The song “Fishin’ In The Dark” was the last number one hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. First appearing on Hold On in 1987, but I never had a copy until their greatest hits CD years later. 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 70’s; WFLI, WGOW & KZ106. Songs like “Mr. Bojangles”, “American Dream” and “Make A Little Magic” and yes I know the latter was 1980, but I was Class Of 1980 at Tyner High School so cut me some slack – it counts as the 70’s as far as I’m concerned. 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. Boy was I in for a rude awakening.

After she finally said, “Yes” in late November of 1987, we started making plans for not just our wedding but our lives together. One of our first dilemmas revolved around season tickets. I am a rocker at heart, but I am primarily a “Prog Rocker”. One side effect of Progessive Rock is a love for Classical Music and I had season tickets to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy had season tickets to Lanierland Music Park which had been providing country music fans their country fix since the early 70’s. Needless to say, I had never heard of the place. We both came to the conclusion that we couldn’t keep both sets of tickets and so a decision was made to meet in the middle. 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. In my opinion, I was coming out on top in this deal.

After 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 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. For Lanierland, Kathy suggested I might like Restless Heart and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. I had heard one Restless Heart song that sort of sounded like pre-Hotel California Eagles but mainly visions of “Make A Little Magic” and “American Dream” made me go, “yeah, I think that would be a pretty good concert.” So the decision was made, tickets set aside, and date nights established.

The two concerts were a few weeks apart and first up was the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Kathy and I got all dressed up for this one; one of the few times that I put on a coat and tie. I can clean up nicely from time to time, but she on the other hand looked stunning. We had a nice dinner beforehand in Roswell and then made our way to downtown Atlanta for the symphony. I had pretty good seats right in the middle about 30 rows back and the place was packed with everyone in their Sunday best. They first performed Mendelssohn and after a brief intermission finished the night with Gorski. During the intermission most everyone left the auditorium, but we remained behind with a few others. I asked Kathy what she thought so far and she said, “It’s good, but I like violins better when they’re fiddles.”

This one lady that looked like an old schoolmarm about four rows in front of us turned around slowly and pulled her glasses down on her nose and gave us a look that could stop a train. As she turned back around we both cracked up, but the comment and schoolmarm was engrained in our psyche from that day forward to be referenced whenever the situation allowed. The rest of the evening with my new beautiful bride was wonderful with the exception of Kathy standing at the finale and waving a lighter in the air while yelling “Free Bird!” OK, maybe she didn’t really stand up and yell, but it is still one of my favorite jokes to tell regarding that evening.

Next up was Lanierland. I must admit it was much more my style of a blue jean date night. Lanierland Music Park was a fairly small venue so they would have two shows each night of the same bands and our tickets were for the second show. I have been blamed for being cheap and my car at that time fit that bill. It was a white Nissan Sentra straight-shift that had no air conditioning and no radio. We arrived at Lanierland with the windows down on a cool summer evening thanks to the wind blowing off of Lake Lanier. I could tell it was going to be a cool night to enjoy this little “American Dream”, and then without warning – IT HAPPENED! As we pulled up to park the car the first thing I heard was, “You and me goin’ fishin’ in the dark. Lying on our backs and counting the stars where the cool grass grows.”

In total shock I said, “What in the world is that?” I was hoping that the first show was a completely different band.

Unfortunately, Kathy responded with, “That’s Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.”

I’m thinking, “No it’s not! It can’t be! Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 70’s Rock and that’s not 70’s Rock” but all Kathy did was laugh at me because of the pathetic look on my face.

What I found out real quick was simply this; it ain’t the 70’s no more and this was not my childhood Dirt Band! Nitty Gritty was full blown country and this evening was not going to be “Make A Little Magic” – this evening was “Fishin’ In The Dark” and the two were not the same. I came real close to turning that car around and leaving, but I was quickly reminded by the voices in my head that it was my idea to take her to the symphony and then to this, this, whatever it was. I was here and there was no way of escape.

Oh sure, they did a medley of those 70’s hits – a medley – not the whole songs – a medley. Thank God they did “Mr. Bojangles” in its entirety, but even those 70’s songs seemed to have a bit more of a country twist on them than I remembered. All I can say is I felt more like a fish out of water in the dark than anything else remotely close to that evening. I had been to a lot of concerts at this point in my life, but none had prepared me for this night of music.

Still, I looked at this beautiful woman standing beside me singing every word to every song. The smile on her face as she danced and swayed to the music and all I could think was that I was the luckiest man alive. The style of music may not have been to my taste at that time, but that night was more than I could ever imagine. I was in love with this country music loving girl and there was no place on earth that I would rather be than right there with her. Crickets were singin’ and lightning bugs were floatin’ on the breeze and it felt so good to be right there with her and I would do it again right now if the opportunity arose.

What can I say? She’s a little bit country and I’m a little bit rock n’ roll. They say opposites attract and you can’t get more opposite than the two of us. I’ve always said and maintain to this day that if two people are just alike then one of them is unnecessary. Through the years, I have grown to enjoy and appreciate some of Kathy’s country music which is probably something I would never have done on my own accord. Plus, “Fishin’ In The Dark” has become our unofficial song because every time we hear it one of us will always say, “they’re playing our song.”

Might I suggest that next time you and the one you love look up and see a lazy yellow moon shinin’ through the trees that you take a little walk across the fields down to where the creek turns back and try a little Fishin’ In The Dark.

Rick E. France