Not long ago, an interviewer asked me how many gigs I've done over the years, any my answer was
"somewhere between one gig and two thousand gigs". The truth is that I couldn't even guess at this
point. I don't play live anywhere near as much as I used to... partly because I spend much of my time
producing these days, partly because touring is a lot more exciting when you're younger and haven't
done it as much. (I admire -- and am amazed by -- guys like Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, who still tour
constantly after all these decades.) Anyway, out of all the gigs that I've done, maybe two dozen of 'em
really stand out for one reason or another. The show pictured above was one of those. It was at the
opera house in Magdeburg, Germany, in 2006. It was the only time I've ever played at an opera house.
The audience was split between people who came to see us play, and people who got their tickets as
part of their annual subscription... the rest of which were operas, classical music concerts & ballets.
I'm sure that a lot of them didn't know quite what to make of us at first, but it worked out great, and I
think we might have even converted a few people who hadn't heard much country and rock and blues.
From left to right: Joel Alan Lehman, Kathy Burkly, me, bass player Sebastian (hidden behind me), Gail
Lloyd, and Nils Tuxen.