Thursday, October 19, 2006

MWT Goes Down Below

What do you call someone who brings their camera to an event, then forgets to use it?
Well, keep it to yourself...We feel bad enough as it is.

So in your mind's eye (probably faster to download) picture an intimate, cozy space with blue lights, and an evening that opened with the beautiful voices of Maggie Ferguson and Denise Marie Stein or "Foxfire". (Maggie plays guitar and writes cool songs, which she sings with Denise harmonizing and playing autoharp and hammered dulcimer.)

Then, they're joined onstage by Dennis Kingsbury, www.FloydKingMusic.com an expert songwriter and instrumentalist.  (He also sets everything up, runs the sound, and records the video. He gave us a copy while we were still packing up!)

Then comes Leonardo, who plays Delta blues. myspace.com/leonardogia. Yeah, but he knows the history down to whose lick and style is which, and plays his guitar upside-down and backwards! Seriously...this guy plays a regularly-strung guitar left-handed, which bent our minds considerably, especially since he's right-handed!

We finished off the evening (more than a figure of speech) and got a very flattering "standing O" (ovation-have to be specific, nowadays) from one guy down front. An evening like that makes it all worthwhile-the packing, the driving, the loading in, the waiting to perform...That and the big folk music bucks, of course (LOL, as the kids say).

Well, that's "Live from the Living Room" at the Blue Note in Pontiac. www.OldFrontPorch.com These are warm, real folks who always make us feel at home. they work hard to put together a great evening out for fans of acoustic music. Check it out if you're anywhere near Pontiac on a Friday evening. (Right now, of course, the streets are all torn up, so there's a little block-circling involved, but it's worth it!)

Next morning bright and early (okay, early, anyway) we were at the Royal Oak Farmer's Market. the market's in a huge building full of beautiful produce, flowers, and about 4000 folks streaming past. In the city, you get that exciting cross section of ethnic groups--the highlight being an older Russian gentleman (who spoke no english), who came up and began some lively folk tune in Russian. The second time it happened Whitt was able to play accompaniment, and even managed to yell "Hey!" at the appropriate times. The third time he "shared," we were in the middle of a song, so it was a bit distracting for him, but he made it through the entire song despite having to sing over us! Nostrovya!

Our heartfelt thanks to Ellen and Bob doster of the Motor City Side Strokers, www.myspace.com/motorcitysidestrokers  (formerly "Death By Accordion") who were wonderful hosts and helped us get moved in and set up, even though they had a gig in Saginaw that evening. The best part of folk music is the folks!

 

 

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