It’s safe to say that The Joe Chiocca Band has a West Virginia following. Sunday marked at least the seventh West Virginia gig this year, as we played at a private party at a log home atop a beautiful ridge.

This whole scene has come about as scenes often do for musicians: We played at a party where someone heard us, and he told some friends, and they told some friends, and on and on. The result has been four bar gigs and three private parties this year. It rained on and off all day, but we played on a covered porch and the property had a huge garage nearby where people sheltered when the rain fell. By day’s end, the sky was clearing and the view was getting better:

The Sunday show followed a Saturday appearance at Art on the Avenue, an annual festival in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood that has grown to be enormous over the years. We played a little end-of-the-day set at a stage at one end of the festival — not a particularly glamorous location or time, but the crowd still seemed to enjoy us:

I always think that every year will be my last when it comes to playing music, but if I can do this for another 15 months, I will have been gigging out for 30 years. There aren’t many musicians of any caliber who can make that claim. For that, I am truly grateful.

Next up: Trying to find some shows that don’t involve five hours of round-trip driving. BTW, you can always find my latest list of gigs here.

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