Lotsa miles......
Sat, Nov. 13 2004
There's a lot to catch up on. After Bellingham, Washington was a house
concert with Jean Mann (www.JeanMann.com) in Marblemount, Wa at the Skagit
(pronounced Skajit) River Resort. What a great place! It's about thirty
miles or so east of Interstate 5 in the north Cascades. Beautiful setting
on the river with tall trees, beautiful meadows, and hundreds of semi-tame
rabbits hopping all over the place...It was a dream gig. Judi and Bob
(the proprietors) were wonderful hosts and went out of their way to make
certain we felt comfortable and welcome. After Skagit River it was off
to Seattle, where I caught an open mic at the Experience Music Project
or EMP as it's known locally. This is a truly strange place. Architecturally,
try to imagine The Mothership crash-landing at the base of the Space Needle.
Not a straight line anywhere! Inside are comprehensive museums of Rock
music and Sci Fi film memorabilia...and a club called the Liquid Lounge.
While waiting for downbeat at the open mic who should
appear but Cara Vida (www.CaraVida.com) an utterly no-compromise performance
artist/cabaret singer from San Francisco I met for the first time several
weeks ago at another o'mic in Eugene, Oregon. Then, while we were marveling
at the coincidence and catching up on our travels, up the stairs comes
Jessica McFarland (www.Jessica McFarland.com) who I played a show with
way back in October down in San Diego!...at this point we stopped trying
to make any sense of it whatsoever and commenced to having a great time.
I got called up first and played a few songs, then Jessica, who got held
over for an extra song, and then Cara Vida, who li terally stopped the
room with her interpretation of the old standard "I cried a river"!
The next night, Jean Mann and I caught another Open Mic. This was
at a very well attended little place in the U-district called the Trabant
Chai Lounge. It was full of fine talent and an enthusiastic, though loud
and talkative, audience. But when Jean did her songs you could have heard
a pin drop. Fortunately, I followed just a couple slots after Jean and
got the benefit of their attention as a result :^) A couple days of travel
brought me back to California and a pleasant o'mic in Benicia at a place
called "in the company of wolves". This is a truly classic brick-walled
coffeehouse with a tiny stage and an inordinate amount of talent stopping
by. Next night was down to San Francisco for a show at The Cafe Espresso
Roma with performing songwriter Mario Zelaya, whose songs are full of
vivid imagery, wit and humor, and never fail to capture my imagination.
We're cooking up a show in Southern California in January...Hopefully
you'll get a chance to see him then...Do good. James
