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I’m fortunate, and my friend Brandy from Missouri would agree, that I live in an area of the country close to good venues for indie music. About 3 hours up I-75 from my home is a little cafe in Knoxville called New City Cafe. They’ve been bringing in quality musicians for more than 7 years, and there is absolutely no better indie venue anywhere. I’ve been to Knoxville many times in the past few years and have really come to love that place. Friday night I saw the last official show at New City (at least for a while).

Andrew Peterson and the musical genius Ben Shive played 2 shows at New City Friday night. Gabe Scott (the Legend) joined them, bringing back old memories of AP’s early years. Eric Peters opened the evening.

Eric gets better every time I hear him. Ben joined in on some of Eric’s songs and really did a great job of making the songs sound even bigger. Eric did a wonderful job, and he made me realize that I need to see him play some more. Eric told me a little about his new CD (that he’s currently recording), and I am really excited to hear it.

Andy sounded great as well. He played a good mix of all of his CDs (except the Christmas CD, obviously), and Gabe really added a nice new sound to the mix.

I sat there in that front corner seat, my foot resting on Gabe’s monitor (because of a severe lack of leg room), and soaked up every note I could. Those New City shows are always better than any other show. When I was listening through Andrew’s bootlegs for the “Appendix A” project, I could hear a difference: he actually plays and sings better at New City.

So farewell for now, New City. I hope you find the rest and direction you are looking for. I can’t wait to see what will be coming next from the folks in Knoxville…whatever it is, it’ll be amazing.