Live Effect!

Here it is... a live clip of me and my wife Sarah dancing to "Strange Effect" onstage with Diego Garcia! We chose his recording of the Kinks' classic as the first dance for our wedding, and were honored when he invited us onstage to dance to it during his August 5, 2012 concert at Schenectady's Music Haven!



A beautiful night... even if he couldn't quite get my last name right! I toned down the "hamming" from our wedding dance, because I didn't want to take away from his performance.  Very talented group of musicians... they followed this with an equally lovely cover of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon." I highly recommend checking them out when they hit your town.

Related Link:

www.facebook.com/diegogarciamusic

And thanks to the staff at Schenectady's Central Park... what a lovely day in the pavilion jamming our wedding tunes, the peace march, and for putting on this concert.

Strange Effect on Me (and I Like It)

With Diego Garcia and cellist Daniel Bansi at the Linda,
Albany, New York, 1/27/12. Photo by Jeremy Clowe.
All rights reserved.

Happy Saturday. We had a great time last night checking out Diego Garcia perform at the Linda Norris Auditorium in Albany, New York. It has been awhile since I have been at the venue, and they have really turned it into a nice, intimate venue-- worked great for Diego's music... his band was top-notch, with a cellist and talented guitar player creating some sweet sounds from nylon strings-- I wonder about the band's influences, which seemed to incorporate the romantic troubadour spirit of latino music, 60s pop, and some modern indie styles as well.

In addition to material from his beautiful album Laura, he squeezed in a couple of covers, including a version of the rare Kinks' song, "Strange Effect." Well, it had a quite an effect on us... Sarah thought we should consider it for a wedding song. We met Diego after the show, and he offered to record a version for us-- not sure how serious he was about that, but that would be amazing!

I actually had the chance to meet Ray Davies of the Kinks a couple years ago, following his own show in Albany. Certainly he ranks up there as one of the all-time great songwriters in pop music, and has influenced many of the bands I love.

With Ray Davies at the Egg, Albany, New York, 11/24/09
Photo by Jeremy Clowe. All rights reserved.

So hearing all this great songwriting and musicianship gets me inspired, and I wonder about my own potential. I have picked up the guitar here and there, but I really would need to devote more time to practicing, before I could reach the level of Zeke Zima, Diego's guitarist last night. In their review, The Albany Times Union said that he "wove his fretboard work around Garcia’s passionate songs like lacework." Too true. It's amazing when all these elements come together so seemlessly--songwriting, musicianship, and performing-- how could one resist the desire to dance to such a spirit. I know I have the soul and passion that could be directed towards music-- just need to spend time with it... as with anything I guess. 

Eat your heart out, Diego!