Live from Caffe Lena!

[joelpatterson]

The venerable performance venue is still going strong, 49 years after a gangly Bob Dylan graced its stage (in case you've forgotten that, there are strategic pictures scattered all over.)

This duo is called Friction Farm: husband/wife guitarist/bassist say their songs come from the natural squabblings of daily life. The backstory of this song: his father had a chance to move from San Francisco to Lousiana at the end of the '60's to a better job-- only he decided he didn't want his kids growing up with segregated schools.

Signal chain: someone sitting in the 5th row holding up a Sony PCM-D50.

Glorious songwriting and a polished, honed act: priceless

4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download Water.mp3

[Remoteness]

Nice performance.

[joelpatterson]

I was talking to them before the show and we got onto the topic of "ritual"-- I was looking at the whole process of folk singers performing and audiences listening as a series of ritualized steps (contacting the venue, buying strings for your guitar, rehearsing, striding up onstage after you've been introduced, the audience quieting down and waiting) and so what part of the ritual stood out in their minds?

I seem to see this reaction alot when I interview people-- this kind of stunned, momentary staring into the middle distance-- this is not a question they were expecting, and they have to think about it for a minute. Finally, she said that the moment when they connect with the crowd, the moment they know the crowd is "along for the ride," that's the special moment, that turning point.

[LowFreak]

joelpatterson, when reading your comments about "ritual", the word "transition" came to mind. The ritual serves a purpose of transitioning us from a state of mind where we can deal with the trivialities of life, to a state where we are able to have the kind of connection to which she referred.

I find it sad that the ritual needs to be so elaborate in order to reach that state. I keep imagining ways to bring those moments closer to everyday life, to make those kinds of connections more "normal" instead of requiring such elaborate rituals. For example, I imagine people sitting around a living room or a porch, sharing such moments through talking, singing, playing, etc. I have many memories of that happening, but for whatever reason, such moments seem to be fewer than they used to be.

This is not to say that I want to give up on the kind of experience presented in this recording. I got a good feel from the listening to it that being there would be such a moment of connectedness. I just wish such moments could happen more often, and perhaps with more spontaneity.