Barry Sides ::: In Your Pocket!

So, there I was, minding my own business and as usual, life gave me a surprise: Barry Sides!

I was just riding the new Merckx, I guess we've got to call it "Eddy", and shooting photos of it along side a pristine run of Porsches I kept seeing, and I heard someone say "Hiiiii!" It was Barry Sides! What a happy coincidence.



Right off the bat, Barry hands me a copy of his latest CD. (click the image above to see how to get one for yourself!)

Here's how we met in the first place. A while ago, I was walking along and saw this cooler than life camper van. And, you know I'm a Westie fanatic, don't you? So, I stop and take a look and 'round the corner comes this smiling dude who says "Yep, she's a nice one" and admires her in a detatched way that only Barry Sides can do so well.

Next thing you know, Barry's shaking my hand and we're talking about music. He tells me he can show me a few licks. I say "Well, I'll take you up on that. What's the best way to reach you?" Barry says "Hang on there, Michael..." He calls me Michael like Texans do, with a long "i' that makes me feel riiiight at home. He reaches in the van, over the blonde guitar leaning up against the door, and grabs a CD. "Hmmm," says I. "This must be a real musician." He writes his number on the CD cover and hands it to me.

Well, you know I had to take Barry up on it. So, next thing you know, we're sitting in his living room and he's got me plugged into a big-ass amp and I'm holding that blonde guitar. He's telling me the chords and we're playing "Suzy-Q" and there's a couple of cold ones on the table. The breeze is blowing through the open door of Barry's second floor impromptu studio. "Yep, this is it", I'm thinking. "This is as good as it gets." And, Barry's telling me about gigs with Stan Lynch of Heartbreakers fame. And, I'm keeping up on the guitar! I play some rhythm and Barry's singing. The electronics make it sound phase-shifted. The beer is cold. And, it's good.

So, as usual, I have some techie things with, and I fire up the videorecorder and capture some of the magic.

The tunes were amazing. I felt like it was all working out. Playing music by yourself is cool, but it's magic to play with someone else. And, with Barry it just worked so well.

Meanwhile, flash back to present tense. Barry and I are talking. And, of course, I have more hi-tech in my pocket. So, I reach in and show Barry the iPhone. YouTube! And, Barry says "Hey, type in Barry Sides and I'll show you my latest videos".


So, we're talking and I hear "Knocking on Heaven's Door" wafting up from the iPhone in my pocket. Just like I do right now, as I write this blog post. These are good times. Those were good times. I wish you the best of times!