488IS Det 47

About three weekends ago I swung by Peterborough NH to pick up my friend Fuz for a journey to Cambridge for a show by Jason Eady. We'd coordinated - it's not like I just whipped a shitty into his driveway and said, "let's roll!" I've been to any number of Jason Eady shows but while living up here in New England have tended to drive home afterwards. What that limited was beer and whiskey/whisky so for this trip we spent the night in town, both within walking distance of the venue. Jason was coming up after the previous night's show in NYC and ended up in awful traffic so we just slipped our get together to post show at an Irish bar down the street. Fuz and I did pre-show beer/whiskey/whisky, ate some shwarma, and kicked in the venue door when we are goddamn ready to go in. Here's a picture of said venue, Lilypad, so you can get an idea of how rough it really is out there. 

The show was really great. Sophie Gault opened - played acoustic - and I swear I was listening to Lucinda Williams. First song was actually a Lu cover. Fantastic voice, great songwriter, and has a new album out that includes a duet with Gabe Lee. Really, really enjoyable. Jason finally rolled in (I think) during her set and stopped by to say hello before heading up. As usual, the best voice, the best songs, the best stories. I'll tell you all again - dude is as good as it gets. I'll relay a funny story of his, and make it short. He was in bar with another artist buddy down in Texas and they decided they needed to write some songs together. His friend says, "let's go do it, I live just a few blocks away." They head out with their guitars and as they get outside see that it's raining pretty hard. "How far did you say your place was?" asks Jason. "Well, it's further in the rain," comes the response. Further in the rain. They laughed, went back inside for drinks, but eventually got around to writing a song called "Further in the Rain".

The trip was memorable for more than just the show. It's great to see friends - Fuz and I used to go to dinner in Crete, have a few drinks, and laugh at the young crew folks who stayed out all night. (To be honest, even though it wasn't all night, I do remember us drinking too much one night, post-Tamman. One night.) To imagine being that far away, and that young, to picking him up in the countryside of New Hampshire is crazy to think about. Makes me think of the few others from that period who'd fit that mold. It was all a bit reassuring in a strange way.