Mouth of the South

About 10 years ago, right after I'd turned 50, my kids were old enough to get in and out of the tub without my help. And given my bride, Tybee, is a teacher, Nate and Rebecca had access to far better help with their homework than their daddy could provide.

Feeling just a bit superfluous around the old hacienda, I began frequenting open mics in Winston looking for places to play my songs. Lo and behold, the music scene in the Twin Cities was far more robust and vibrant than I ever imagined.

Along the way I met and got to know some wonderful musicians who, almost to a person, became even better friends. Two of my best friends in the world, Johnny Hoots and Bubba Spear, have been playing with me off-and-on for about five years now. You saw how good they are if you were at the book launch for ACC Basketball Book of Fame on Sept. 11.

We go by different names. Sometimes we're the Slaves to Fashion, sometimes the Pair-a-Dice Palookas, sometimes the Spudtowne Tuberdours and sometimes, when I'm feeling especially political, we're the Whiny Billionaires. Well when we play the soundtrack to ACC Basketball Book of Fame, we're the All-ACC Hotshots.

We got together over a Bubba's yesterday to sand down the set for a show we have scheduled for Friday, Jan. 3 at Chelsee's Coffee Shop on Trade Street in Winston. Hope you guys can make it, and as an added enticement, we videotaped a version of one of the tunes, Did the Mouth of the South Really Write Porn?