My introduction to Kasey's music was April of this year, when I heard her live in San Francisco. She played at a club called Slim's, which Boz Scaggs started and I believe still owns. Some of the best concerts I've ever experienced were at Slim's, and Kasey's certainly counts among them. An old friend of mine had been raving to me about Kasey's music and when I saw her concert scheduled I let him know about it. He and his 7-year-old daughter are both huge fans, and he brought her along. It was the first concert that she ever attended. She loved it, and it was a great introduction to the whole concert experience for her. I had only heard a couple of brief excerpts of Kasey's songs. So hearing her live was really my first experience of her music. I remember she opened up with "Cry Like a Baby." And I also remember that her fourth number was "This Flower." It sticks in my mind, because I liked the first three. But when she got to that one, I thought, "Wow, she's really *good*." I've been listening to her CDs ever since then. But since I didn't know her songs then , so I don't remember exactly which ones she played. But there were several from *The Captain*, including the title song (of course), "You Got the Car," and "Freight Train" from *The Captain Special Edition*. (My friend's daughter asked him later, "Why does she sing so many songs about trains?") I also appreciated the bawdy edge of a couple of the numbers. (I didn't ask my friend how he explained those to his 7-year-old.:)) "We're All Gonna Die Someday" was great. And she clowned around with a song she said she was writing where she wanted to work in something about Texas, and falling in love, and about tragedy or something like that. But she said so far she only had the chorus, which she sang: Don't look up my dress unless you mean it You can't put your hand upon my thigh Before you stick that in you better clean it And I want to go to Texas when I die She also talked about how she grew up listening to Woody Guthrie and Jimmie Rodgers, which are great music "roots" in my book. I especially appreciated her mention of Jimmie Rodgers at the concert and in "Southern Kind of Life" (which she didn't sing at Slim's). Because he's from the state of Mississippi where I grew up, and I love his music. Mississippians anyway still like to call him "the father of country music." I keep a photo of him on the wall at home. She performed a very good version of Guthrie's "Do-Re-Mi," I suppose in commemoration of being in California. She also performed another Guthrie song but I can't remember what the other was. I hope she's doing another California tour soon. I heard Lucinda Williams in San Francisco in late summer and I had hoped Kasey would still be on the tour. Instead, Jim Lauderdale opened for her. I won't comment on the contrast, but let's just say I would *really* have preferred it to be Kasey!) So I'll have to hope for a 2002 tour. Bruce.