Celtic Flavor, Modern Flair

A phone call yesterday – somewhat panicked, in a sweet sort of way – from the incomparable Beth Byrd, found me at the Just Off Broadway Theatre last night as a performer for their annual fundraiser. “Call”, the time to be at the theatre was 5:30. Beth’s telephone call came at 4:00. One hour to get my costume together (the fundraiser is renaissance themed), put my game face (and attitude) on, find my contact lenses, get it all packed, and start thinking about what I’d do from their stage.

Luckily for me, it’s not a Christmas, Yule, or even Winter theme, so I didn’t have to scramble through my song list to find the most appropriate songs, of which there are, at most, two. I’m grateful my costume closet is organized, as well. The big question was my contacts since I wear them so seldom, but I did find them.

The fundraiser is not, in my experience, well attended, but those that are there are appreciative. I had to follow Miss M’chelle, a beautiful,  young, and amazingly talented belly dancer, but I don’t dance and she doesn’t sing so it worked out. Two song sets, six or so songs (I wasn’t counting), and even the scowlers in the top row were grinning.

Side note: through my involvement with renaissance festivals, I have seen dozens of belly dancing performances; I have never seen a good one until last night. Her control was astonishing.

The highlight of the evening came during my second set, but the setup for this story happened while M’chelle was dancing. During her first performance, Emily (of Bawdily Harm fight group) remarked that someone should tuck a dollar or two into her skirt’s hip band. As Michelle danced her second set, Emily crawled up all sexy-like with a dollar clutched in her teeth, and tucked it in. Beth (the clown) followed. That opened the gates, and the audience got into the act. Michelle must have made an easy $10.

After she finished, I stepped up with my guitar. As a part of my costume, I wear tights with a functioning codpiece (look it up if you need to), and I glanced down past my guitar at it and said, “Ya’ll are welcome to tuck money wherever you like, but I’m making no guarantees what you’ll find when you do.” Big laugh from the crowd, and I figured that was the end of it.

Not so.

As I’m singing an amusing little song called Miss Fogarty’s Christmas Cake I see Emily crawling toward me, dollar in her teeth. I fought mightily to keep my composure as she tucked it into my codpiece. On the next verse, Beth followed. Shortly after, John C. (the Scotsman character of Bawdily Harm)…that nearly broke me, but I persevered and came away $3.00 richer.

I quipped to the crowd, “When I get home and toss my costume into the laundry, my wife is going to question the unexpected windfall and, more to the point, why in happens to be there.”

Yeah, I talk like I write. It’s a curse.

I also tossed myself, so to speak, into the auction hat. A one hour, private performance, $100 value, start the bidding at $40 sort of thing. So, I’ll be performing at Californos on Westport the first Wednesday of March for an organization whose name I cannot remember, but where I believe there will be people with money and influence, and thus more opportunities for paying performances. Fingers crossed, there.

So there it is; it’s now Sunday afternoon. I spent my morning in church, coordinating seven video cameras (including the one I was handholding down by the “stage”) to record the annual semi-organized chaos that is the kids’ Christmas program. I am one tired, but satisfied Bill.

You could reasonably describe last night’s concert as “intimate”, which is simply a nice way of saying “sparsely attended.” But, since the amount of music stayed the same, the flavors and appreciation were concentrated. It was fun.

I introduced a few new songs. I’ve been working on “The Irish Girl” as performed by Lissa Schneckenberger, a song that, as a solo guitarist, is a real challenge to make interesting, at least in my head. “Auld Lang Syne” found it’s way in – using James Taylor’s arrangement – and I was surprised at how well it turned out, considering that I’d never played it before putting it behind the mic. I totally blew “Hackler from Grouse Hall” as performed by Christy Moore – I’d just done “Maid on the Shore”, and the two are similar enough in my head to be almost the same song. It’s rhythm totally jacked me as well, but with a small audience composed mostly of friends I didn’t sweat it so much, and neither did they.

The highlight for me was a duet with Mary Espinosa. After the singing was over – officially, at least – I was asked for “The Water is Wide.” I knew Mary knows it, so I invited her to take a microphone: she sang melody, I played and sang harmony. It was beautiful, and a good finish to the evening.

