music journal

Had a good time at the Thile/Meyer show last night in Nashville. They played a bunch of stuff from the new record, some Bach, a strange quasi-improvisation, as well as some other stuff like a track off Not All Who Wander…, the Smoothie Song (which got the best in-song crowd reaction), and a track from Short Trip Home (if I recall correctly).

I think they were at their best doing the Bach stuff, as it lacked Chris’s usual musical fits and seizures, which I tend to get real tired of. their non-melodic stuff was interesting and challenging, yet to my tastes I got tired of it. I did enjoy the ethereal stuff like they did for an encore, but the frenetic stuff I cant get into the way I did when I was in college. But when they did get to something that had a little drive or a little melody, it was very, very good, as you would expect.

Anyway, we spotted Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas in the crowd, and seeing them take their seats got us a little sad, as we were hoping they’d sit in on stage. 

Also, it was good to go with our old friend Scott Anderson, who lives in Nashville and works for the Country Music Hall of Fame. we always have a good time chatting up music stuff, and it was very good to see his family.

Whenever I go to a show, I try to take away a little lesson for myself. Usually it’s along the lines of whether or not what I’m taking in is something I should aspire to. I remember the first and last songs they played were very mellow and ethereal, and I was quite mezmerized, thinking “wow, this is defintely something I want to do.” and I think that I’ve taken a baby step toward that with my “Simple Songs”. That stuff that I do is heavily influenced by Edgar’s stuff like “Short Trip Home” so it was very good to hear stuff like that in person. on the flip side, the crazier stuff reinforced for me that I do NOT want to go there with my own stuff…I’ll be happy with “normal”, thanks, but I’m glad someone is out there pushing the boundaries.

Finally, here’s a link to a low-quality vid of the encore tune: