hat in Sarah Buxton. The other featured performer was "Big Al" Anderson, but he's cut out of this photo.



Here's a photo the kind lady who let me sit at her table took:



The performers took turns singing lead but they all played on each others' songs. The songs JD played were:

Simple Man, Simple Dream
I'll Take Care of You
New Kid in Town
The Sad Cafe
I'll Be Here at Closing Time
White Rhythm and Blues
Heartache Tonight
Best of My Love

Each got introduced with a little story.

Simple Man, Simple Dream: Warren Zevon was hanging out with him one time while he was getting interviewed and when the interviewer asked JD which of his songs was his favorite ,he told them "Well, they're like my children, I can't pick a favorite..." (sound familiar). Zevon interrupted and said "I'll tell you which one is your favorite: Simple Man, Simple Dream... because it's the shortest!"

I'll Take Care of You: He first brought up the Eagles intro'ing this. He said "No offense to the Eagles, but after the Dixie Chicks covered this and it made so much money, they became my favorite group!" Then he paused and said "Then the Eagles put out Long Road Out of Eden which had a couple more of my songs on it and they became my favorite group again." He was laughing, of course. Also he talked a bit about that songwriting trip he took to Cuba in the nineties because that's when the Dixie Chicks' cover of ITCOY came out.

He claimed he had a new song he wanted to play but he couldn't do it because he hadn't yet decided on a title. He also admitted he only had 97 words, lol. He then apologized for his voice; apparently Nashville's recent pollen invasion had affected him and his voice wasn't what he'd hoped. Additionally, he was in bad shape because his finger kept bleeding. He said the skin was thin and kept breaking; the bandaids kept giving out and it was hurting him to play. Luckily replacement bandaids were donated for him, poor guy!

New Kid in Town: He into'd this by saying that he enjoyed writing songs with his "dear friends" Glenn Frey and Don Henley and that he'd come up with the basis of the music, which he called a "Mexican Ranchera" song. He said when he took it to Glenn and Don they were really impressed and gave "the universal sign of approval" (I didn't see what that was). He also mentioned the documentary and said that recently, he'd been interviewed by someone who'd asked him, "How do you feel about the fact that a lot of your best work was recorded by the Eagles instead of you?" JD paused and then said to us, "I think he expected me to complain." We laughed and JD continued, "If you can have a great time making music with your friends and make a lot of money as well, then there's no reason to complain."

After the song was over Big Al, who is HILARIOUS, joked "Hey, you know what JD, that sounds like a hit to me. You just gotta get it to the right artist." We were all laughing at that!

The Sad Cafe: JD said he started out a drummer but that was too loud. He and the man who was playing keyboards had some confusion about what key the song was in, and JD offered to just sing a different song, but the keyboardist told him he'd just transpose it in his head. JD joked that not too many people could do that any more and quoted Bill Anderson who'd said "I only know three chords, but I know where to buy a capo!" Once they finally got everything straightened out, the song worked fine.

I'll Be Here At Closing Time: It turns out that he really did see a waitress with a sexy walk who carried the water in a way he found suggestive, lol, and he decided to write a song about her! He said the restaurant is closed now and he said the name of it - it sounded like "Saney's" but I have no idea if that is correct because it was hard to make it out.

White Rhythm and Blues: Tech problems pre-empted the story for this one. While waiting for things to be fixed, he joked that Big Al was "an interesting bunch of guys." Hmm, where have I heard that before?

Heartache Tonight: He talked about how much money he made from his Eagles songs, and how nice that was, lol. Unfortunately he only sang about half of this as he forgot the words! I wanted to shout them out but I thought that would probably be rude. Ah well, it was still fun.

Best of My Love: he ended by thanking the NSAI for supporting musicians in the community with Tin Pan South and its other ventures, and said he was going to do this song because it was "expected of him" and because it made him so much money.

BTW, Nashville fans - Sam Palladio was there, sitting at the bar just like everybody else! I said hello to him while I was waiting in line for the ladies' room (the line wrapped around to the bar area where he was - they only had a single toilet!)

Before I left, I screwed my courage up and approached JD as he was putting away his guitar. I waited until he was done talking to Al, then asked if I could take a photo with both him and Al (I didn't want to be rude by excluding Al). However, Al was already walking away and so it wound up being just me and JD after all! I posed next to him and pulled out my phone to take a picture of us - only to have it crap out. The battery was too low for a flash! I took a photo anyway but it didn't really come out. I was bummed, but other people were waiting and I had already taken enough of his time. I turned to him to thank him and he commented that it wasn't really focused, and I sighed "Oh well. I tried" then made to move away. I guess to make me feel better, he reached out and pulled me into a tight hug and even gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was surprised and delighted, lol.

I'm so glad I didn't go straight home from the airport and hung around a few extra hours to see JD! It was WELL worth it!

PS - if you ever go to Douglas Corner Cafe - eat before you get there! Their pizza tasted like microwaved cardboard with a splash of Ragu and cheese -and it was burnt to boot! I know, I didn't go there for the food, but it was the worst pizza I had ever had in my LIFE, and it left a nasty aftertaste that lasted until the next morning even though I drank a large soda and had some french fries on the way back to try and get rid of it.

To end on a positive note - can't wait until I get a chance to see JD perform again!

[RebeccaLovesEagles]

Soda it sounds great. I'm glad you had fun and a hug/kiss you are a lucky girl

[Outlawman13]

LOL amazing stuff Nancy!!!!!!!! So glad that you got a kiss and a hug from the man himself. OHHH I would've loved to hear him sing!!!! You are too lucky!!!

[Troubadour]

Thanks so much for the review and pics, Nancy - great stuff! I'm so glad you decided to be brave and hang around. Sounds like it was well worth it.

[Brooke]

Wow, Nancy! How cool that he hugged and kissed you! You lucky girl! Too bad about your picture though. I'm so glad you stayed for it!

[mustangkim11]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/7c2417d29...po5_r1_400.jpg

Check out this old shot of JD and Jackson Browne I found on Tumblr. Whew!

JD was sexy back in the day and still is!

[Tiffanny Twisted]

Nancy,
I loved your review
and how exciting to get a kiss and a hug

[Prettymaid]

http://24.media.tumblr.com/7c2417d29...po5_r1_400.jpg

Check out this old shot of JD and Jackson Browne I found on Tumblr. Whew!

JD was sexy back in the day and still is!

Nice photo! And yes, in that picture I prefer JD to JB!