Just Cyd.

Jeffrey Dean Foster and The Arrows with Florence Dore, Gas Hill Drinking Room, Winston-Salem, NC, Saturday, February 15

While I love making the most of my trips south, hotel hopping is not my favorite part. Alas, it is sometimes required to make the most of my trip, or in this case, when a second show presents itself and it makes sense to book the closer-to-home second-night show with a closer-to-home hotel. Which is how I found myself staying at a different Hanes Mall hotel off Silas Creek Parkway near the hospital in Winston-Salem (aka The Ben Folds Five song). It was a dreary drive in, and I had to kill time before hotel check-in, so, among other things, I drove to the venue to assess the parking situation, but not before I had a message from Foster himself, asking if I would kindly be is Mistress of Merch that night. His partner, J, was back stateside but still very sick, and wouldn't make the show that night. I agreed without hesitation, since it's a low-stakes gig that involves parking my butt in the back of the venue (on a stool!) and chatting up anyone who happened by. We've known each other 11 months at this point, but have grown close chatting after shows and between visits, and it pleases me to no end that he thinks enough of me to ask me to handle his merch and money.

Buried in my perpetually-half-packed suitcase I unearthed the JDF Angel Skull t-shirt, and decided to go for it, figuring the only more ridiculous thing I could wear would be the lowest-cut top and pushy-uppest bra in the arsenal. I was shaking off my earlier mood, and was full-on extrovert by the time I sauntered through the doors just minutes after they opened.

"Can you let Jeffrey know his Merch Bitch is here?" I beamed upon entering, and had at least three different people cracking up at this. When Jeffrey popped out from behind the scenes (actually the upper level of the Ramkat proper), I repeated my statement, to his distress, and let him know I was his bitch for the night. Pushing it? yeah, probably. I later told his partner J of this exchange and she thought it was hilarious. Always be on good terms with the other half.

I took some really bad photos and even worse video (still uploading). The crowd wasn't huge, but they were ALL IN, which is fantastic ... until you're trying to push merch on people who've known the band for decades. Florence was a treat, and talking with her husband, Will Rigby, turns out he's the drummer for The dBs, and had played in Dayton back in the late 70s "at some place in a parking garage?" Yup, I know the place: Gilly's. It's closed now, but was the OTHER musical institution in Dayton for years and years (the first being Canal Street Tavern, of course).

Florence has a book out, called The Ink in the Grooves: Conversations on Literature and Rock & Roll that sounds freaking amazing. oh, and she's a professor at UNC Chapel Hill.

Clearly, this is not a concert review. I was mentally bouncing all over the place, enjoying the music but not capable of retaining anything remotely pertinent to writing a review. I think we were all a little out of sorts, just three weeks into the new regime and reign of terror. "Fuck that guy," indeed.

Bonus: Gas Hill has an Art-o-Mat!

sigh. maybe i'll revisit this one? maybe I won't. it was a rough weekend. not as bad as that triple-header a couple weeks prior, but clearly, these are troubled times and I need to do something about it.

One week ago I got to cross a biggie on my mental checklist: MEET MARK KANO AND HEAR HIM PERFORM IN PERSON.

Ok, technically those could be two different things, but really, I've been able to meet everyone I've seen perform, so we'll count it as one.

The Venue: The Corner is this community space on the NC State campus. It's a pretty cool setup, but not the most accessible. There is an incline to get into the place, and it's all grass and such, so footing can be sketchy. A couple of the shipping containers have seating in them for dining, and That Station had probably 50ish folding chairs set up, while others brought camp chairs.

Mark and Mike at soundcheck, via Facebook

I've seen Mike a couple times before, and while I didn't tell him I was coming, as soon as he saw me across the grounds, he recognized me and brought Mark over to meet me. if that isn't an ego boost, I don't know what is! I'm sure it helped that I had on my bright green Dunleath Porchfest tee. We said hello, and Mike introduced me to Mark, and gave him the quick-and-dirty on my road-tripping and when/where we met. Mark was suitably impressed, and then immediately apologized for his voice - he'd been sick that week, and was struggling with some of the notes. They were, in fact, adjusting their set list to accommodate Mark's limitations, and he hoped I wouldn't be too disappointed.

The program was called Artist Notes, and they get the artists to play music and talk about their careers. They opened with Flat Tire, one of Atheneaum's hits, and played a nice mix of band and solo stuff while they talked about how they met (Mike was at the show where Mark and Nic Brown crashed John Gillespie's set), the differences between having a major record label and releasing stuff independently, what advice they'd give their kids, and what the future has in store.

It was about an hour total, and when they were done, Mark turned to Mike and said "I think we've got a couple more in us, what would you like to hear?" and the request-fest began. They played Comfort, Haircut, and the Collapsis song Wonderland, which I didn't recognize because I haven't really listened to that particular album.

After the show, I meandered my way up to the stage, and first talked to the DJ. I suspect he'd have talked to me more, but he was also chasing his 3yr old. Got to spend some time talking to Mike, and when I mentioned gifting someone the Collected Stories of Amy Hempel, his face lit up. He's got a copy of Tumble Home on his desk at work. so we talked a bunch about her and books in general, and it was so cool to make that sort of connection. I eventually got to say goodbye to Mark, who gave me a quick hug and thanked me for making the trek. As we started heading to our cars, I mentioned that John Gillespie speaks highly of him, and Mark, in turn, started raving about what a fantastic songwriter and human that John is, and NC Musicians' Lovefest added another chapter.

I didn't get pictures with either of the guys, and that's OK. It's really not my vibe, to get selfies and autographs and such. I'd much prefer chatting and nerding out over whatever it is we have in common, and make that personal connection. I got a couple pics of them from afar, took video of some of the songs. that, and the memories, are all I really need.

Anyone who knows me will know that I'm not the good energy, love-and-light kind of woo girl. If that's your thing, great, but I'm far too skeptical and snarky for that. But then I met John. ( Read more... )

First concert of the year was last month! I should really write about it.

I drove to Hillsborough, NC to see Mike Garrigan at the Eno House Artists Den. He was the opener for his friends Nikki Meets the Hibachi, and they were both amazing!

On the accessibility front, the Eno House is an old boxy church with half a dozen steps to get inside. There is a ramp up the side, which I'm sure could be used if needed. Once inside, everything was on that one level (including restrooms), and the only issue with navigating would be once the place got packed full and extra chairs were brought out to accommodate everyone. Dunno if it was a sell-out, but it certainly was well-attended. My hopes of seeing other musicians, like Darren or Zach or Mike's former bandmates, were dashed, but there were a LOT of people there I didn't recognize who appeared to be part of the NC/Piedmont music scene, so that's cool.

The place was well-staffed, all with people in black "STAFF" tshirts. Very official. the building is a de-commissioned church, but loosly affiliated with a nearby church, and the money raised was going to help fund a literacy camp for the neighborhood kids. The building serves as a community center now, with all manner of things available. Kinda wish I lived closer so I could attend the weekly writers workshop.

The room was set up with small round tables up front with 4 chairs each, then a few rows of old pews, then tall bistro tables and stools behind that. I picked the table up front on the far right, opposite side of the place from the vintage Steinway. It was set up so Mike would be facing the same direction as me; I couldn't see his face, but I could see his hands. I also prefer to be out of the way and have a view of the whole room, even if I'm not near an exit. He was milling about, talking to people, looking very Corporate Dad. He did not make it over to me, and about 7:15 or so, he started to play. He had an actual set list on his phone, which he set on the piano. He opened with The Architect, which he wrote as an intro-to-a-set piece. He spoke a bit between songs, talking about the new ones and the old, how some of them came to be, etc. he had to turn quite a bit to see the full room. He was playing all of my faves (but let's face it, all of his songs are my faves right now), but he was pretty far in and had not yet played Dive.

You see, at the beginning of the year I signed up to be an annual supporter of his on Bandcamp. He made a post in the community sharing that he'd be recording all of his shows this year, and sharing the best of each, and if we had any requests to please let him know. A few people discussed what they'd like to hear in general. I posted that I would be at the Eno House show, and would like to hear Dive. He said he'd get it on the set list. I didn't know if he'd just play it, and that would be that, or if he would say it was a request and pitch Bandcamp, or what. Near the end of his set, he turned to the audience and asked "Was there someone flying? driving? in from Ohio for the show?" "yep! that's me" i piped up and shot up my hand. He had to turn quite far to see me, but did make eye contact. he turned back to the microphone and asked "and did you have a request you wanted me to play?" and did the huge fake winking thing at me. while people chuckled, he stage whispered "we worked this out in advance" to more laughter. I spoke up, quite clearly, and confirmed "yes, I would love it if you would play Dive" and then did my best to keep my shit together while he sang his heart out. as soon as the song was over, a guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder as he got up and said "good call on requesting Dive" and I thanked him.

