April 25th, 2023. The Spark with Robert Lighthouse.
Tuesday night it’s the Spark. Tonight with featured artist Robert Lighthouse. His first gig post touring, traveling, and documenting… WITNESSING, in Ukraine. Hearing him talking about music bringing us together in the face of war was powerful and needed. I’m kicking myself because I left my camera at home.
Dave invited him to talk through a bit more about his experiences at the close of the night, and we did a full-blown Q&A that lasted through 10.30pm. I was exhausted, and I’d been mulling over the bad news about Prince and the implications of it all – but it was good to hear Robert talking about writing from the middle so that you could draw people together with music, rather than alienating people right from the start – because that’s how I USED to think. And I think I’ve allowed myself to lose that vision.
We do this every Tuesday. Signup before 7. I start at 7. 7112 Willow Ave. in Takoma Park, MD. robsopenmics.ilyaimy.com for more information.
I’m kind of bummed that there seems to be no easy way of retracting our 6pm signup. 6.30 would be a lot easier now, but on the other hand there’s plenty of time for people to hang out and just chat in advance. I THINK this is good bonding? But it also sometimes feels like world-wearied warriors coming together to worry. I think it’s the rocking chair.
Tonight we were joined by
rob
Jay Keating
Dan Sheetz
John
Eddie
Amoreena
Hassan El Tayyab
Phil Spiess
Robert Lighthouse
Steve Cutts
Robinson
Charlie Bryant
Chris
Ed Light
Howard Blue
Juels Bland
Jay Keating of Know1Else kicking things off. Know1Else will be our feature on May 16th.Eddie.AmoreenaA new find – Hassan has a band called American Nomad.Local sound engineer Philip Spiess.I’m a huge fan of Robert Lighthouse, which meant that I had a socially awkward night and my guitar wouldn’t stay in tune. Watching him is like picking up where Jimi Hendrix left off, but on acoustic guitar, and hearing him talk about the war, and later in the night, about his own explorations with blues music, his relationship with those players and these sounds, it was all really powerful. Steve Cutts joined by John Peiffer.Charlie Bryant.Chris.Ed LightJuels BlandRobert Lighthouse speaking with us long into the night.Amoreena and Heather can be friends. Grateful that Heather dropped by to say “hi” on the way home from HER gig. I needed some family-time.
