Off the Couch: 3 Sisters, Operation Song this week

Don Goodman, right, offers support to Cathy Wells during an Operation Song meeting at the Chattanooga Lifestyle Center July 6, 2016.
Don Goodman, right, offers support to Cathy Wells during an Operation Song meeting at the Chattanooga Lifestyle Center July 6, 2016.

LISA DENTON: Happy October, Barry. It's my favorite month, and not just because of...you know.

BARRY COURTER: I'd like to think it's because you know how much closer we are to Christmas and the joy you get buying me something nice, but I know it's because it's your birthday month.

LISA: Well, yes, there's that. You know how subtle I am about the big day. But I figure I'm due a couple of shameless plugs to keep up with your hints from last month.

But the big reason for liking October is how great the weather gets. By the end of the month, we should have some crisp days and nippy nights. Perfection.

BARRY: Did you know that "I Love a Nippy Night" was the original title for what became one of Eddie Rabbitt's biggest hits? He couldn't make the rest of the lyrics work, so he went with rainy. Probably the right choice.

LISA: Hmmm, I suppose that could be true. It reminds me of the time my friend and former co-worker was told by another co-worker that the word "gullible" is not in the dictionary. And she looked it up.

The point is that October has great weather and plenty of stuff going on that makes you want to get outside. Like the 3 Sisters Music Festival and the Fireside Concert Series at Greenway Farm. The Fireside concert is first, with Lou Wamp and the Bluetastics performing Thursday in the first of four weekly concerts. Then 3 Sisters will have The Infamous Stringdusters headlining Friday night and Noam Pikelny and Stuart Duncan closing out the festival on Saturday. But you can hear music for several hours down at Ross's Landing, starting at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday. All free.

BARRY: I do love the fall as well. Football. Chili. Sweatshirts. A nice fire. And you can put a little shot of something in your coffee and people don't think you have a problem. Well, you get the idea.

But we aren't there yet, so we need to take advantage of the cool stuff going on now. Such as the Operation Song concerts tonight and tomorrow at Songbirds. Operation Song is a great new program that matches veteran songwriters with military veterans and their families as they use writing songs as therapy.

The show tonight features Cody McCarver, Smith & Wesley and Billy Crain. The Songwriters Showcase tomorrow features Don Goodman, Steve Dean, Billy Montana, Bobby Tomberlin, Bob DeYoung, Jessie Black and several veterans.

LISA: You can't beat a cause as worthy as that. Plus you get to see Cody McCarver's hair. You know I've taken a shine to his shiny hair.

Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.

Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.

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