Topic: Dec. 3-4, Geoff Muldaur & Fountain of Youth at Freight & Salvage, Berkeley

[Cleoma]

Hi there,
Geoff Muldaur & the Fountain of Youth (Eric Thompson, Suzy Thompson -- that would be me -- and Tony Marcus) with special guests (including jew's harp virtuoso Larry Hanks) will be holding forth at the Freight & Salvage this coming Friday and Saturday (Dec. 3 and 4).  Come on down and bring the family!  We'll be doing many of Geoff's hits from his recent solo albums stretching all the way back to his days with the Kweskin Jug Band, and we've worked out some other stuff too, like "Under the Chicken Tree" which has such a great line ("I lost all my taste for the meat they call the possum"). 

Friday & Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4, at 8:00 PM (Doors open at 7:30)
Geoff Muldaur & the Fountain of Youth (Tony Marcus, Eric Thompson and Suzy Thompson)
Freight & Salvage
1111 Addison St. (just off of San Pablo) in Berkeley
Phone:  510-548-1761
Website:  www.freightandsalvage.org
Tickets are $18.50 in advance, $19.50 at the door

Go to http://ericandsuzy.com/schedule.htm to see a picture of the Fountain of Youth! 

[waxwing]

Hey Suzy, I'll be back in the Bay Area on Thursday and will definitely see you one of these nights. I'm saddened you didn't mention Fritz Richmond in your post as I take it his health issues are keeping him from performing? Damn! I hope I'm wrong. I'll contact some other Bay Area Weenies.
See you there.
All for now.
John C.

[waxwing]

Caught the show last night. A good time was had by all. These folks are all fine players and multi-instrumentalists to boot. I think Eric played guitar (that old '20s D-28), mandolin, and 4-string & 6-string banjos. Suzy held forth on two different fiddles (was one a viola?), two different button accordians, kazoo and her vintage J-45(?). Tony played a beautiful '30s Italian made archtop (Il Fortunati (?)(I have no memory for Italian)), a 5 string banjo and some beautiful fiddle. And Geoff played a Martin 00-18VS (I'm guessing), the 5-string and 6-string banjos and a great sounding double sided washboard (Hhmmm...). Larry added his great jew's harp to several numbers. I'm sure I missed something. The playing was stellar, but the vocals were even more so. Geoff has such a relaxed voice and beautiful falsetto. Everything was done at a very low easy volume (thanks to the Freight's terrific sound system and engineer) which made for beautiful textural weaving, both among the instruments and the vocal harmonies. Suzy (of course) and Tony both added strong vocals of their own, leading at times. The set lists would have warmed any Weenies heart. Of course, my memory fails me here, but there were two chicken songs (C-H-I-C-K-E-N Spells Chicken and a song about chickens growing on trees, with Suzy's favorite line "I lost my taste for 'possum"), the Fishin' Song, a great Doc Boggs number and lot's of other string and jug band tunes, not to mention a couple of Geoff's own. Maybe Cleoma will post the set lists (and correct my guitar IDs).
Any Bay Area Weenies should get out and catch this show tonight. Hell, if I didn't have a commitment, I'd be there again myself.
All for now.
John C.

[uncle bud]

Thanks for the report, Wax. Sounds like a good time and a great show. As usual, am jealous of the shows you get to see in your neck of the woods.

[Cleoma]

Thank you John for your kind words!  The Fountain of Youth (I don't know about that name...) really hit its stride at our 3rd gig which was last night, a private party at which we played one long set to a rapt audience, these people were really into it, got up and danced, etc.  We used quite a barrage of instruments, guitars, fiddles, 6 string banjo, tenor banjo, 5 string banjo, Cajun accordion, mandolin, kazoo and washboard.  We got some nice textural stuff going.  I am a great fan of Geoff's singing and there were a few times where I just kept pulsing away on just one note because I got so caught up in listening.  Turns out it sounded great on Wild Ox Moan.  I am hoping this aggregation (plus Fritz Richmond who was supposed to play these gigs, but has cancer - hopefully he will get well enough to start playing out again) will play again some time, but it won't be soon.  Tony, Eric and I are all up here in the Bay Area, Geoff is in the wasteland of L.A.  I really admire how he has made the old music his own and it is great fun to make music together!  What a treat!
Suzy T.