Tonight was just one of the best nights I’ve ever had at College Perk. I’m missing the old guard – Mitzi’s absence behind the bar, Amy, Meg and Liz. I’m not sure where they all are, but I miss their presence. A lot of people are running home to distant families, which is a good thing. I’ve chosen not to go out and visit my uncle. I don’t really care much for family gatherings, and – well, the last one was spent running upstairs to check to see that my father was comfortable every couple of minutes. It was a pain in the ass. If I’d known it was going to be one of my last times with him fully coherent maybe I’d have been a little more patient.
In any case – the College Perk. Still, a lot of my favourite people – and a couple of new ones. Crushes destined to never be consumated, jam partners never before considered. It was just a really good night.
As much as I Love performing with Heather, something that’s really been driven home recently is that I also really, really Love the chance to cut loose every once in a while and just be a MUSICIAN – flirting with my guitar and seeing where my fingers will take me. Showing off and joking with Sharif and Rowan, flipping them little rhythmic changes – it’s very sexual in its way, playful and sensual. Full of inside jokes that can only be understood by a partner who’s hooked into you in a very special way. And for as much as I don’t get that special LOCK feeling from anyone but Heather, getting the opportunity to just flex some improvisational muscle is a thing for me and the guys. We played Steel and my New Song (which I still don’t have a title for) – the Tim sat in playing that with me. We wrapped things up with an iffy version of Choke Cherry. I fumbled for words here and there, busy as I was being more interested in my fingers and the sound of my voice than I was in the actual content.
The night was great. John’s slowly rising to his task of host, and there were a lot of other really good performers there. I Loved watching IO. But the real treat came at the end of the night, as Rowan and Sharif and I just jammed off into the night. An HMT friend of Rowan’s, Rob, sat in on another djembe – and we just rambled off till close, with Molotov Swell, an AWESOME version of Bulldozer (extra heavy) into a version of Hands that I’ll want to replicate. Bearclaw’s Mule to remember Sandy with… and then we went and played IO songs where I got to fuck the lower registers with bass guitar. It was extremely satisfying.
Trying to get my friend Amanda’s car to start after getting kicked out of Perk? Not quite as satisfying. Flirty conversations on the phone on the way home? Lovely. The ragged sounds of leaves and the hungry purr of my squirrel engined Saturn as I pull to my mother’s house at 2 in the morning? Lovely.
I’m going to bed any second now, as it’s approaching 4 in the morning – but I’ve got to stress that it’s a night for violence. Dark and cold and bitter. High-wind-whipped leaves carpeting the roads and the cats yowling to escape back into the warmth. Shredded clouds over a gibbous grin of a moon. It wasn’t till I was firing up my computer to write this did I realize I hadn’t eaten anything all day.
Somedays stuff like that’s just not important, I guess.
Note to self: devilled eggs do not a fine breakfast food make. Erg.
How I relate to Anakin – I am the chosen one. I am destined to bring balance to folk music.
