This evening was one heck of a party! Randy filled the house, we were actually over capacity, and fortunately I had just bought some new chairs so we managed to fit everyone. It was great to hear Randy as a solo performer in the intimate setting of the cabin. The energy was high and the kitchen was absolutely buzzing between sets. The local newspaper ran a review of Randy’s CD, so we had a few new audience members in the crowd. I’ll admit that the atmosphere felt a little more like a party than usual–maybe it was the shrimp coctail?
Okay, if you don’t already know this, Randy started dragging me out to his gigs a few years ago, to play as a sideman. I was a really dreadful musican at the time, being new to mandolin. Twenty years of guitar didn’t help me at all. Eventually we started exploring different directions in music, encompassing swing, celtic and bluegrass, and formed a band with Jesse Graber and Rick Unger, called Burnt Prairie. This was all great fun, but it sure did make it hard to catch a “Randy Pease” gig. With Rick and Jesse’s departure from Evansville, we’re all moving onto new things. Right now, Randy, Beth, myself, and Dan Craig are playing celtic music, but I suspect we’ll be exploring some other styles soon.
Thank you, Randy, for a couple of great sets, and the continuing opportunity to share music and gigs.
Update: Randy has some new tracks posted of his latest CD, which is about to be released. You can find them athttp://www.reverbnation.com/randypease