The Golden Motors show in Seattle got a nice write-up on Northwest Indie Music.
We had a nice trip up there, got up to the city by 6:30 and hit a Mexican joint called Todo Mexican. Todo was good eats; thank you Yelp app. There were three bay leaves in my burrito--that has to be a record. We got ourselves set up by nine, but by this time bass-man Dan was not feeling so good; something had set off his food allergies and he was in for a full-night hellride of hurling and hurting and suffering hard, and finally a trip to the ER at 8:00 the next morning. I am in awe of his commitment to playing his instrument and holding up his end because he played hard and killed everything and was sick as a dog. Chris Ross sat in on ax fiddle and added alot of lovely texture and harmonic color to the set. Mike rocked it on the kit. Practice does not make perfect, and who would want to be perfect, but we get together, we take the time, and it counts. I was real happy with how we drove to another town and nailed it. Next up: The Eugene Celebration.
Darrell's was probably the oldest joint in a ten block stretch, kind of an old man bar vibe crossed with good people who like good music with guitars and whatnot. I stood in the parking lot beweeen bands, after checking on Dan, and listened to Sonic Youth on the jukebox--"Bull in the Heather." We're all looking for a little haven for what we love--weird underground music from whatever era, non-specifically, and Darrell's is one of those. The Sterling Loons played a cool set of psychedelic pop, kind of Pink Floyd/early Who/Byrds/Kinks, maybe some Bevis Frond and Soft Boys feel sneaking in there, a trippy band with good players and good record out that we listened to on the way home, twice. (It's on Kool Kat label.) Red Jacket Mine played a tight three-piece set, no pedal steel/guitar player, just Lincoln slashing and picking clean lines, very exposed--very brave, no fuzz bogarts or noise. All new songs, alot of soul vibe to many of them. New platter on the way.
For the second gig in row the song that people commented on was "Building An Ark," one that almost fell out of our set--and one that is twice as fast live as it is on the upcoming record. It's nice, in the blur and distraction of modern life, for even one person to take note and remark that a song is a hit in their world. We also played the two songs off the My Name Is John Smith e.p. That was new. We had a couple Squid tunes worked up but left them out.
Home by 5:30 so Mike could play a neighborhood block party with his band The Stagger and Sway. I didn't feel tired until late Monday.
