Here’s my problem, I have to write about Falcon Ridge but I’m also living my life and doing things worth writing about. I am going to try and write two entries a day. That’s rough as I’m still sleep deprived. On that note I’ll write about last night as that will require the least energy.
My plan was to go to the Met game with Alan. He gave me a ticket. Then at Falcon Ridge I discovered that Cricket Tell the Weather and Oliver the Crow were playing Rockwood 1. Michael Daves always plays there on Tuesday nights; that’s a triple bill I didn’t want to miss. But I told Alan I’d go to the game, so I would. Then he texted me to tell me he’d be an hour late to the game and to warn me of possible thunder showers. I must have done something wrong because when I looked at Dark Skies it gave the odds of rain in the single digits. I told him I’d be at the game.
I fell asleep on the D train. I woke up at 42nd street and saw David sitting across from me and said hi. I told him I had to get off the next stop. As I said, I was sleep deprived. I was thinking I was going to Madison Square Garden, not Citi Field. 42nd street was my stop. I am not counting that as an idiot story but a lack of sleep story. I got off and headed back up to 42nd Street where I could switch to the 7 to Citi Field. While I was there I got a thunderstorm alert from Dark Skies. It was about to start raining. That was enough of an excuse to get me to change my plans. I texted Alan and asked if was OK if I didn’t go, and he said it was. Good decision, there was a rain delay and the Mets lost.
I got back on the downtown train and headed to Rockwood. First, I ate at Rosario’s Pizza. I like them more with each visit. It’s one of the best pizza’s in New York. It’s the only place I know where you can get round thick crust Sicilian pizza. One slice can be a meal.
Then I was off to Rockwood. I arrived early, and the place was jammed for the previous act. I could just squeeze in. As it got closer to the Cricket Tell the Weather time in through the door walked Mark, Katherine, and Joe. That was an unexpected pleasure. Joe had asked Katherine to go and they ran into Mark. Then they ran into me. I expected to be alone at the show but instead was with friends. The room cleared from the previous act and we got a table together.
Cricket was up first. They are in a new stripped-down configuration, just Andrea and Jason. I had just seen Andrea at Falcon Ridge, she played the Budgiedome and she told me about the gig. Not only did they perform as a duo, but Andrea has turned to the dark side and taken up the banjo! She’s a fiddler. She’s going to play solo gigs and it’s much easier to sing while playing banjo than fiddle. In any configuration Cricket Tell The Weather is great. As a duo the lyrics and songs take on a greater role. It redirects the listener’s focus. It’s not better nor worse, it’s different.
I have a proprietary interest in Oliver the Crow. They live in Nashville and aren’t much known here. Katherine and Mark were unfamiliar. I discovered them at NERFA and pushed them to try for Falcon Ridge. They did and were at the Emerging Artists and of course the Budgiedome. They are the duo of Ben Plotnick on fiddle and Kaitlyn Raitz on cello. They come from the old-time world. The sound is spare, they are not raucous string band. They are like field recordings without the snap, crackle, and pop. One song. That doesn’t mean the songs can’t be timely, my favorite is entitled 45.
Mark had to leave during Oliver’s set; Katherine and Joe were up in the air after it. I asked them if they’d seen Michael at his Rockwood 1 residency. They hadn’t. That meant they had to stay. It’s like seeing Black 47 at Paddy Reilly’s. They said maybe for a few songs.
Michael is the king of the New York bluegrass scene. he came out with an electric guitar. His last album, Orchids and Violence was a double album; one disk bluegrass and the second the same songs performed with an electric rock band. Michael is a brilliant guitarist and no stranger to the electric. How good was he? Katherine and Joe stayed for the entire set. By then I was tired and we all had to leave. Then I heard a voice, “You have to stay for at least one song!” It was Jo Kroger! Her band Caves and Clouds or is that Clouds and Caves was up next. If I wasn’t still sleep deprived from FRFF I’d have stayed for the whole set but as it was I stayed for one song. I love Jo as both a friend and a musician but even I have limits. Three hours sitting at Rockwood following FRFF is mine.
Katherine and Joe stayed with me then we walked down towards the lot where Joe and parked. Katherine and I planned on catching the train at Grand Street where we would go in opposite directions. Too bad Grand Street was closed. We walked down to Canal Street where she could catch a train back to Brooklyn and I could take the 6 train to the 4 back home. They are at different parts of the station. I had to walk through the Q platform to get to the 6 and I ended up waiting with Katherine. That was a long wait. The ten minutes on the board stretched to half an hour. Then came the announcement that there was a delay and she switched to the R and I went to the 6. I didn’t get home until 1:30. That’s not how you catch up on your sleep.
OK, now to eat and do laundry. I’ll try to write about Falcon Ridge while the laundry is running.
Wise Madness 