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I made my first return trip back to the Charlotte, NC area in 8 months, and boy it was good to be back. In addition to our yearly show at River Run Country Club in Davidson and Midtown Sundries on Lake Norman, The Goodfellers and I played at Whisky River in Charlotte for the first time.

This club, owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr, is right in downtown Charlotte, in the heart of it all. Pulled out of my drive at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at Whisky River on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. show. Needless to say, set up and sound check were a blur and luckily the backstage green room had a shower (and a beer fridge) so we could get ready right at the club and hit the stage. Got to meet NASCAR driver Dick Trickle Wednesday night and I’m pretty sure he is officially a Goodfellers fan now. I also got to watch my band ride the mechanical bull after the show and I’m happy to report that there is no need to worry about any of them leaving the band to join the rodeo circuit.

I turned into Joe Pesci for a brief moment after finding out the hotel we were booked in had oversold the rooms and we were being re-routed to a spot down the street. But, we ended up in the right spot the next day thanks to the tenacity of Brett Cohen (btw- everyone needs to find Brett on facebook and tell him he needs to manage the band full time- he’s a bad ass). Night 2 at Whisky River was even better than the first night, with a few more people crowding the stage. I’m hoping for an October return to the club. It was an awesome time.

I spent Friday out on the lake thanks to Tammy and Chris and some new friends, George and Wendy. The money in this business isn’t always great, but the perks can’t be beat! Sometimes I feel like I’m living the Big and Rich song “Living In The Big Time” which is basically about how he doesn’t make a ton of money as a musician or have a lot of “toys”…but he has lots of friends that do! Thanks for the boat ride guys! Lake Norman is beautiful. If any of you ever get a chance to head out that way, I highly recommend making your way on to the water.

Friday night was the River Run show and we had another great turnout. Usually it takes a little while for the show to get ramped up at this venue, but once it’s off and running- look out! This time around though, people were ready to party from the first down beat. Thankfully, we did not set a new JD drinking record (last time the crowd helped us polish off 5 bottles, this time was only 3). This show is still one of my favorites of the entire year.

We spent the day Saturday watching Brett’s son play baseball. A bunch of the parents from the team were at the show the night before and we thought it was only fair for us to sweat out the poison from the night before with them. I’m not sure what kids eat these days, but they weren’t even teenagers yet, and there were at least a handful who were as tall as me (not that it’s terribly difficult to achieve that). You should see these kids play! Christopher and I are thinking about a name change for the team though. Maybe something like The Gold Glove Goodfellers? Black and white uniforms of course. I guess we may have to lose the girls from the logo though. Oh, and everyone would be number 7.

We closed out the night and our trip at Midtown Sundries on Lake Norman. I was amazed (and impressed) by our crew who made it out again on Saturday night. We had quite a few fans who made it out 3 out of 4 nights and a select few who made it 4 nights in a row! Well done guys. Gotta love playing right on the lake too.

I started some fan appreciation drawings at the shows where we select a few fans each night to get an autographed CD and a drink from the band. Check out the album with our featured fans from the Charlotte shows.

Thank you to Whisky River Charlotte, River Run, Midtown Sundries and all the people who come out to support us every time we are in the Charlotte area. You all continue to have some of the best hospitality and I can’t thank you enough for being part of the Goodfeller family.

NASCAR driver Dick Trickle with me and Rook