Now let me get to the really exciting part of the night, which started after the Neal McCoy concert. My sister and I drove on down to Terre Haute to catch the last part of the all day blues festival, Blues at the Crossroads, going on downtown. We got there in time to catch the last part of Governor Davis and The Blues Ambassadors. They were rockin’ as always. “Go Jim-my! Go Jim-my!”

While the Clayton Miller Band (CMB) was setting up, I worked up the nerve (with some pushing from my sister) to approach the guy photographing the concert. He had this gigantic lens and beautiful digital camera (the kind Mindy only dreams about). He let me hold the camera and gave me rough pricing of all the items. He was sitting up there with over $10K in equipment. I was floored. Well, I was so overwhelmed by his amazing Canon that I was speechless. I did manage to ask him who he worked for. He has about 5 jobs, but he does work for a local newspaper, Sports Illustrated, and other freelance work (like the concert). That’s just his photography jobs. I was really impressed.

The CMB set was indescribable. They are by far the most intense blues band I’ve seen. They were all barefoot. Clayton had his eyes, just jamming. LD was jumping all over the stage with his harmonica, while the proud dad just smiled whenever one of his boys had a solo. Cole’s vocals are so rough and raw. You can feel his words. When I watch them play, I just want to close my eyes and move to the music. You know, ever once in a while you hear a song or a band and listening to them feels almost like a religious experience. That’s what CMB is to me. They’re just amazing. What more can i say?

After the CMB set, my sister and I got some autographs and talked to LD. We were chillin’ on the curb looking at my pics when photo guy came up and asked if I got any good shots. Ha, I said I bet he got a lot more, so he offered to flip through and show us the 100 or so he had taken on the last card. They were really great. I can’t even guess how many photos/sec he was able to take. As he flipped through, it was like a movie. Well, he sat and talked to us for a good while. He had to get his equipment packed up so we walked with him to his car and ended up spending the next 3.5 hours or so with him. We had so much in common. It was crazy. He was funny, and he clearly enjoyed our company. (Who doesn’t? ha) He got us in to the VIP section later to sit, and we just sat and talked during the last show. (I don’t think I could have handled anymore of the drunken 40-year old men up by the stage anyway.) When 3 am rolled around, we all decided it was time to head home. We had an hour drive ahead of us. It was such a great night. It’d be cool if we could meet up with him again. I’d like to see more of his photography work, and I think he’d like to see more of my sister haha.

Oh yeah, and some British guy told me my hair was awesome. And we all know that the British have exquisite taste :)