eddie from ohio journal August 30, 2004

Greetings Friends, family and fans of EFO!
It's Time for another journal entry.
It's been a while since our last one, but that doesn't mean we haven't been busy!
Our 9th album is finished!!!! It's off to the manufacturer right now. We're sure that you'll love it, love it, love it when it comes out.

We did have a couple shows this month. First ... The Shenandoah Music Festival in Orkney Springs, VA. It's a very small town near Bryce, which is known as a great ski resort in Va. (which always makes me laugh if you've ever been skiing in the Rockies, you know what I'm talking about!). We performed in a giant barn at an Episcopal summer resort, I think it was anyway. It was a wonderful day after the last batch of hurricanes, so we had cool, cloudy but no rain weather. It was a great show for sitting on a blanket and listening to music in the Blue Ridge Mountains. For us, it's a great way to prepare for our next gig ... Wolf Trap!

For those of you who might not know ... Wolf Trap is a 7,000 seat amphitheater in Vienna, Va. It's a federally owned music venue that hosts acts from the National Symphony, Riverdance, Trisha Yearwood, The King and I, Lynard Skynard to ... well.… us! It's got to be one of the nicest places we play! Not only is it very nice but its right in our backyard! All of us in EFO have been to many shows over the years at Wolf Trap. We recorded parts of Three Rooms there as well, so, it was great to be back!

It figures that after a whole summer of mild weather, we would have one of the hottest and humid days on 8/28. Oh well, what did people do before air conditioning?
We had a very special guest with us. The very talented and very hot Natalie Mcmaster! I seem to remember writing about her in another journal before. Anyway, she played a fantastic set, ending with a standing O' ... Great job, Natalie!

Time for our set. I don't know exactly what to say. It's the greatest moment right before you go on for a big show, when you realize after all the years of practicing, playing crappy gigs, driving all over creation, you're about to do what you enjoy and savor and dream of the most ... Playing in front of your hometown crowd filled with family and friends.
It is exhilarating!!!!!! And filled with funny EFO moments. Right before we went on, Julie realized she could see through her dress! That would wig me out too, but Mike seemed to think it would sell more product. I'm not a good judge because I never see her from the front (that's right male EFO fans, eat your heart out!) I think once we went on, she looked Lovely as always and no one could see more than they supposed too. Not like Falcon Ridge, right Julie?

So here we are playing our set and it is just flying by! The night is just too short if you ask me. One of the greatest fan to band moments happened when Mike discussed the hopefulness of Joe Gibbs being back with the Redskins and dissin' Dallas at the same time. I think that was the loudest the crowd was all night long. We do love our Redskins around here.

Another great moment was Natalie coming out to jam with us. She played Train song and I guess we were so pumped up, that it was very rapid! She had a difficult time but she sounded great. It was great to watch her crinkle her forehead while she played all the fast runs! I don't know how she does it. Then, she joined us on Baltimore. What a great performance! She added just the right touch and the whole being Irish thing and the night… It was just amazing! One more great moment for me came when Mike was talking about the other performances at the venue. One of them being the King and I. Robbie was joking about seeing him in the performance as the King and Mike, without missing a beat said; "Robbie, don't worry, Yule be great!" ... yet another great crowd reaction of oohs and aahs. Nice one, Mike.

So we wrapped the show with Old Dom. Come together, Farmer Brown and America the beautiful. What a great time! I hope that everyone who was there enjoyed the show too!

Now it's off to Pagosa Springs, Co. for one of our favorite festivals, Four Corners. Aren't we a lucky bunch! I know I say that every time, but I think we all feel it's true.
Be safe, love life and we'll see you on the road!
Take care!
Eddie and the gang in EFO