It’s been a not leave the house sort of day. That’s not good; I should have forced myself to leave but I didn’t. It’s not the worst thing as it’s not like I do that every day. Sometimes a single day not moving and sleeping can be acceptable. I did get some things taken care of and I’m blogging now. I need to do more work on Gord’s Gold tonight. Make sure to listen on Folk Music Notebook at 9 PM EDT. I recorded it on Monday and today realized that I said something stupid and it’s too late to change. I’m playing Three Snakes by Hilary Hawke and described her as a fiddler. While she does fiddle, she’s best known for banjo and the song is all banjo, no fiddle. My Gentle Listeners will think I confuse all four string instruments even when they are the two most different stringed instruments. Why are they the most different? The banjo distinguishing feature is it’s short sustain, thanks to bowing a fiddle has as long a sustain of any string instrument. It’s the longest bow so I suspect the longest sustain. They sound nothing alike. This is the essence of what it means when I call myself an idiot. I am informed, know better, yet got it completely wrong. My brain is buggier than Windows.
What did I do yesterday? by almost coincidence I saw Hilary Hawke at Rockwood Music Hall with Dan. It’s not coincidence as I played it because it’s on the album, LilylGild she just released, and the show was the album release. One didn’t cause the other, but they had a common cause. Correlation does not imply causality.
Dan and I met before the show. I had an idea of where I wanted to eat but knew there were plenty of other places where we could eat al fresco on the way. Neither of us is ready for indoor dining with the City in High COVID-19 Alert. Dan sets a higher bar than I do. When the rates were lower, I went maskless, Dan didn’t. The maskless phase did not last long. We ended up eating at Bareburger. That was very disappointing, the burgers and not made of bear meat. They also weren’t naked as they are served on buns and topped with things. This is false advertising. Fortunately, they tasted good. I had a the Blazin’ Bacon burger. It’s topped with bacon as I’m sure you guessed, jalapeños and habanero mayo and served on a brioche bun. Not at all bare. I would call it well-dressed. After they read this the chain will no longer allow me to dine there.
After dinner we walked over to Stage 1. On the way I stopped off to talk to Mel, he was working the door. I love that I have my Cheers where everybody knows my name. You now enter Rockwood 1 through Rockwood 0. There are also stages 2 and 3. Rockwood 0 is just a bar, not a stage. The previous act was still on stage 1 and Hilary was in stage 0. Dan is ashamed of me so he wouldn’t introduce me to Hilary. She’s his banjo teacher. I’m the world’s most outgoing introvert so introduced myself. That’s not all a joke. I feel uncomfortable when I do things like that, but history has taught me that it’s safe to ignore that fear. It’s like riding a rollercoaster.
We went into stage 1 when Hilary did and found places to stand near the window. I was surprised how few people I knew there. There was one gentleman I’ve known for years but we hardly ever talk so I didn’t say hello. What I didn’t realize was that Philippa was selling Hilary’s merch. I know her from M Shanghai and the Ukuladies. Even when I saw her, her name didn’t register. Not seeing people for years is not easy on the memory. Hi Philippa, you have a better excuse for not recognizing me as I was masked.
I should remember the name of her guitar player. He shares a name with someone famous. It is not coming to me at all. Hilary and I travel in the same musical circles and she plays with many of my friends, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her. I might, probably have, seen her as a side person for someone else. She was as good as advertised. Her playing is brilliant. On not a technically musical note I have never seen a banjoist play with such economy of motion. When she isn’t playing clawhammer it looks like her right hand is not moving. All the motion was in her fingers, and I couldn’t even see the tendons on the back of the hand flexing. I’m trying it now. No way I could come close to doing that let alone hitting all the right strings at the right time. It is amazing what people are capable of. I’m always amused by the word banjoist. I say ban-joist in my head.
It’s two hours until Gord’s Gold airs. Make sure you are free at 9 PM and listen. Then feel free to feel superior as you know I’m saying something stupid about Hilary. Point it out to your friends. There’s no such thing as bad publicity. People might tune in to catch my mistakes.
That’s all for today My Gentle Readers. There’s no Met game tonight. I’ll have to find other ways to amuse myself. I always do. If nothing else, I’ll choose some songs to play on Gord’s Gold next week. Tell you what, Put on Folk Music Notebook now and keep listening. I wouldn’t want you to miss the show.
Wise Madness 