The Song Where I Listen

On Wednesday, July 20, 2016, I saw Béla Fleck and Chris Thile performing at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. I love this beautiful venue and wish I could spend some time roaming the theater and photographing parts of the decor (check out the link to their web site to see what I mean if you haven’t been there). Upon entering the stage, the two gentleman careened straight into the lightning quick number “Riddles in the Dark” from Chris’s album, Not All Who Wander Are Lost. (Yes, a young Chris was inspired by The Hobbit.) On its conclusion,

Ain’t Too Many Folks Can Play Too Many Notes

I was so lucky to see mandolin player extraordinaire Chris Thile in concert at my favorite venue, Largo at the Coronet, on Sunday, March 27, 2016. I am not going to go into lengthy details about Chris other than to mention I have seen him play a few times before with Nickel Creek, with the Punch Brothers, and as a soloist. Would I be talking him up too much if I said his gifts on the mandolin are unparalleled? How do you warm up an audience for one of the foremost music geniuses of our time?  Apparently, with feats of

Another Year, Another Song

Thursday, March 24, 2016 found me at the Troubadour for a lovely night of music featuring Mandolin Orange and Elephant Revival presented by The Bluegrass Situation. Mandolin Orange I have not seen before and had only been able to check out a few of their songs earlier that day. I first saw  Elephant Revival in January when they left a strong impression on me when they opened for Josh Ritter (see my post “Let’s See Where the Night Takes Us“). I’ve been listening to their album These Changing Skies since then and earlier in the week had received my pre-ordered