What a wonderful Friday I had. I needed a happy Friday. It has now ushered in a beautiful Saturday morning. I have high hopes for an equally fantastic day.
I had the pleasure of hearing Jeremy Casella play last night at Portland Studios. It was a nice laid back gathering with old friends, new friends, decaf coffee from Leopard Forest, PIE, and excellent music. Jeremy's lyrics are poignant and make me think. I really like his musical style. His strong melodic themes had me humming even after I left. And I think its really cool when artists play the harmonica. I am a sucker for harmonica solos. Jeremy had a few sweet harmonica moments. If you haven't heard of him, you should check him out. Its worth it. Listen to Jeremy's music here.
Another thing I really liked about Jeremy was his honesty and realness. He shared stuff from his life that really gave his songs weight and made them relative to his listeners. I usually think of a good audience as one which embraces the musician. I found that Jeremy is a great musician and performer because he embraces and welcomes his audience with open arms. It was so refreshing to hear someone perform seemingly without pretense.
On that same note, the guys at Portland Studios carry that same sentiment. What a generous sense of welcome and ease I felt the moment I walked in. More than one person greeted me and made me feel almost at home. There is always a hint of uncertainty when entering a new place with unknown people for the first time. That uncertainty quickly melted away for me there. Here is a group of incredibly talented people, not only in their work, but also in their hospitality. Everyone should check out their website, and buy their first self-published book, a new take on Beowulf, which will be released November 15, 2008.
Here's props to Jeremy Casella and Portland Studios. Way to be real, guys... Many thanks. :)
(Image: Album cover of Jeremy Casella's newest record, "Recovery.")
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