Friday, May 7, 2010

'There's hope for me yet..'





                          

The wife and I went to see Dierks Bentley the other night at the Highline. It's always a good venue, with decent views no matter where you end up on the floor. We'd seen him play about four years ago at a small venue in London and that was definitely a rocking show. I remember almost immediately learning two of his songs: 'Hope For Me Yet' and 'The Heaven I'm Headed To' and playing them has never gotten old.

We were blown away by his voice that night and I remember thinking he had much more to offer beyond the formulaic country-rock genre. So the Highline show was very different, and brilliantly so: bluegrass was the order of the day, with the backing of a couple of Del's offspring in the Travelin' McCourys and a support slot from Hayes Carll.

After the sad events in Nashville recently, I've been thinking back fondly on the time I got to spend in Tennessee, and how great it was - especially on my first visit to the US - to be surrounded by such an outstanding regional musical heritage, and this show helped rekindle some of those emotions.

Good playing and a good time.

Finally, it was my wife's birthday recently and she happened to be away on a 'girls weekend' in the Napa Valley on the day so we celebrated when she got back, with a bit of karaoke at our friends bar. They have a very cool and imaginative installation on at the moment, featuring toy pianos and a video montage of subway buskers. Definitely check it out if you're in Manhattan.

For some reason. I just adore this particular photo... full of energy and mystery in equal parts, just like her. Happy birthday babe!


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