I didn’t call 911 yesterday! I wasn’t even tempted to. I’m mentally double checking that. Nope, didn’t spot anything close to an emergency; smoking in a subway station doesn’t rate a 911 call. What did I do? I went up to Common Ground Coffeehouse to see Her Crooked Heart aka Rachel Ries and Rachael Kilgour. There was a lot of confusion with two Rach(a)els on the bill. I decided to refer to them as the Rachelim; that’s my feeble attempt at a Hebrew formation. It’s been 49½ years since I graduated Hebrew school. Now you can figure out how old I am.
Common Ground is in Hastings—On—Hudson; I go there fairly often but I have no set way. I ask Google Maps and it tells me which public transit option has the best timing for that day. It can change in real-time. Yesterday’s route was the D train to Yankee stadium and switching to MetroNorth there. I finally discovered the right walking path. The signs are terrible. I never knew there was a specially built shortcut.
I had to get there at five for a 7:30 show as that’s when Rachel and her bandmate Ady were arriving by train so Sarah could pick us all up in one trip. Turned out that Rachel and Ady took and earlier train and explored the town. They were waiting for us at a café. When Sarah and I got there, they were sitting with Rachael, I told you the names get confusing. I was a bit worried that there would now not be enough room in the car for me, but it wasn’t a problem as Rachael just ran into Rachel and Ady by chance and had her own car. I went with Rachael because I knew the last turn to Common Ground was tricky. That proved wise as the GPS did not give her enough warning at the last turn. This isn’t my first rodeo.
What did I notice last night? It’s that the stage patter of Rachael, or as Rachel called her, Rachael with the sneaky a has the rhythm of a stand-up comic. If you ever heard her music, that might be surprising as her songs are not funny, they are for the most part sad. She has an entire album of songs about her divorce. But and this is a big but, no I did not say she has a big butt, there is humor and wit in her songs. My favorite song of hers is Pleasant Valley Reservoir; turns out that is the name of a sewage plant. She has a gift for finding the oddness in the world.
What I noticed about Rachel without a sneaky a has a gorgeous voice. I know that’s what most people would notice first. I always noticed her songwriting. This is much better than discovering that someone has a beautiful voice after my first impression is her being a terrible songwriter.
Perry and Beth are stalking me, I saw them twice last weekend and again last night. Or perhaps I’m stalking them. In any event they gave me a ride to the train station.
Wise Madness 