April 29th, 2019 at Teavolve w Ellen Cherry.
How did I get no photographs of Ellen Cherry? I’m not entirely sure. I guess I was shooting video? I guess I was having an off-night? I’m not entirely sure HOW it happened but it’s definitely inexcusable. Eventually I’ll catch up with my video projects and maybe put something together of her set because – well, she’s kind of local-legendary and I’d like to have a record of her on my stage!
In any case, it was a great night filled with marvelous performers and it gave my heart a little lift to see Ellen Cherry enjoy herself so much at one of my little open mics!
April 30th, 2019 at Busboys and Poets w Gabrielle Zwi.
May 1st, 2019 w Zoe Keating.
Man, I DO wish that meant that Zoe Keating had come down to one of my open mics, but no… no, not at all.
Kristen’s a huge fan of this looping cellist and we’ve caught her once before up in New York. Frankly I wasn’t completely enthusiastic about seeing her again because I was feeling really stressed about getting shit done and driving down to Birchmere is going to be an ALL day affair with stressful traffic and… well, whatever.
However – the show itself really was kind of amazing. Though I’d seen Zoe before, this time the sound was really, really good, being run in stereo AND we were seated smack in the middle. There were a couple of friends there with us at the show too and though I was in the midst of being socially-awkward-rob I really enjoyed just hanging out with people and telling stories before and after the show… it was a great night out and I’m really glad Kristen convinced me to come.
May 2nd, 2019 – Firestone’s Culinary Tavern.
May the 4th Be With You.
Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival.
An incredible green space in the heart of Washington DC. A massive festival, four stages, great crowd, lots of dogs.
Soundchecking on the main stage. 
Main stage! 
The festival’s only moment of May 4thism with a random wooden TIE fighter. 
Our friends Wicked Sycamore and sort of instantly photogenic. 
There’s a LOT of walking betwixt stages. 
Our audience, slowly filling in… 
Che Apalache sound checking.
Oh man – the good food. 
The guys and gal over at the Swizzler Food Truck fed us generously and … wow. So good. 
Okay, listening to a chorus warm up is kind of epic fun.
I’m sitting at a Unitarian Universalist church in Arlington, VA watching a black squirrel chase his tail and listening to “real” musicians warm up, tune up and generally swirl around me. I’m sort of second-guessing my choices – but still, it’s going to be cool getting to see Kristen in a classical setting. I’ve never seen her perform with an orchestra before. I’ve been teasing her, asking if she gets her OWN monitor mix or if the cellists all have to share, and whether the conductor tried to sell CDs in-between songs.
And the choir goes wild!
We played Kingman Island Bluegrass Festival earlier today – opening the main stage – great sound, great crew. Great little Gator drivers getting us from our car to the stage – there’s a LOT of walking to this festival. Generally speaking I say “no” to having our stuff lugged around on motorized vehicles once we’re on-site, but I’m glad I didn’t second-guess this. I mean – we parked the car and there was no real hint that there was a music festival anywhere nearby! I’m trying to map it out and realize that actually it was a little over a mile from where we parked to our stage… through muddy tracks and whipping branches… we rolled in and loaded onto the stage and had an hour to kill before we actually played. Wandering around I was able to find two other stages (there are four total) before realizing I really needed to get my ass back to base.
Looking out on to the audience I was kind of worried – as we started there weren’t many people there at all (though that highlighted the couple of security guys at the back of the field poppin’ and lockin’ to “Frankie and Jonny”) but before we were halfway through our set it had filled in magnificently (several people commented that they didn’t usually get to festivals early, but came to see US – so yay!) – though that almost HIGHLIGHTED the empty spots caused by people who’d gotten there, dropped off a big tarp (right up front) or a couple of chairs (smack in the centre of the space) and then wandered off. Land rush is all fine and good but I wish they’d take a sec to think about how that feels to the bands for whom you’re forcibly leaving big gaps for…
Anywho, great performance. Rowan and I spent the next couple of hours walking around and by the time we made it back to our stage, rejoining with Kristen, it was time to go… Rowan back home and me to this church in Arlington where Kristen’s performing with “the combined choirs of Arlington, Fairfax and All Souls Unitarian Universalist and Rodef Shalom” PLUS full orchestra for a performance of Faure Requiem… which is kind of an intense piece.
You know, it BETTER be! I’m fucking EXHAUSTED and absolutely in danger of just falling asleep! It’s a sold out show so people WILL notice if I keel over. It sounds absolutely epic echoing down the hall. I have the suspicion I’ll pep up and get all goosebumpy n stuff.
Hrm.
Goose.
That reminds me – had an absolutely bizarre dream last night – a dream that absolutely doesn’t translate in the retelling. It was an apocalypse dream of sorts, a man was being swindled by a woman – seduced out of every penny he had – and as I watched this happening, I knew – ABSOLUTELY KNEW that the woman was going to use his money to end the world, or that his savings kept the world going or something. Another friend (maybe even me) tried to convince him to not give her the money, and he went to her and handed over an envelope of cash and told me / us that he was only giving her $500 – but then I saw him deliver a chest full of gold and jewels to her and sure enough, the next moment we’re in a small A-frame house, just as skeletons, smoking cigarettes as the world turned to ashes outside the windows. Piles of bodies and sheets of fire, dark, heavy, sulphorous clouds and the nightmarish wailing of the dying.
And that’s nightmarish. And it was a nightmare. And it was horrible. And at that moment (7.23am) I woke up to my alarm, unnerved and horrified and kind of sweaty. But here’s the thing. Everyone was ducks. Like… sort of cartoon ducks. And there was an awareness of puns. Like… she used seducktion to get his money. And he paid the $500 in large BILLS.
Yeah. Dreams, man….
Btw – being dressed all in black – people keep asking me if I’m feeling poorly, because they all keep assuming I’m in the performance and not leaping into action for health reasons…
