Good Morning Texas
So last week, my friend Gary was in town for a couple of shows and asked me if I wanted to play Good Morning Texas with him: get up really early and drive all the way to Dallas for one song? Sign me up.
For those of you who don't know (I didn't), WFAA studios are located in downtown Dallas, right next door to the American Airlines Ctr. It's a really cool spot, and the floor-to-ceiling windows give you a great view of the city where I used to live. I showed up compulsively early at 7:30 AM and found Gary in the parking lot. We walked up to the outside door and knocked unceremoniously. We were obviously at the wrong entrance because a mildly annoyed Greg Fields opened it and said "I'm not sure where you are supposed to be but you can enter here" during a break between his tightly scheduled weather updates.
Before this performance I lived my life under the mistaken impression that I was organized and had a propensity to schedule things and make the most of my time.
Not so.
Compared to the production crew at Good Morning Texas, I am a disoriented sloth who daydreams. These people are literally running around nonstop (except for the talking heads ((their term, not mine)), going from one segment to the next all within a margin of error of about 0.3 nanoseconds. I was amazed at their efficiency, over-communication, and general level of stress. Everyone we dealt with was very pleasant, but too preoccupied with the nature of live TV and its demands to be too chummy.
That morning we were on right after a segment featuring a guy who makes vitamins for dogs. In the green room I chatted with a nice lady whose business consists of taking people to France to learn how to make fancy salads. #Dallas
Sensing an opportunity, I asked her "Eh bien, vous avez passez beacoup de temps en visitant l'Hexagone; est-ce que vous parlez français couramment?" She replied, "un peu." Well, I'll just wait for another time to make use of my bachelor's degree.
Anyways, it was a lot of fun to perform (believe or not) under the stress of live TV, and I always enjoy playing with Gary. As you can see, I wasn't absolutely essential for this gig as Gary sounds great all by himself, but I did appreciate the opportunity to be on TV, to adapt a part I play for a song to a different instrument, and to break out my favorite guitar, Lulu.
