On July 18th, blues and ragtime guitarist and singer Ari Eisinger and curator of the Secret Museum, Pat Conte will perform a house concert in
. This is a rare, intimate performance by two extremely gifted performers. The music begins at 7:30. Admission is $25. Seating is limited, so please rsvp to houseconcert "at" donegone "dot" net.
Should be a very cool show. Wish I could be there! So is the train station a functioning station? Will someone sit up against the wall singing about the Southern crossin' the Yellow Dog?
The train station is no longer used for active rail service, and probably hasn't been since the 70s or so. It was completely abandoned and boarded up for a number of years until a local resident got a grant to restore it - maybe about 8 years ago. This is what it looks like now:
The inside is pretty nice - wood floors and high ceilings... air conditioned... I always thought it'd be a nice place for a concert - I guess we'll find out! The insurance requirements for reserving the station have changed now and while we got a waiver for this current show, having others in the same space may be difficult. In any event, this will be a good one - worth the trip!
Unfortunately I'll be there and gone before the 18th. I'll probably get together with Ari at a Chinese restaurant in Philly. Would have been nice to hear and meet Pat, tho'.
Wax
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Having just spent some time listening in person to Pat Conte play all sorts of material from Cat Iron to Yank Rachell to Blind Lemon to Mississippi fiddle tunes to cowboy songs (!), I can say you'd have to be nuts not to go if you're within two hundred miles of the place. The guy is such a deep well, he's coming out the other side. With Ari on board too, this is a guaranteed great time.
We had about as many people in there as we possibly could - 20 - it's a small space. It sounded just great in there. Pat did his thing with fiddle, banjo, mandola and guitar, but what instruments...
- the fiddle was a homemade brass fiddle from about the turn of the century - not particularly loud, but best described as the way a fiddle sounds in your dreams
- the banjo was a one-off from just around the minstrel era... fretted, huge dobson-style neck with a slotted headstock and the fifth string at the sixth fret... metal clad rim about 14 in diameter and 4 or more inches deep. You know Thalos from Jason and the Argonauts? If he had a banjo, this would be it. Everything played on it sounds like it was transmitted across time to your ears
- the mandola - 1918 H model - deep and sonorous...
- the guitars - my goofy Kay roundhole archtop and what's probably a wartime L-00 sized Gibson prototype with some archtop characteristics and some flattop... best slide guitar I've ever heard... what a voice.
Pat's set
fiddle: Snowbird (Manco Snead) Primrose Hill Brown Skin Girl
banjo: Old Joe Jawbone/Alberta Delia's Gone Bible's True Liza Jane Been All Around This World
guitar: No Special Rider (Booker) Cumberland Gap
mandola: Jet Black Woman Shine Like A Star In The Morning
guitar: Mourning Blues Dark Was The Night
Ari was his usual brilliant self, playing the Stella and the Delphi all night. Ari's set:
One Dime Blues Bad Feeling Blues No Dough Blues Chump Man Blues Hunkie Tunkie Blues Blind Arthur's Breakdown Rope Stretchin' Blues Depression Is Gone From Me They Got It Fixed Right On If You See My Savior Up The Country I'm Throwing Up My Hand Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dying Bed Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out Drunken Barrelhouse Blues
His playing was flawless - hardly any surprise, there, but he did unflappingly survive an exploding capo during Hunkie Tunkie Blues. Never missed a beat and finished out the song to boot.
From my perspective, it was a great success - good music and good company all around.
edited: song titles and instrument details
« Last Edit: July 26, 2009, 08:27:02 PM by frankie »
Hi Frank, The concert sounds great. I'm really curious about the brass fiddle. You said it was home-made. Did the maker make more than one of them? Do you know how Pat came by it? Was it quieter or louder than a good wood fiddle, or just different? All best, Johnm
It's very fragile - not sure anything at all is known about the maker. Aluminum fiddles are fairly common, but I believe this is the only brass one that Pat's run across... can't remember where he found it - I'll have to ask him next time I see him.
It's definitely not a particularly loud fiddle, and sounds very different - it has a peculiar "echoey" quality, like you're hearing it from far away. I wouldn't describe it as a pretty or strong tone, but it is beautiful in its own way.