Playing with the band at Wolfgang Park.  (Catawissa 6-23-09)

Kim and I have come to enjoy the starkness of the wooden guitars and our voices.
As we continue to play, we weave things in and out finding best the places to add things and the best places to leave them out. When we’re alone, Kim holds the floor down with the bass giving me freedom to move around on the guitar without as much concern for me to provide bass. Instead, I can chunk out a rhythm behind the voices and add some fills and inversions and we continue to improve each song.

Playing with others is more complex. If you have really good players, they can respond to one another and the music breathes. At the Catawissa Summer Breeze concert at Wolfgang Park, Catawissa, we had that. Our drummer, Dave Eisenhower, is responsible for a lot of great drumming in our area. Besides having taught hoards of drum students, Dave has played with a number of quality area bands including one of my blues favorites, A Cruel Four Days. He’s been working with the Todd Cumings band for more than a decade, and he just began playing with the Frank Wicher Band.

Preparation with Dave was a breeze. I gave him some CDs to hear the songs and a set list and we all went into the garage to play. Although Dave was the only one who hadn’t played with us before, no one would ever have known. We pretty much played through all the material…smoothing up very few spots…just coordination of an ending and maybe a bridge. Dave has incredible dynamics. He can play drums with his bare hands or brushes and it’s controlled enough for an acoustic setting…and he can rock out. Kim has excellent meter, so with her moving bass lines, we had a very solid rhythm section.

I used my pedal to make my guitar louder for finger-picking and less volume for strumming…and I could bring it up for the few solos I took. I played acoustic guitar, but the Sonicor 4 pickup is effective.

As a duo, I play solos in almost every song. But, with Joe DeCristopher, you get more than a pleasant, musical presentation…you get virtuosity. His style is an eclectic blend of country, jazz, blues and rock and he brings the songs to a different level.

And John Sweeney has got that blues harmonica down to where he sounds soulful and sweet at the right times with impressive dynamics. He and Joe have played onstage with us before as a group and in small ensembles, so they are familiar with most of the material and can talk to one another with their instruments using powerful dynamics which adds excitement to the performance.

The instrumentals are impressive and Kim’s vocals give the performance something special. She doesn’t use a huge range…but then, neither did Billy Holiday. She does have beautiful vocal tone, soulful expressive style that keeps developing with each performance, and people like to hear her.

For me last night, it was one of the highlights of the summer vacation. Hearing your songs performed by gifted musicians is always amazing. Playing with them onstage is even better. We didn’t have the same kind of subtle nuances that a band has developed after playing together for years, but the whole thing was relaxed and sounded very tight.
I would take an occasional solo, followed by John’s bluesharp, then Joe would anchor with an incredible guitar solo. His playing has so much energy. When he’s not taking a solo, he’s building a subtle counter rhythm. That Zinky amp has amazing tone and his Tom Patten (locally made) guitar has all the tone he ever needs.

We had so much fun that the guys want to play with us at King Street September 25.

When we played our winter show last year at the coffeehouse, it was sort of a coming out party for Kim. I knew that she had suddenly turned into an impressive performer from playing at the occasional tavern or café or benefit…and she was awesome at Maxfest, but locally, this was a first for some people to witness how good she’s gotten. She also got a great response at the Billtown Blues Challenge last year. Catawissa's show in the park had nice appreciative audience. People were kind of spread out with their lawn chairs and blankets, but it’s a small enough park to see everyone and have eye contact with the crowd.

At the end of the show, we invited Joe Gaughan to join us for the last two songs. Joe is the guy who organizes and arranges the entire Summer Breeze Concert Series. Although Joe and I have worked on composing and recording in the studio for the better part of two decades, we have only performed onstage together a few times including three times here at Wolfgang Park and once at King Street. Joe is a fantastic studio and stage keyboard player. Often, he sits in with the groups at Summer Breeze onstage and he is more than equal to the task. For us, the last two songs were Tell Me Forever and an Elvis medley of Blue Suede Shoes and Hound Dog Blues. On a demo he did a few years ago, he played an impossible solo on Tell Me Forever that is one of my all time keyboard solos. And as far as the medley, he once toured the US as keyboard player for the Big El Show, so he can play Elvis’ songs like no one. And he didn’t disappoint, his keyboards on Tell Me Forever went from haunting to Fusion Rock and kicked things up another notch. His Elvis blues piano was reminiscent of a young Jerry Lee Lewis.

Many thanks to Joe Gaughan for setting up the shows, and thanks to Joe DeCristopher, John Sweeney, and Dave Eisenhower for providing an enjoyable musical experience in what is becoming a kind of all star band which draws players from some outstanding local groups. When I lived in Philly, I had ensembles like that. It was a core of outstanding musicians who all had groups, but I could use for studio recording and showcase performances. It’s a pleasant surprise that the talent pool in this area is so deep, and Kim and I have had some serendipitous experiences…like being onstage with the Kahunas while Kim sang duets with Ann Kerstetter. Last night was another of those experiences.

Everyone left feeling it was one of the nights that make you glad you’re a musician.