SS Cape May - Friday, March 26, 2010

"How can you be in two places at once when you're really nowhere at all?" - Firesign Theatre.

So, this Singer Songwriter Cape May thing swept through town last weekend and I'm still kind of drained and jazzed. Met some great folks - heard some great music - missed some great music, too. (see above, though there wasn't any 'nowhere' to be found this weekend - it was all great. Thank you for letting me tell you that.)

I was so wiped out by the experience (I'm old) that I was even still recovering on Monday from Saturday night's festations. (Festipravities?)

This was go-round #3 for SSCM - it seems to be gaining momentum, and I'm very happy about that. I was a little bummed last year when Julie Gold ("From a Distance") was a no-show at one of the discussions, but I'll get over it eventually. I was really hoping to get some insights on the nuts-and-bolts of a top selling record.

This year featured Nicole Atkins and Steve Forbert as headliners. That's fine, but I missed the headliners because the 'downcard' performers* kept me away from the Congress Hall ballroom to catch performances at venues like the Merion Inn, The Pilot House, The Mad Batter and The Ugly Mug.

(Sorry, east end of town, but I know my limitations by now.)

I started the weekend at the Merion with a couple of friends. The young woman at the piano was earnest but couldn't catch our ears. Before her set ended we headed up to The Pilot House and caught David Falcone - a great guitarist with lots and lots of hair. And craaazy fingers. Good stuff. Caught a few minutes of the John Byrne Band afterwards but didn't stay long because we wanted to entrain another music fan and head to The Brown Room to hear Suzi Ragsdale. Got there a little late but still in time to hear half a dozen wonderful tunes including a song about a plastic Jesus figurine that she dug up in her back yard while setting up a teepee. Suzi produced said figurine from her bag and set him up on the piano - just like a Dashboard Jesus - where he remained for the rest of her set.

I was lured to the Boiler Room (downstairs from the Brown Room) by tales of a Bela Fleck type band (did I hear 'PsychoBela', or did I make that up?) but never really heard them because I was introduced to Keith Burnstein and Ethan Shorter (of The Mumbles) and Sabrina Chap. These fine folks had come all the way down from Brooklyn to appear at SSCM - we chatted for a while and I was deeply impressed with their matter-of-fact low hype vibe. Pictures were taken and I promised Keith that I would seriously try to do a phone interview with him the next morning. So what if I'd never done one before? BTW - after doing a bit of homework I'm convinced that Six Degrees has got a "Brooklyn" show in its future.

We ended the evening back at the Merion but Jesse Lynn, the last performer, had finished and was chatting with Vickie Watson and George Mesterhazy about ghosts. Everyone at the bar who had seen a ghost, or knew someone who had seen a ghost, or even knew what a ghost was threw in their two cents worth and we wished Jesse an uneventful night.

I stayed for a bit, chatting with Vickie and George and Glenn McBrearty and bar manager Carol Queenan before heading home to spend a couple of hours (ouch!) getting Saturday's Six Degrees show together.

Next post: Saturday Morning - Saturday Night 3/27/2010

* I swear that I've heard that term referring to the 'lesser' bouts at a boxing match, but I'll be damned if I can find a boxing slang site that'll back me up!

Michael Kearns

I've been listening to "Death or Life" - the disk from Michael Kearns and the Lonely Mammals for a few weeks now. Got it from a friend, which is also the way I like to get books. Someone gets an idea of your tastes and says,  "I think you'll like this . . . ".

Well, I like it. A happy find - Michael has a great touch. From sweet ballads like "And Then Some" to wry rockers like "Lose My Job" and bittersweet school-of-life songs like "Nashville Will Teach You" and "A little Rain", Michael and his backing band The Lonely Mammals are masters of the genre we've been calling Americana.
In the true spirit of that genre, this album is the band and their guests actually playing and singing together. (Says so right in the liner notes " . . . recorded the old fashioned way. We all played at once.") 

I haven't got anything against highly produced studio artifacts - it's just that there is something more human (more Mammalian?) about a roomful of people playing and singing together.

Comparisons? How about Neil Young ("That Much Love")? Todd Snider ("Lose My Job")? Maybe even Johnny Cash ("Shortcut to Arthur").

I've been working these tunes into the show for the last few weeks. Hard to believe this is a first effort. Of course, Mike spent a lot of time producing disks for other folks - I hope he'll find the time to bring us more of his own gems soon.