As soon as Mike's set was over, he made a beeline over to me. one of his first questions was "so, do you know people down here...?" and was appropriately shocked when I said no. gave him the tl;dr version of living my life, and mentioned I'd be back for Tom Maxwell's book release. after a few minutes, he moved on, and the second band hit the stage.

Nikki Meets the Hibachi is yet another "wow, how did I not know about them???" gems. Elaine and John, on acoustic guitars, singing with harmonies. SOLD. and they are both just the nicest people you'll ever meet. It must be a requirement for NC musicians or something. They had some backing from Amy Ray to get an EP out a while back, but have been at this since the late 80s. there were some tech issues that i didn't really notice but had them fussing, and things ran a bit late ("I promised some people they'd be outta here by 9; some of us have to go to work tomorrow"), but it was just amazing. Got to talk to John Gillespie after the show, and he is also sweet as pie (and has really soft hands - how does a guitarist get soft hands?). mentioned to him and to the Eno House people that they need to get Darren Jessee to play there.

I've already covered the nightmare that was the drive home from Asheville, so let's talk about the drive down, and the show itself.

First off, I had a side quest: I detoured to Frankfort KY to meet Theresa at 9720! She's one of my regulars at work, and she likes me (others think she's mean?!), and it wasn't too far off my route. completely surprised her, which was fantastic. we chatted for a bit, she sneakily paid for my snacks, and then I was back on the road. I'd passed Buffalo Trace Distillery on the way in, so I texted my friends that I was stopping by, and to get their requests in. They graciously offered up a golf card lift from the main entrance (ID checked and wristband given) to the gift shop, which was much appreciated. I picked up a bottle of bourbon cream for Beth, a bottle of regular bourbon just because, and some mini bottles for holiday fill-ins. another quick cart ride took me right to my car, and then I was on the road east then south, headed for Knoxville, where I'd head east for real to get to Asheville.

These two stops took a little longer than planned, but they weren't terrible. That said, I wasn't really keeping tabs on time too closely. Hit some traffic as I got into Knoxville, and when I started heading east, there was a section a ways off that was on fire. I repeat: THERE WAS A FIRE NEARISH TO THE HIGHWAY. gulp. add some lane-shifting and construction, and things were a bit more spicy than I like. Nearly got rear-ended by a work van, some dude apparently flooring it while I maintained a steady pace. On I-40, just after crossing into NC, things got extra-spicy: Smoke warnings, and actual wildfires. I did NOT have these on my road trip bingo card. The Black Bear fire had been sparked the day prior when a semi crashed on WB I-40, and the fire was spreading through the deeply parched forest and was up to the edge of the highway. it was also on top of the tunnels at Snowbird mountain. The interstate is only two lanes each direction, so when we hit construction and lane closures, thngs slowed down BAD. Twice. There may have been tears when I wasn't moving, but watching my arrival time get later and later.

I did, eventually, get to my hotel just as it got dark: 5:30pm. Doors were at 6, show was at 7, and I hate to be late. Checked in, took the fastest shower ever, got dressed and made my way to downtown Asheville. The dark and the very three-dimensional terrain made navigating hard, but I eventually found the parking garage and, on a hunch, got a handicap spot in the "full" lot. was able to waddle the 1.5 blocks to the venue, despite still being very tightly wound from the white-knuckle driving of the prior couple hours. I loved everything about the place. I didn't immediately see Zach or Darren, but with only 5 minutes until showtime, I spotted D and said hello, letting him know I had something for him and I'd see him after the show.

You see, at some point in the drive, I decided that $30 bottle of bourbon would be going to Darren, along with the Amy Hempel book I'd mentioned in Greensboro.

I got a drink (sparkling water) and sat in the back/center, hoping to both have an unobstructed view, and to not be in anyone's way with my giant bag and cane and whatnot. the seats were mostly full when Julie Odell took the stage (bandcamp | Instagram). She's another soft-spoken but beautiful acoustic singer/songwriter, and this was another show where I just wanted to close my eyes and just let the music wash over me. I was too stressed about dropping my drink or knocking my cane over, and knew D&Z were behind me, so I tried to stay as zen as I could.

About her third song, her daughter came down from the upper level, walked up beside the first row of seats, and silently showed off something she'd drawn in a small notebook. to the girl's credit, she didn't make any noise or cause a huge distraction, and to Julie's credit, she acknowledged her daughter without stopping her song or otherwise acting disrupted or put out. In face, she didn't mention it at all until she referenced her daughter at a later point.

Julie had one song that she couldn't get going right, so she got frustrated and moved on to the next. that next song is the one I fell in love with, and of course it's not on an album and I don't know the name. but he's recording soon (now?) and that will be included.

