Any chance to see Lyle Lovett live in concert is a must see. This extreme talent forges between Texas Troubadour, Minister of Gospel, and Folk musician extraordinaire. I was on the team when Lyle Lovett and his large band broke and earned him a Grammy for Best Country Male Vocalist. Waters run deep with emotion and Lyle is no stranger to it in his writing. A master story teller; watching Lyle, live performing songs by Lester Young, Bob Wills and Guy Clark makes you lean in a little more. Meeting Lyle at the Greek Theater in Berkley was a moment I’ll not soon forget. Quiet, Introspective, intelligent he made us all feel welcome, especially when one of my guests said her mom was a huge fan but was running late and missed the access to get backstage. Lyle said wait a minute let’s go find her, and he proceeded to venture to the stage and look for her mom. Gracious and kind Lyle spent the next 30 minutes entertaining us with “Tales from the Road” he called them. Taking the time, speaking to each of the individuals who were our guests Backstage, he made an impression on all of us. By the way this was preshow, so after speaking to him and then watching him perform we all were mystified.

A friend is a huge fan of Vince Gill and so am I. Vince was on tour and came to Oakland Coliseum Arena. He was open to receiving guests before show. I have to admit that most of the artists who come out of MCA Nashville are gracious, courteous and humble. Is that just a Southern thing? We made our way to the back stage greet and meet “Green Room”. It was stocked with refreshments, couches, flowers, Nintendo video games, chairs, lamps and table tennis. There was food, candy and beverages a plenty. After a while Vince popped in with other band members and started mingling. He made the rounds meeting everyone, posed for photos, signed autographs and hung out. I got to spend a little more time with Vince when he said to me “hey are you hungry? I said “Oh yeah” He said follow me…we made our way over to a hospitality table which was set up with a Panini press. Vince said how about a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. So there I was having Vince Gill prepare these sandwiches, and tell me he was so happy that someone else wanted to eat with him.We talked about the traditions of before show and he said “ I like to eat before I hit the stage so I don’t have hunger pains and my stomach does’t growl.