It started when Jeff (owner) asked if I could play the opening set, as he had had a cancelation. Uh yeah, sure I could, would love to in fact, as Friday is a perfect night to play there. They put on a little free barbecue for the regulars, so there is a built in crowd. I did my thing, people really enjoyed it, got to perform many of my new compositions which is really satisfying.
His girlfriend Dao is the actual owner of the bar, as she is Thai, and it's just much simpler to have it all in her name. Anyhow, she is a great person, and we really appreciate each other. At one point, she was 'joking around' with me by pretending to put a little hex on me that I would return here from America. It was all light-hearted, but mystical me, I picked up something a little voodoo in it all. In a good way, that is. I mean lots of people are indicating that I should live here and come back here and make music here, but there was something just a little bit different about Dao's approach. So I wanted to ask her about it, which I did when there was a lull in the proceedings.
And we had a great talk, with her telling me that she knows I'm a good person and that there is some force that wants good people to join with other good people. She said that it wasn't about me coming back here to be with M, that wasn't her intention, but she did want to put it out there in the ether that this is where I belong. And I'm just mystical enough to feel that Dao's joking approach, wasn't really a joke at all, but a spiritual message that carries a lot of weight. It's just a sense that I have, and if I've learned anything over the years, it is to trust those little intuitions and be open to them. So I am.
My set was a lot of fun, and I was followed by this Thai guy who was pretty good, especially when he started laying down some Marley tunes. I grabbed a guitar, plugged in and started laying down some bass lines, leads and harmony vocals and it became a great little jam session. Afterward, 'Downtown Johnny', who is one of the more intriguing characters around here, played a set and I back him up also, along with some other singers and percussionists and it was a total howl. This was due partly to the fact that Dao took it upon herself to get me drunk. I never have more than one beer, but since it was my last night, she gave me about 4 of them, wanting me to not know what my own name was. So I got a nice buzz on, smoked a few cigarettes and made like everybody else, instead of being the clean and sober member of the group. Nice change of pace.
Back to Downtown Johnny, he's about 60, combat veteran of the Vietnam War and it definitely screwed him up. He also has dealt with leukemia, perhaps related to that experience, but he's living on a $3000/month psychological disability from the army, which is a lot of money for these parts. He's also a drunk, thougha nice one, tends to put the negativity on himself, rather than lashing out, so by the end of the night, he's usually lamenting and calling himself 'retahded' in his Maine accent.
So why am I so intrigued by the guy? Because he's an amazing singer and guitarist, with the kind of transcendent voice that just rocks the room. He can belt it out, he can sing really high and falsetto and every time he straps on, the room has a different chemistry to it. It's uncanny. I'm the opposite, very controlled, sophisticated in my playing, non-adventurous with my singing, but still good to listen to. He is super impressed with me, calls me 'an entertainer and a great musician' and I'm super impressed with him, just a marvelous vocalist who sends chills up your spine, kind of like Stevie Wonder can do when he reaches back and rips it vocally. And we're opposites as far as Vietnam is concerned too, he was a front line combat soldier, I was a hippie kid protesting in front of the White House. That sense of opposites attracting is very strong between the two of us, and it was deeply satisfying to play the final set with him, have it work out in a big way and rock the house together. It's a music thing and a friend thing, and last night's energy was the peak of it somethow. Especially when it got late and Jeff was wanting to quiet it down, Johnny started playing 'A Day in The Life' by the Beatles, complete with that noisy crescendo that made the whole place go nuts. We were screaming, banging things getting absurdly louder and louder and something got really freed up in that section. Carnaval and Purim and Mardi Gras all rolled up together. Unforgettable...
Spent a lovely night with M afterwards, no grieving, I think we've been pre-grieving enough so that there's not much more left to suffer, at least on this end. It's been a beautiful ride and maybe there will be more to come. Either way, we'll be friends and supporters, so let's just see what unfolds and we'll go from there. (at least that's how I feel today at 4pm) I'll make a farewell appearance at the bar tonight, maybe play a few songs around 8pm, say farewell to my friends and then try to get a decent night's sleep before some huge travel. I have 3 books to read, a guitar to play, and before I know it, I'll be in Portland, OR. Hard to imagine, but it's true...
Out...
