Another Nathan Gunn Convert!

Last weekend I was forced by my somewhat elderly mother to drive her to visit my sick cousin in Lincoln, Illinois, a small town about 35 miles away and only accessible by the dreaded two lane highway...passing cars is not a favorite occupation. 35 miles is an hour+ in two-lane-highway minutes. Sigh.

The visit was done and we were on the way back when I asked her if she had had time yet to listen to the Just Before Sunrise CD that I had given her for Christmas A YEAR AGO. (She keeps telling me that she will, she will, she's just so busy, and so forth.) Of course she replied, "No, I haven't - tell me again who this guy is?"

Well, I went into my usual dissertation. Best baritone that ever lived, a lyric baritone which is different than bass and others, not a "tree trunk Verdi baritone singer" (paraphrasing NG himself). I further tried to get her where she lived by telling her that he had played Lancelot back in May...she loves her some Camelot (the Richard Harris/Richard Burton talking versions) and she thought Robert Goulet was a GOD. Still just uh-huhs from her. So I decide to bring out the big GUNN. (<--ha ha, I crack myself up)

"Mom," I say, "it just so happens that the CD is in the player so let's listen to it now" and before she can say anything I get it going. She at first protests that it is too loud. (I like my Nathan cranked up so that when I sing along I don't hear how bad I am in his key.) So I reduce the sound slightly, but she does have a hearing issue so I keep it up a bit so she won't miss anything.

After listening to him sing The Briar and The Rose, she turns to me and says, (get this) "It's so pleasant to listen to a voice that you can tell is a MAN. It just feels like a warm hug, doesn't it?"

HOLY CANNELLONI - my Mom totally gets it! Apparently Hell has frozen over since the last time I checked.

When we completed our trip and I dropped her off at home, she was saying to herself, "Now where did I put that CD?"

Conversion complete. BOOYAH!