Dolphins and Butterflies – Highways and Fishing Knives

Photo by Patrick Glennon, Scratcher Sessions, NYC, Oct 6th, 2024

 

Wednesday, October 9th, 2024

Hurricane Milton bearing down on Florida. Israeli attacks on Northern Gaza/ Lebanon. Speculation of further Israeli strikes on Iran. Mayor Adams insists he is still running for re-election. The incessant hiss and stress of the Presidential election. 

There were dolphins in the water this morning. Monarch butterflies in the sand dunes. I had coffee with guitarist/ composer Greg Ruby yesterday. Ruby Tuesday. I met Greg a few years back when both of us were equally surprised to be performing at NY Trad Fest. Upon learning we both lived in Rockaway, Tony DiMarco very kindly put us in taxi together afterwards. Rockaway is far enough away that you feel like you know someone by the time you get there.  Greg was in LA for the last year and it’s good to have him back in town. We caught up on life. There has been a lot of life to catch up on.  I walked home along the beach afterwards. Picking up some stray bits of plastic on my way. None of us can do it all but we can all do a small bit. I saw what I thought was a blue balloon ( By and by, balloons are terrible for oceanic life/ don’t bring a balloons to the beach). It wasn’t a balloon it was a knife lurking just beneath the sand. I picked it up and stuck it in one of the plastic cups. A passerby thanked me for picking up rubbihs. I showed him the knife. We agreed it would have been an unpleasant surprise for an shoeless beach foot. He told me he hoped it wasn’t a murder weapon and I wouldn’t be implicated. He has agreed to vouch for me if it turns out to be as much.

Unless of course the murdering were to happen later.

 

Meeting Marc Delgado at Lowell Plaza Gas Station

 

I was driving along i90 on Saturday, someone passing on the left lane honked and honked, waved and smiled. I was confused by the smiling and waving part. A moment later my phone beeped. It was Marc Delgado excited that after all this time on the same metaphorical road, we were now on the same actual road. Marc’s an outstanding singer songwriter originally from Fresno, now based in Woodstock. We agreed to meet up at the next gas station. He was quick to offer his condolences on Dad and a generous listener as always as I shared some stories in this most unlikely meeting point. He headed off to Rockport, MA and I went on to Westport, MA. I played a really beautiful  gig at the Log Cabin House Concert series run by Rick and Diane Malcolmson in their home. It was my second time playing this series and I really loved it again. They essentially have an Irish bar in their basement and it’s a really lovely gig.  I went for a hike in the woods with them on Sunday morning before driving slowly back to NYC for my gig at the Scratcher.

 

West of West Cork

Miraculously I found parking across the road from the Scratcher. I met up with our friends Caroline and Joe from Levis Ballydehob and had a quick coffee with them and their children before, a quick meeting with Anthony, sound check, quick hello to Robbie at Swift and back to scratcher in time for Kyle Morgan‘s set. It was my first time hearing Kyle. He reminded me a lot of my friend Jasper Lewis. Which is a good thing of course.  The aforementioned Joe O’ Leary came to the gig. Joe was one of the frontmen of Fred, one of the most exciting bands on Irish live scene from late 90s till  2013. I  put him on the spot to join me for my last song. Incidentally Joe is making a rare live appearance and Coughlan’s, Cork tomorrow.

Joe and Caroline and their childers came to Rockaway and had dinner with us Monday night and it was lovely to have them here and have our children playing together on this side of the water. If you go to Ireland, you have to go to Levis’, Ballydehob.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of gigs. All of them on the calendar page. Want to host a house concert?  “Ask me, ask me, ask me, ask me”