Monday, June 09, 2008

The Great Castell Kayak Race

I had a very interesting gig last Saturday. My friend Jerialice hired me to run sound for The Great Castell Kayak Race. Entertainment was provided by David Lewis Morgan, David Byboth, Ross Vick of Trueheart and Joe King Carrasco.

David Morgan, David Byboth and Ross Vick all appeared sans-band, with acoustic electric guitars and I was fortunate enough to be permitted to accompany each of them during their performances. I've known David Morgan for a while and have become familiar with most of his songs but I'd never met, or heard, David Byboth or Ross Vick. They each risked having their performance degraded by permitting me to accompany them. Both are powerful and experienced performers with fully developed and complex styles so it was relatively easy for me to 'feel the groove' and blend into the mix though Ross has a love of subtle key changes which add wonderful depth to his songs but were a serious challenge for a cold follower. His chord structures are coherent and exciting so I got a little carried away on a couple of his tunes (sorry Ross).

Joe King Carrasco brought his band and they did a fabulous job. As a genuine Texan-By-Choice I love all the flavors of Texas music which include, though aren't limited to, Country, Rock, Rockabilly, Blues, Bluegrass, Tejano and Conjunto. Joe and his band are a wonderful blend of all these and more. They're accomplished musicians with no protruding egos and in combination their performance manages to be smooth, polished and professional while achieving the seemingly contradictory feat of being high-energy with the sort of slightly jagged edges that make live music so incredibly much more fun than recorded music.

I bought CD's from everyone on stage (except David Morgan who doesn't yet have a CD) and brought them home.

My Mind's Eye by David Byboth

The Road by Trueheart (Ross Vick)

Hot Sun by Joe King Carrasco

Y'all rock on and thanks a million.

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