Around 6 PM on Thursday night, October 9th, I was stressed out about how my hours were reduced at work. I wouldn't be able to afford to attend any Maxwell concerts nearby my fair city of Madison, Wisconsin. Things weren't entirely bleak because I was able to contribute money and a gift toward a gift basket for Maxwell's highly anticipated hometown show at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. I just found out today that the show was incredible and my gift was delivered into Maxwell’s hands, YES!!
I consoled myself by going to the cafe and ordering a $2 Chai latte and crumb cake. I psyched myself up for the concert I would attend later that night by listening to “Salvation in Lights” by Mike Farris on my new iPod Shuffle. I tapped my toes to the lively piano of a mid tempo version of Tommy Dorsey's “Precious Lord, Take my Hand.” I mentioned it to a lady at the cafe named Mary who said “Oh, Ricky Skaggs is a country singer. He's really good.” The reason I bought a ticket for the Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby concert was to see Mike Farris open the show.
I arrived at the Overture Center for the Arts and found my seat in the 2nd balcony shortly before the show began at 7:30. I wore a red tunic with black floral print and black sequins on the collar, brown pants and gold flats. It was the outfit I originally bought for the Maxwell concert. Mike Farris walked out wearing a white button down shirt, pinstriped black vest and blue jeans. He introduced himself and talked about how he made the CD he had always wanted to make called “Salvation in Lights.” He remade the old black spirituals & gospel songs he loved so much. During the performance he mentioned his love for Sister Rosetta Tharpe and the Staples Singers. When he mentioned his CD I said “woo!” Mike laughed and said “Only one person in Wisconsin has my CD!” I don't think many people knew his music. I was happy to see him open the show!
Mike Farris sang 6 songs accompanied by an acoustic guitar. I didn't recognize the first song, but it was an old one about troubled times soon being over. How appropriate based on my mood earlier in the day! I found myself singing along with “I'm Gonna Get There,” “Can't No Grave Hold my Body Down” and “Oh Mary Don't you weep” from “Salvation in Lights.” I felt like singing the happy chorus “I'm on my way to heaven!” which accompanies the CD version of “I'm Gonna Get There.” Mike Farris did a wonderful job on “Green Green Grass of Home." He got the crowd to sing and clap along with “Will the Circle Be Unbroken," but he restarted the song because he joked that he wasn't very good at keeping time! At least he's honest! I loved his powerful voice and soulful crescendos. I know he won over at least a few people in the audience.
Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby played a 2 plus hour set of lively bluegrass music. Ricky Skaggs played a mandolin and his band Kentucky Thunder consisted of 3 guys playing acoustic guitars, a banjo player; stand up bass player and a fiddler. The music felt rather free flowing, as the players took turns playing prominent solos in the songs. I didn't think it was possible to play bluegrass on a piano! Bruce Hornsby, who is a wonderful pianist, shook his hands and flexed his fingers after one or two songs. He had quite a pianist's workout that night! I'm not a musician myself, so I was amazed that the band members played their fiddle, guitars, banjo and of course piano so skillfully.
I had a hard time following the words to some of the songs because I'm a bluegrass novice. I also didn't know the names of the songs unless they were mentioned by Bruce or Ricky. A few were sung in a stereotypical “country” style, fast and a bit nasally with a southern accent. Most of the songs were about lost love, except for the one that may have been called “Big Spoon”. It was about Bruce's father taking more than his share of his son's ice cream cone!
Later in the show they did a song about a woman left at the altar on her wedding day. Her fiance was caught behind the church with another woman. Bruce said it was the perfect topic for a bluegrass song. In a morbid way it is! It ended with a woman wearing a black veil walking alone along the road. Maybe it was the ghost of the jilted bride who haunted the town where she was supposed to be married? I kinda like that idea!
The group performed 2 of Bruce Hornsby's songs that I recognized from the radio in the 1980s, “The Way It Is” and “Mandolin Rain.” There was another song I thought I recognized, but I can’t be sure. He said his song “The Way it Is” was used by Tupac Shakur and another rapper named E40. I had no idea about that. A lady in the audience shouted “Yours is the best!” Bruce Hornsby misheard her saying something about “a bat.” Bruce went into a funny improvised song about a Louisville Slugger while playing seemingly random chords. He mentioned the name “Shernberg” or maybe “Schonberg”? Must have been an avant garde piano composer, nothing I'm familiar with. Bruce Hornsby is very good at improvisation. Once the full band began “The Way it Is” I loved the way the fiddle accompanied the piano in the chorus.
Later Ricky Skaggs announced some clogging songs. He asked if anybody in the audience clogged. He even had the house lights turned on. A couple women enthusiastically stood up and said yes. He invited them to the stage to dance. It took a few minutes, so Bruce played & sang a song that may have been called “Black Muddy River.” Eventually the band played the clogging songs which didn't sound that different from the rest of their bluegrass stuff. Three ladies bounded out onto the stage and danced around. I think they just improvised, but it was fun to watch.
After the show I went back to the main level of the Overture Center for the Arts and noticed Mike Farris behind the merchandise table. A few people were standing around talking; I eased my way past them, shook his hand and told him how much I enjoyed the show. I said I remembered him from the Screamin Cheetah Wheelies days, the bluesy southern rock band from the 1990s. He said “Oh I'm sorry!” I told him that it was good music! He said I should come see him in Nashville. I wish I could because I would love to see his full band perform with the horns, piano and backup singers! I hope he brings his full band back to Madison sometime soon!
The funny thing is I don’t remember how the whole conversation went down. I was a bit nervous but I pulled my CD liner out of my jacket pocket and asked Mike Farris to sign it. He wrote either “gracias” or “grace” and signed it. It was kinda hard to read, but I guess that's how musicians write. Ha! Mike asked me if I was the one in the back who yelled during the show. I laughed and said yes, I was the only one in Wisconsin with his CD.
I congratulated Mike on his Americana Music award for Best Emerging Artist. I said I enjoyed his Myspace blog posts about playing the Ryman Theater, the home of the Grand Ol' Opry and left comments. He said “You're Rhonda? Give me a hug!” He stepped around the table and hugged me. I don't remember the comments I've left Mike Farris, but I'm sure I told him he has an amazing voice. I guess my Myspace comments made an impact on him! I enjoyed Mike Farris’ performance. Ricky Skaggs, Kentucky Thunder and Bruce Hornsby were incredible. I really enjoyed myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment