Hot Time On The Old Town

What a blast we had last night! Lots of musical talent and expertise on display, with much of it coming from musicians new to our stage (carpet). The result was an exciting, harmonious, warm (hot!) night, as the music reverberated and the coffee flowed.

· ~ ·

We began the evening with Jane Fallon.  Jane's an experienced writer and singer, with a strong, flexible, affecting voice. Her lyrics are appealingly evocative, heartfelt, and warmly humorous. 

We particularly enjoyed a wry and witty breakup song, titled (I think) "If It Mattered To Me." Another highlight was provided by a song with the tagline "if you can fix my car, I'm in love," (featured in the past on the popular NPR show "Car Talk). As Jane sang this one, the coffee grinders started up in the background -- their percussive gargling provided perfect accompaniment for her humorous tale of mechanical destruction.

About halfway through her set, Jane brought on one of our favorite guitarists, Rob Carlson, whose dobro provided a lonesome counterpoint to Jane's tales of traveling out west with her father. All in all, a very satisfying set from two excellent performers.

· ~ ·

Jane left our rug to appreciative applause, and we welcomed Becky Lloyd and Dave DesRoches. They wowed us with a marvelous blend of vocal harmony, guitar and piano.

Both Becky and Dave have great voices and excellent instrumental skills. Put that together with strong song-writing and an assured, engaged stage presence, and the result is energizing and absorbing (i.e. fun!).


A big crowd (by our standards) of family, friends, and fans turned out -- all ages, everybody smiling along with the music.

Late in the set, the duo was joined by old friend and previous band-mate Andy Mayo. 

An even richer sound, lots of energy, and three part harmonies as the set came to a fully satisfying conclusion. Great stuff! 

· ~ ·

Let's hear it for broadening our musical horizons as we bring new performers to the Acoustic Showcase!  And let's hear it for old friends, as we welcomed back Showcase stalwart David Moore. David played some of his original songs we like the best, accompanied by standup standout Tim Feihler.

Hey, this music stuff is fun!

A couple of new songs sparked our interest as well. One featured a nice example of David's bittersweet romantic wit: "after all the questions and the lies, this still feels better than suicide." Glad to hear it!


I guess this was an evening for bringing in another guitarist halfway through the set, as David and Tim were joined by Chuck Clough on backing guitar and vocal harmonies.

I'm a sucker for three part harmony, and these guys had it going on! Nice songs, nice sounds, nice set -- come back again soon, David! (And look for Chuck performing his own songs in the not too distant future.)

· ~ ·

It never fails -- listen to live music at your local coffee shop, get your spirits lifted. Let's hear it for gifted musicians singing and playing excellent songs, right there in front of us, for free! I had a hot time on the old town, and I think everybody else did too!