Last you heard from me; I was sick with Crohn’s. I was going to go to sleep at 11 o’clock as I couldn’t concentrate on anything. Then I got access to the Friday stream from the Philly Folk Fest. I watched Bobtown and that game me a second wind so I then watched Yasmin Williams. Checking through my old entries I see that I’ve already written about them 1,379 times., this makes it 1,380. If you know me you know I love Bobtown. They are one of the bands that I don’t feel like an imposter when I say, “I’m with the band.” I love them whole-heartedly but as I’ve written about them so many times I’ll leave this short. One thing I’ve said before but bares repeating, is that each of their albums sounds like its by a different band. The constant is the brilliant harmonies. They don’t live together, sadly most bands don’t take the examples of the Beatles in Help and all live together; that’s inconvenient now that we have social distancing. Each member of the band had to record their parts in their own apartment and then Katherine how to blend them into a seamless whole. The only other bands at the PFF that I’ve seen attempt anything like it are Scott Wolfson & Other Heroes, and Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy. It’s not easy.
Yasmin is a new discovery, Katherine saw them at Philly and told me about them, and then I spread the word because she’s one of those artists I need to evangelize. I wrote about her earlier in the week and have listened to her music, but this is the first time I saw her do an entire live set. It’s just Yasmin, “I have a mental block on her name” Williams, her guitar, and her kalimba. Last time I didn’t know if I should call it a kalimba or mbira, but she says kalimba so I’m going with it. It is also called a karimba or a thumb piano. The lines are not clear where one ends and the other begins. It’s only two instruments but Yasmin makes it sound like at least 5. She has so many ways of playing the guitar, none of which involve strumming with her right hand and playing chords with her left. She makes much of the sound percussively, striking the strings and the guitar’s body. She often plucks with her left hand with the guitar horizontal on her lap while doing a percussive dance with her right. Check her out.
I went to sleep as soon as Yasmin was over at midnight. I slept until 11 AM. I was up a few times to go to the bathroom, that’s the sign that I’m over the attack, the logjam in my intestines broke up. I typically sleep like that when an attack is over. When I woke up I was no 100%, I’m still not 100%. I was not ravenous, the sign that I’m totally better. I hadn’t eaten in two days; I should have been. The muscles around my digestive system were still are sore, just as your arms and legs are after a difficult workout. Spasms are tough on muscles. I ended up eating at 12:45, I had my usual post-Crohn’s breakfast, a peanut butter omelet. I have no idea how many million calories that is but it’s enough to replenish my protein and fat after living off my fat for two days. It’s also easy to digest and tastes great.
I’ve been watching more PFF today. The highlights so far have been Natalie Macmaster & Donnell Leahy, The Whispering Tree, and Molly Tuttle. Molly is the only one I haven’t seen do a full set live. The thing that I had not noticed before is what a great guitarist she is. Most folk musicians don’t do much on the guitar. They are singers and songwriters first and the guitar is functional. With Molly it’s part of the package. Some of my favorite musicians are mediocre guitarists but they can cover that with exceptional songwriting and singing. More people attempt to do that than succeed. Same thing with people that are primarily guitarists, like Yasmin and Shane Hennessey; they are good enough to hold my attention, but not many others can.
Now I’m sampling the rest of the day. I’m writing this while listening to someone I’m not crazy about. I could fast forward or take the time to write. I love My Gentle Readers so much that I chose the latter. Today is the last day I can watch PFF so I’m trying to watch as much as I can. That means missing live shows today by artists I love. If that’s the biggest sacrifice someone has to make they live a charmed life. I’m always afraid that the people I’m missing will feel hurt, that’s silly and egotistical of me. I’m rational enough to recognize when I’m being irrational.
Time to put this to bed and then move on to the next act.
Wise Madness 