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just_cydAsheville was the first city to get a repeat visit, but The Eno House is officially the first venue I've been to more than once on this musical road-tripping of mine. John Gillespie of Nikki Meets the Hibachi got to open up for his musical hero Alexa Rose, and it was a delight from start to finish.
[let's get the obvious out of the way. Privately I've slipped and called her "Alexis Rose" and only once, privately, made an "ew David!" crack. No on else appeared to make such faux pas publicly, and for that I was relieved]
Although it was just my second visit, three separate people knew me and greeted me like a long-time friend. First was Richard Greenway, the pastor that runs the place; followed quickly by John, who ran through a flurry of emotions at me actually making the drive to hear him perform; and then Mike Allen, owner of the Wake Forest Listening Room and one-half of the duo responsible for my initial, and personal, introduction to Darren Jessee.
Just like in January, the space filled up quickly, and the energy was amazing. Another one of those "no matter what happens, this will be worth it. I young couple came in just before things got going, and i waved them over to my table. They'd come over from Durham, first-timers, so I shared what I knew of the place. After the usual introductions by Rich, John Gillespie took the stage. It was just him, a microphone, and this odd-to-me little hybrid acoustic/electric guitar. It was John's earnestness that drew me back to see him again, and he did not disappoint. One of the songs he played was just released on Bandcamp - Letter Never Sent. Go give it a listen.
John had the pleasure of introducing the headliner, Alexa Rose. All I knew of her going in was his cover of her song Anywhere, Ohio, and that he was full-on fan-girling over her. His admiration of her was so pure, and he was so overcome with emotion that I don't think he got through any of the intro or her performance without shedding tears.
Only got the one picture of them and what you can't tell is that she's fighting with her tuner and apologizing to us for the trouble. She and Josh Oliver sang and played beautifully, using no amps, just a single mic. They'd move in closer or back up to change the sounds, and it worked beautifully. Bill West (the sound guy) really knows his stuff.
[let's get the obvious out of the way. Privately I've slipped and called her "Alexis Rose" and only once, privately, made an "ew David!" crack. No on else appeared to make such faux pas publicly, and for that I was relieved]
Although it was just my second visit, three separate people knew me and greeted me like a long-time friend. First was Richard Greenway, the pastor that runs the place; followed quickly by John, who ran through a flurry of emotions at me actually making the drive to hear him perform; and then Mike Allen, owner of the Wake Forest Listening Room and one-half of the duo responsible for my initial, and personal, introduction to Darren Jessee.
Just like in January, the space filled up quickly, and the energy was amazing. Another one of those "no matter what happens, this will be worth it. I young couple came in just before things got going, and i waved them over to my table. They'd come over from Durham, first-timers, so I shared what I knew of the place. After the usual introductions by Rich, John Gillespie took the stage. It was just him, a microphone, and this odd-to-me little hybrid acoustic/electric guitar. It was John's earnestness that drew me back to see him again, and he did not disappoint. One of the songs he played was just released on Bandcamp - Letter Never Sent. Go give it a listen.
John had the pleasure of introducing the headliner, Alexa Rose. All I knew of her going in was his cover of her song Anywhere, Ohio, and that he was full-on fan-girling over her. His admiration of her was so pure, and he was so overcome with emotion that I don't think he got through any of the intro or her performance without shedding tears.
Only got the one picture of them and what you can't tell is that she's fighting with her tuner and apologizing to us for the trouble. She and Josh Oliver sang and played beautifully, using no amps, just a single mic. They'd move in closer or back up to change the sounds, and it worked beautifully. Bill West (the sound guy) really knows his stuff.
