In a previous blog post I mentioned taking Ross Childress, the former lead guitarist for Collective Soul, an apple pie for Christmas.  That year I had a very Collective Soul Christmas.  This is that story.

First let me mention that my favorite band is Collective Soul.  This is quite a coincidence since I live in Stockbridge, GA, the town they are from.  But it didn't start out that way.

I first discovered their music in 1995.  I had heard their song 'December', but didn't even know who it was.  Later, I heard 'The World I Know', and not even realizing it was the same band, I discovered the name of the band was Collective Soul.  I then bought their second album, the self-titled 'Collective Soul'.  I soon discovered that 'December' was their song as well, not to mention all of the other, really great songs.  I was hooked.

I mentioned to a co-worker that I liked th ...

When I found out that Will Turpin, the bass player for Collective Soul, which is my favorite band, would be playing at a local restaurant on February 15, 2007, I asked my wife about us going for our Valentine's Day celebration.  She was all in favor of that.  She too is a big CS fan, plus, we could miss all the Valentine's Day crowds.

In addition to Will being there, I knew there was going to be a special mystery guest.  My imagination had me thinking it might be Ed Roland, or Ross Childress.  It was not.  I will tell you who it was in a bit.  The occasion for the event was a weekly song writer's event where local song writers get the opportunity to play their songs in front of a live audience.  This event is hosted by local musician, Bill Turpin, Will's father.  I wasn't quite sure what Will would be performing.  It is a song writer's workshop, and I wasn't aware of Will writing songs.