The Goat is Dead! Long Live the Goat!

Yes, the goat is dead. Friday night I went out for the first real haircut I've had since college. While I was being fitted with a new haircut, we removed the goat. I say "we" because the removal was witnessed by a stunned crowd of onlookers. I swear to you on my life that the girl cutting it was shaking a bit. In hindsight that totally makes sense because upon meeting someone for the first time, it's downright rude to ask them to remove your goatee.

The first few hours were freeing indeed! We rolled the windows down in the car on the way home so I could stick my head out the window and feel the warm autumn breeze on my newly shaven chin.

I had "phantom beard" for a spell but it passed quickly. Bob Flowers had offered earlier in the week to take some new photos for me on Saturday so the timing worked out quite well. The photo above is from Bob.

I guess the most poignant moment came on Sunday morning when I was eating toast and I realized how wonderfully the goat use to capture the crumbs from the bread hence saving them from my shirt. I will tame you once again toast.

On Sunday I also recorded a song called "Guilt" that I had written a few weeks back. As this was the weekend for new adventures, when I tracked this song, I approached it in a way that I've never done with any other song I've recorded. There's an mp3 below so please feel free to check it out.


:: Josh Preston - "Guilt" ::

Say It With A Song!

My set for Shakespeare In The Park got rained out last night. Looking forward to trying again next year!! To sum it all up w/ a song, below is a link to a song by Travis called "Why Does It Always Rain On Me". More shows happening soon so don't forget to check the Tour section on joshpreston.com!!!


:: Travis - "Why Does It Always Rain On Me" on iTunes ::

Josh Preston opens for Shakespeare In The Park TONIGHT!!!

Josh Preston will perform the opening set tonight for The Nashville Shakespeare Festival's presentation of CORIOLANUS in Centennial Park, Nashville, TN!! The show starts at 6pm so come early for a good seat as this is the last weekend of performances!!

(Please note: It's been raining here in Nashville this morning but the show is still on as of right now. If you're planning on coming out and want to make sure it's still on before you leave, please check out http://twitter.com/joshpreston for up-to-the-minute info!!)

RIP Jerry Reed

Jerry Reed was the man. One of the many reasons I married my wife was because she could sing all the words to "East Bound and Down" unprompted. Above is a clip of him playing with Chet Atkins. 10-4 Good Buddy.

How I Killed The Planet on My Labor Day Weekend

I'm fairly certain that posts of this nature will be few and far between but I'm not promising anything. This little tidbit has been burning me up all weekend and I figured this was a good a place as any to share...

So, this weekend Bean and I decided to celebrate our anniversary as our real anniversary date fell in the middle of the week. Sunday, we packed ourselves into our slightly-larger than compact car and drove the speed limit to the Cool Springs Mall.
I know. Clearly a very "un-rock" thing to do but it's getting harder and harder to hide my growing lameness.

After a leisurely stroll through the aforementioned mall and stuffing ourselves on faux Italian food, we decided to head over to the Barnes & Noble so I could grab a few copies of the most recent Vintage Guitar magazine featuring the review of Exit Sounds (one for the MATM files and one for my mom. hi mom). I also grabbed a UK design magazine that we've come accustom to purchasing. For those of you keeping track at home, that's three magazines.

So, I've got my magazines in hand and I'm heading toward the checkout. In this Barnes & Noble, there's a long line of cashiers and in order to get to the "Please Form Line Here" sign, I was able to scan the cashiers and many of them looked like pleasant and intelligent people. Of course, when it's my turn to check out, my cashier looked as though she was longing for the days when she used a ruler to slap the sh*t out of the hands of children. But hey, I try not to "judge a book by its cover" so - like nearly all social situations I encounter - I greeted her with a pleasant smile and a hello. When the response from our angry antagonist was not reciprocated, I knew this exchange was going to get weird.

First, like all B&N cashiers are trained to do, she asked if I was a card-carrying member of the B&N Discount Club. I cheerfully stated that I was not and that I was not interested today. This, clearly, was a completely unacceptable answer. With a prolonged sigh, Madam Frustrated told me that if I spent $25 to sign up, I would save 15% on my purchase. Again, I declined. Then, angered again by my unbending presence, insisted that I purchase a reusable shopping bag - adorned with a tasteless pile of B&N logo - so that I might "go green". Ok, at this point I'm at my limit but I continued to play the part of kind shopper. Again, I declined and then came the statement that will haunt me for the rest of my days....

"Can I at least get you to 'Go Green' by not giving you a bag?!"

Let me get this straight because I am a simple man with a simple understanding of the world in which I exist... You, Frigid Lady of The Register, emphatically insist that I 'Go Green' when you make a living from and are surround by A MILLION F***ING DEAD TREES!?!?!?!

I've given up on common sense and am buying a Kindle.

Hugging a tree,
JP