AG's HSBG gig

I played drums yesterday at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate park. I was backing up one of the finest songwriters I've ever known, Jesse Denatale. How this guy has essentially remained under the radar screen for as long as he has, is a complete mystery to me. I'm honored to be his drummer.  I love his songs so much that I would gladly give up what I'm doing (yup, Felsen) if he could somehow keep me busy enough to satiate my ever-hungry musical Jones.  How's that for love? Drumming is this whole other thing I do separate from my Felsen singer/instigator/guitar holder identity. This is how I pay my bills and try to keep my little family afloat. It's not easy.  It's also something that I love very much, has brought me many beautiful friends and has taken me on an incredible journey all over the world.  I'm very grateful for the very, very meager skills I have:  playing in time, playing dynamically and making the singer sound good. Showing up on time and doing the homework also helps. My dad taught me those last two, non musical skills.

Yesterday was one of those rare, beautiful, warm Indian Summer days in SF. Spending time in GG park can be a risky venture if you don't like frigid, bone-breaking winds.  Yesterday couldn't be improved upon IMHO.  I've never actually been to the festival.  I'm essentially a loner.  I'm not much for big crowds.  I love seeing live music, but mainly when it's in a tiny club.  I do love to perform to big crowds, and yesterday was a treat, a gluttonous feast.  I never, ever take those type of gigs for granted and I'm very grateful to the universe for putting me on that stage.  To put it in perspective, I got home about ten days ago from 17 days on the road with Felsen.  We're a small indie rock band.  No record label support, no radio, no booking agency, total DIY hodge podge affair.  Our tours are fairly punk rock: mini van, couch surfing (or floor surfing), eating shitty truck stop food and playing for small audiences.  Generally it's a fun time, but it wears on you though.  The small audiences can mess with your head and to put it mildly, our heads are officially messed with.  That tour was a huge, Herculean effort.  Looking out on the sea of people yesterday at HSB, there were more people in that one audience than we performed for on our entire tour! One gig like that and Felsen could meet our yearly audience quota and take the rest of the year off, never leaving home and not jeopardizing our jobs, etc, etc...I felt bad for my Felsen bandmates that somehow I couldn't give them that type of gig to lift their spirits. Catholic guilt? I do know though, that had we been on that stage, we would have absolutely crushed it. Seriously, when you can crush a roomful of 20 people in say...Columbia, MO on a Wednesday night, playing to 4000 die hard music fans, with their musical ovens preheated with booze and weed on a beautiful, sunny day in Golden Gate Park would have been like shooting fish in a barrel.   

It was fun to play rock star for the afternoon. Jesse was on the big stage.  I assumed they would have put us on the dog and pony stage just after puppet theater because that's how my jaded, aging brain thinks. Again, my head is so messed with, that I was worried that there would be no one in the audience.  I usually assume that will be the case.  I remember even when I briefly played with CAKE in 2007, I worried that there wouldn't be much of a crowd at the shows. I told them that and they all thought I was nuts.  Xan, the guitar player, told me it took a few months for him to stop thinking that way after he joined the all ready successful band.   

They really do it right at HSB.  Fantastic sound, wonderful backstage area, great food and beer.  They make the artists feel really welcome and appreciated.  The musicians, in turn, dig a little deeper and return that kindness back with a deeper level of performance.  Music venue proprietors take note: that's how it works!  I'm not asking for a full catered meal at your little club in Reno on a Tuesday night, but some simple acts of kindness and hospitality can go a long way, thankyouverymuch. You get what you give and the good people at HSB got great returns on their investment in artist hospitality.  The natural environment in GG park is, in itself, awe inspiring and also helped bring out a whole other level of performance.   All the other acts I heard yesterday were really inspiring.  I felt honored to be on that stage.  Steve Earle sat on the side of the stage while we performed.  He shook my hand and told me nice job.  That's it, I can retire now knowing that my my musicality entered that guy's brain, even briefly.  Do you remember his album The Revolution Starts Now?  Remember when he stood up to the Bush administration?  Kids, that's what artists do.   HSB's founder, Warren Hellman would be proud of the type of artistry that Earle represents gracing the stage that he built.   It was a family reunion for us Bay Area musicians.  I've been here for 15 years.  I feel like I know everyone. Lots of old friends were backstage, working the festival and in the audience.  Some new ones too. Some present only in spirit. Thank you Warren, wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to take my kid to soccer practice.  I'm sure you understand.