Okay, so I have this gig on August 4 in Driggs.  And I need an amp to play it: something that will allow me to project harp and vocals in a room with 50-80 people, all of them drinking.  (It’s a wine tasting.)  I have the gear in Connecticut, but I’m out in Idaho, don’t know a lot of folks, and there are not a lot of places to buy amps, believe me.

I ordered a Peavey KB2 keyboard amp from one online dealer, who not-so-helpfully listed the amp as in-stock, but neglected to say that the amp was on backorder with delivery expected around August 9.  Once I found that out, I started looking around all the online dealers.  Know what? Practically nobody had a KB2.  What, did everybody in the world decide they needed a KB2 at the same time?  Must be one hell of an amp, man.  Too bad I can’t get one…

I started to get desperate.  I had figured on buying a relatively small amp to perform in relatively small rooms, but it looked like I was going to have to double down on the cost and get something much bigger.  And a lot of the extra cost was the cost of delivery overnight.  

Finally, I found a dealer in Idaho Falls, about 75 miles away.  What do you know–he had a KB2, and he was willing to sell it for the online price.  And I could get it delivered overnight for another $20.  (Idaho to Idaho, no plane involved.)  Mike’s Music in Idaho Falls is my new favorite gear dealer.

So I got lucky.  But the real moral of the story is: don’t wait until 3 days before the gig to find out whether you have an amp.

Tomorrow night I set up the bass loops for all the tunes I’m playing with accompaniment.  Stay tuned for that story.  I’ve already listed out every tune I can play solo, with and without the looper engaged–the total was 37 pieces.  Should be enough for a 2-hour gig, even if I play them all fast, huh?