“How was your concert, daddy?” my son said, by way of “Good morning.”

How, indeed? It was marvelous, boyo, thank you for asking. The Stone Bridge Coffee House was packed, with a dozen more people on chairs outside on the sidewalk listening in – we came to call that group The Lions Club, after the Hope Day School Lions, the high school that I and most of them attended. They were the rowdy bunch, them. Several folks up from Oklahoma, Bruce, Susi, Chester, Shannon, Jenny. Many folks in the shop I’ve come to think of as “regulars”, people I do not know but whose faces I recognize.

Holy crap…I have fans. That’s kind of a new feeling.

So, surrounded by fans, friends and Chosen Family, it was, at least from my perspective, a terrific show. I added two new songs, “The Athens Queen”, by Stan Rogers; and “You Can Close Your Eyes”, by James Taylor. Love, love, LOVE that song. By this Friday, I hope to have at least two more, but it’s going to be a busy week so I’m not sure I’ll have the time. Definitely by the 20th, though.

Thank you to every one who came to hear me. You made the evening for me.

I’m scheduled to play again this Friday, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, with a jam session to follow.

Other, Upcoming Events

December 5, 2009, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Stone Bridge Coffee House

January 9th, 2009, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Stone Bridge Coffee House

February 6th, 2009, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Stone Bridge Coffee House

There’s probably an extra November date in there, too, the 20th, but that’s kind of up in the air. I’ll post here when I know for sure.

To start with, no one left with their ears bleeding. I call that a win on any front.

I’m tired in my bones with a long day of roofing ahead of me, so I’ll be brief.

Very warm audience response. Several people were there who had just “happened by” and found that the evening’s entertainment was Celtic/Folk. They stayed. They loved the show.

A few complaints that there was not enough seating – we were standing-room-only a few points in the evening, which was nice. The audience was attentive, appreciative, hearing the stories in the songs and riding the ride, so to speak. I have several new fans and my mailing list is expanded by several email addresses.

There’s talk from the owner of the shop and the music coordinator of making my performance at the Stone Bridge a regular, paying gig. Must…finish…CD…

Highlights of the evening:

Kiri’s Piano. I didn’t announce the song or tell the story, and I know the precise moment several of the people in my audience found the current of the story and hopped on.

There Were Roses. I love hearing sniffles from the stage.

I Don’t Want To Live on the Moon. Thank you Steve. I’m sure I’ll never be able to get through that song again without laughing.

Singing a command performance for Mary’s cousin and friends: they arrived late, after I’d finished for the evening. Mary asked for a few songs, which I was happy to sing. I think it made her night.

To gush a little about the shop itself, when I first stopped in I was unconvinced. It’s a small space, and I was afraid it would turn claustrophobic, but full of people it turned cozy and comfortable.

The coffee is good – Russ gets it from the Broadway Café – and the food is even better. I had a mediterranean roast beef: roast beef with greens, onions, tomato on really good bread and drizzled with oil and – of all things – balsamic vinegar. Delicious.

The location is nice too, with plenty of close parking thanks to Englewood’s median parking areas.

I got together with my friends Kent and Kevin – who have been helping me with my CD – and we made a music video. Before I give you the link, though, let me offer a little bit of history.

At the end of the video, there is the inscription, “To Lezlie.” Of course, there isn’t a lot of room to expound at the end of a YouTube video, so I’ll do it here.

The “Lezlie” in question is a dear friend of mine. We met – really met, as opposed to just being acquaintances at a renaissance festival – on the set of an independent film we were both cast in. We share a love of music and on the set one day (while we were waiting for the director to get his act together) we brought out our guitars and traded songs. It became an impromptu concert that lasted nearly two hours (we have it on DVD!) . The song on the video, “Jamie Raeburn”, was one of the first songs I played, and is one that I am most proud of.

In the summer of 2007, Lezlie moved very far away. She, like so many others, traveled to find her answers, and in the meantime here’s a video…a sort of “Ok, now it’s YOUR turn” message. We still keep in mostly regular touch, and the next time she’s in town we’re going to try to record a CD’s worth of music – and maybe some video while we’re at it.