Last Saturday we played again at The Barn, a house concert series run out of an ex-winery in Gilroy, CA. The barn itself is sort of a hybrid: It’s really a house concert (run as a labor of love by owners Eric and Cheryl and all the door goes to the artists), but it’s also very venue-like. Most house concert hosts, God bless ’em all, put on shows in their living rooms. But when you walk into the barn, you see a stage, a lighting grid, and about 60 seats. And when the show starts, you realize that this rustic-looking place is even more deceiving: There’s a kick-butt sound system wired into the building.
Saturday night, as I suspect all nights at The Barn are, was particularly special. My pal David Anderson and I split the bill. He has a new, finely crafted CD called “Layover In Reno”. David and his band played first, closing their set with a beautiful tune about Amelia Earheart called “Daughter of the Sky”. This was accompanied by video of footage of Amelia projected onto the back wall:
After the break, we opened our set with the video for “Spotted Mule”. Multimedia works great here, and I’m doing more of this when we play there again. Had a wonderful time at this wonderful venue, and Aaron and I went at it with a slightly different band configuration. Patrick McKenna was subbing on standup bass. And the lovely and talented Breanna Eddy took her first time with us adding vocals on a few songs.
It was a busy weekend. Besides Saturday at The Barn, we were also up at Roudon-Smith Winery in Scotts Valley Saturday and Sunday, playing at their annual Vintner’s Festival. (And if you blinked and missed it, we’ll be back at the winery on October 25th and 26th. (My Gallery page has pics of both The Barn and the Vintner’s Festival.)
And speaking of split bills, I’ll be in Redding, CA in a few weeks, splitting the night with Jim Dyar at the Post Office Saloon & Grille. Check out “Songs and Stories #32” in a few days, where you’ll have a listen to Jim himself.