Benefit for Oakhurst Recovery Program (Atlanta, GA)
solo w/ Sue Witty, Dave Dault, Emily Saliers, Gerard McHugh and the Crafties, Gentle Readers
I don’t want to become repetitive, so if you were to start avoiding these show reports I can’t say I’d blame you.
But this was another good night. I admit, I’m still not crazy about playing acoustic, I never really hit any sense of comfort when I do it, and I never really feel like I handle the dynamics of it like I want to. When I rehearse I’m much more subtle, I think, than when I play live and I tend to clutch the guitar harder and play with less flair. That said, it was a good show. There was a crowd of 200 people or so and they were all into the show and very enthusiastic. Playing acoustic shows can be depressing at times, playing for small crowds who aren’t listening, so it was a good feeling having that kind of response and made it very easy to play off the crowd in between songs. I can be funny on stage, but it’s damn hard when no one’s reacting. As usual, I can’t recall anything I said during the show today. That’s pretty typical.
From a personal standpoint I didn’t really commit many errors, and the ones I did have went unnoticed, I think. And my voice held out all night, which always makes me happy. It’s always the guitar playing I dread, it’s the thing I don’t feel confident in and have to think about constantly. Singing just feels good, though, for the most part and I almost always enjoy it.
My one complaint toward myself is that I wish I were more able to join in when others are playing. I can’t think as fast on my feet as I’d like vocally. And as far as guitar goes I’m nearly incapable of jumping in and improvising like that. The first part of the show was a “writers-in-the-round” format with myself, Sue and Dave Dault. I’ve played with Sue before but had only heard of Dave. Both of them are extremely good at the acoustic thing, and they had played together before and were familiar with each other’s stuff. So there was a lot of interplay between them on their songs while I sort of tried to slide off to the side a bit so I didn’t look like a big goof. Sue did play Radiohead’s “Creep” and I did the extremely high bit near the end of the song, and that seemed to generate a lot of applause and they made me do it again at the end of the song.
Emily Saliers (Indigo Girls) played a short set after us, with the band they’re currently using in the studio. The drummer played something which I have tried to look up online to name but haven’t had any luck. It was basically one long floor tom with a pedal that hit the bottom of it lick a kick drum and he played at the top with a set of brushes. He had a hi-hat and two small crashes and he was amazing. I used to always say if you can’t say it with a 4-pc kit you should really shut up, but I may have to edit it even more. He was unbelievable.
I’d never seen Gerard and his band before, either, and they were a lot more retro-pop than the stuff I’ve heard from him before and were very tight. Candi Jiosne in is his band, I know her peripherally, she was a victim in Radiant City’s last abortive recording sessions. I doubt she knew who I was, though. And I have extolled the Gentle Readers here before, but I will reiterate that every time I see them lately I’m blown away. They’re one of the few bands Radiant City played with that are still around, and they have become so much stronger, adept and subtle. It can be rare to actually get to see a local band develop because they so rarely last that long (it’s one reason putting out a second CD is so important to me), but they are just incredible.
The show was a lot like the previous show at Eddie’s, too, in that there was a lot of interaction between the musicians, and whenever that happens it always feels good and actually makes me feel as if I’m in the “scene.” It sounds so stupid, but what can I say?
Sold CDs, a page and a half of new signups, not a bad night.
Back to the studio on Tuesday. More soon.