May 2019

The Nancy Druids at Light Club Lamp Shop May 26, 2019

I got in and settled and chatted with cool people like Steph Pappas and Loren Tindall and Molly King. Soon, it was showtime.

When The Nancy Druids play the Lamp Shop it’s usually more of an acoustic show and that night was no different. While I love their full rock fury, it’s nice to hear slightly quieter versions of their lovely songs now and then. They opened with the breezy Vondelpark (sp??) that blew every care and concern right out of my mind. Just Another Day followed with a nice rock stomp and a stunning upper middle fretboard solo from Sean on his acoustic guitar. Sign had a fun bounce and made me smile. John had been playing the Rickenbacker for the first three but switched to bouzouki as Ann Mindelland Sean’s daughter Ariel joined them on cello. They played a lovely version of Sky and followed with a shimmering version of December. By Design rocked nicely in the acoustic format then they pulled out a fun cover of The Ghost In You. Ariel stuck around for one more and the band let loose a lovely version of The Space Between. They returned to trio format, with John on bass, and they showed us that Salvation was all around.

They kicked it up a bit for a rocking Remember Who You Were then returned to the shimmer for Disappear. They rocked out Bitter Days then were going to end with a rocking Halo, but the audience wanted more. They closed the night with Give A Little Bit and we were happy. I hung out and chatted for a bit then took the lovely walk home. It was another great night of music in our town.

The Steph Pappas Experience at Robot Dog Studio and Andriana Chobot at Deli 126 May 31, 2019

The Steph Pappas Experience

I had a great time seeing music yesterday. I went over to Robot Dog Studio in the early evening to record an interview and live performance with The Steph Pappas Experience. Loren, Matt, and Steph jammed out some bluesy tunes that found fun twists and turns and were fascinating to listen to and made me rock out. She and Loren played acoustic guitar and bass but there was a full rock sound. She played some killer slide for a bit and you’ve got to hear how the conversation meanders to believe it. The band even pulled out a fifth song jazz jam in honor of Jazzfest. I’ll have that on my radio show on WBKM next Thursday.

We started the recording a little after 6 and were done a little after 7. I drove home, zipped out the door and walked to Deli/126. I got in and settled as Andriana Chobot rocked out some songs with her drummer Jesse Samuel Rosenfield and guitarist Franky Andreas. They veered a little bit away from the more normal rock presentation of her songs and gave them all an appropriate jazzy feel. She opened on the mellow side with Not I and Another Day then brought the energy up with Cascade. She took us for a ride in her daddy’s white T-Bird then sang of My Old House. She asked us to stay and make her warm then sang about being Alone In The Night. The played another cool song then dropped a cover of Ain’t No Sunshine When She’s Gone. She sang about there being nowhere to go but here and was going to wrap the set with a super cool Neon, but hung out for one more. The closing song about the work of Steven Hawking giving her Galaxy Eyes was super cool.

I was kind of tired at that point so I took the lovely walk home with tons of beautiful music in my soul.

Andriana Chobot