[from the
US and Canada] A long night of bad dreams and active mind. I worry, I worry,
and I mourn. And then, each task, from waking up, to arriving at this event,
was on the verge of collapse …. but came through. By evening, the universe was
actively intervening in bringing my thoughts to fruition. My cousin and I did
the first Thursday art gallery walk. I pulled my phone out to take a picture of
a picture (I don’t know why) and my phone was calling BrightSilvers. There
hadn’t been any previous action today to lead to a butt dial – the universe knew
who was on my mind. Then me and TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers
reunited at our first house concert in a while. The Dovers of Doverlaff House
Concerts up and moved to Mexico so me & TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers
are playing the field to see who our next house-concert-lover might be. They
were billed as the Greg Blake Trio.
TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers kept
whispering to me that they were definitely more than a trio. They were billed
as bluegrass. They were definitely more than bluegrass. They never made it
clear how they came together but it was clear that Greg Blake is some sort of
dynamo … of a band leader, mentor, entertainer, person. TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers
called him a “silly wabbit.” He looked extremely Cajun to me. He said “Oh my
goodness” a lot. The brief webbing I did on them beforehand suggested they were
Christian (we can’t all be perfect) …. I do believe this to be true, for Blake
at least. Even though they acted like this band was thrown together for this
house concert, the truth slowly leaked out that each member was a star in their
instrument so they were some sort of supergroup. And they have a history of
touring, including Europe. And this was the start of some other tour. So, all
that to say, I don’t know why they were billed as a bluegrass trio. Me and
bluegrass have a complicated relationship. My relationship with country is even
more complicated. I can’t stand cover bands. This band was all of these things
and I loved them. First, they did real-deal Appalachian bluegrass (breakdowns,
claw hammer, etc) and their country covers were classic. Then, each song was
hand-picked by various band members and it just felt very curated, no hits. They
harmonized on an Osborne Brothers songs. I was pretty proud of myself when I found
myself mouthing “George Jones” when “She Thinks I Still Care” started - thanks
Rockboy for your tutelage. Greg did voice tricks for this one that the audience
loved, maybe he was impersonating George. Finally, each member was
extraordinarily talented and there was tremendous energy across the band
members. Their jokes didn’t seem scripted & they were funny. They called
the crowd “familiar… well, familiar and weird… but Arby’s says different is
good…. Maybe Arby’s can be our sponsor.” They did some all-band songs first,
with various instruments solo-ing, people clapping for the outstanding
fingering. Bluegrass is a weird combination of communalism and showmanship,
sort of like metal. I really got into it though once Greg started songs with an
introduction of a band member, their history, their awards, and the song they’d
chosen to play. They are Ellie Hawkinson on fiddle – I don’t think she’s a
regular member. I was itching to glam her up but she was completely confident
and funny. She and Greg had the craziest music-concentration faces of the band
members. I also entertained myself watching what bandmembers did when they
weren’t part of a song or only had a bit part. Isaac Callender was on the
mandolin with the curly-cue and on the fiddle sometimes, even twin fiddling
with Ellie (Greg did a good job getting us excited about that). He might have
been the only one who did songs he’d written, including a really pretty waltz (“Emily’s
Waltz”) that made me think of my high school buddy who’d play pretend with me
at the one interesting dive bar in our hometown. The tall-drink-of-water, Miles
Zurawell, who preferred not to smile played a banjo (with a resonator ( I
asked)) and a dobro, like a lap steel. He did a song by someone named Larry
Keel, whom he trained under in Asheville. Nico Humby, with the chin dimple and
ADHD ways (his band members joked about it so I can), was on upright bass and
even slapped it for one song. The best voice of the whole night was Nico
covering Willie Nelson’s “I’ve Just Destroyed the World” (don’t listen, you’ll
cry). Miles & Nico hail from Canada and pleased me when they said things
like “oh gosh” and “oh geez.” There was a lot of clapping, but seems to be what
rich people do. Their covers for people who know this music a lot better than I
do: Kitty Well’s “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels”; Flatts, Scruggs,
et al. “I’m Crying My Heart Out Over You”; George Jones - If I Don't Love You
(Grits Ain't Groceries); Osborne Brothers “Pathway of Teardrops”; Ray Price’s “Heartache
by the Numbers”; George Jones “She Thinks I Still Care”; Dolly Parton’s “My
Blue Tears”; Willie Nelson’s “I’ve Just Destroyed the World.” In other goodnesses
from the universe, as I drove home, my iPod started off with “No Good Man” by
The Brown Brothers, my cousin’s husband’s band. He was one of the people who
encouraged me to get back to music reviews, because he said he read them. Maybe
he said that because I had just told him again how much I love his sound, but
it’s ok, because I love his sound.
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