take me back mill valley.

I played a duo gig a few weeks ago with Dylan (Felsen guitarist).  This was the first time he and I have performed in this way.  We played at a shop in Mill Valley called 7 on Locust (that’s also their address) on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.  The shop owner, Nadine approached my friend, and #1 Felsen fan, Don Zimmer about bringing in live music to her shop. This was the second time Don has put together a show for us.  Both shows were really fun and unique.   Don is a fine musician and he’s just an all around supporter of local music; a truly one-of-a-kind type of guy.  Along with his friend, Mitchell Danielson, they've even started their own boutique record label, Floating Records, just because they wanted to help as many of their musician friends as possible get their music out into the universe. Wow. Sincerely altruistic record label guys! Thank you Don and Mitchell.  We need many more people like you.  

The small size of the performance space dictated that we perform low volume--real low volume.  We don’t get to do this type of show all that often.  I always say you gotta be able to adapt to whatever environment you’re performing.  Lousy bands have just one way of performing. (Note to young rockers:  Marshall half stack--not necessarily the best amp choice for the Hotel Utah.) I like shaking things up and I’m always up for something new and challenging.  We kinda eased into things, playing it cool, not coming on too strong.  Keeping our collective ego in check, knowing that it’s NOT ALWAYS ABOUT US!  People were milling around (like they do in Mill Valley), catching up with old friends and drinking a bit.  By the end of the first set, people were definitely into it and buying our CDs & T shirts (thank you--you know who you are).  For a small place, there was a decent crowd.  It felt good to be there.  The second set was even better and by the tail end of that set, this little shop in Mill Valley was ready to be transformed into a concert event.  We asked people to come in, huddle up, lend us your ears (like Ringo said) and they obliged us. We asked them to really listen for just a few moments.  Turn off cell phones, hold off on conversation.  I think people want this.  People want to be entertained. They want to be a part of something unique, human, artistic.  They want to participate in culture with other human beings. This predates us by thousands of years.  We did two last numbers totally unplugged with the whole room full of people huddled around us.  Dylan played banjo, I played acoustic guitar and sang. We played an oldie, really old in fact. Take Me Back.  I wrote it 13 years ago after my wife and I had hit a real rough patch in our marriage.  Try begging for forgiveness--sometimes it’ll work!  People love this tune.  Who hasn’t been there?  And then we finished off with a new tune, Gimme Shelter for the Devil, from our soon-to-be-released album.   Twice now this has happened at a Floating Records show: audience and band communion.  It’s like we all got on a plane and went somewhere--to that other place. Thanks Don and Mitchell for getting us there.

NEXT FELSEN SHOW: Saturday Aug 31, 2013. Starry Plough, Berkeley, CA Facebook invite