BY KIMBERLY WILLIAMS

Photo by John Williams
Kim hugs Kim with Emphasis!

        The concert was beautiful, intimate, relaxed. Kim Carnes talked to the audience. They replied. However I was frozen in my seat, but in awe of everything. I just wanted to soak it all in, to never forget this moment in time. I watched Matraca Berg as much as Kim. She was amazing talented and cute as a button with such a powerful voice. I still don't understand why she gives her songs to people like Martina McBride when she sings them just as well herself, but I suppose like Kim, she's figured out how to live the best of both worlds, what she sacrifices in fame she makes up for in her ability to live a somewhat normal life.

    Kim Carnes was incredible. I could not believe the strength of her voice that night. She mostly sang from her "Chasin' Wild Trains" album, although she did sing "Gypsy Honeymoon" first off. I was so surprised and how perfect was that??? It was my own personal "Gypsy Honeymoon" that night, in every sense of the word! Unfortunately my husband John didn't record it. He was hesitant to record at first, unsure of how strict security was about cameras etc., but even I told him not to take out the recorder at first because I didn't want to chance him getting kicked out of the show!

    Again I was frozen to my seat... in shock... I was there!!! I was really there with Kim Carnes singing right in front of me!!! We were in the front row, right in front of her as she did the backwards chair sitting thing... John says, "So that's why she never wears dresses!" lol I watched her intently but if she caught me looking at her, I had to look away! I wish I didn't, but at the time it was reflexive... when she looked over at me I became terrified!

    So yes the concert was intimate, real & beautiful and often quite funny! It was really unlike any concert I'd ever been to before. All of the performers so warm, personable & inviting. Kim Carnes mentions her friend, an old girlfriend from high school who's in the audience who also lives in Aspen now. Kim, Matraca & friends talk to the audience & to eachother. On stage are Billy Panda (guitar), Davo (KC's husband) Matraca Berg (goddd she is the cutest ever! I see why KC loves her lol), Jeff Hannah (Matraca's husband and head of his own Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), and John Oates (of Hall & Oates) who was hosting them at the Wheeler.

Photo by David Jusczak
Kim Carnes in Aspen, CO.

    During the show there is much kidding around. Poor Matraca's guitar is out of tune. She has to keep trading guitars with her husband! Lots of jokes about 'swapping' lol. KC tells us how they're all friends in real life, they party together, just celebrated Christmas Eve together, they hang out & drink together. "So welcome to our living room!" she says to the audience! The best part of the whole show I think is when Matraca & KC are singing a song they both wrote together "If I Was An Angel" (from "Chasin' Wild Trains" album). They take turns singing. KC takes the lead but then points to Matraca when it's her turn. OMG! Matraca starts singing, then she forgets her words. OMG!!! KC laughing: "You wanna start that one again?" They start again. Matraca still giggling over it. Blames it on the lack of oxygen at such high altitudes! Oh that was cutest ever and reminded me not to kick myself too hard over my own performance at my & Jess' piano concert! I think Matraca was feeling quite light headed. In addition to singing & playing guitar, she also played the harmonica at the same time!!! It was attached to a stand on her guitar! She was just full of the giggles that night! OMG! But still... amazing!!! Oh what fun the show was. I wish John had recorded every bit of it. It said "no recording" on the tickets, but as it turned out, no one seemed to care if we had a camera out!!! Thankfully we did get a few good songs recorded and a few that are not even out there on YouTube at all!!! I also wish John had recorded more of Matraca. So beautiful her songs, but he wasn't sure on the battery and rightly guessed "Bette Davis Eyes" would be last and he certainly didn't want to miss that one!!!

    And now for the after show, we went out in the lobby reception area & it wasn't long before KC, Matraca & friends appeared. Billy Panda was on the other side of the room, but I was actually pretty close to where KC parked herself,  so I didn't want to move and I couldn't move even if I had wanted to! I couldn't speak... I could hardly breathe!!! I could hardly answer John when he spoke to me! Most of the audience simply left but there were some who bought KC & Matraca's cd's... & asked for autographs and pics etc... As the crowd thinned out, John insisted I go over and say something to her! While I had been frozen to my seat, he bought another copy of "Chasin' Wild Trains" for her to sign. I still couldn't move... no one was with KC, but I actually told John to go over by himself and have her sign it! John said, "No! You are getting up right now & talking to her. Now is your chance! This is what I brought you here for!!!" John pulls me over to her and introduces himself and me, telling her that we flew all the way from Boston just to see her and that this was his anniversary gift to me since I'd always wanted to see her in concert, yet never had before..." She says "Wow you came out here just for me? Come here, you!" She pulls me into a hug... my face in her hair... at least in that moment I come to my senses enough to realize I must not hold my breath but breathe deeply. OMG! Her hair was sooo very soft and scented like honey!!! And she grabs a handful of hair at the back of my neck, giving it a tug... seeming to be her version of a wink or friendly nudge. OMG! Heaven!!!

