I have no excuse for not blogging until 2:19 PM on a day where I have to make a shopping trek and then go out tonight. Now that I got my guilt out of the way I’ll talk about yesterday’s actual adventure. I not only left New York City but I crossed the Hudson River. I was still in New York State, but I think that counts as the Midwest. Kingston counts as upstate New York for those that are wondering. So, what brought me to the snow-covered subarctic clime of Kingston? The two greatest lures in the world music and friends. It was actually the three greatest lures as there were also Vivian’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. That is not a lesser lure than the other two. It was the inaugural house concert at First Acoustics at its new home in the far north Midwest. It’s run by Coco and Bruce Wilde. Coco was dubbed the Godmother of Brooklyn Folk by Meg Braun. She’s now been dubbed the Godmother of New York State Folk by Carolann Solebello. Carolann was performing as part of No Fuss and Feathers along with Karyn Oliver, Catherine Miles, and Jay Mafale. They are all close friends as are Coco and Bruce. Despite the hour-and-forty-minute drive this was very much a home game. I haven’t even started to explain how much of a home game it was. How does a carless person in the Bronx get to Kingston on the side of the river without the railroad in an hour and forty minutes? He gets a ride. Who else is crazy enough to drive that far for the show? Everyone I know. They in fact all drove further. I knew I could get a ride as a good fraction of the audience comes from Long Island, that includes Brooklyn and Queens which are on the Island. Anyone going from there to Kingston has to pass close to my house. I went with Fred and Linda coming from Nassau County. The other Long Islanders or Lon Guylanders as people mock the locals as saying, at the show were Jeff & Carol, Phyllis and Dan, Gene & Isabel, and Daria. Jeff and Carol actually drove from Ithaca where they were picking up their granddaughter Brianna who is coming home for spring break. She is young enough to be able to run the live stream. Perry and Beth came from new Jersey, they had the shortest trip. No, they didn’t. I think that Brad lives closer, he lives at the North Pole, or at least north of Kingston. I have not seen him since he moved there. I think of him as a City person. The point is that I had a lot of friends in the audience. The aforementioned Vivian is Coco and Bruce’s daughter. She’s an adult now but I refuse to accept that. I don’t accept that Brianna is an adult either. They are teenagers until I make the mental adjustment.
This was the second Feathers show since the onset of COVID-19 two years ago. The first was Friday, Saturday’s gig was cancelled because of snow. They had their first time all seeing each other in person earlier in the week. Carolann said she was worried that she wouldn’t remember how to sing harmony after not doing that for two years. Remind me that is something I want to discuss with her and other harmony singers. Do you have to remember it, or does it come without thinking once you’ve acquired the skill? Carolann said it was like riding a bike, but Karyn said it was like riding somebody else’s bike. That’s a useful description even though I can’t ride a bike. I’ve driven other people’s cars. I want to go into that more with people that know what they are talking about. I’m good at listening to harmony but it’s agony and takes 200% of my brain to do it. Exploring the differences in the way people’s brains work is one of the most fascinating things for me. There are things like harmony singing that are a huge challenge for me that other people do with ease. There are things that other people struggle to understand that I feel I was born knowing. That’s a fun think with Wordle and associated puzzles. I can see how different people approach them. All approaches are not created equal.
The music was of course magnificent as was the banter. The Feathers always make you feel like you are sitting their living room as they entertain themselves. The harmonies were spot on and beautiful as always. The songwriting was spot on and beautiful as always. There was a glitch or two but that just makes it jazz. There were even new songs.
This was easily worth the trip up there. I forgot the best part; I hugged all these people. I hugged many of them multiple times. Then we all made our ways home. When Fred and Linda dropped me off, I completed the perfect day by making poutine for dinner. I know how to live. Now I have to get out of here fast, go shopping, make dinner, then head off to Brooklyn to see Youth in a Roman Field at Pete’s Candy Store. Come join me.
Wise Madness 