Concert promotion is a strange gig. You worry about everything except what the concertgoers care about.
I’ve worked on concerts before, but this was the first show with Eddie & Agnes, the new partnership with Agnes Scott College, Eddie’s Attic, and Verb productions. Leading up to the concert, I was concerned with ticket sales, underwriting spots, newspaper coverage, giveaways, and tuning riders, giving very little thought to actually seeing George Winston play.
Eddie and I helped him load in. I expected him to be professorial and taciturn, in fact he turned out to be quite loquacious, with a good sense of humor.
At about 6:30, half an hour before doors, he sat down to do a final tuning check on the revamped Steinway. He started playing around—casually, just checking out the instrument. I thought that was a great chance to check out the sound around the house—back under the balcony, left side, right side, balcony.
I wandered up to the back of the balcony, sitting in the seat furthest from the stage to get a sense of how an unamplified show was going to sound in this old 850-seat house. The short answer was “better than my wildest dreams.”
Concert riders are considered proprietary, and details are generally not disclosed to the public. But saying that George Winston cares about his piano tuning isn’t giving anything away. So we paid to have a good serious tuning done to the Steinway, and it was worth it.
I sat in the worst seat in the house, and listened to this master play around with a beautiful piano in its prime for about 20 minutes, and suddenly remembered why we started this concert series. Sound filled the room, warming the big empty space. Winston is an unusual piano player. He walks out on stage, stocking footed and casually dressed, somewhat disheveled, and he limits his comments between songs. But his playing is singular, nearly perfect, and transporting. Whether it’s a seminal track from his breakthrough album December, or his take on Professor Longhair or even The Doors, he brings a warmth and friendliness to the instrument. It’s no wonder that he has focused on Vince Guaraldi’s work of late—they both share a joy in their instrument that you see more often in guitar players.
Winston occasionally pulled out his unusual 7 string guitar or his harmonicas, but it will always be his piano work that captivates.
Talking with him afterward, he expressed how much he liked Decatur and the hall. He even asked if he could play the following night down in Madison in another venue Eddie’s working with. I can’t help but think he walked into a Piano lounge somewhere between here and his next gig in Richmond and started playing just for the fun of it.

Inspired by the seasons, solo pianist George Winston plays over 100 solo piano concerts a year in America and beyond. His concerts feature a variety of styles, including his melodic folk piano, stride piano, New Orleans R&B piano, Vince Guaraldi’s Peanuts pieces and more. His new CD entitled LOVE WILL COME – THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI, VOLUME 2 will be released in February, 2010. In concert George will be performing songs from his upcoming CD, as well as selections from his seasonal favorites AUTUMN, DECEMBER, WINTER INTO SPRING and SUMMER, as well as his themed albums FOREST, PLAINS, and MONTANA - A LOVE STORY, and his albums dedicated to composers: LINUS & LUCY - THE MUSIC OF VINCE GUARALDI, and NIGHT DIVIDES THE DAY - THE MUSIC OF THE DOORS.
George Winston kicks off our new series of concerts, Eddie & Agnes, on February 23rd at 8pm. When I was used record store geek in Ithaca, NY in the 80's, I sold many, many, many copies of George Winston's records. Perhaps only Springsteen outsold him in that store. He defined a sound that many continue to emulate, and he is one of the most noted pianists of the last 30 years. It is an honor to kick off this series with his performance.

After 20 years of flirting with each other, checking out each other's talents and parking lots across the railroad tracks, Eddie and Agnes are gettin' hitched, and Verb is officiating.
We posted the wedding announcement in the AJC yesterday, courtesy Jamie Gumbrecht.
These two are made for each other. Agnes with her stately 817-seat Presser Hall, flawless sight-lines, gorgeous windows, comfy seats and great acoustics. Eddie with his expertise, experience, charm, and rolodex. Like Sam and Diane, Ross and Rachel, you can only wonder how it took so long.
We're working on several concert bookings right now, and we hope to have butts in seats in mid-to-late February.
One of the reasons I came to Atlanta over 20 years ago was because of the vibrant music scene. And Trackside Tavern (then managed by Eddie) was a magical place for me back then. The level of talent played on any given night is staggering. Everyone in Atlanta has heard the stories: The Indigo Girls, Sugarland, John Mayer (used to work the door), Shawn Mullins. And Eddie carried all of that with him when he moved up to Eddie's Attic.
I've always wanted to find a way to work in music promotion, but it is famously a nasty, cutthroat biz. The folks at Agnes Scott and Eddie's Attic are a dream team, and I expect this to be a great, lively series and a really fun new addition to the cultural scene in Decatur and Metro Atlanta.