Photo by David Jusczak
The goddess Kim Carnes and friends.

    And so... she asks what we want her to write on the cd (besides her name lol) and we say "How about Happy Anniversary Kim & John" She signs and asks how long we've been married... when we say 20 years, she looks at me in disbelief: "No! Ohhh No!!! You don't look old enough to have been married for that long!!!" I say "Well you've been married a long time too, right?" She still looks shocked. "Yes, but... oh no! OMG! You're so cute! You look like you're only 15 years old! You're adorable!!!" I say: "Well we got married when I was 22. So I'm a lot older now." She laughs & says again, "OMG you're just sooo cute!!!" I tell her I've loved her since 1981, when I was 12 and she sang "Bette Davis Eyes." I tell her I never saw her in concert before because I was too young then, though I heard she was nearby to where I grew up when she played Tanglewood. She says: "Oh yes I was there with James Taylor. I remember!" I tell her I think my parents may have gone to that show. She laughs again: "Yeah... your parents!" She shakes her head & smiles.

    I get another pic out for her to sign and she asks, "So are you really Kimberly or just Kim?" I tell her Kimberly and she says: "Oh I always wished my name was Kimberly like every other Kim who's really Kimberly Ann". I say "Yup that's my whole name!" She says "You know sometimes I used to tell people my name was Kimberly Ann... just for fun! Kim is so plain all by itself..." I ask "But don't you have a middle name? I thought maybe it could be Marie, I've known a Kim Marie... Marie goes w/ Kim!" She says, "No! Can you believe it?? I've never had a middle name! Just plain old Kim... nothing more than Kim Carnes... plain and boring!" ;) She signs my pic "GREAT NAME! To Kim, Love From Kim".

    Then we get a couple pics together, her arm around me. OMG! At this time I'm so entranced by her, in awe of her, enraptured by her, but at the same time she has made me feel so at ease. I have forgotten she is THE GODDESS KIM CARNES!!! She put me at such ease I can't even explain the feeling like I knew it was KC, but at the same time I "forgot" it was KC... it was as if she were my cousin or an old friend I hadn't seen in a while catching up, talking random stuff at such a familiar level. OMG! I even had the nerve to ask if we could get a picture with a hug. She smiles and says "Awww sure! Of course we can!" and she pulls me toward her, wrapping both her arms around me in such a warm tight embrace. I have no choice but to hug her back with the same intensity. "A HUG WITH EMPHASIS" as my Dolly Jess would say!!! I am in heaven... in 7th Heaven really... is this what that means? 7th Heaven? Wow I'd never thought of it before, but how many layers of heaven might there be? I think I might have made it to the top! lol Yesss Heaven :))))))

Photo by David Jusczak
In 7th Heaven with KC.

    I thank her for the pic and everything... but noticing that there are others who might like just a small bit of her attention, I step away. However, John reminds me that I forgot to have her sign my favorite pic of her... the one that reminds me so much of my cousin in pajamas. He says, "Don't you want her to sign your favorite?" I say: "Oh no, she's done plenty for me. Other people are waiting for her attention". OMG KC must have heard John, because although she had started to talk with others, she turned back around, looked straight at me and asked "What do you need?" I say "Oh nothing! I'm all set..." She says "Awww come on now! Show me!" So I take out the pic which she appears surprised to see. She takes it and says "You know I can't just sign this without telling you the story behind it... I was actually in Japan with a friend. We were doing a photo shoot and we wanted to embrace the culture. So we went out shopping for kimonos to wear for the pictures. I absolutely loved mine. It was so beautiful. When we were done with the pics, I didn't want to take it off, and figured since we were in Japan after all, I could wear it out to dinner. However, it was then they decide to tell me... oh no no... I can't wear it out to dinner! I ask why and they say because what I'm wearing is actually pajamas!"

