"Jammin with my BFF A.C."!
So, this past saturday night I'm playing at the Bellini Lounge in Mayville, NY. It's a decent crowd and everything's going fairly smoothly. I'm playing well and in general everybody's enjoying the atmostphere in the room. So, I get into my second set and after about 10 minutes a young lady (probably 19-ish) sits on the couch directly in front of me. 5 minutes later a young man (probably 22-ish) joins her. Then, after that song the gentleman immediately strikes up an arousing applause and bursts out with "Dude, you're really, really great man! I love your stuff!" (nicely though, not inappropriately). I exchange with "Thanks man, I'm glad you like it. And that's cool that you sat at the couch cause many times people don't sit there and I've always felt it to be the best seat." Good solid chit-chat. And I can tell they are genuinely into the music. So, then for the next 40 minutes or so, I'm really having a great set, and the couple and I are continually talking and having an interesting connection. I'm thinking "Do I know this guy from somewhere? He does seem kind of familiar. Quite an outgoing, kind of peculiar fellow indeed, but still cool. Blond, kind of scruffy." He even gets up at one point, turns around to the entire room and yells, "Hey, are you guys listening to this guy. He's great. Stop talking and listen up!" After which, I diffused with "You're fine everybody. Please eat, talk, listen if you wish, and enjoy yourself." The room goes back to where it was, thank god. But, he meant well.
So, set 2 is over. I get off stage and immediately meet the couple, who since then have been joined by an older couple (like grandparents older). They are all very nice. Then, I head over to the bar where all the waitresses and the bartender are gathered in a huddle and talking frantically and pointing at my new friends. They go, "Kev do you know who that is?" I reply, "Um, no". They say, pretty much all at once..
"That's Aaron Carter!"
So, now obviously I'm a little taken back. And not to be dorky, but in an odd state of shock. For those of you of who don't know, Aaron Carter is pretty much a pop star/ teen celebrity, if you will. He's sold millions of cds, dated Lindsey Lohan, been on reality tv shows, and most girls between 10 and 18 would know him (not exactly music for the 33 year old male), but an impressive resume nonetheless. And his brother Nick Carter is a Backstreet Boy. And it kind of made sense all at once because I did know that his grandparents (now obviously the older couple) lived at Chautauqua.
Here's where it gets interesting. I walk back over to the couch and am like "Hey man, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. I just thought you were like a local dude or something." He laughs, and says "Why do I look local?". I'm like "well, yeah". (Don't ask me what all that meant). Then he's very enthusiastically telling me I'm like the next Jim Crocce, and that I need to hold on to my dreams, and have faith in myself, and that my opportunity will come, etc... All very nice and supportive, and I do think he was being genuine. I'm serious, he was a very nice, kind of odd, dude (a good odd though). So then I'm like, "Hey man, there's a piano here. Wanna jam?"
Next thing you know it's me and Aaron Carter playing together as a duo, him singing and on piano and me on guitar. We play a couple songs, which was really 2 musicians just jamming and having fun, no different than any other musician friend I know. At this point the whole room has kind of taken on a "What the hell is going on in here!? type of atmosphere". Afterwards we glow, he puts my contact info into his blackberry, and he promises to call me (which I highly doubt will happen), and he, his girlfriend (who turns out to be his backup singer), and the kind grandparents whisk out of the room as the attention now has most definitely turned to them.
I do my 3rd set, with a huge, inside perma-grin on my face, telling myself "I can't believe that these weird scenarios like that just pop into my life like that. That was the strangest, funniest, experience I may have ever had, especially for being in Mayville, NY." It still makes me laugh to think about it.