Not quite an hour into it, Julie was done and it was time for Darren to take the stage. All along people had continued to come in and find seats, and I found an older couple sitting in front of me, with his head blocking out Zach completely, and causing me to lean a bit to the right to see Darren in between them. turns out, that was Darren's producer Alan Weatherhead! I think D was a bit flustered by that, but he did announce his special guest from the stage and we all applauded as we should. They played their usual/basic set, but I noticed D was getting a bit more creative on the phrasing in a couple songs, like he's letting his hair down a bit. I like it.

After the show, I immediately said out loud "well, that was worth the drive" and Alan's wife/partner turned around and asked where I'd driven from. "Dayton, Ohio" was my reply, at which Alan turned around and a lovely conversation began. the usual shock from them, moreso when they learned it was Show #4 for me. they were further surprised to learn I'd only been following him for about 18 months. They told me about Madison, IN, a cute little river town across from Louisville that's worth checking out. They got up to talk to Darren, and I found Zach and talked to him. We discussed t-day plans and how he bleeds green and yellow for his beloved green bay packers. Bought Julie's album and had a discussion with two employees about my trek to see Darren play all over. it's a hell of a conversation starter. Ran into Julie in the restroom as her daughter quite literally climbed the walls, and discovered the dumbwaiter in the handicap stall.

When we came out, they'd damn near had the place shut down, just before 9pm. Darren was tearing down and distracted, so I asked where his stuff was that I could put the bag. He looked a bit annoyed and said "just give it to me" so I pulled out the Buffalo Trace bag and carefully handed it over. "there was a side quest on the way here. The book is in there, too" I said as his eyes jumped wide open and he stammered a reply. "take care, I'll see y'all in two weeks!" I chirped as I waddled out.

Stopped at a speedway on the way back to the hotel for dinner, since my room had a fridge and microwave, climbed into bed, and tried to find my alternate route home. also tried to sleep, knowing it'd be a rough drive home.

Although I'd bought the ticket a month earlier, I didn't decide to attend Darren's Greensboro show until a couple nights before. It was a mad scramble to figure out accommodations (first place I booked canceled on me), the ticket (my physical ticket never arrived), and paying for it, but in the end, it all worked out.

I was on the road at 7:15am just as a torrential downpour hit. Not cool. It let up as I headed southeast out of Dayton, and it was rainy/misty until I hit WV. I remembered to not gawk too much once I crossed the state line, but failed to bring cash for the WV Turnpike tolls; they'll let you through, but you'll pay a $5 penalty PER TOLLBOOTH for failing to pay. ouch. I will be getting that EZpass.

Virginia bought the beginning of the gorgeous fall colors, and heavy fog. loved the former, terrified by the latter. Turns out NOT being able to see what's over the guardrails is worse than being able to see the drop-offs and whatnot. This is also roughly where I lose my signal, which includes my GPS and streaming music. hooray for downloaded tunes!

my Airbnb was lovely, a large room with ensuite bath in a first-floor apartment just south of downtown. It was maybe five minutes to the venue/parking.

As I was approaching the venue, I saw Darren and Zach crossing the street, but was too far away to catch them. So I went on in to the bar, grabbed a drink, and caught them by surprise when they came in a few minutes later. They both seemed happy/surprised to see me, and once again Darren told me I shouldn't be making the drive. They still had to write up their set list, so they got down to business and texted a friend.

They were both a lot more relaxed than when I saw them in Catskill, which was good to see. I can only guess the sort of pre-gaming they took part in, or maybe just being so close to home took the pressure off. they had virtually no room to move on the tiny stage packed with the headliner's gear, but Darren rolled with it, joking that they were going to forego the whole setup and just stick to guitar and keys. They opened with Anything You Need, and played at least 3 Hotel Lights songs. When no one really reacted to that band name, he joked that they were really good, and we should look them up. I tried to yell "their lead singer is hot!!" but couldn't get it to come out. He also mentioned having his albums for sale, or buying them online, on your phone, to listen to, on your phone... (no, Darren, tell us how you really feel). He flubbed the beginning of one of his older songs, and just rolled with it, starting over and laughing it off.

After the show, we did get to chat a bit. He asked what other bands I'd seen lately (HS Marching Bands and Better than Ezra), and we laughed about me re-living the 90s. I told him I'd be at his Atlanta show for sure, bringing a friend, and he let me know it's a house concert. "oh, cool, I like house concerts" I told him. he was surprised i'd heard of them, let alone been to one. As I was leaving, I remembered I had a book for him in my car - Amy Hempel's Collected Stories. Told him I was too tired to go fetch it, and he said I should just bring it to Atlanta.

