I could’ve done without the loud, stupid young girls arguing over who was stripes or solids at the pool table behind me. It’s bad enough when people shoot pool during acoustic sets, its worse when underage girls who don’t understand proper bar etiquette do it. But after the set Lara said she’s not bothered by that stuff anymore. One thing she’s learned is that very often, those kids you thought weren’t paying attention will ultimately become fans. Sure enough, as these girls were leaving the bar, they made a point to stop and tell Lara how much they loved her music. Ya just never know, do ya?
TH White was up next. Up until the day before the set, I had no idea that TH White was that guy Tim I knew from my dealings with Organic Entertainment. We met last New Year’s Eve and I knew he was a musician and producer, I just had no idea he was performing at WE Fest. Oh sure I could have just read his bio—which has his picture—in the WE Fest program guide. But that would have required an ounce of logic in my brain.
His set was sans vocals although he did sing a little during soundcheck. Later I would tell him that I would have liked to hear him sing more. His sound was a nice funky, jazzy rock accompanied mainly by programmed beats. He was joined by Sonny from Second Dan on drums for several numbers. At one point Sonny stood up on the drum stool and tapped on the pipes. I could tell from my hanging out and watching Sonny play that he has a very creative mind, always looking for new ways to express himself.
Next up was the always entertaining Cajun cabaret of Ben Godwin. His gritty view of life in the big city rings true even in this southern haven since many of the themes are not exclusive to any one city. On the other hand, the fascination with New York is a universal one. That and there were so many New Yorkers in the room tonight. A high moment in the set is when everyone sang along to the chorus of Skin and Bone. Ben would later tell me how that developed quite organically as people in various bars took it upon themselves to respond to his calls. He liked it so much, that it just kinda stuck and it ended up on the record.
Last up in the Organic Entertainment bill was Brooklyn-based songwriter Austin Donohue who looks hauntingly like a friend of mine in Hoboken. This stripped down set truly showcased the strength and passion in his songs. At least I would later learn that it was stripped down since this was my introduction to him. I wouldn’t get to hear his fully recorded stuff with added instrumentation and various electronica until later on his MySpace page.
What else besides the Organic Showcase?
A couple of night’s earlier, Lee Buffaloe came up to me in the upstairs, back bar at Soapbox and asked if I had seen the movie Little Miss Sunshine. I said that I hadn’t (yeah, I know … I’m terrible with movies). When I asked why he said because the guy who played the brother in the movie (Paul Dano) was in the bar and apparently he was asking if his band ‘Mook’ (I love that name by the way) could play a set on Monday.
Lee proceeded to track him down and introduce him to Kenyata. Later that night on teh beach Shawn of Lowry and I did our best to start rumors that the band was in fact playing. The truth was they were not confirmed yet, but we had fun teasing Kenyata at 3:00 in the morning about it. Of course time would prove our rumors correct as they took the stage late Monday night.
Their soundcheck was taking forever to and this was starting to annoy me. So I headed upstairs to find some familiar faces. I sat for a while listening to various stories involving vomit, a volleyball and some poor neighbor’s term paper. Another that veered off into an area of misplaced blame, feces and piss. I wanted so badly to have a story to share, but I guess I should be thankful I didn’t. Oh wait, there was that time I shot up a stranger’s living room with a super soaker while riding an exercise bike only to end up puking into a bucket until dawn.
