I already had a ticket to the Richard Lloyd show at the Frequency when Blake called me to see if I could be merch girl for him and Josh tonight. Since there probably isn’t anyone more qualified for the job, I told him I could do it, the Frequency is always running late anyway. I know all of their songs by heart and I can’t imagine anyone who has seen Blake play more than I have. The only problem I had was explaining to people that even though they had just played their entire set together, they didn’t actually have anything recorded together. Oh sure, Josh does some backing vocals on Blake’s Flatlands record and Blake is credited for additional recording at the Lasagna Lair (Teddy’s basement) on Josh’s record, but they don’t have anything like they played tonight.
It was a short set, but a winning one. Three of Josh’s songs alternated with three of Blake’s, ending with Townes Van Zandt’s “White Freightliner,” a favorite of Blake’s which he frequently plays on Tuesdays, as well as with their cover band the Classic Tawnies (which also features Chris Sasman on drums). Even though it was a small crowd, I still sold nine CDs, with one gentleman promising to come down to Mickey’s on a Tuesday to get Flatlands since he only had enough money for one tonight. Not bad. Since I had actually been there, I was also able to tell the story of how they had come to play so many songs together which Josh had referenced when he said, “I feel like we’re back in Kate’s kitchen.”
It was a couple years ago when they were touring out West, and they had been asked to play an opening set at the Black Rose acoustic society. Problem was they had only been given one set, which they didn’t find out until just a couple days before. I flew out there for the shows and just after landing in Colorado I was sitting in Blake’s cousin Kate’s living room listening to them run through a few songs together. It sounded so good I wondered why they hadn’t thought of it before. Having that stock of songs ready to go has come in handy for nights like tonight where they had been asked to play together with not much time to prepare.
I’d seen Sara Watkins in the now on-hiatus Nickel Creek twice before. The second was from far away in Austin’s Zilker Park where managed to project their contemporary Bluegrass music out over the swarms of Austin City Limits festers. The first was a more intimate affair when they showed up at Café Montmartre to play an impromptu set with their friend Glen Phillips (of Toad the Wet Sprocket). Sara was never the stand-out member of the band, that honor went to the tall and handsome Chris Thile who now has several solo projects of his own.
Her voice always seemed weak next to his and, well, I’ve never been a fan of girl singers, so I was a bit surprised that I didn’t hate her. Backed by her brother Sean (the third member of Nickel Creek) and a seasoned looking bass player, she put on an entertaining show. She won me over by covering the classic “Different Drum.” Made famous by Linda Ronstadt, the quintessential Sixties hit was actually written by Mike Nesmith of the criminally underrated Monkees. That probably would have been enough right there, but she was spunky and fun, two qualities missing from too many female vocalists. I’d see her again for free anytime.
Josh Harty & Blake Thomas
Sara Watkins
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