Tickets for Asheville and Atlanta have been purchased, now to figure out the rest!

One of those traits (annoying or telling, you decide) I've had since childhood is the need to make lists and catalog things, and to do it in such exacting detail that it's all but impossible to maintain.

Of all of those various lists and catalogings, I find occasionally that I really DO want to know how on earth I ended up at a particular website/article/book/song. You see, my friends and I like a bit of a sport with one-upping one another with the weird and wacky, and sometimes my contributions are so far out in left field that I have to cite my sources or, rather, show how I got there.

With books, I finally created tags in Goodreads that say "rec-xxxxx" for the person or source (NPR) of the book. Because with 1400 books marked as "want to read" I need to know WHY I want to read this, too.

FUN FACT: I began logging the books I read back in February 1995 while working at a Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. They told me to bring a book when they hired me, as there was a lot of down time. Cashiers and bartenders would swap books, but I found I'd get partway through a book only to realize I'd already read it. So out came the little hardback notebook, and The List began. 100 books read between Feb 1995 and July 1996. Yep, I had a lot of down time.

Lately, it's music that is the Big Thing, and I have no real way of documenting how I find these people, at least not easily. So, here is the Quick and Dirty Daisy Chain Of Rabbit Holes that Led Me to Getting a Facebook Post Liked By Mike Garrigan:

1 Ben Folds Five --> 2 Hotel Lights --> 3 Darren Jessee --> 4 Nic Brown --> 5 Athenaeum --> 6 Mark Kano --> 7 Mike Garrigan

Simple, eh? No? OK, let me explain:

1-3
Last August, I was still working in the office full-time, in an office with a door I kept shut (bliss!). I needed music to keep my brain happy, so spotify was my friend. I got a hankering for Ben Folds Five, so I dug into their catalog and re-discovered their awesomeness. Dug into YouTube as well, and at the end of the Ben Folds Five - Live at UNC Memorial Hall, 2008 ('Front to Back' Reunion), Ben introduces the drummer as "Darren Jessee of Hotel Lights" and my ears perked up. A few of the YouTube concerts had comments mentioning Darren's solo work, but this band name was new to me. Dug into YouTube and found his songs and actual videos. It was pretty much an instant switch from BFF to DJ right then and there.

3-4
Began following Darren on All The Socials, and he mentioned an upcoming album, etc. He doesn't post much, but Instagram stories are the most common. One was just a photo of a book, which looks interesting. I get the book from the library and read it in one sitting, had a bit of a cry, read it again (and then later the audiobook because why not?). Followed Nic on Instagram, and learned Nic's wife Abby did the cover art for Darren's newest album.

4-5
Most of the time spent with Nic's book I was focused on the career shift stuff, not that he was in a band. HE WAS IN A BAND. IN CHAPEL HILL. Darren is mentioned both IN the book and in the acknowledgements at the end. Said band had a moderately successful late-90s hit. after too many weeks, I finally realized I needed to look up this band. Athenaeum. Found their hit song from their 20 year reunion show" in 2018, and the second that singer opened his mouth, it was all over. who is this man, and where has he been hiding. Turns out that's Mark Kano, the very Mark Kano that Nic started this band with back when Nic was still a very young teen. That's a voice with depth and range and damn where was I when this band was popular?? oh. right. Dig thought the Tubes of You, and get my paws on pretty much everything this band has released. sweet!

5-6
And while digging up All Things Athenaeum, I learn that Mark Kano has done solo work. Similar to Athenaeum, but more mature in other ways. Vocally, this dude's got range and potential - almost reminds me of someone who had done musical theater/broadway. quickly downloaded his stuff from Bandcamp

6-7
in watching Athenaeum, I noticed the other guitarist also sings, and seems to hold his own. Took a while to realize the guy in the early videos is one guy (Grey Brewster) and the bald guy in the later videos/reunion show is another (Mike Garrigan). On Bandcamp, Mark goes so far as to recommend Mike. so I check out Mike, and am immediately bowled over by his song Satellites. after a bunch of listens, I was prompted to buy the damn songs already, so I did. And last night, I posted to Instagram about it, forgetting that insta cross-posts to facebook, and this morning i discovered that Mike Garrigan himself liked that FB post. [just now, snagging the link to the post, I see he liked it on Instagram as well!]

And that, my friends, is how I find myself where I am today.

While my trip to Durham was specifically to see Darren Jessee perform, the trip was so much more than that.
( Read more... )