I have some pretty good friends. And they invite me to their gigs to play, upon occasion. Dina Hall copped a nice, artsy gig with the Bethlehem Fine Arts folks for a Friday evening concert in the Sculpture Garden near City Hall. It was the hottest day of the year and I thought I had sweated enough for the day, but no….
In a nice and shady space, with interesting ‘baconesque’ sculpture amongst us, Dina put together a sweet, two set show with Mike on guitar, Fiona on flute, Zack on drums, Dina on guitar, Nick on vocals and myself on mandolin. It was a mixed bag of styles and tones that made for a fine concert. Dina has become a very good performer and band leader, too. No easy thing to do, and she’s hip to it.
It’s rare that I get invited to sit in as a back-up musician, and I really enjoyed the immediacy of trying to pull off new arrangements, blending in with other player’s sound and feeding off the energy of the players and the leader. Lab science at its best.
It didn’t rain, though thunder was heard over South Mountain. A perfect setting for a hot July evening in the garden.