After last night’s show in Stoughton, I didn’t think things could get much better. Every once in a while and think “people give me MONEY to do this… some nights, they’ll not only give me MONEY, but they’ll flirt with me, ply me with martinis AND amazing foods – AND pay me!!!”
Thank you Stoughton House of Brews – another marvelous night. Don’t act so surprised that we come visit you regularly. We Love you guys. And so… from there we retreat up to Boston and crash with our friends Laura and Reina, a perfect couple in a perfect little apartment in a perfect little spot of Somerville. We got in, tried to be quiet, knocked some stuff over, played with the cats, tore ourselves from the cats and curled into bed.
This morning we got to move slowly, but not slow enough. Like I said, Reina and Laura are just Lovely to stay with and we chatted around the kitchen table as I tore down my OX and rebuilt the pickup and changed out the saddle, traded stories and, of course, played with the cats. There was a watermelon sacrifices unto the turtle and then we tore ourselves away from THEM to go catch up with Greg Klyma who was throwing a garden brunch party that morning.
This shot by Zach Parkman gives a better idea of the beautiful ambience at Republic. When the weather’s perfect for an outdoors show, Life really is quite nice. Tonight (August 10th, 2014) because of how the night was coming together, with a friend’s birthday wish being to kick off the night, I’d actually thrown my name in the bucket like everyone else’s… it was a fantastic night of musicand Supermoon madness. A great night at Republic’s open mic in Takoma Park, MD. Here’s that there Supermoon from August 10th.
Talk about idyllic. Apparently his place in Somerville is much more typical of what the area advertises itself as being, and we got to hang out in the garden chatting and being social with Greg and some newfound friends until it was once again time to tear ourselves away….
Notes : the water bag thing does NOT work on flies. Bacon-fried French toast is amazing. Wasps suck. Gardens in Somerville don’t. Chickens are always laughing at you. I don’t know why. I think they’re asking each other “why did the human cross the road” jokes. Sometimes finesse alone does NOT build the tent. Coming up with the title does NOT entitle you to a co-write. I am a social butterfly, but sometimes it’s really, really nice to retreat the kitchen and just do the dishes – because French press coffee needs to be consumed in greater quantities than is currently available.
The skies are blue, filled with poofy clouds and birds that don’t know how good they’ve got it. Traffic has finally released its hold on us, and we’re looking for the last “cheap” gas before crossing the Connecticut line while wishing the radio stations in Massachusetts would PLEASE catch on to two simple facts : The Red Hot Chili Peppers stopped putting out good music after Blood Sugar Sex Magik and remixes died out in the 80s and we should let them lie. No – n – n – no – no no re re re re re re re re all real real
REALLY.
Meanwhile, outside at Teavolve’s open mic, in the streets of Harbor East, Pale (who’d I’d invited out to my open mic after meeting him at Republic) steps outside and plays Native American flute with Dave Benham. This is probably just about the best thing you can do with your spare time on tour – pick up a new instrument! Something that’s really made this weekend of open mics special – Dan Zimmerman is home! He performed at all three of my open mics – first coming out for Republic, then Monday night at Teavolve (above) with Rowan and Sharif (Rowan was in town too!!) rounding out The Great Outdoor Fight. It was a shame Heather wasn’t around, because it was like Christmas with all the kids home for the holidays! A nice full night at my open mic at The Board and Brew – a third night of Dan Zimmerman, a second night of Rowan Corbett – this week’s triumvirate of open mics was probably the best in recent memory. A string of amazing nights. Maybe it WAS the Supermoon? Heather basking in the light of our regular first Thursday gig at Firestone’s in Frederick, MD. Stay distracted by her glowing beauty. Meanwhile, I’M distracted by the fact that I really suck at cable organization. Sigh. Heather Loves ice cream. Here she is snacking before a show in Frederick, MD> Yawm. I had blueberry root beer. My I recommend that you don’t.. Brennan Kuhns showing off his accordion chops at HMT. My mom had given Kristen tickets to the Lion King as a late birthday present – and it’s finally time to go! Fortunately, she took ME! Here we are outside the Kennedy Center waiting for the show to start. It was pretty spectacular, but may I recommend that if you’re thinking of going to the Lion King and Cirque de Soleil you do it in that order. The music and the costumes and the singing and the dancing of the Lion King IS pretty amazing – the cross-genre costuming / puppeteering is really cool, but Cirque de Soleil is a whole other level of superhuman aesthetics. Gah! A wasp! As we waited at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC I wandered around outside and stumbled across a giant wasp. Fascinated, I got in close for a picture…. As I focused in on said wasp, another one flew past me, and then another – and another – and suddenly I realized I was at the heart of a fucking SWARM of these things. Each of these wasps is a good two inches long – but then I realized there were dozens of tinier ones too. It was time to leave the area at speed.
