Les Jones

A&E > Beer Always Tastes Better from a Plastic Cup

Just got back from the Bela Fleck concert in downtown Knoxville. We saw a lot of our friends there and had a good time. There are lots more good shows this year. The Gillian Welch/Mindy Smith show is a must see for us.

Speaking of which, Melissa ran into one of her friends from open mike night from years ago, and she had a funny story. She was in Nashville and ran into their mutual friend Mindy Smith (see here and here), not knowing that Mindy signed a recording deal and had appeared on The Tonight Show. She told Mindy, "hey, I'm performing at Dollywood, if you need any tickets, let me know." Mindy's response was "Um, I sing with Dolly Parton now, so I'm probably set on Dollywood tickets."

Melissa's friend says Sharky's on Alcoa Highway has a good open mike night on Mondays.

Back to Bela Fleck. In college I was the science editor for the student paper, but I occasionally wrote other stuff. One time a bunch of us went to Chattanooga and saw Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. After the show I finagled my way to the band and interviewed Fleck. This was possible because a) I said I was a reporter, and b) proved it by producing a tape recorder. Being a reporter gives you amazing access to talk to interesting people. I miss that.

I did write up the show and interview and published an article in the paper. I still have that interview tape. I listened to it a few years ago and realized something. I was wasted when I was talking to Fleck. It didn't seem to faze him. Lots of entertainment reporters must be wasted.