A quick look back at Saturday's solo debut by Jesse Harper at AC&T...Daniel Clarke had set our expectations high for this outing from Old School Freight Train's lead singer/guitarist. Daniel's credibility was more than reinforced as we were treated to a compelling set of tunes Jesse's worked up for his upcoming album. His growth as a vocal stylist, guitarist and songwriter has been impressive since the early days of OSFT and his good taste to invite such a strong supporting cast added significantly to the wide-ranging set list. It was great to see Ann Marie Calhoun, fresh from her Jethro Tull star turn, back on the trackside stage along with Richmond jazz stalwarts John Winn on clarinet and the aforementioned Mr. Clarke on keys. The band was rounded out by two terrific musicians who were part of opener Jake Armerding's group, Zach Hickman on bass and Neil Cleary on drums. Jesse and these potent players ran through a strong list of songs drawn from Randy Newman, Sam Cooke, Lennon & McCartney and his own growing vault of originals. I can't overstate what a vicarious thrill it is to watch these folks evolve into such compelling musicians since we've known them for so long. It underscores what talent and hard work can mean. Jesse's excursion is short-lived, at least for now, as OSFT has a busy spring and summer booked, including an Ashland date on May 25.
And speaking of opener Jake Armerding, he and his two-man crew (see above) set the bar pretty high Saturday night with some fine original material delivered to his own guitar and fiddle accompaniment. Check out the title track of his new CD "Walk On This World" and "Keep The River On Your Right." http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=48691665 We're working on getting him into In Your Ear for one of our JAMinc Studio Concerts...stay tuned.
And speaking of JAMinc, we've set up an early in-school performance at St. Christopher's School for five-string wizard Tony Trischka this Wednesday, preliminary to his AC&T gig that night.
Lucky kids. Hope to see you on the tracks at 8pm. www.ashlandcoffeeandtea.com
Let's warm it up around here...it's the second week of April for Pete's sake...TT
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