Family Affair

Last week, Bethany Yarrow played Joe's. Her father is Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary fame and he's kind of a stage-dad. He works the tables, hugs everybody, and tries to adjust levels on the board so everything is just right. He also provides instant encouragement, not just to his daughter, but to the guy sitting up in the booth drawing his daughter.

I kept thinking about all the time spent in Richard's car back in high school listening to that 8-track of PPM's greatest hits. It was a big car and we had a choice of the Beach Boys or Peter, Paul and Mary--information I reveal with great reluctance. I remember the time I was going to London for a semester and leaving all my friends behind and their version of Leaving on a Jet Plane came on and I cried like the sensitive kid I was, but noted that it got me the attention of Mary O'Meara and Liesen Liskey, who both held me like they'd never let me go, but they did because we were just friends after all.

It also made me wonder why we were listening to an 8-track player in the 80's, but Richard can explain that one in the Comments section.

Oh, there was this woman who came out and danced during Bethany's set. I mention this randomly here because it happened pretty randomly there. Still, it was good and a dancer is always welcome inspiration to me. Although, Jeff cheering me on in the booth was distracting.

Before Bethany and Rufus played, Abigail Washburn and Ben Sollee took the stage and played this completely unique blend of cello/banjo/appalachian folk and Mandarin Chinese music. It's great coming in to a show with no expectations and being blown away anyway.