The Epic Weekend, NYC

Emmy and I left the house at 5am to fly north for a whirlwind pre-Bell House rehearsal on Friday. One couch delivery, and tortellini lunch later. We were off to sound check. The venue was deluxe; its decor somehow blended "converted warehouse" and "swanky ballroom" into something coherent. And the sound was good. Major bonus. Plus the stage was elevated to about head level so we looked like big stars when we played.

Here's some photos of the crew during sound check:




And those Sweet Sisters:


After us, Crooked Still commenced to rock out with their uniquely virtuosic post-modern oldtime sound, and the afterparty proceeded to Zara's house for talk, bourbon and a handful of songs that never quite achieved critical mass. Eamon O'Leary steadfastly refused to sing "the Thirty Foot Trailer," but eventually he and Emmy struck a deal to sing "Adieu False Heart" instead. Fair enough.

Saturday we haggled over where to eat breakfast. Emily won, and although I do approve of the decision to serve french fries and salad greens with breakfast, I think her spot is a little bit snooty.

We went busking in Union Square Park. Big fun. Video here:


Indian food with a bunch of Georgian music singers later (we'll save that story for another time) We were off to our last gig for the weekend at The 68 Jay St. Bar. This was out first time playing in D.U.M.B.O. (down under Manhattan bridge overpass) Brooklyn, but it turned out to be a great venue run by the lovely and talented Jan Bell. She did a fantastic job making a band feel welcome, and the girls fell in love with Jan on the spot.

The band Saturday night band consisted of only 4 of us (Ross and Bridget couldn't make it.) The self acclaimed "Sweetback Short Stack" was definitely not as thrilling as the full band, but we made do and enjoyed ourselves. In fact we had so much fun that we sat down and played more tunes until the wee hours of the morning.

Sunday morning we coaxed Ethan (Emily's brother) out of bed to go eat dim sum at the "Golden Unicorn" in Manhattan. The food was good, but the satin chair covers and floor to ceiling drapes were even better. Emily got her required monthly helping of steamed pork buns.

In the afternoon we walked back over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn, where Tom Bailey told us the story of how he lost his front tooth.

At around 5, Emily and I went to the Irish session at the Brass Monkey, where Sam Amidon (Stefan's brother) and Laura (oops, sorry, last name forgotten!) indulged us by playing a bunch of oldtime tunes as well. Then after drinks and snacks we went on to Rhys Jones's excellent late night session at Sophie's Bar on the lower east side. Joebass, Sam Klugman, Michelle Yu and other luminaries were in attendance.

Emily and I stumbled home to Ethan's house around 4am and left for the airport at about 7, where predictably our plane was delayed. We ate Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast (definitely subpar) and one particularly ebullient Tennessean sang "Rockytop" while the plane was loading. Astonishingly, we arrived back in Nashville in time for Emmy's very important meeting at noon.

Roll credits.
-Jesse