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Fred, shared Valet of Chandler Travis and Bubbles in the Think Tank EAST, reporting for double duty.

Sure thing – let’s go play a few songs on Bubbles in the Think Tank to promote the upcoming Christmas Cavalcades on Cape Cod (Sunday 12/12 at the Jailhouse Tavern in Orleans) and in the Boston area (Wednesday 12/15 at Johnny D’s in Somerville), our upcoming show at the Midway Cafe, and our new CD, The Chandler Travis Philharmonic Blows! After all, we’re playing a Christmas party in the Boston area earlier that night, so it should be fairly easy to pop over to the studio after the party.

It all sounded so easy.

11:10pm. We’re still playing at the party.  Just a few more songs, though.  I’m a tad concerned.

11:43pm. I’m hitting the road, GPS guiding me, Berke following behind, sans GPS.  Phil and John are in separate cars, slightly ahead of us, one with a GPS (Phil) and one without (John).  Chandler & Rikki still need to load their car, but everything is packed up, and Chandler has a GPS.  I’m amazed we packed up as quickly as we did, but I’m starting to worry a little.

12:20am. Phil, Berke & I all arrive at the studio and let Belinda know we’re there. 5 minutes later John shows up. Still waiting on Chandler & Rikki. Belinda says that PaulieC, a BitTT listener who was at the party, is questioning whether they’ll make it in time.

Not too long after that, maybe 10 minutes, they arrive.

We get setup, tuned up, figure out what songs we’re going to play, and we’re on the air. I think just as Belinda’s on the air, you can hear a last minute question as to what song we’re playing first.

Somehow, we manage to fit 3 songs and some chat into the remainder of the show. A Christmas song, a song from our new album, and a silly song. A nice trio of selections that allow us to promote the Christmas Cavalcades, the new CD, and of course the something silly for Belinda.

“If We Can Just Make it Through Christmas” – a song of hope for this season of despair and turmoil. A big hit from the SonicTrout Christmas CD Another Christmas Gift For You.

“Anne” – originally commissioned by Chandler’s across-the-street neighbor for her 65th birthday. I think she’s already working on him for one for her 75th. A featured song (track #6, as Anne is happy to announce during gigs) from our latest CD The Chandler Travis Philharmonic Blows!

“Drunk Angry People Shut Up” – in which we categorize the various types of drunks we’ve encountered over years of playing bars.  This one’s fairly new, maybe just a couple of months old; I don’t even think it’s shown up yet on our Song of the Weak!!! page, where we often premiere new songs.

It was a fun night, both the earlier Christmas party and our appearance on Bubbles in the Think Tank. In hindsight, we were running a little more seat of the pants than Belinda would like that night.  And yet I think, as we often do, we made it work. As Berke asked as we loaded up our cars after the radio show, “Where do we play next tonight?”

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Chandler Travis: lead vocals, guitar, King of the World
Rikki Bates: moral support
Fred Boak: Valet and background vocals
John Clark: string bass
Phil Clements: keyboard
Berke McKelvey: clarinet and saxophone

Hear the full 2 hour episode of Bubbles in the Think Tank here!

And find oh-so-many appearances of Chandler’s songs on the show here!