Livin’ On The Edge
04/25/08 – Livin’ on the Edge
Some places make you feel like home. Brew Waters is one of those places.
Maybe it’s because we played there so many times with Seven Bridges. Lots of great memories.
Maybe it’s because we saw many familiar faces. People we love to see sitting in the shop singing along, or just swaying with the music. Our “musical family”. And there were plenty of “relatives” with us tonight.
Thanks to Ryan for his two sets. We love providing fellow musicians the chance to play for our fans. Even more so when it’s family. Great job Ryan!
We managed to play more songs tonight than we ever have. We tried so many new things tonight. Boondocks was a blast! We even broke out Nothin’ All Day as a band for the first time. Your reaction told us it was ok for us to take a chance and live on the edge a bit.
As I said during the show… You all could have gone anywhere tonight. We just really appreciate that once in awhile you find your way to our shows to spend some time with us. Hope to see you again soon.
John
Arlington Station
Moose Nuggets…
You know how sometimes you do something or go somewhere and you just KNOW you were supposed to be there? So do we.
Last night was one of those evenings. So many great acts/performances. Kenny Lang did his usual awesome job. This guy has more soul in his little finger than many people have in their whole body.
Rick Pitts (East River) came out to Baseline for the first time! That is surprising to me. He did a couple of songs and then pretty much owned the night with an original of his called Moose Nuggets on the Trail. You simply haven’t lived until you’ve heard this tune about his real life experience up on Isle Royale. Classic. Full audience participation was involved. I’ll never hear Ghost Riders on the Storm the same way again. Ever.
Jenni did three songs. She played two of my favorites – Shed Some Light and I’m Yours. Good job, babygirl.
Another one of our favorites, Darwin Mamassian, did three amazing songs. We’re looking forward to Darwin playing a show with us in May! We just hope he doesn’t get in too much trouble before then…. *zips lips*
There were many other great performances, but one that was especially close to our hearts was Rise Again’s 30 second rendition of I’m with the Band. Very cool, my friends… very cool. Seriously, they did a great set (as always). Cohen’s Hallelujah and the classic Will the Circle Be Unbroken really captivated the crowd. Lots of singing along with these great performers.
Look for some new sound coming from the Arlington Station stage at future shows. We met a great violin/fiddle player named Ron Ellman last night. He did a great set with Kathy Neiman. We’ve seen her a few times and we’re looking forward to her being a featured performer soon.
Anyway, we spoke at length with Ron last evening and we’re going to be getting together soon. I’ve been beating the bushes looking for some really talented musicians to sit in with us, and last night was a real treat. We’re looking forward to having Ron sit in with us and add another sonic layer to the Arlington Station sound.
A special treat was to be able to hang out with our heroes, Rise Again, after the show. Lots of great food, conversation and, truth be told, a fair amount of ribbing going on late into the night. We’ve grown to really appreciate this close group of friends and musicians. We even talked briefly about all sharing a stage for a song or two someday. Better be a big stage!
Karen Ritchie was out taking lots of photos again. Any photo you see on our flyers are taken by her. She is a talented photographer and a great new friend. Tim’s ok too. ;o)
Thanks to Mike Mullen and Baseline for another great night of music!
John
Arlington Station
Spring is Flinging!
It’s April! The birds have been chirping around the house and Boomer is getting restless. The snow is gone (except for that one little bit left in the dead end). Dave & Lisa are back from their Florida vacation. Time to get back to work!
We’re rehearsing again. Trying to get some songs down just a little better and adding some new ones that we’d love to play for you.
Last Friday night we got to play at Solid Grounds Coffee House again. This time as guests of our friend and local singer/songwriter Darwin Mamassian. We’re looking forward to having Darwin play at our May 17th show. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t mention that brownie/ice cream thingie that Teresa hooked me up with before the show. Yummy!
The next evening Dave, Lisa and I met at The Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti to take in a benefit show for the Ypsilanti Freighthouse called “Fullfreight Banjo”. The Hummingbirds were the featured performers. This was the first time I had gotten to see/hear them and was very impressed. Hope to someday play a show with those two! The rest of the show was chock full of great music. All of it featuring the banjo!
As mentioned above we’ve added a new show at Solid Grounds Coffee House in Northville, MI. Thanks to Teresa and Rita for having us back! This time we’re bringing Darwin with us! He’ll be playing from 7-7:30pm. We can’t wait for you all to hear his music. Teresa has asked us to play a bit later this time. We’ll try to go until about 10pm if we can. We may have to play a few songs twice!
In the meantime, we’re working very hard to put together a great set for you at the Baseline Folk Society show on April 19th. This show is where we got our start “way back” in November of last year! And now we get to be the featured performers! Looking forward to it.
Time flies,
John
Arlington Station
