On Thursday, January 25, 2024, at the Eno House Artist’s Den, I played my first show of the year. I opened for Nikki Meets the Hibachi and played for about 45 minutes.

I hadn’t ever performed at Eno House, so I had no idea of what to expect. I arrived straight from work. I caught a little rain on the way but had no stuffy traffic. Waze took me directly to the the venue without issue. I parked right in front. When I got there, John and Elaine from Nikki were finishing up their soundcheck. The club owner invited me to play the house Steinway piano, which I welcomed.

I checked a few songs and felt comfortable with how things sounded. Playing an unfamiliar piano comes with its own challenges. A real, live piano is a living, breathing thing. It has its own personality, its own temperament. My Yamaha travel piano has weighted keys but no personality and the temperament of a koala bear. The piano at Eno House was like a strong but delicate tree. Each key was weighted just a little differently from another.

After soundcheck, I enjoyed catching up with folks I hadn’t seen in ages. The last time I opened for Nikki was thirty years ago at the Skylight Exchange in Chapel Hill, NC. People arrived in twos and threes and mingled, talking of times past.

A piano/vocal set is something that would be difficult for me to play on the fly. I planned out my setlist a month in advance and had it in stone the week before. I’m new to piano as a performing instrument. It’s not like guitar for me, which I sometimes zone out on while playing. The set had a nice design, too. I put four familiar songs among the unfamiliar ones. I played two new songs, “Evangeline” and “Crashed on Neptune,” as well as “Satellites.”

I’ve missed playing out live. I haven’t been performing as much as I like to and I look forward to more shows this year. Recording is fun and all. Playing online venues has its place. But playing original songs live to a room full of people who are actually listening is sacred. Coincidentally, Eno House used to be a church.