We are so not bluegrass, but still, they invited us. And this year it's just us. We're not even bringing in ringers on banjo and fiddle like we did last year. We don't have a following in Marin County yet, so I'm off to poster Mill Valley, Fairfax, and San Rafael in a few minutes.
And I just had us pass on playing the SF Free Folk Festival this year because it falls on weekend of PRIII. I'd have passed even if it had been a money gig. Priorities, you know.
3 comments:
Reminds me of all the Paradox posters we plastered around the OC, It's a lot of work. Great poster though. Looks like the same kind of festival they do with Blues in Long Beach. Hope it goes well. Is it OK to direct Bluegrass jokes at you now?
Maurice Tani did the poster. It's that little extra we get because his wife plays percussion for us. And after the Spice Monkey show, I'm lobbying to have him sit in on guitar whenever he gets the chance.
We direct the bluegrass jokes at everyone else. When we were new to the scene, we piggybacked in on Gayle's rep fronting the Toodala (two dollar) Ramblers, which is a bluegrass band that does kids shows at schools and museums. And we'd bring in Diane Greenburg and Jordan Klein from Belle Monroe and her Brewglass boys to play fiddle and banjo for us. We'd even include some bluegrassy fast two-steps just for the show.
But now that we're semi-established, we'r sticking to our original Americana, and keeping the covers to a minimum. And as Gayle has been writing more varied stuff, the band is taking on kind of a poppy tinge. Corey's put down the brushes and picked up the sticks, and I'm using a touch of overdrive.
And yes, this festival is becoming kind of a deal. two weeks of bluegrass and old time music, in a concentrated dose, bringing in talent from all over Northern California.
Here's the Festival URL:
http://www.sfbluegrass.org/
And here's the one for our show. We need to update out pictures now that we'va added Jeanine on percussion. She's adorable.
http://www.sfbluegrass.org/11fest/show.24.html
Oh, and while I'm running off at the keyboard, have y'all seen "Crazy Heart"? Jeff Bridges has been getting a lot of Oscar buzz for his role as a country has-been trying for a comeback, and he's earned it. The love story that's central to it, doesn't work for me, but they get bottom-tier touring perfectly. Not a hair out of place.
If this were your standard Hollywood movie, there would be at least one nightmare gig from hell. You know, chicken wire, drunks, cheating bartender, non-existent sound guy, and heartless club-owner. But there was none of that. The gigs were bottom-tier, small bars and a bowling alley, but the sparse audiences were respectful, the bartenders sympathetic, and the pickup bands just fine. It was the string of low-level bars and motels, and the fact that the guy used to be somebody that made it hard to face.
No bad guys, good music (T-Bone Burnett, of course), and an honest redemption story. If I could have believed Maggie Gyllenhall as a damaged woman, it would have been perfect.
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