The scene was Friday afternoon, and my daughter was helping set up for the Joe Craven/Aesthetic Cling concert at the Davis Odd Fellows Hall. Rowan was on her way out to recycle an empty pizza box when Joe said, "young lady, don't throw that out!" Good kid that she is, she said, "I'm not, I'm going to recycle it!" Says Joe, "no, don't do that, I might just play it later." And I believe he did. Pizza boxes, wastebaskets, #10 food service cans, bedpans, water bottles, donkey mandibles--if it can be plucked, strummed, tapped, thumped or otherwise cajoled into producing rhythm, Joe Craven will call forth the music from within. I should mention that the man is also a virtuoso on the the fiddle, mandolin and banjo (or is that Canjo?), and as to what he can do with a tape loop, oh my. I'm a big Joe fan, so I can't say enough about how much fun Friday night was. Joe had the crowd on its feet, alternately waving their arms overhead and um, grabbing their butt cheeks. All in tasteful good fun of course, wink. I will long remember the end of the evening, where our local minstrel, replete in moon & stars jammie top and cap with a tassel, led a conga line of erstwhile percussionists around the room. And Aesthetic Cling! "Play me some jug band music, because it seems to make me feel all right." The men of AC played a wow opening set that had toes tapping and folks singing along. They're all awesome musicians, but if you haven't seen KDRT's own Wayne Hagen play two jugs at once, why then, you haven't lived. We thank these fine musicians for their generosity of spirit, support of community media and talent. As is our practice, these concerts happen in community and for community, and especially for the benefit of community radio, which is to say, KDRT. Which means we have many to thank. I'll start with the Davis Odd Fellows for the use of their beautiful hall, for the ongoing partnership, and for their super hard-working and good-natured volunteers. What a great group of folks. Next, we thank our local businesses that do so much to help us out. Both Purple Pearl Wines and The Pepper Peddler help us with donations of wine and coffee, finest in the land. Hunan, the Cloud Forest Cafe, Uncle Vito's NY Slice, and Mischka's all offer concert-goers discounts on their purchases after the show. The Davis Food Co-op always goes the extra mile in helping us procure supplies for these shows. We are very grateful for the assistance of all these fine businesses! We also thank Eric Bianchi for providing excellent sound for the event. Finally, these events don't happen in a vacuum, but amidst a tornado of volunteer energy and effort. There are so many people to thank, but the following deserve extra thanks for their work: Craig Blomberg, Nancy Bodily, Bob Bockwinkel, Jim Buchanan, Ruth Chambers, Ron Cotterel, Diane Crumley, Erron Evans, Gitane, Amy Kasameyer, Rowan Labbe-Renault, Taylor Moseanko, Chris Mussen, Lynnea Ormstrom (& her mom), Pete Peterson, Lois Richter, Jeff Shaw, Paul & Erin Sheeran, Alice Yu & Mulysa Wagner. I've misplaced the last names of Jessie and Cat, but they both helped and I don't want to overlook them. An extra, super-special shoutout goes to Rod Moseanko, who apparently knows all the cool musicians and makes things happen (and also did a fine job emceeing). Alrighty, I think I'm done! Except to say: Friday, April 3, we'll wrap this year's series with Waiting For Bruce and special guest Dave Nachmanoff. Watch this space for details.
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