Last night was the second half of my River Towns weekend. On Friday I saw Joe Crookston and Anthony da Costa in Tarrytown. Last night I saw The Kennedys and Eric Lee in Hastings-on-Hudson.
The Yankees made me trip there easy. Because they played last night the Metro North stopped at the stadium; I could take the D train right there. Well almost. The MTA’s idea of at the stadium is a bit odd. It’s about a half mile away. What’s worse is that the Stadium is on 161st street. The station is a 153rd Street. The subway station after 161st street is 155th street. I wasn’t sure which one I should get off. When I got close I went to ask a gentleman in a Yankee’s cap, where I should get off. This is how the exchange went.
Me: Excuse me, Wh…
Yankee Fan: Fuck off
Me: I just wanted directions …
Yankee Fan: Get the fuck away.
I was not wearing my Met cap before you start thinking it was about that. I was angry and said, “What’s wrong with you?” and “Typical Yankee fan.” I shouldn’t have. There clearly was something wrong with him. It might just be a case of schmuck, but that’s still something wrong with him. I tried asking someone else and got a blank state. We got to the station and I found a nice woman that got on and she started to answer, and the doors closed. I figured even if the next station was not right I wouldn’t have far to walk back. I was wrong. The next station is in Manhattan. Good thing I left enough time that I hopped on the next train back and still made my train by six minutes. Good thing I met more helpful people when I got off the train. Inside the station I followed the byzantine route to the exit closest to the Metro North station. It involved walking blocks underground. The signs said go three blocks south when you got out of the station but there were no signs saying which way was south. There were so many twists and turns underground I had no notion of direction and couldn’t see any landmarks including Yankee Stadium. One person directed me south. I asked somebody else who knew the area well and was a regular commuter from CT at one point and he was very helpful. He knew that it was tricky. You can’t see the station from the street. He said when I got to the parking lot I had to turn right. When I got there, there was a tiny sign very easy to miss. You’d think it was a sign meant for cars giving parking regulations or something. Then I after walking a few blocks along the parking lot you climb stairs and walk another few blocks on an overhead walkway before you get to the tracks. And once there, there were no signs saying, Northbound or Southbound. This was a signage failure worthy of New Jersey.
But like I said, I made my train. When I got to Hastings, Sarah was there to pick me up and give me a ride to The Common Ground Coffeehouse; the kingdom of Carter Smith. I see the Kennedys all the time but this was a special show as Eric was there bandmate in The Strangelings. When Katryna and Nerissa started touring as just a duo they called themselves the Nields Probe. This was the Strangelings Probe. The heart of anyone who was there, the few years the Strangelings Supergroup were together raced on hearing this news. The Strangelings were special; a band in the tradition of Fairport Convention and Pentangle, mystical folk-rock. There was always magic in the air when they played.
I’ve known Eric since the day the Strangelings plucked him out of the Falcon Ridge audience and brought him into the band. They played the Budgiedome in the afternoon before they hit the main stage. Eric was 18-year-old and clearly a brilliant natural musician. His fiddling seemed an integral part of the songs even though he had never heard, let alone played them before. That’s a special skill. Pete has it too. He joined in Nanci Griffith’s performance on Austin City Limits without being invited and not knowing the songs and was asked to join her band. This was history repeating itself.
Eric decided he wanted to not just be a sideman but a singer/songwriter. That meant playing guitar as Emerald Rae is pretty much the only one I know who figured out how to be a solo fiddling singer/songwriter. There was a learning curve on both songwriting and guitar playing. That learning curve was like the famed global warming hockey stick. I’ve seen him regularly. He’s played the Budgiedome. He’s a friend. Yet somewhere in there he went to the crossroads and came out a songwriter and guitarist. I knew the guitar would come, a natural musician can do that. The songwriting came in the deal with the devil. I hope he just beat him at a fiddling contest and took the gift of songwriting over the golden fiddle. I’d hate to think he sold his soul. He also got coffee. He sells his own roast along with his CDs. His sales pitch is great, he switches gears in the show and does a cheesy ad; “The coffee is dark, rich, and smooth, just like me.” Somehow this guy I’ve known for 11 years has become a new discovery. Book him now before the world finds out.
I always love the Kennedys. No matter how often I see them I can listen to their music and hear it with fresh ears. I don’t think they get the songwriting credit they deserve; people are distracted by their great guitar playing, singing, harmonizing, and charm. But they pass the toughest songwriting test; the songs can hold my attention every time I hear them. I have a confession to make With most songwriters I lose interest soon into the song and just get a feel for it. I can’t hang on every word. With Pete and Maura I can.
And then there was the Strangelings Probe. It’s missing the female harmonies of Chris Thompson and Rebecca, Chery Prashker’s Drum and Ken Anderson’s bass but it still has the magic. Eric on fiddle lets Pete play the electric sitar, integral to the Strangelings sound. When the Strangelings play the satyrs, nymphs, fairies, and elves, are always dancing at the edge of the light. The scene is lit by octarine and you can smell the magic. I took videos of the three Strangelings songs, I haven’t looked at them yet. If they came out and the musicians approve I’ll post them.
I knew many of the people there including Donna. Donna and I met online but never in person. Then I saw her at both River Town shows. People are going to start to talk.
After the show fellow Northeast Queens boy Jim gave me a ride to the MetroNorth station. The timing was great. The trains were still stopping at Yankee Stadium. Now I knew how to go so it was much easier It took me just about an hour from getting on the train to getting home. That’s not bad. Much easier than on City Island.
I think I might have to accept that I’m a late afternoon blogger now. I’ll work on changing that, but not beat myself up if I can’t. That’s how I started writing this. It’s a terrible lede. I’m moving it to the end. I better do laundry now or I’ll run out of clothes by Tuesday. See, I don’t wait till the last moment. I have an entire day leeway.
Wise Madness 