rock'n'rill

A good first date

Rebecca Kemp, tour manager extraordinaire, Lisa MacIsaac, me, Brenley MacEachern. Picturesque hangers in the background, huh?

Most of the best musicians are also the nicest people. Cause if you’re really good
you don’t need to put on airs. And it’s the music you care about, not your ego.
I believe this to be true at least eight times out of ten. And my theory was once again proven correct last night when I opened for Madison Violet, the Canadian folk/country/bluegrass duo that’s been becoming increasingly popular over the last few years.

The first time I heard their music was in the documentary about the Orange Blossom Special festival in Beverungen. While I enjoyed that doc, after a while the bands started to get on my nerves. Every band had a gimmick. One band jumped around like mad men, another was dressed in suits, another had a singing saw or a guy looking like the hang man … and then Madison Violet came on and they were like a breath of fresh air. They had actual SONGS and all they did was play them … and it was stunningly beautiful, not “interesting” or “hip” in that painfully contrived way.

So I figured I was gonna go to one of their shows next time they were near. And lo and behold a few months later they were back in Germany. And I missed their show at the Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg. I missed it!
See, I had been to see my friends and label mates Todd Thibaud and Joseph Parsons in Nürnberg the night before and between the day job and my own gig just a day later, I opted to stay in and not drive to Aschaffenburg.
But the next day I checked for other Madison Violet concerts within driving distance and found the Ansbach date a couple weeks ahead. Not thinking it would work out on such short notice, I sent the venue an email asking if I could open their gig.
Luckily, the venue’s booker Sonny liked my stuff and liked the idea. (Then I realized I had double booked that date but that’s a whole other story).

Long story short, doors opened at 7.30 and I started playing at 7.40 p.m. And people were already in their seats. There was minimal commotion after I got done with my second song or so. And the Kammerspiele are a beautiful venue, a former movie theater with a balcony, great acoustics and a wonderful ante-room-slash-cafe next door.
I was surprised to find some fans of mine in the audience, singing along to my songs. That felt very nice. I did seven songs, got a nice reception, sold some CDs.

Madison Violet put on a great concert. Strong songs, an amazing, spellbinding vocal blend and real good musicianship, too. Between the three of them (Lisa & Brenley and Aidan on upright bass), they came up with a great variety of sounds. Acoustic guitars, fiddle, mandolin, tenor guitar & resonator guitar - good stuff.

Turns out they’re also nice, professional, cool peeps. And their tour manager Rebecca is a super lady as well (that’s a quote from Fargo I can never resist “Margie, you’re a super lady”).

I sure hope to run into them again!
Markus

3 November 2011 ·