The day has been downright idyllic, driving north from Bethlehem, PA – one of my favourite cities – via a pretty leisurely route up through NY to where we’re playing tonight in Egremont, MA.
We hit up a jam at a spot called the Shanty on 19th (pictured above), apparently made famous by a nightmarish reality tv show with an angry chef – local reviews say they feel the place is probably much improved from what they saw on the television, but I couldn’t find anyone who said they’d been there BEFORE the place was on tv.
Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA… Invasive horrible beetles that are unfortunately also pretty cool looking.
The staff was nice, the host was fine, the players were a lot of fun – but it was definitely a JAM session. We were the only original music for the night. Made a big splash because of it, but we were the only acoustic noises in a wash of electric guitars…
… a lot of really GOOD electric guitars!
T’was a fine night. Afterwards we retreated to our friend Mike Duck’s house (Not For Coltrane) who is just a wonderful insight into a similar but not quite same Life. He also plays a lot of music, does a lot of volunteer work, does freelance graphic design to make ends meet – but he’s got two kids and Lives on the very edge of some of my very favourite arts communities and music festivals – and so through him sometimes I see a kind of “what-if” lens.
I fell in Love in Bethlehem, and long after that relationship ended, I realized I’d falling in Love WITH Bethlehem, and that’s simply never gone away. Walking around the town today in the first PERFECT weather of almost-autumn, Heather finds an orange leaf, the breeze is cold but the sun is warm, the town is quiet but buzzing… the echoes from the amplifiers still ringing in my head… wandering coffeeshops (the Joint, quite possibly the best coffee anywhere… period) and art galleries and the oldest continuously-operating bookshop in the country.
I’m feeling inspired and pick up a tiny sketchbook. I make a postcard for Heather, doodle and cavort.
All-in-all, it’s SO good to be OUT.
The Barn at Egremont, MA hath got GOATS!!!!
Open mic at the Barn at Egremont, MA. \
Crashing for the night with my ex-girlfriend’s husband’s ex-wife’s Mom’s Cousin’s Ex-Wife place… … and her cat… I guess that makes her Heather’s husband’s … I … actually have no idea. But it was a sweet cat.
