Country Farms and a Methodist Brass Band!?

Yesterday was the busiest day we will have on the tour. We were originally supposed to have some clinics during the day and then an evening concert. The clinics ended up getting dropped for some reason and replaced with more performances. We played a one hour set at lunch time for a corporate office complex, a forty five minute set at an old country farm/event center and finally our featured performance. It was a long day of playing to say the least!

The "farm" that we played at was pretty cool. It dated back to the early 1100's and is still in use as a residence. The people that live there seem to rent it out for private parties and events. There were all sorts of beautiful gardens and sculptures on the grounds. The main buildings had not been modernized too much. The rooms that I walked through all appeared to be pretty much as they would have been in the 1200 and 1300's.

The final performance of the trip was at a Methodist Church in Durham. We ended up having a pretty good turnout and I think that people were pretty surprised by what they heard. The band sounded really good...check that...really, REALLY good!

During the performance I was having fun looking around at the looks on peoples faces. Nearly everyone was smiling! Also, nearly everyone was clapping or tapping something at some point in the show. We also had a contingent of teenage girls who would later horde us for autographs. Look out New Kids on the Block, Jack Brass is on the scene now. (editors note: If you have ever seen the JBB, you know how they could easily be confused with teen idols)

Anyway, the band has been a big hit. We have sold a lot of CD's, handed out cards and had many people comment on how they hadn't seen anything quite like it.