Last night I played a private party out in northwestern New Jersey – same place I played last summer, and again I was joined by John Skehan of Railroad Earth for most of the evening (last year I had John and also Andy Goessling of RRE). It was a truly peak experience from the first note – an excellent sound system set up in the living room of my host’s home, the keg and party chatter outside on the deck so the room I was in was for people who wanted to hear the music.
I started out solo, and the muse was as generous as could be. One gift after another. It had a lot to do with the fact that the monitor speaker was of sufficient quality that I could hear the full range of my guitar, which enabled me to take full advantage of the range of sounds I get with the Mama Bear preamp.
It also helped that tinydancer was there in her Stevie Nicks regalia, interpreting the music and adding her own desires to the creative flux. (I knew Ruth wanted to hear “Quarter to Five,” “Echolalia,” and “Lazy River Road”). My friend Paul I. was there, too, and he also reflected generous energy into the performance. So did the others in attendance – it was a well-wired human circuit, and I was able to take full advantage of all the available juice.
Skehan brought another measure of wonderfulness to the equation. He was ready for anything, and we spent a significant part of the performance playing entirely free-form music, building loops from almost arbitrary snatches of melody. There was one jam that I intended to start with one particular harmonic idea, but while I was doodling to get my guitar sound I grabbed a bar of a G chord thing and we were off and running.
The evening was recorded in two modes – soundboard and ambient. There is some distortion on the soundboard recording, which I may or may not be able to deal with, but the guy who made the other recording reported in this morning that he is very happy with the result. I’ll have that recording in a few days.
So. Two excellent gigs to start off a tour that promises nothing but even better times to come. Today I play the Fountain House with the Shockenaw Mountain Boys (John, Tim, Andy and Grubb from Railroad Earth); I’ll do some more one-on-one with John, and I’ll play with the quartet, too. These guys all have big ears and a deep understanding of the story we’re here to tell.
David,
Great to finally meet you. You’re right, the sound was great. The whole environment inside and around that home was warm and welcoming. The songs were great, but I really dug the way you and John connected on the looser jams. And Ruth’s dancing brought an extra special element. I wish I didn’t have to leave at midnight. I’ll have to hear the rest when the recordings make the rounds…
-Chip