Hellish New Year...

When The National's Lorin Willis greeted me at will-call on New Year's Eve with "You do know this isn't bluegrass?" I knew that he knew that I was about to enter an unfamiliar realm of musical theater. And we're not talking Mamma Mia! here. On this final night of tumultuous 2008, we were about to experience, for the first time, Richmond's own shock rockers GWAR. All that I'd heard was true, especially the spewing part. Great sheets of plastic covered monitors and the full walls of the lower level of this lovely venue to protect it from the faux fluids that have apparently become the draw for hundreds of young revelers anxious to be anointed by Oderus Urungus and his malevolent minions. We watched safely from the balcony with my brother-in-law Stu, on a two-week break stateside after a challenging year in Mumbai. His 17-year-old son Chase was in tow as well, and seemed to be as intrigued with the elder generation's reaction to the spectacle as he was with the show itself. Outrageous, irreverent, unsettling, downright nasty...all apropos adjectives to describe a GWAR show, but on this night, it was a somehow satisfying way to ring in a fresh new year, having saved the most frightening for last. (thanks to Stu Castle for these photos)

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Thankfully, our first musical experience of 2009 was refreshingly and musically different as JAMinc welcomed gifted singer/songwriter/guitarist Jesse Harper and his band of hand-picked friends to In Your Ear's Studio A for a totally impressive two-set performance. Joined by a high-caliber quintet of the area's best (above L to R: John Winn, Daniel Clarke, Darrell Muller, Robby Sinclair and Trey Pollard) Jesse and his boys took us for a great ride with Old School favorites like self-penned "Run", a terrific new original "One True Thing", and a fine take on James Taylor's classic "Bartender's Blues" enhanced by Trey's crying pedal steel. The chemistry among these top-drawer players was palpable and it may well mark the first stop in spring tour...we can only hope. At least we can anticipate a partial replay of the concert on Page Wilson's OOTBRR down the road. And Times-Dispatch writer Bill Lohmann showed up with senior photographer Bob Brown to chronicle the proceedings for a future piece that will include a review of the tantalizing groaning board buffet that precedes all our IYE shows. If you missed it, don't miss the next one which looks like banjo/slide guitar master Tony Furtado on March 5th unless we squeeze one in before that. Reservations can be made on our Website soon. (these two shots are Bob's)

On that same first Friday night, bluegrass insiders tell me that perennial IBMA mandolin player of the year Adam Steffey was in town for what must've been a monster jam with a couple guys from Carrie Hassler's band and an A-list of local players that went 'til three in the morning. Moral of the story...you can sleep when you're dead. Take hold of these opportunities when they come along.

Looking ahead, tomorrow night (Jan. 7) affords a great chance to hear two killer guitarists whom you may have seen at the past few Folk Festivals here, Todd Hallawell and Robin Kessinger. Both are past Winfield winners and they'll play tunes from their forthcoming duet CD at the Hanover Arts & Activities Center on the tracks in Ashland starting at 7pm. For further info call 798-2728.

And speaking of the center of the universe, Ashland Coffee & Tea is still alive and kicking...let's help keep it that way by taking in one of their January shows listed here.

As we start our third year of this blogging thing, I truly appreciate your readership and feedback (mail@timtimberlake.com) and welcome comments or news that might be worth sharing. There's not a lot of extra cash in most of our pockets these days but there's not a better way to spend it than on quality live music...and there's a lot of it on the way. Just do it.

God bless us every one...TT