The guys in green are the bandmembers for Substantial, and that is the stage we performed on.

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I love music. I would sacrifice a lot just to wow a crowd from the stage. The sheer joy of wanting to sing for a living is immense. Now the flip side: I detest my job…hate is not a strong enough word. It could be worse, but you still don’t wanna know where I work. So why am I starting off this blog this way? Well basically, I lied to my boss and told her I had a family emergency to deal with just to get off work that day so I could share my love for singing to the world. Do ya think she would’ve given me the time off if I told her the truth? Puhleeaase!

So I went.

It was an exhausting trip down to Maryland; usually it takes about 3 1/2 hours to get down there, but it took longer because the bus was an hour late (thanks Washington Deluxe!), I had to stop in Washington, D.C. first (well, Substantial wanted me to meet him there, but because the bus arrived late…well…he had to leave. Fortunately, we found another ride-Thanks, Matt!), and the conjestion on the road was horrible. Despite all of that, I made to Baltimore and on stage with Substantial and the band.

I wasn’t able to take the entire experience in like I wanted to, but what I saw was impressive. Baltimore is a moody place-it has that side that is very much like scenes from The Wire (I’m a Marylander…that life really exists)-ugly. But then, beyond that edge lies the beauty that makes it truly special. The people are generally warm and nurturing, though many have been visibly scarred. We folks who live outside of Baltimore, but are from Maryland often joke about the city’s culture, style of dress, etc., but in the end we’re all family-I got love for my B’more folks!

So, Substantial and the band began to make our way to M & T Bank Stadium, when all of a sudden it began to storm, heavy! We were worried that it wasn’t going to stop. Once we made it to the stadium, we still had to sit in our cars for a few minutes so we wouldn’t get soaked. We really thought the rain was going to keep a lot of the crowd away, but most stayed-real troopers, I tell ya. We entered the stadium, found our tent, which had chicken and turkey sandwiches and water (I wonder what high-salary celebrities get…?), and chilled before our set. We did venture out to check out the band, Ndellible. Shoot, they should be called “Ncredible”, because that’s exactly what they were! I’m going to put up a video just to prove it. Watch this:

I have to say, I was a little nervous about going on after them because they’re band was bigger and they impressed just every onlooker in the crowd. But, you know what they say: “Never let ’em see you sweat”. So, we went with that game face and mindset. Though we had a slight amp issue, we put on a show. Here’s a clip of a portion of the show (well, the end actually) that you should enjoy.

In the end, it was a great set up for the main attraction: Kindred the Family Soul. I hope they enjoyed us. I tried to get some video footage, and I did, but it’s not as complete as I would like it to be-sorry, had to run and get my bus. Below, however, are a few shots I took while I was down in Murlan (that’s how we locals say “Maryland”). I’ll also put them on the Photos page as well for future viewing. Peace, fam.