Usually my life is a sea of ups and downs.There’s good days and bad days and better days and worse days. But sometimes you have really good days, and then every once in awhile, you have :there’s no way I’m going to sleep tonight” days. Kinda like the one I just had. It’s 3:30am now as I’m typing from a hotel in San Diego and I’m still wired…

I woke up this morning 3 snooze button hits past 5am to catch a 6am flight from Santa Maria to San Diego, then drove up to Rancho Bernardo for work, knowing full well I had a show tonight in Hollywood (again at the Rainbow). The plan was to catch a train with my friend Aubrey after work in Oceanside and take it straight into downtown L.A. and cab it to the gig at 8pm.

Right on schedule (which is fairly unusual for me), I pulled up to the Amtrak depot and paid for my tickets. Expecting Aubrey to show up any minute, I lugged my guitar and equipment to the loading dock while the train pulled up and slowed to a halt.

But, as luck — or fate perhaps — would have it, Aubrey was late — stuck in traffic. I panicked. The conductor was on a schedule and he wasn’t about to slow down for any stragglers, even if they were only 10 minutes away.

It was gut check time. Should I board the train without her and go to the gig anyway, or should I let the train go on without me? Damn it, where was she?

Maybe I’ve watched Good Will Hunting one too many times. Maybe I had to go see about a girl. Maybe there would be other gigs for me and people wouldn’t be too upset if I had to cancel. Maybe I was about to do the most romantic thing I’d ever done…

I got off the train.

Left it. Waved goodbye to my would-have-been Amtrak co-passengers.

I refunded the tickets, and waited — by myself — in an empty Amtrak terminal.

15 minutes later, Aubrey showed up, as frustrated as I’ve ever seen her. “Let’s go,’ I said, walking with her toward my car. “If we hurry we might still make it if traffic’s not too bad.”

So we drove, and drove, and drove — through L.A. in rush hour, pulling into West Hollywood with no less than 20 minutes to spare before I was supposed to go on stage.

It was a good show at the Rainbow with Voyce, but the craziest scenario was unfolding right next door, and I almost didn’t notice.

I have to preface the next part of the story by saying that my little sister has been trying to get me to listen to a Nashville singer/songwriter named Dave Barnes for a couple of months now.

“You gotta see him live!” she said. “He’s so funny.”

“Yeah, but he lives in Nashville,” I said smartly. ‘He probably doesn’t tour L.A. much — if ever. I’ll check out his show next time I’m back in the South.”

(Next comes the part of the story where Nick eats his words…)

So I finished my show, packed up, and headed out the valet. (Yes, everybody must valet their car when in Hollywood.) Right next door to the Rainbow is another famous venue called the Roxy, and guess who was playing there tonight?!

It was none other than Dave Barnes! Not just Dave, but David Ryan Harris was there too, on the same bill! I still can’t believe that just happened. Guess you never know what to expect in Hollywood.

I just realized this is the longest post I’ve written yet. Oh well, I’m not going to sleep any time soon…