Sorry I’ve been so quiet. I know I barely touched Falcon Ridge but that will wait yet another day so I can write about my adventures the last few days, especially yesterday. I went to a new venue for me, The Sultan Room in Bushwick to see a lineup that might have been designed to lure me on the long trip. Kaia Kater, Hannah Read, and The Ladles. Each of those would be worth the trip but together they are more than worth a trip twice as long. How do I love them? Let me count the way; I love them to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach. If I were running a festival and they were my evening lineup, I’d be quite proud of myself. This was a special show, put a circle around it.
Unfortunately, the person I was supposed to go with couldn’t make it. I tried hard to give away his ticket, but nobody can make it. It didn’t help that COVID-19 was raging through one friend group. Several people were out of town. The website said the show as 6 which struck me as early so, I didn’t try and get their early in case that was just the time for doors. It was supposed to be. That’s’ not how it worked out, doors opened at 6:30, the show didn’t start until some time between 7 and 7:30. If I had known that perhaps one of my friends would have been able to make it. Actually, I know one could. Oh well. The venue is on a rooftop. That was great because it lowered the COVID-19 risk. It was not great as it was hot and humid. There’s always a balance. The rooftop was set up strangely. The only tables were set up parallel to the stage and behind the speakers. There were a few loose chairs at right angles to the stage. I was told I could move them, so I did. I plopped myself down front all by my lonesome. One other early arriver did the same. The rest of the crowd either stood or sat on the floor.
I was surprised that before the show started, I didn’t know anyone in the audience, just the performers. By the time the show was over friends did show up but every single one of them was a musician. That’s wrong, your favorite musician might have been there, don’t you want to see their favorite musicians. I have always had a thing for musicians’ musicians. One more down note before the show started. I had a long phone call before I left, it was with one of my friends with COVID-19. I used my phone for other things. I never connected it with the charger. After using it on the hour plus commute it was almost drained by the time I got there. I got a few pics of the Ladles, and that’s it. I couldn’t entertain myself waiting for the show to start. I did check on the Mets score. I saved the power for that.
The Ladles were up first. I think this was but my second time seeing them. The first was at a porch concert. Prime Music introduced me to them. The only band I’ve become a huge fan of that way. They are two-thirds Brooklyn based. If it weren’t for COVID-19 and I’m sure I’d have seen them enough that they’d fear I was a stalker I have seen Katie Martucci in several other projects. She might be talking to her lawyers right now. They are a harmony trio, that’s a sweet spot for me but only when the harmonies are exceptional. If they sound beautiful but keep a 1-3-5 structure, I get bored. The Ladles are creative. On one song, two of them, I think Lucretia and Caroline, kept a constant interval but Katie flowed above and below the expected interval. I could be totally wrong about who did the flowing. Whoever it was it worked. They were so many unexpected notes, it was wonderful. As I learned from Fred, they create frisson. Read about it on Wikipedia. I find them totally engrossing.
I love Hannah Read so much that I presented he at least years NERFA DJ showcase. I have spent years being a good Irishman for a Jew; thanks to Hannah and Iona Skye and others I’m now becoming a good Scot. I can listen to Hannah talk all day but that’s not why I love her. She’s a great fiddler, singer, and songwriter too. Of course, her patter between the songs could charm the spots off leopard. Now I want to go to the Isle of Egg in Scotland where she spent a year of her childhood. It had a population of 65 then, when she left it went down to 64. Not really, now 120 people live there cut off from the grid. I first knew her as a fiddler but when I heard her most recent album, I fell in love with her songwriting too.
I met Kaia something like Ten years ago. Checking on Google suggests it might have been 2014. Then she was a young Canadian woman going to college in West Virginia and playing Appalachian music along with body and food percussion. She still does that but it’s only part of her repertoire. I can say in all seriousness that she can be a chanteuse. First time I saw he do that was a shock. She normally looks like a Gordon Friend. She came out in a gown and looked glamorous. She added a lot of music that she wrote about her father’s native country, Grenada. How do I have two Grenadian-Canadian banjo-playing anglophone friends from Montreal? The other is Allison Russell. Kaia was asked to be part of Our Native Daughters, but they couldn’t work out the logistics. She plays banjo as well as anyone, is equally at home doing mountain ballads and torch songs and can write songs of social awareness.
One of the people who arrived later was Liam, half of Robinson and Rohe. Jean Rohe was one of the people I texted to see if they wanted to go with the show with me. She was out of town. I would have texted Liam, but I don’t have his phone number. I told him that I would have asked him and found out that they Kaia and her boyfriend/bass player Andrew are Jean and Liam’s housemates. The world is tiny beyond belief. I found Liam or was it Andrew, talking to Tamar. Tamar is a favorite musician that I have not seen nearly enough. The universe conspires to keep me from her. We exchanged emails, maybe that will help.
I’m not saying that they are greater musicians, but I got more musical thrills out of this show than I did at Falcon Ridge. They are folk counterculture. I just turned 65 and I’m generally in the younger half of folk audiences. Last night there might have been only one other person there under 40. I didn’t ask anyone for ID but there was only one man clearly over 50. If we could only get these people to Falcon Ridge. That reminds me that Alec was there, another favorite musician. I was talking about Falcon Ridge with him, and he said that wants to experience the full hippie camping festival thing. I told him he’s invited to camp with us any time. I’m still on the high from the show and I’m still on the high from Falcon Ridge. My psychiatrist noticed it when we talked on Wednesday. I told him to not get the wrong idea, last week I was not in good shape. I just had a week of intensive music and friends therapy.
Wise Madness 