Merci Paolo!
- vleb a écrit:
- Hey Fred, tell us about your US journey and live shows !!
The trip to New York was fantastic!
A GREAT place full of warm, interesting people! I stayed in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which I liked in particular - a very cool vibe there.
There are some clips on youtube (not my channel) from the gig at the NYC Lap Steel Festival at the Rodeo Bar on Manhattan. Here is one featuring Wade Schuman (of the great band Hazmat Modine) on harmonica:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nIixtAIumk
A great revelation was that there is
great beer brewed over there! I expected nothing but Budweiser and similar super-light beers, and I was delighted to discover the local India Pale Ale and pre-prohibition lager of the Brooklyn Brewery. Great stuff, made only from the four ingredients beer is supposed to contain (no preservatives). But, what am I thinking, talking loads about
beer on a forum in la pays de Pinard!
Here is a clip from rehearsal of "Nattlunk" with Michael Gomez (also of Hazmat Modine) before my second gig there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSWTNiW81N0
Michael is playing a great archtop - a 1928 Gibson L-5!
I was really pleased with the Martin Gross capo I had made for my Burgin baritone Weissenborn (used in both clips above) - it lessens volume and sustain much less than the Beard and Scheerhorn capos I have, and it enabled me to travel with one Weissenborn instead of two. (I also played a nice early 1930s National Triolian that I borrowed for my gig in Brooklyn
).
Speaking of Nationals - at the amazing store Retrofret (described by a friend as "a museum where you can play everything"
) I played a beautiful 1928 Style 2 squareneck Tricone and some other nice roundneck Nationals.
It was great to finally meet Mike Neer (who played Tricone steel on the Moonlighters' great CD "Surrender") whose playing and contributions to the online steel and slide community I have enjoyed for years. He is a lovely person!
I also met Bliss Blood and other members of the current Moonlighters lineup (including great steel player Raphael McGregor). That was fun - I have a great video clip of Bliss playing ukulele and singing while we waited for the subway at 3am - might post that on youtube if she doesn't mind.
In short, I had a great voyage Ricain!
There is a lot of great musicians in New York, and people are really friendly. It is a tough financial climate for musicians though - gigs pay better in continental Europe. I have loads of photos and video clips from the trip but have not had time to go through them yet.
That was a long post, but you asked Vincent!
Fred