I asked Kathy what she thought so far and she said, вЂњItвЂ™s good, but I like violins better when theyвЂ™re fiddles.вЂќ During the intermission most everyone left the auditorium, but we remained behind with a few others. They first performed Mendelssohn and after a brief intermission finished the night with Gorski. I had pretty good seats right in the middle about 30 rows back and the place was packed with everyone in their Sunday best. We had a nice dinner beforehand in Roswell and then made our way to downtown Atlanta for the symphony. I can clean up nicely from time to time, but she on the other hand looked stunning. Kathy and I got all dressed up for this one one of the few times that I put on a coat and tie. The two concerts were a few weeks apart and first up was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I had heard one Restless Heart song that sort of sounded like pre- Hotel California Eagles but mainly visions of вЂњMake A Little MagicвЂќ and вЂњAmerican DreamвЂќ made me go, вЂњyeah, I think that would be a pretty good concert.вЂќ So the decision was made, tickets set aside, and date nights established. For Lanierland, Kathy suggested I might like Restless Heart and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Kathy had no preference with the symphony and since I favor strings over brass my favorite classical composer is Mendelssohn, and the Atlanta Symphony was featuring Mendelssohn and Gorski in one of the remaining concerts which is what I chose. In my opinion, I was coming out on top in this deal.ДЄfter our wedding, since the season for both venues was drawing near an end, we decided to sell those few remaining tickets we had save for one pair to each. Kathy loved ballet and since the Atlanta Symphony played for the Atlanta Ballet we decided to get season tickets to the Atlanta Ballet from that point forward. We both came to the conclusion that we couldnвЂ™t keep both sets of tickets and so a decision was made to meet in the middle. Needless to say, I had never heard of the place. Kathy had season tickets to Lanierland Music Park which had been providing country music fans their country fix since the early 70вЂ™s. One side effect of Progessive Rock is a love for Classical Music and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I am a rocker at heart, but I am primarily a вЂњProg RockerвЂќ. One of our first dilemmas revolved around season tickets. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.ДЄfter she finally said, вЂњYesвЂќ in late November of 1987, we started making plans for not just our wedding but our lives together. Those songs defined The Dirt Band to me, and up until I met Kathy those three songs were pretty much all I knew about the band. BojanglesвЂќ, вЂњAmerican DreamвЂќВ and вЂњMake A Little MagicвЂќ and yes I know the latter was 1980, but I was Class Of 1980 at Tyner High School so cut me some slack вЂ“ it counts as the 70вЂ™s as far as IвЂ™m concerned. I was more interested in their songs that received a little more airplay on the stations I grew up on in Chattanooga back in the 70вЂ™s WFLI, WGOW & KZ106. First appearing on Hold On in 1987, but I never had a copy until their greatest hits CD years later. The song вЂњFishinвЂ™ In The DarkвЂќВ was the last number one hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Fishin in the dark