-- Pic by Amy --

My Cole’s debut, and first gig in nearly a year, went exceedingly well. As one might expect for a Tuesday, it wasn’t exactly a packed house. But me and Eric and Denise had a decent, intimate vibe going on in the back of the place. It was odd, actually, how much more like a coffee shop gig it felt than a bar show. It also reminded me of the Union in Athens, Ohio, insofar as the owner of the place, Cole (duh) tends bar and gives off the same mellow-yet-DIY vibe that Lew had. (Lew doesn’t run that place any more, does he?  It’s been a while…) Anyway, I got to chat with Cole a little beforehand, and he’s absurdly nice, and I think he’s definitely got a good thing going.

My fellow ex-Raleighite Denise Hradecky started the show off. Her acoustic guitar was unintentionally distorted, and though the problem didn’t get “fixed,” it still sounded pretty cool, because it was only the lower two strings that sounded fuzzed-out, so it was like a little Sly and the Family Stone was sprinkled on top. Plus, she’s got an amazing voice, and people were digging on it.

I went next, with: The Next Thing You Know / Everybody Looks Like Somebody Else / Jay / Johnny without June / So Says the Captain / It’s Always the Quiet Ones / Good as Gold / The Ballad of Roy G. Biv / Dumbing Down the Takeout / When You Were Young (Killers cover) / The Oldies Station / West of Western / Soda and Sympathy.

-- Pic by Amy --

It seems like whenever I get in front of people, compared to rehearsing in the basement, my singing improves while my guitar playing plummets. Okay, “plummets” is a bit strong, but I definitely hit the wrong chords on at least two occasions. I just have to practice more, to that totally sick-of-it level. Still, I felt surprisingly comfortable, for all the nerves I was feeling in the hours leading up. I did stick to coffee beforehand instead of beer, and I think that made a big (positive) difference. It’s disorienting enough just playing in front of people, you know? I don’t need to add handicaps to an already challenging focus.

My friend Eric Ziegenhagen was and is awesome, as usual. What’s great about seeing Eric play in an intimate setting like this is that there’s no transition from him sitting at a table and talking to you…and being on stage and talking to you. I mean, stuff you were discussing earlier will make its way into his on-stage banter, and in general, he just makes the audience feel s’damn comfortable. Covers this night included an Ani DiFranco song that I heard Amy singing along to while standing next to her at the “merch table.” (Props to her and her buddy Jill for “manning” that thing all night.) Also, he did “Seeds” by The Boss! Third-rate Springsteen fan that I am, I only recognized it as “Seeds” when he got to the line about “freezing our asses off,” of course. Oh, and during his version of “Word Up,” this drunk guy came from the front of the place, picked up one of the guitars lying around (Cole keeps instruments and amps — and a piano — just kind of around, which is cool), and busted out a short solo. Then he put down the guitar and went back up front. Which was pretty much as cool as it sounds.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed a couple Great Lakes beers — Edmund Fitzgeralds, to be exact. And I got to say hi to a bunch of folks I hadn’t seen in a while — like Amber, who talked her fellow Xylenes into dropping by after band practice (which made me really happy). In all, a good night — so I was worried for nothing. But that’s just me.