Dive Bar Zen
September is here and we’ve resumed our lifetime residency at Vincent’s, Worcester, which runs every second Saturday of the month for as long as we’re all around… We played to an almost entirely new audience and Paul’s remark put it best, “It’s like starting all over again— and I like it!” The Zen of dive bars for musicians who play all original music like ourselves, is that you have to win crowds over playing songs they’ve never heard before- there is no leaning on nostalgia or familiarity. This all works on a couple of different levels. First, the songs can’t suck. Second, you have to deliver them with way above-average musicianship and a confident performance. Finally, you need to say enough but not too much to form an emotional bond that engages the audience with you almost separate from the music. There’s a heaping spoonful of alchemy to all this, and the room itself plays a huge part in your ability to conjure up the muse who, under the right circumstances, will appear to help you to deliver the goods. Vincent’s is that formula for the van Gogh Brothers, and it’s no coincidence that van Gogh Brothers have a lifetime residency at a bar named Vincent.
In between monthly’s (we return to Vincent’s on October 9th), I will travel to New Orleans to get my voodoo on at the wedding of my niece, the first of the two siblings to get married, with the second celebrating in the spring. It will be wonderful to see my two children at the same time with what’s left of my paternal family, with whom I spent so many memorable holidays growing up, and as a younger adult. I’ve missed that greatly in recent years as everyone has gone their own way, and I’m looking forward to our reunion on such a happy occasion.
In addition, we will return to Woolly Mammoth to continue mixing and tracking for our new album-in-process. This next track will mark the halfway point of the record! I’ve decided to hold the online release of “Ghost” until this next record is done— and then to release both at once. I don’t know why, but something about that feels right. I feel like, while the albums are vastly different, one is a companion piece to the other. “Love Letters” was a return to the core van Gogh Brothers sound and “Ghost” was a refinement of that. The new album strips it all bare with Paul and I forming the foundation on acoustic guitars, with minimal tracking on top, outside of Clayton’s bass and John Sands’ drums. Dave Mattacks returns on this record to contribute percussion on “Gypsy Rider.” The 3-part harmonies of the core band — Paul, Clayton and I— shine in this environment and are delivered organically with no double tracking. This is the album I’ve wanted to make since 2012’s ““Whole New Day,” and the approach happened pretty much by accident.
We will also wrap the music series at Magical Moon Farm in October with Chuck McDermott doing a hurricane make-up show on Sunday, October 17th at 6:00 PM. Come join us for this. Chuck is a legend, and his band is exquisite.
Finally, as Halloween approaches, we get ready for a trip to Malibu and a return to my West Coast friends and colleagues. I can’t wait to feel California around me again, and to experience the cliffs overlooking the Pacific on Point Dume, my spiritual homeland. I think All Saints Day is a good time for a religious pilgrimage, don’t you?
As I told my daughter recently, “life is joy.” I am blessed to have so much of it, and I wish the same for you.
I hope to see all of you at Vincent’s on October 9th.
Love,
JC