Miami, My Amy LIVE By Ernie Thacker, Route 23, and Kent Griffith Mixing & Recording

Every once in a while you meet someone who changes your life. Ernie Thacker was such a man. On the day I recorded about 35 minutes of his final set, I arrived at the club driving up to the backdoor and sitting there on a bench smoking a cigarette was a man I had never met before and in minutes we became instant brothers for life.

Few people can write songs with simple lyrics and great music that can deeply affect people. It is a gift. Ronnie Van Zant of Lynyrd Skynyrd had that gift. Pat Liston of Mama's Pride also has it, -listen to his Blue Mist. And So did Ernie Thacker.

I had not planned on recording that night so I left digital recorder in my car. But after hearing this band play flawlessly in first set, I asked Ernie if I could record the final set and he said sure. So I hooked up the recorder, reset the board for it sending out a stereo submix, and added a couple of mics to the stage to pick up the entire band as well as I could and this is the results. This live track was played well enough to be a hit song in my opinion and Ernie and I both loved how the recording came out. Sometimes the stars align. It was meant to be.

When you listen to the album version of this song the band played it much slower and it simply does not have the impact that this live version has. The speed of this live version is where it should be for this song, and Ernie even told me after hearing it that the band played it perfectly and you can even hear it in his voice right after the song ends on stage.

I had hoped some of this live recording would be released and if Ernie had lived longer maybe it would have been, but tragedy struck shortly after this night and Ernie was in a horrible car accident that would claim his life and destroy his music career.

The good die young and we lose too many great ones way to early in life.

This live track simply captures the moments of Ernie's music career and Route 23 just before tragedy struck, and I am left with an unreleased live recording that now all I can do is give it freely to the world -like sharing it here.

Be aware this youtube channel is not monetized and I do not make one penny off any of my videos or music posted here and this track does not interfere with the sale of any of Ernie's albums which are now out of production. So I am free to share and should have no conflicts. I think Ernie would want you to hear it and is smiling down from heaven knowing his soul and his spirit lives on in the vibrations he left in this world.

Let Ernie Thacker's music live on! Rest in peace my friend. A great guy with a great band who gave it everything they had and worked hard to produce music like this. I'm glad I was able to capture some of it before tragedy struck. I hope all of you enjoy this track as much as I do.