On Tuesday night I saw Sunny War at a WFUV marquee show at the City Winery Loft. Sorry, I’ve fallen way behind in my blogging again. I’ve fallen behind in my life. Today I have to write this and create next week’s Gord’s Gold from scratch. Usually by Saturday all I have to do is fine tune and script it. I’ve been busy with work and raticide. The biggest thing is not getting enough sleep, I crash when I get home.
Jim and I first discovered Sunny War at the Hudson West Folk Festival back in the antepandemic, Thank you Kay for discovering Sunny and bringing her to the festival and your house concert series. Jim and I were hooked as soon as we heard her play. Jim had the added appreciation of knowing about playing the guitar so he could see, while I could only hear, her unconventional playing style. How it looks isn’t and that it’s unconventional aren’t what matter, it’s how it sounds, but the more you understand the more you can appreciate great art.
Jim is a Marquee member of WFUV and recommended that they get her to play the series. That’s not why they got her, they discovered her on their own. They started playing one of the songs from her new album, Anarchist Gospel on the station. My worlds are colliding, that’s a good thing. I’m not a Marquee member but Jim invited me as his plus one as he knows how much I love War. Sorry, I couldn’t resist using her last name so that jarring sentence can be quoted out of context. I’m shameless. Good thing I’m cute and get away with it.
The album was released yesterday, go listen to it, then after you love it buy it. Streaming pays bupkis. When you see Sunny solo live like we did it’s quite different than the album which has other singers including the great Allison Russell and other instrumentalists. It’s not better or worse, it’s different. As you might expect solo she’s folkier. There are not many people that can hold your attention with just voice and guitar, though many try, but Sunny succeeds. As I listen, I switch back and forth in listening modes. Sometimes I’m picturing what’s sung in the lyrics. There are times with Sunny that I focused on the guitar, her finger picking is hypnotic.
This was my first time seeing Sunny in years, as soon as she opened her mouth I solved a mystery that’s been gnawing at me since the semester started. One of my student’s speaking voice reminded me of someone. I couldn’t figure out who. It’s Sunny. My forebrain didn’t know that but the seat of my emotions did. I immediately liked the student. I try to resist those feelings as it’s really a prejudice. Imagine if she sounded like someone I didn’t like, it would be so unfair to judge her by that. Good thing the student earned my warm feelings towards her. Like Sunny she’s a sweetheart. Another student reminds me of Felix, Carolann and Mark’s son. My brain so often makes connections like that.
After the show I had a stroke of good fortune, Kathleen, the WFUV Membership Director gave the fellow Bronxites in the audience, Suzanne and me, a ride home! As I had to get up at 5:30 the next morning that makes a huge difference. As an added bonus I got quality time with quality people.
I almost forgot something important, dinner. You might think that I was kidnapped and that this was being written by AI if I didn’t go into that. We had an excellent and inexpensive dinner at an Irish Pub right by the subway. A burger with fries for $10 in Manhattan is a bargain. I was born to be a pub crawler even though I don’t drink; I love the food and the music, not that this place had music.
Some of you might still be hung up on my saying “raticide.” Once again, my apartment has a rat. We had the exterminator in and the holes they entered blocked up but somehow another one found us. The exterminator came again and found another tiny hole by a heating pipe. I blocked it with steel wool but the rat is still on our side. First, I bought instant kill traps that snap it’s neck. It has avoided them. I put out glue traps, it burst its bonds. I just bought baited poison devices. The rat can find it’s way in but not the cat. It might have worked. I have not seen the rat today. I usually do. I am ready to turn the apartment into a superfund site to rid myself of that troublesome rodent.
I have worked on Gord’s Gold as I worked on this and now have six songs programmed. I usual play around 15. That includes a song I meant to play last week by Kendy Gable. It was on my playlist, but I dragged and dropped the song after it by mistake. That’s not unfair to Kendy who I played, but it is to the song. Yes, I care about justice for songs. Don’t judge.
My plan for the day was to go to Aldi but single digit windchill changed my mind. I just checked; the feels like is all the way up to 11ºF. Tomorrow will be warmer, I’ll go then. That does mean I’m not going to have French toast. I started to make it this morning then realized I didn’t have enough syrup. I could have switched to an omelet or matzo brei but instead went for scrambled. I have had that in ages. I still have knack. I made Taylor ham with it. That was delicious. There are so many things I’m not happy about in my life but as long as I get so much satisfaction from music and food I can get by.
Now to finish Gord’s Gold. I might do a Brooklyn set; Kendy’s song fits in with that. I lived most of my life elsewhere but that’s the borough that feels like home.
Wise Madness 