After his appearance on the Bob and Tom Show earlier that morning Edwin appeared in front of his tour bus to greet a few people after the line of fans had filtered in the door at Birdy’s Bar & Grill awaiting the show to begin. Among those people were Scott Sands and Dave Smiley from WZPL, both friends with Edwin as he has made guest DJ appearances on their station among his many radio performances. Edwin’s personality not only gives him great status among local radio stations but it also commands a following among fans and not just casual fans, I’m talking hardcore fans! Many attending Edwin’s show knew everything about him and had attended nearly every performance he’s given in Indy. I have a personal friend myself who has seen Edwin over 13 times and not just in Indy as he’s traveled to other cities to see Edwin’s shows. Jim Bundy is my go to guy for anything about Edwin and after that nights performance I can see why! Edwin is as grateful a performer as you will ever meet! His attitude of performing and his willingness to embrace his fans is second to none! Edwin has three top 100 hits with “I’ll Be” making the top five and songs “I Could Not Ask For More”, and “Solitude” rounding out his top singles. He’s also had five albums in the top 200 with two of those making the top 100. Needless to say he has plenty of music to share and that he did in his own story telling fashion. Within a song here and there Edwin told a story of his son or how a song came to be like “Gramercy Park Hotel” which was a crowd favorite by the reaction given! He has a gift for story telling and an even larger gift for connecting to the fans and after the show I was able to speak with Edwin and ask a few questions.
Edwin spoke of 20 years on the road and I asked how he was able to maintain his gracious attitude after all those years. His reply was, “waking up every day and finding things to be grateful for.” He said in his early years his partying weighed on him and when he stopped he was just grateful for each day. I also spoke of his re-pore with his fans and how it came to be, he said, “play long, take requests, and stay late” was his philosophy behind pleasing those who came to hear him sing. My only negative comment of the whole show was the dim lighting on stage which made for tough shots from Raymon shooting pics but it created a mood for the crowd which consisted of mostly couples who were embracing one another throughout the evening. There were single men and women there like me who enjoyed the show but let’s face it, Edwin’s music was good on romance! In closing my chat with Edwin as we sat on his tour bus I asked who he’s never performed with that he’d like the chance with. Edwin said, Seal, I would love to perform with Seal. He also said Earth Wind & Fire would be a thrill to jam with as he loved them growing up.
Throughout the night Edwin would provoke the audience to sing along and other times they did it all on their own but it made for a fun night and a better understanding of why his fans showed such loyalty. At one point he spoke of his band opening for REO Speedwagon on some upcoming summer tour dates and began to sing the lyrics to “Keep On Loving You” which sparked another sing a long. Once again I was reminded that there was more great music than what I heard on the radio and his album Messenger was the last CD of his I had purchased, although albums that followed were as good or even better. Edwin is grateful for being in the music business after all these years but his greatest appreciation is in being daddy to his kids and the stories he told and the song he sung called “Walk with You” was proof positive. Catch Edwin on tour this summer and watch for his new release to follow as he’ll be back in the studio in August to record yet another album for fans to appreciate.
Opening for Edwin at Birdy’s on the night of June 24th was Nashville recording artist Andrew Ripp who gave a solo acoustic performance with a great sound and powerful vocals. I’ll have more on him later but you can check out his current album “Fifty Miles To Chicago.”
~Mark
http://www.andrewripp.com/home.cfm
Photos by Raymon Guajardo
