I was invited along to participate in this seemingly one-off show paying tribute to the folk heroes Simon & Garfunkel. Little did I know what I was getting into. Their songs are, as folk songs ought to be, based around the voice and the flow of words. If, say for instance, the 2nd verse uses fewer words in the 3rd line, well, then the guitar plays a bar of 2 instead of 4. The listener typically doesn't notice this. They follow the words. What that does is wreck havoc on the rhythm section. You would hard pressed to find a bassist or drummer who has spent a lot of time playing through these songs. It's not the kind of music that we choose to roll our sleeves up over and spend hours transcribing. What I found is that there are certainly other challenges that many other styles of music don't present. One song we didn't get around to was My Little Town, one they did together after their big break-up at the height of their career in 1970. That song is amazing - it almost has no repeated chords, save for the final chorus. It contains bars of 4 (of course), but also bars of 3, 5, and even a few in 6/8. I was busy trying to maintain the forms, needless to say.
The band consists of Matthew Smith on guitar and vocals, JT Alessi on guitar, ukulele, and vocals, Jeff Fritz on guitar, keyboard, and vocals, Adrian Ash on drums and percussion, and myself. We had a very nice show arranged: 3 sets with a mixture - all Simon & Garfunkel, the middle set being the complete album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme. I made it to one rehearsal the Monday prior to the show. I could have used more time, in retrospect. To be honest, I spent quite a bit of time getting the tunes, learning them, charting them out, figuring out the key(!), reworking the charts after learning that I had the wrong keys... It was a lot of "thyme" spent for a gig that was basically a "freebie"! I had offered to sing lead on "America". Well, that didn't go as planned. I got lost and there isn't the option for a re-do in front of the audience. Not great! Well, the fellas helped with what they could and we got through it. That was the low point of the show. Most of it was wonderful. Matt clearly knows the music inside and out - he played acoustic and electric guitars and sang impeccably. JT brought his spectacular range to the proceedings and did a tremendous job on possibly the toughest vocal tune, that being Bridge Over Troubled Water. Jeff did double duty, ably switching back and forth on guitar and keys while handling vocals on more than a few tunes. Adrian added a lot - a tough job for a drummer when many of the tunes are simply guitar and voice. He applied a "less is more" aspect to his technique, but also played some great lines on tuned percussion (that sounds cooler than saying "xylophone", doesn't it?). I brought my Johnson fretless acoustic electric 4-string along with my little GK 12" combo. I enjoy playing that thing and I certainly don't see others playing something like that very often. It had a raspy tone which I need to investigate, but I did clear it up a bit. I wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but as the night went on, it sat in the mix rather well. It's my go-to bass at home when I'm sitting in front of the PC learning these covers, so that is a comfort zone right there. The crowd was indeed great, a much better turnout than we usually see on Thursdays. I spoke with the great percussionist Luis Stefanell, a friend from back in my Wild Rice days. Also met with one of my favorite singers, Kristen Justice, who I have performed with in the band Limelight. Nice of her to come up and say hello. Well, we have something tentatively planned for May 16, a Wednesday night. That should give me some time to get this all sorted out!
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