In the Confession Box with E.W. Harris
Confession Box Songs: Week 4
Last night Steve Goulding asked the very fair question, “The Confession Box? Is it small and judgmental?”, “Does it at least smell of incense?”
No, an no. It’s a song club, in bar in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A filtered songwriter showcase with a bunch of singers and one feature. It is not an open mic. All acts apply in advance to play. Tonight’s feature is my old friend, E.W. Harris. E.W. Possesses the greatest laugh in show business. He is also a tremendous singer, writer and raconteur.
His latest band project, the Neuromantics, played a great set at the Irish Haven last month. He is one of the founding members of the Sky Captains of Industry. Before all that I met E.W. I think at Wednesday Night Song Club at Ceol, I think about 2009. He was working in a book store in Upper East Side at the time and would swing by another gig I was doing at the time, in a Scottish bar called Jock Tamson’s. Often, afterwards accompanying me into the madness that was the Red Lion late gig. We became fast friends. E.W. produced NY 2010 record, ‘Brother, the Fight is Fixed‘. He was living in a tiny shoe box studio under a train in Williamsburg. You can hear the trains on some of the songs. I was living in Fort Greene. I’d often walk to the studio, seemingly passing through the centuries as I passed through the Hasidic Jewish neighbourhoods on into E.W.’s space age fall out shelter. We had a lot of fun. E.W worked wonders with limited equipment and budget. He joined me on the ‘Brother, The Fight Is Fixed’, tour of Europe.
He also took me on a couple of tours of the south. It was in the south that I encountered my first ‘Hot Rods for Jesus’ sign, the World’s Biggest Peach and Mo Tucker’s bar tending son. ( Mo Tucker was the drummer in the Velvet Underground, Dad, yeah, yeah, the band with the Banana on the record cover..) Also, on three separate occasions I was taken aside and told how to kill someone with my hands.
I haven’t tested this skill set, yet.
E.W. Harris will be joining me in the Confession Box tonight from 8pm. 78th st and 2nd Avenue.
Upcoming Features:
Click links to hear:
Tonight – E.W. Harris
June 23rd – Arum Rae
June 30th – Neko Peoples
July 7th – the Travelers ( TBC)
Previous features:
June 9th – Malone and Lacy
June 2nd- Sterling Rhyne
May 31st- Chris Michael
Want to play at a Big City Folk event? Send a streaming link to your music to [email protected]
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