Lessons in differences, expectations, and how to order at Waffle House.
Back in 1998, I started an acoustic guitar duo in St. Louis called The Rhythm Circus with one of my favorite people, Luke. He played piano and I was a drummer, so yeah…let’s start an acoustic guitar duo.
We played regularly in St. Louis, giving our friends and family the opportunity to visit new haunts in town and have a good time every once in a while. Some shows were great. Some shows were not. Every show was fun.
After a few months, we decided that we wanted to cut a record. Our pal Ziggy was living in Atlanta at the time and hooked us up with some of his friends that had a top-notch home studio. We couldn’t wait to get down there.
Luke had the idea of booking a show for us at his alma mater in Tennessee. We had both just graduated college and he was still tight with people there that would help with promotion, etc. Seemed like a no-brainer. We’d go play the show, and then continue down to ATL the next day to get to work in the studio.
Now, I’ll be honest…I had zero expectations for this gig. Zero.
We pulled into town and he said, “Here we are.” I looked around and saw nothing. For real. Nothing. As far as I could tell, we were in the goddamn woods. I realized that this was exactly like where I went to school in Boston except, you know, completely different.
Luke was excited about it, and I was excited for him, but really…I was focused on our time in the studio. The show on the way down was an “ok, fine” from me. Whatever. He insisted that there had been sufficient promotions done by fraternity brothers and other friends, so I was expecting a 20 person turnout at best.
We set up. We soundchecked. I was tired from a long road trip and wanted to chill, but it was showtime. Ugh. Fine. Whatever. Open the doors. Let’s get this over with.
A few people walked in. Wow, they’re here right at doors? Ok. Ok.
A few people behind them. A few more people behind them. Luke was up and greeting old friends. I was being introduced to some people while also trying to tune my guitar. I couldn’t help but be distracted by the non-stop stream of people flowing into the venue.
Wait. What. Holy shit. Before I knew it, the place was packed and I was officially nervous – and pissed that I was wearing an old dirty shirt, but also, really f***ing nervous.
Luke grinned at me with an “I-told-you-so” attitude that I absolutely 100% deserved. Goddammit. Is this ketchup stain visible? No not that one, this one….oh shit I have another one?!
I remember thinking we had a great show.
I still couldn’t believe that his school was so small and in every way different from where I went to school. Aside from the size, I felt like I was the only brown person on campus. We hit a party later that night and yeah…confirmed…I was the only brown person in town. It was never awkward, though. We had a great time and everyone was friendly.
Ziggy drove up from ATL to make the show. The school put us up at a small hotel in town for the night. We felt like rockstars. No, there weren’t any girls knocking on our door in the middle of the night offering to give us massages or anything like that, but we felt like rockstars anyway. Do we trash the place? Are we supposed to trash the place? How does this work?
The next morning, we got up and were immediately excited because we knew two things were in our immediate future: Waffle House and cutting our record in Atlanta.
I was quiet, though, still coming to terms with the lessons from the past 12 hours:
1. Not everything that is different is actually all that different.
This small campus on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee was so different from Boston, but equally as amazing in its own, unique way. I kind of loved it.
2. It’s good to have convictions, but they only work if you also have an open-mind.
The sold out show we just played exceeded all expectations – mainly because I had none. If a small college campus could be open-minded enough to make the only brown guy in town feel comfortable, then I needed to return that open-mindedness. Well-played, Sewanee. Well-played.
3. Be strong enough to accept unsolicited advice once in a while. You’ll likely be happy you did.
My first Waffle House experience and I was advised to order my hash browns “scattered, smothered, and covered.” Ummm, holy smokes. Amazing. All future hash browns that fail to be prepared in such fashion will forever be considered inedible.
. . .
We spent the next three days in Atlanta cutting our first and only record. The songs were mostly about change – personal relationships, college to post-college expectations, and loss.
Now, almost 20 years later, we still get texts from friends saying they are listening to it. Those songs, like the lessons learned in TN, still hold up.
As an entrepreneur, I am reminded every day that comfortable takes many shapes. It’s good to know where you’re comfortable, but also good to learn how to be comfortable in as many places and situations as possible. It can be humbling, but if you’re smart enough to surround yourself with good people, they’ll usually give you a few tricks along the way.
#bewhatyoumake
