It always sucks to read about what’s going on back home because it never seems to be good stuff. The strip mall down the street from us burned down – and though generally speaking I had no affection for it, the Baltimore Sun made a point of noting that it apparently was the oldest one on the east coast (?!) and used to have a shoe store in it that had Live monkeys.
This morning our little neighbourhood app passed along the news that one of our next door neighbours was playing cornhole in the alley behind our house when a group of five teenagers came up, took the beanbags and were walking away with them. There was a confrontation in which one of the kids took a swing at the neighbour and then they all ran off, but this seems like a crappy escalation of tensions in what is normally a relatively low-key edge-of-urban area.
I hate feeling like now I’ve got to be back on edge while loading and unloading gear… I’ve seen a group of five teens wandering around, how many of those can there be in the area?
Sigh.
Bella G – stunning vocals, great piano. Lovely human. Giant pedal boards built by electricians are the order of the day! This guy ended out the night and was completely an EPIC player!
But being away has been really good. Thursday night we hit the last seasonal open mic at Gizmo Brew Works in Raleigh, NC. We were mostly using it as a way to blow off steam after a long drive but it turned out to be a really great thing. A couple of great performers, another guy who grew up in PG County, a fine open mic host who seems to be plugged into plenty of other things in the area, a good beer or two and a surprisingly good smelling venue with nice bathrooms. You know, checked all the boxes. Plus we sold a bunch of CDs so – yay! Good choice!
Last night Kristen hooked us up with a friend’s mom’s friend’s community center that was larger than we expected, and with that friend’s mom’s friend’s community to boot which was ALSO larger than expected – and more importantly – MUCH more tuned in than expected. We had a great time and a lot of our old fan base from the area came around and… frankly it was just SO good to see them all. It was a visit from another time in our Lives.
Great show though my banter was decidedly discombobulated – but one new fan in particular just saw us like we want to be seen. She said she was absolutely blown away by our mix of genres and energy and frankly – she threw the energy we were radiating right back at us and it felt really, really good. I adored her JOY and am so glad we got to give her such a good night. (and even more glad that she was so good at expressing it!)
Kristen’s friend Karen has an ancestor named Newt Grimwood who was killed in a balloon accident. This is so fucking Harry Potter than I just want to find someone, shake them, and scream AERONAUT!!!!
We came “home” to our friends’ Jamie and Barnaby’s new house in Raleigh and hung out till we couldn’t hang no more. There was plum… something? Described as some sort of Czechoslovakian plum moonshine? And a cat that ran away and discussions of Life, the universe, everything. I’m glad we’re here.
