A solid night of music and a slow night of fandom. Very few folks to play for last week at Pies and Pints. Probably more people on stage than in the audience.

At one point there was some contentiousness between Pat and the wait-staff. He’s been pushing to get an electrical socket changed out for months (even a year?) to no avail. When he mentioned it through the microphone, it set off a sticky conversation that nobody wanted to be a part of. Yikes!

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Shortly before showing up for the weekly Pies and Pints Sunday night Folk Review, Tom let me know that Johnny Fitzpatrick was back in town and would be showing up to play. With my parents and family in tow, we arrived early for dinner. Much to my amazement, I saw Matt Herron sitting there on his computer. Matt left town last Fall to work in Antarctica and has since been traveling and calling Wyoming home base. Johnny and Matt are two of my favorite musicians to play with. Tons of heart, super tasty fills, and all-around great guys. Needless to say, I was pretty psyched.

As mentioned previously, my parents were in town for the week. One of my favorite aspects of Pies and Pints is that it is family-friendly. Hence, my parents stuck around with Oliver to watch the first set, though Oliver didn’t quite stay awake throughout. I always love playing when my parents are around. They were so instrumental in keeping me playing and encouraging throughout my entire life, that it makes me feel great to have them in attendance whenever possible.

Not much more to say about the night except that the music was downright delicious.

Matt, Johnny, Tom

Oliver sleeping on Grandpa

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Creeping Time has been on a feast-or-famine tear as of late. March saw four or five gigs that averaged out at over 3 hours each. Then nothing until this last show at Conor Byrne.

We didn’t do much marketing for the show and were playing as a four-piece (sans Tom, as he had another commitment). I admit I was a little worried before hand – both that nobody would show and our sound would be lackluster. However, as has been reinforced in my philosophy lately, expectations are everything. The night started off with a set by MoZo, Moe Provencer and Aimee Zoe (drummer who filled in for Dave on St Patrick’s day). They play a nice variety of music and also backed up their guitar player, Bob, on a few tunes. They are super great folks and sing harmonies that are out of this world. I imagine that their repertoire of songs is well into the 100s…

Our sets felt incredible. The sound guy this time really dialed everything in nicely, including leaving head-room for the vocals. After a fun first set, the second set we were joined for a few tunes by MoZo, complete with a few washboard solos! After our final song, we played an encore by request. After the encore, the folks that were still there just stared at us as we cleaned off the stage. It was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had after a set. Kind of an awkward silence but in a group setting, and not awkward at all… Hard to explain, but trust me, it was fully positive.

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Played the Owl n Thistle for May’s Art Walk (first Thursday) event. After being on the road for the past two months, BLVD Park returned to Seattle just days before the show. These guys are all pretty fancy-free and I think they enjoy when the rumor mills start churning. Word had it that after the tour they were intending to move to the east coast after playing this gig. In light of that, as well as the fact that their trumpet player was not with them, I showed up along with a couple other Seattle guys.

I originally hoped this gig would be a raucous mess, seeing that it was Art Walk (first Thursday) in Pioneer square. Though it didn’t live up to that expectation there was a decent crowd that seemed fairly excited about the music. While extremely excited to get back with these guys, it was hard to hear Tekla, lead female singer, continuously apologizing for the absence of their trumpet player. “Hey, I’m right here playing leads and fills on the fiddle”, I thought. As it turns out, it ends up that I damped her spirits by playing during all her singing parts. I wish I would have known she that earlier in the night as it made for a sad ending to the night – hearing it after the show was over – and leaving with little fanfare.

Either way it was fun to play with that crew again. Highlight of the night was having a hip-hop duo spit some lyrics while we played some improv backdrop. Man, that Jaret Mason can play a mean bass!

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Tom informed me Saturday afternoon that he wouldn’t be making the Sunday night gig at Pies and Pints, due to a conflicting date with his other band, Ockham’s Razor. The night therefore started out with Colin Klein on banjo, Pat Ferris on bass, and myself on guitar. We got away with a full set of tunes and it sounded pretty good, though there was definitely a missing element without Tom playing. Tom and I have developed a good repertoire of songs with decent harmonies. I’m a huge fan of vocals, and in my opinion, the human voice is the most intimate and spiritual instrument. Tony Bentley, who was playing with the following band, joined us for our last 4 songs on guitar and mandolin. A great player of many instruments, Tony was one of the first bluegrass musicians I met in town when there was a small jam hosted at a church in Wallingford.

Second set featured the same Old Timey band that played (with a smaller lineup) two weeks previous. A five-piece with two guitars, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle/bass, they played lots of old-time standards and some nice classic-country tunes.

As the night wound down, I was wondering what we’d do for the final set. Sam Russell was there along with his roommate James Apollo. By 10:20, most people had headed home and I was contemplating whether we should play at all. But alas we went for it and ended up playing an incredible set of music. Starting out with Bob Dylan‘s Simple Twist of Fate, we meandered through lots of different songs, including bringing up James to sing a couple of his songs while Sam played guitar. Though there were few patrons still in attendance, it was a real listening crowd that seemed pretty excited about the music.

As with Tom, Sam and I also have developed a really good musical kinship, which allows us to read each other very easily and make emotionally charged music pretty effortlessly. As with anything, it takes time and effort to build up the trust and familiarity. But in the end, even when you don’t expect anything special, all the previous efforts can help churn out beautiful music.

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