Lucky me, I drew the blank tile which got me on stage early. I took some risks early in the three song set with Bruce Cockburn’s Creation Dream as an instrumental. Okay but never up to his version. Nice excursion though.
I then launched Edge of Night for the first time at GD, and a tune I had been waiting to play on this stage. I’d give it a 85 with work to be done. Although it’s a cover, it really resonates with my still too recent divorce and is a tricky song to pull off… slow, country, very tight chord changes that are relatively unique to the song. I like to play this song and see where it goes.
I followed up with Michael Jerling’s Blue Heartland with Ed McKendry on acoustic guitar, a tune he didn’t know but I had faith that he would pick up… and he did. Again, nice exploration amongst friends. Ed got a nice response from his early lead. I added a trombone later on. It was fun.
I sat in with Dina on the Nancy Griffith’s Five and Dime on mandolin. What a treat and it sounded very cool. I don’t always play the exact notes as I absorb the chord progression, but I can add a fatness to the sound and it turns out delightfully and sonically pleasing to the ear. My lead got some applause…
Teaching Artist sessions on Wed. and Thurs. Not real gigs but an intellectual journey of the first magnitude. Grounds for Sculpture in NJ. World class site.