    And then David Jusczac and his wife Nadine from Denver (also Gui's friends) come over to talk to Kim. Dave has a T-shirt "Got Kim Carnes?" which she totally loves. David gets a few pics with her and has her sign a couple things. He tells her he's from Denver, and was also at the last show in March when she was in Aspen. What amazes me is that Kim is just so aware of all in her surroundings and picks up on things I wouldn't have thought about or noticed. Evidently she noticed that John & I had also been talking to Dave & Nadine and this was when she was busy talking with someone else! Soooo she asks us if we know each other and how we know each other if John & I are from MA and Dave & Nadine are from Colorado. And we say "GUILHERME!!!" She says: "OH MY GOSH >>> GUILHERME!!!!!" She is amazed! I take out the pics Guilherme sent me to have autographed. OMG! You should have seen her face!!! She takes the pics, holds them up and shouts across the room to her husband and son: "OH MY GOD YOU GUYS!!! Come look at this!!! They know Guilherme!!!" Then she continues: "That guy... Guilherme! He's a corporate lawyer and I just don't know how on earth he has the time to keep track of me the way he does! He knows more about me than I care to remember... and knows more about what I'm going to do next before I do!!! He even knew about this concert before I did! Can you believe it??? But... now if you guys met thru Guilherme... how on earth did Guilherme meet YOU to begin with?" - she asked me. I explain to her about the FB fan page... about how I wrote something on it, then Gui sent me a friend request. "Of course he did..." she laughs, now understanding. LOL!

Photo by Miguel Hidalgo
Kim with Guilherme in Santiago, CHILE.

    Finally she gets to signing his pic (one of him & her together in Chile). She pauses. "OMG! Guilherme! How do you spell that??? I can't spell it wrong! Do you know?" She asks me. At that moment, my mind is blank too. She calls over her husband and son again, asking if anyone can spell Guilherme. Ry starts to look it up on FB, but then she says "Never mind... how 'bout if I just write to G-man?!" I say: "Well, I think you could just put 'To Gui'... Gui seems to be his nickname... I've called him that and he doesn't seem to mind..." She says: "OK... Gui it is... I like that! But... now... what should I say? what else should I write???" She is giggling, standing right next to me, in my ear asking ME what SHE should write on Gui's pic... it's like we're silly school girls hovering over a cute guys picture. OMG!!! I say "How about 'To Gui, Love Kim'... but don't forget the xoxo!!!" and she writes it "Oh yes he'll like that!" she says. "xoxo" she smiles at me, handing me back the pic... ;)

    I also have a pic of Gui and Davo (her husband). Gui wanted me to have Davo sign. Davo is a real sweetheart too, an awesome cool very approachable guy... by this time they've figured out how to spell Guilherme... and he writes "Guilherme WE MISS YOU! ~Davo" Yup! He'll like that! Then Davo offers to take a pic of me, John & KC together. Davo takes a few pics with John's camera, which we all check after to make sure they're OK. KC says, "Isn't this great now we have cameras we can see the pics right away & decide if we like them or not! It's the best thing!"

    Then I ask her to sign one more pic for me, another favorite from the time of "Bette Davis Eyes" where she's so hot looking with suit & black glove & halo of angel hair, the perfect blending of beauty & power... "FEROCIOUS!" - but this time I ask her please to sign her whole name of Kim Carnes. She says "Awww but I thought we were friends!" (She tugs a handful hair at the back of my neck ;)) "That's why I only signed Kim!". She signs the last pic Kim Carnes. then asks me if I want her to go back and add Carnes to the rest of what she already signed. I tell her no... it was the moment that counted and in the moment she was just Kim, my friend, and that was totally fine with me! Then I give her the little gift of Yankee Candles and the Onyx beaded necklace. She was so flattered: "Oh for me? How sweet of you to give this to me... it's beautiful! Thank you so much!" I ask her if she's planning to make another cd. I say: "You must have so many songs in your heart still waiting to be sung! I know you write for others, but what about more for yourself?" She says, " Oh! I might... you know I've got one pile of songs for others, and another pile, just for me!"

    At this time, everyone else has left... KC says it's been so nice meeting us and talking with us, but she's gotta go get to her ride before it leaves without her, but then I remember about John recording some songs from the show when we didn't actually have permission. So I say: "We recorded some songs from tonight. Do you mind if I post them to you tube and stuff? If you say no, that's OK... I won't ever post them and I understand!" She says: "Sure you can post them... unless they're really bad... I'll let you decide on it. You can use your good judgement. I trust you!" And I said: "Well you were amazing tonight. It was all amazing. Everything sounded so very good!" She said: "Thank You!" and then it was Good Night & Good Bye.... What an Incredible Amazing Dream it was... Beyond Amazing... and far beyond my rational hopes and dreams. It was everything and more than I ever could have imagined. With out a doubt, absolutely positively a wonderful, magical, enchanted, entrancing, unforgettable, undeniably, amazing Dream Come True!!! :)))) So there you have it. Simply the BEST!!! The incredible REALITY of My DREAMS!!!! One of the Best moments of my Life for sure... Kim Carnes I will Forever LOVE!!! :))))

Video taped by John
		THE SET LIST: "One Beat At A Time" "Gypsy Honeymoon" "If I Was An Angel" "All About Time" "Sailin'" "Stepped Right In It" "Still Warmed By The Thrill" "Bette Davis Eyes" Since the show was "in-the-round", she sang a lot with her friends on their songs, as well.