by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2006/05/07 04:01 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2006/05/07/591771.aspx
(nothing technical, yada yada yada)
So on Friday night I was out at Caffe Bella, at the show I mentioned previously. It is always good to get out, especially after a week that did not go exactly the way you wanted it to like last one....
Playing in the round were Kristin Connell, Drew Dundon, and Jace Krause of Friday Mile, with a few extras (like the charming Hannah Williams in the audience singing a bit with Jace and the amazing Ryan Smith showing up to help out Kristin with the final song).
During and after, Kristin and I had talked about good shows to see (after she missed Beth Orton last month!). Candidates at the moment are Fiona Apple (who will be at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville on July 3rd) and Pete Droge (who it looks like will be at the Tractor on August 17th for a CD release show), plus whatever other artists may be in the area in the meantime (I missed her playing with the wonderful Rachel Harrington last night, but Rachel is someone else I'd love to see/hear again, as well as the delightful Holly Figueroa -- who I hope will be feeling better soon!).
Anyway, the show on Friday was awesome, enough to make sure that I scooted up after to buy a Friday Mile CD from Jace (he threw in a CD from his old band The Glass Family, too, no charge -- a cool name for a band though I wonder if everyone who listened to them knows of the Salinger reference!).
Someone made a comment about how great it was that I was supporting local artists, but I pointed out that that is coincidental -- I wouldn't be supporting any artist if I did not enjoy their music!
Afterward I was talking with Drew, who offered to help me find some good music the next time I made it back to Ireland -- definitely something I will keep in mind. As I pointed out to him (and as others have pointed out to me!), the fact is that my interactions with musicians are almost the only thing that makes me even remotely interesting to those who are not hopelessly geeky. :-)
In any case, it was a great show and I would highly recommend all four (including Ryan) of the singer/songwriter types from the show if you have the opportunity to see them.
And of course to always support local artists who are good....