It was one of those moments that is quintessential Brattleboro.
I was chatting in Amy's Bakery with local blues musician, gentleman and scholar Scott Ainslie, and our minds were on the election, just four days away, lamenting the abominations of the last eight years. Inevitably, though, our talk turned to music and to Ainslie's very fine recent CD, "Thunder's Mouth." As we chatted about that, and about the musicians who pitched in to make the album so good, the guy in the table next to us chimed in, apologizing for butting in, but at the same time handing us a CD he had just put out.
The guy in question turned out to be local fiddler Phil Bloch, and the CD in question was a live recording of a concert Bloch performed in and promoted earlier this year in Brattleboro. It was one of those many events here that sadly get trampled by all the other things going on - in this case, the concert by the Trio of the Hot Club of Portland took place the same weekend of the Strolling of the Heifers - the image of trampling is particularly apt here.
I remember talking with Phil the week before the show in June, sharing the hope that people would turn out in spite of all the other things going on. As it happened, the Hooker-Dunham Theater was about half-full for the concert, but those who went were very lucky. The CD Bloch handed me last week in Amy's is a good one - very listenable Gypsy-style jazz played very well by Bloch on strings and vocals, Bryan Killough on guitar and vocals and John Hunter on bass. It's the kind of music you might hear between acts on "Prairie Home Companion," and it's a superb CD ... very fun.
I don't know Bloch's plans for releasing the CD, but if you're interested, I suggest you e-mail him at phryingpan@gmail.com.
In addition to the music, I savored the moment - the kind of moment that seems to happen a lot here, in the town where you can't walk down Main Street without stopping to chat and where people are affably unabashed about sharing their creative work with anyone ... the kind of place where creativity and art are woven more deeply into the social fabric than anywhere else I know... the kind of place where the arts rival the weather as a topic of conversation.
As for Ainslie, he and Eugene Friesen are sharing the New England Youth Theatre stage for two shows on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Anyone who heard them play together last year will tell you those will me special concerts. I'll be there.