Not too long ago,
I played in Ireland for the first time,
and one of the stops was in Belfast,
where I played at a club called
the Rotterdam.
And I was surprised to see
when I went for sound check
that there were several
people already there,
and I wasn't actually sure
if they were there to see me
or just to have a couple of beers.
In the late afternoon,
they told me they were there to
see me
and that the reason that they were there
was because a friend of theirs,
a fellow named Phil Sinclair,
had turned them on to my music
since the Last Chance album.
And they said he was very
sorry
that he couldn't be there that night
and he wasn't feeling well.
He was pretty sick
and they asked me
if I would sign a get well card to him.
An d I asked where he was
and they said he was in the hospital
and I asked how far away it was,
and they said about 20, 25 minutes,
so I asked Bruce to continue with
the sound check
and suggested we go see him.
We went over there,
and I think it might have been
after hours for visiting,
so we were sneaking through the
basement area
and then got up to Phil's room,
and it was great to meet him.
He was such a nice fellow
and so loved by his friends,
and you could see why.
just a wonderful spirit.
A few weeks after I met Phil,
I got the sad word that he passed away
and I wrote a song for him
as a tribute to his spirit
and I asked Lou if she would
sing on it with me.
Here it is.