As a Birthday gift to myself, I stretched a bit, and performed solo, for only the 2nd time since I started performing professionally in 2005. (The first time was 4/11/07 at The Back Fence.) In both cases, my singer/guitarist/drummer/bassist of 10 years, Tom Connolly, couldn’t make it.
I included never-or-rarely performed songs like Your Morning Smile, The Royal We, and Bleeding Heart (all award-winners, the last 2 in American Songwriter Magazines’ Lyric Contest). Left out were often performed songs My So-Called Democracy, and This Is Why Life Sucks. I also covered Watching The Detectives, in a slow, sultry groove, to great effect. Got it all on video; finally.
I had to rethink some arrangements, but I also had a great excuse to trot out my beautiful, but also-rarely-used-in-public Gibson ES-175, a rare 40th Anniversary Edition tricked out in gold hardware and cherry sunburst. It’s a great sounding/playing gem.
Taking my guitar teachers’ (Larry Coryell) advice, I finger-picked it most of evening.
To mix it up, I also bought a Roland RC-50 LoopStation the day before. Alas, not enuf time to work it in; but I did use it to provide drums on The Other Side Of Somehow.
Among regulars in attendance were recent email additions Deborah (from Wash. Sq. Park in August), and Marilyn (from the Haykos show in August); coincidence: turns out they’re good friends. So working the list pays off. We all went to The Olive Tree, on MacDougal St. for my Birthday Dinner.
A perfect Birthday.
