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Well - the Great American Eclipse is over... From my vantage point, we had quite a bit of cloud cover. It broke enough to see several points of the waning sun, but we missed seeing the totality. I feel fortunate, though, that I had read something about being attuned to everything going on... so for the two minutes of totality, I noticed the decrease in temperature, I was amazed by the "sunset" effect, and the sounds of cicadas.
Kind of appropriately, I went to the Basement East last night for a tribute to Darkness on the Edge of Town and other Springsteen songs. I have mixed feelings, overall, about tribute shows in general. I think sometimes that there are too many of them, and that I, personally, would rather see original artists doing their own songs. But, I do recognize the economics for venues like The Basement East, and the unfortunate reality that more people attend these type of shows than original music shows. I do also understand from talking to my friends who do these shows that there is a tremendous lift from finding common musical ground with other artists and in collaborating with musicians that you may not otherwise get to work with.
All that being said, the tribute shows I have seen at The Basement East have all been top-notch and loads of fun, and last night's show was one of the best. For starters, the band sounded amazing. Of all the shows like this I have seen, there were probably more singers I was not familiar with vs. those I knew. But, I really didn't care so much because everyone nailed their songs and the songs were the stars. Shout out to Andrew Leahey, Scott McMahan, Lilly Hiatt, Becky Warren, Mary Bragg, and Jon Latham (who stole the show - as he often does).
I could of bits of unsolicited advise from me... make sure you clearly introduce each performer. I know I am a bit of an anomaly, but when I see someone at these shows, and I enjoy their performance, I want to know more about what their own music is like. At the recent John Prine tribute, Jerry Pentecost not only introduced each artist but also plugged their latest album.
That reminds of another bit of unsolicited advice for artists in general: if you have a new (or fairly recent) release or project - and you have a Facebook Page - that project should be front and center on your page. Cover photo, pinned post etc. I don't know how often I will be writing about a song in my shuffle - and think - what's the name of the album or when is it going to be/was it released - only to go to the artist/band page and have to scroll down several posts to find the information. As I said, I am an anomaly - most casual listeners will not work that hard.
All righty then - enough with advice... it's all offered with love and admiration for the incredible talent that I am fortunate to experience daily. - It is Tuesday and time for our Trending Tuesday shuffle - new and newish music...
