Last night was our first gig at Northwood after the time change and after our fall rains began. No more carefree summer evenings with fans milling around outside under the redwoods. It felt great to play and watch the crowd gather. I got hugs from a few folks with drippy wet coats, but they were all smiling. After our break, I heard a very familiar laugh. Sure enough, the "world famous" Brackett Clark appeared, freshly imported from his home in Maine. We had worked with Brackett at the Pink Elephant, and he was the one who set us up to continue our grand River Tour at Northwood. He had been the official sound guy at the Pink, but he would often play keyboards with us - wowing me every time. He's such a pro and has a very engaged, masculine style. Sure enough, we got him to play a couple of his signature tunes with the band -"Mister Charlie" and "Quinn the Eskimo." After the show, he did Dylan's "Paint My Masterpiece" for us - the only missing element was Stephanie - she always did amazing vocals with Brackett on that song. Just like the old days, Brackett hung out after the show and shared stories about his musical escapades in Maine and made me drool with envy as he described all his new equipment. He'll be heading back east on Monday, but it was nice to know that he still looked forward to playing with us and treasured his Monte Rio connection. The Thugz tribe is truly bi-coastal.
Take care. Love, Sylvia