Gig Journal: She Doesn’t Like Guthrie’s 11/4/11
Nov 04
Last night was my inaugural gig in L.A. (Lewiston-Auburn, ME), and I must say, as first times go, this ranks right up there with the best out of town shows I’ve ever played. Usually it takes a few times in to get a feel for a town and its people. Not Lewiston. Its citizens put themselves right out there and look you in the eye when you speak in their direction. Lewiston reeks of New England, but it’s the smell of old New England, when people here came together to help roof their neighbors’ houses or play pond hockey in the woods together on Sundays.
She Doesn’t Like Guthrie’s is a true diamond in a city clothed in thick, blue collar fabric. It’s chiseled neatly into the corner of an old brick mill brick building, perhaps once the home of shoemakers such as songster Ray Lamontagne, who worked and lived in this town before famously waking one morning (the last he’d spend heeling boots) to the sounds of Stephen Stills’ Treetop Flyer, only to walk off into musical history.
Gig Journal – Market Square Day
Jun 13
Photo courtesy of Seacoast Media Group
June is fickle. Or maybe, we’re fickle to believe it consists purely of warm breezes, strong sun, and hands covered in melted ice cream. Market Square Day seems to be snake bitten. It rains more often than not, and my last memory of playing (or not playing) this event is from 2006, when we had to cancel due to strong downpours and winds so strong they took down the steeple scaffolding on the North Church (although, perhaps that’s a mixed memory).
This year was my first visit to Market Square Day as a solo artist. All week long, the forecast called for ‘sunny and 70.’ As the week progressed, it was moved to ‘partly-sunny and 68,’ ‘cloudy and 65,’ and eventually (you guessed it), ‘cold (58) and rainy.’ But I’ve never been more determined to play this event. Perhaps it’s because I knew I could pull it off by my lonesome (much tougher when you have drums and amps to consider), but I think deep inside, I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t going to be knee-buckled by other Nature’s slow curve ball again. I was going to swing from the heels and see what I could do with it.
Fan Review of South Berwick Library Benefit Show on 3/5/11
Mar 09
I’ve spent many hours toiling over gig journals since PJudd first went online back in ’99. I must admit, I’ve been lazy about it recently, so it’s always nice when a friend and fan is willing to do the work for you. Here’s a review of my South Berwick Library Benefit Show I did with good friends Courtney Brocks, Jesse Dold, and Eric Ott at the Spring Hill Lodge (South Berwick, ME) on Saturday, March 5, submitted by Marshall White.
