Side by Side Star in Our Very First House Concert!
dd January 21st, 2007
“It’s a pleasure to know you” - a great song and my sentiment for a wonderful evening last night. We held our very first Diskin house concert last night featuring the superb duo, Side by Side - Doris Justis and Sean McGee. 41 people crammed into “chez Diskin” (apologies to Dick Cerri) and were treated to a magnificent evening of food, fellowship but most of all MUSIC. By all accounts, the evening was a smashing success!
Here’s how it happened
Almost exactly one year ago at the World Folk Music Association Annual Concert, we bid on a house concert by “Side by Side” and, lo and behold, we won!! But, we seemed to always be too busy or couldn’t come up with the right weekend for almost a year. Finally, I decided enough is enough - let’s do it. So, I called Doris and said, “You probably forgot who I am but…” to which Doris quickly responded “Oh, wait, you’re the guy who bid on us for a concert. We’d love to do it”. I knew instantly that this was going to be terrific. Then, serendipity took over. I suggested we do this on Jan. 20, which was originally the date for this year’s WFMA concert, but since it had just been rescheduled until March 24, Doris and Sean were free that evening.
The Evening
So, we decided to make our “prize winning” brisket and ask everyone to bring a salad, dessert, or drinks. We had a fabulous dinner followed by the first set of music. Dessert and set 2 followed. It all worked out great, although I had a tough time pulling Sean away from the brisket to get him up “on stage”.
Doris and Sean are great musicians - Sean plays a mean 12 string - and have a wonderful natural sound with great harmonies. Their 2 sets featured tons of songs from their many albums (oops CDs), ranging from John Denver to Bill Danoff. My personal favorites:
- From a Distance (Julie Gold) - one of the best folk songs ever written
- Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt) - if you don’t know about Townes, you need to
- Runaway (Del Shanon) - not exactly a folk song, but what great fun to sing along with this oldie
- Death in Venice (David Buskin) - tons of fun
- One for the Road (Doris Justis) - Doris’s wonderful own composition
- Potter’s Wheel (Bill Danoff) - another one of the best folks songs ever written
- St. Judy’s Comet (Paul Simon)
- Tradewinds (John Denver)
In addition to being great performers, Doris and Sean are also just really nice people. Barbara and I are already planning House Concert Two. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I urge everyone to catch Side by Side in performance and/or buy their CD’s. You won’t be disappointed. (Read another review). Slides below:
I especially liked the sketches Cecily made while listening. They are so accurate! And the pic that makes me look like I have an IQ of 60 is really great… The other pictures are all a nice way to remember the evening. Somehow you managed to make our family room look a lot bigger than it really is.
Wow! I get the feel from these pics. Great playlist for sets. I love From a Distance and St. Judy’s Comet! You’ve probably already discussed the menu for next year’s!
Ruth - next time, you’re invited! We may even ask you to sing - what do you think? Menu suggestions are welcome.
Looks fantastic! I’m so glad it was such a huge success. Bravo!
I wouldn’t have needed a chair - I’d have been dancing in the aisles. (Me and the brisket.) You folks are such fun!
If Barbara liked the photograph, she should’ve seen the sketch of her that made her seem like she had a moustache (Cecily had only my blotchy pen to work with)
I know Julie Gold… there is an Austin City Limits from about ten years ago with her, Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and a few others all on stage at the same time, just doing a play around type thing…good to know that the legend of Townes is alive and well on the Eastern Seaboard!
reya — thanks. sorry you couldn’t join us.
pauline — consider yourself invited to our next soirée! we need some dancers.
quentin — any chance i can get that sketch? might be good for some future blackmailing opportunity
steve — i would love to have that Austin City Limits dvd. think it’s available anywhere? not so sure how alive the legend of Townes is here, but at least it’s alive in this house. btw, there was a great pbs special shown recently about Townes. it might be the same as this dvd:
http://townesvanzandt.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=36
I had it on tape for many years…i don’t see it listed as one thats available, but iI thought they were all available somewhere somehow…I’ll keep looking… I got this for now…
http://www.pbs.org/klru/austin/artists/program393.html