Gainesville and Gainesville Music Summit Photos

Gainesville Music Summit April 7, 2010

Last week I was a panelist at the Gainesville Music Summit in Florida, where I encountered a number of good artists, including 1900 Block, Iceburg Tony and too many others to name all of them. The pictures and videos will tell a lot more about what went on than my words, but I want to thank C. Wakeley and Big Amp, both for sponsoring this continuing event, and for making it possible for me to attend.

October 23, 2008 Gainesville, Fl; Phenix City, AL; Memphis, TN

Upon checking out of the Holiday Inn in Gainesville, Florida, I ate breakfast in the Red Onion Grill there at the hotel (too expensive) and then headed out I-75 toward Memphis, stopping for coffee at Valdosta. I got some frozen yogurt from a TCBY near the mall in Albany, and then I drove on into Columbus and across to Phenix City, where I stopped for lunch at the Char-Broil Steakhouse, owned by the famous charcoal grill manufacturers across the river in Columbus. The rest of the trip was relatively non-eventful, except for my fruitless effort to find coffee in Tupelo. The coffee bar downtown on Main Street had closed (and was supposedly moving to Gloster Street), but Uptown Coffee on Gloster was also out of business, so I gave up and headed on into Memphis.

October 22, 2008 Gainesville, FL

After waking up, I checked out of the hotel, and ate breakfast at 43rd Street Deli and Breakfast, which was really good. I then spent the day going around to record stores, such as Hear Again on University Avenue, where I found a number of jazz CDs that I purchased. Then, wanting a latte, I headed downtown, but Michelle Obama was scheduled to speak at a theater, so downtown was absolute pandemonium, with crowds and lines of people waiting to get in to the event, and police everywhere, as there were rumors of threats. I walked past a number of sidewalk cafes, and managed to get to a coffee bar, where I purchased a latte, and then a few blocks away, I discovered a gelato bar, and I stopped there to enjoy a chocolate gelato. Finally, my hotel room was ready at the Holiday Inn across from the University of Florida campus, so I checked in, and headed up to the rooftop pool, but I found the water too cold, despite the warm, pretty weather. Heading to dinner at the Stonewood Tavern, I got a call from the Mississippi raper Skipp Coon regarding his new release, and then after dinner I headed back downtown to the Gainesville Music Summit, which got underway late, as most rap events usually do. Afterwards, I walked around downtown to see if I could find a jazz club. I didn't, although a neo-soul/funk band was playing at a club a block away. I thought about going inside, but decided against it, and I headed back to the hotel instead and went to bed.