St. Pete we can’t wait to see you Feb 3rd @ PUSH ULTRA LOUNGE!

What Napolatanos did was set up all their outside patio tables, and spread them across the back lawn(Garden) which created a beautiful ambiance to go along with some beautiful people I might add! There honestly is nothing better than being outside 70 degree weather, with the sun going down, and your family and friends in good spirits listen
to songs. Can’t beat it!

The first 10 people that showed up got a free CD, of which I’m proud to announce I sold out of! THANK YOU GAINESVILLE! Some people even after getting free cd, came up and bought another, which is another reason
why I love playing back home, because the support is unreal! There were little kids playing in the background, the high-pitched laughter always makes the scene friendly. Have you ever thought how life would be if there were no kids laughing…THE HORROR!

The highlight of the show was this nice young woman, named Lisa, came up and asked me if I would play a song. The funny thing about that, was at the beginning of the show I kindly persuaded the crowd NOT to request a song, because of the awkward moment it presents when I don’t know said song. They experience the “Deer in the headlights” look from me, and then instantly I’m not so cool, and at the same time once I see that in their eyes, my defensive walls emerge, and I think that they are just needy! I’m JOKING PEOPLE! This moment, however, Lisa was asking me to play good old “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison. I tell you the last time I played that was probably 10 years ago. Regretfully I declined, and yes, she was LET DOWN, then in came the awkward moment, which was intensified after she let me know it was her Birthday. So, I put my ego aside, and gave it a go…Its amazing the human brain I tell you. I actually REMEMBERED the first two verses, and the crowd was singing along in my weak, at best, attempt to give the Brown Eyed girl what she wanted on her birthday! Notice how I said I remembered “the first TWO verses”. I didn’t attempt the third. It’s like poker, You got to know when to fold ‘em, so I got out when I looked like I knew what I was doing!

All in all, Napolatanos LOVED the crowd that came, “You sure do bring a crowd!”, and I made it home safely. It was a great time with over 100 people throughout the night coming to watch! I can’t wait for the next one!

CMc

And if you haven’t already, be sure to download my latest CD Just Live – now on CD Baby:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/chrismccarty2

http://cltampa.com/tampa/chris-mccarty/Event?oid=2510077

The last day we played two shows for the beautiful people of Salina. The first show we were on the main stage, and it was PACKED! A great thing about being at a festival for three days straight is by the last day me and the guys are “Dialed in”. When you play loose, that is when there is more of a chance for the magic of music to be heard and seen! At the end of the show I believe that I was selling my latest cds for close to an hour!

The second, and final show was one for the ages! We played on the last stage, and got a warm introduction from the stage manager. When I looked out into the crowd I saw so many people from the previous shows, and there were a bunch of kids sitting down in front of the stage. LOVE IT! We ended up playing longer than they asked, because the audience was chanting, “Encore! Encore!”. What a feeling. There was a young woman that attended ALL of the 5 shows, and during the show I gave her a “Chris McCarty” T-shirt, it was the least I could do for her making me feel so special. After the show I sold the rest of my cds. It’s a thing that makes you believe even more that you are here for a real purpose, and have a gift that others see and believe too. I can’t thank the people of Salina more. You all were great, and I plan on seeing you next year!

CMc

The second day we were scheduled to perform only once, and this time it
was at 4pm on the main stage. Saturday festival shows always seem to be
the biggest in attendance, so I was anticipating all of those lawn seats
to be occupied, and I was right. I was in a great mood too, because My
dad, Step-Mother(Ma), and two baby sisters(17+12)were there too. There
really is nothing like the support of family to help get you through
whatever it is you are going through!

The show was full of energy! At one point I was dancing so hard My guitar
strap came off, and I nearly dropped my guitar! Luckily, I was born with
ninja type reflexes, so no harm was done to either me or the guitar!
There was this guy dancing, well..popping and locking, which always
leaves me dumbfounded. I had no idea that my music was pop-lockable!
Anyways, I couldn’t resist, so I jumped down into the crowd and started
breaking it down with him, but this guy mistook my good nature/clean fun
to ,”What? You want to challenge me Rasta!?” So, Buddy( he looked like a
“Buddy”, not to be confused for “Bud”
(www.tmz.com/2008/11/06/this-buds-for-you/)starts…Gyrating and
does..SOMETHING to my hair? So, all I can think to do is revert back to
those ninja reflexes, and grab his arm, twist myself into a circle,
forming the illusion that I am spinning his arm around, then I back away,
act like I am grabbing pistols from my imaginary holsters, and then take
aim. The crowd loved it, but Buddy wanted revenge. I on the other hand
was thinking the opposite, so I jumped back on stage, where I was…out
of..bounds? Picked my guitar back up, and continued to the end of our
time.

When the show was done, there was a line of people that literally stood
waiting to buy a cd, and I was so grateful to have my sisters there to
help sell them! This literally went on for 30 minutes, and for that I
say THANK YOU SALINA!

It was 2 in the am and I needed to get my tail moving to Tampa to catch my 6:40 flight. I pulled the ever-so familiar “all nighter”, filled up my tank, said my goodbye’s, and made my way to TPA. When I got there I was very excited that 5 Hour Energy kept me alive (for the time being) and I met Corey And Thomaz for our first flight together. I am not sure how they had as much energy as they did. As soon as I got myself situated on the plane, I hear Thomaz cracking jokes with the Flight Attendant, and Corey has this lady, who was originally wearing one of
those…night..shade..glasses? awake, drinking WINE and laughing uncontrollably!

When we finally landed in Omaha I was surprised to see My Dad waiting for me at the airport! What a great feeling! We had 4 hours to drive to finally get to Salina, and didn’t waste much time getting there. Our first performance was at 11 am.

Our first performance was on the Eric Stein stage (Main stage). Honestly the first show was ROUGH. I’m pretty sure that we all were very tired from the early trip, and losing an hour, but some people had a good time.

It was cool to see that the majority of the festival attendees all got there as soon as the park opened, planted their lawn seats in the desired places, and LEFT! So, we played to a few faces, and a bunch of chairs, but Thank God that was the way it worked! Because the second show that day pretty much rocked!

The second show was on Stage 2, which was underneath a fairly large tent, but had many people sitting closer to the stage, so it gave a very intimate feel, which I like. There is something to be said about being closer together, as if the energy in the room is not so spread out, and loose. I could try better to explain it, but everyone that was there knows exactly what I am talking about. We were pretty much on it, and finally it felt like the three of us were one. Gotta love it.

To be continued…