Lord, I Feel Like Going Home

I knew I was in for a run of something good when Paul Shaffer walked in and took a table in front of the stage. Also, Kevin had looked at me when I got there and said, "this is gonna be loud."

I sat House right by the stage and waited along with the crowded room for Robert Gordon, Chris Spedding and The Jordanaires--Elvis Presley's back-up singers--to show us how rock and roll never forgets.

I'm not a big fan of oldies, but this show had nothing to do with nostalgia. They've all just finished a new album and they hit the stage like they had something to prove. At one point, Spedding blazed his way through a song, quoting all the rock-guitar luminaries and their signature riffs like he was a human juke box. Yeah, it was a gimmick, but I enjoyed it because sometimes I'm just that shallow.

Next up was Marie Knight and Larry Campbell. I saw Campbell years ago when he was touring with Bob Dylan and I remember being completely taken with his playing. Tonight he was three-finger-picking in glorious acoustic splendor, acting as band-leader and soul-support to Ms. Knight. If you like acoustic music, you should check out the Marie Knight MySpace page and give it a listen.

Then last night, Donna Joy got in from Bloomington and joined me for a twofer of The Ebony Hillbillies and The Lovell Sisters. I grew up on bluegrass, so it was an especially nice night. It filled my soul with some needed relief as I enter into a period of some loss and change and it gave me the chance to meet and spend some time with a whole bunch of folks who just seem to like making good music . . . which is really why I feel lucky to get to spend my evenings over at Joe's . . . and it was nice to share that with a cousin I just don't see very often . . .