Listening to Gabriel Kelley’s It Don’t Come Easy on the way into work this morning, I’m reminded why live performances are so precious. Understand that the CD is really good. While he was on stage, he talked about the recording of it. He and the other musicians were all in the same room played together instead of chunking everything out and recording in bits and pieces. A recording featuring full band instrumentation is neither better or worse than a solo artist with a loan guitar (and harmonica) live. It is vastly different though.
There is an authenticity, honesty, and vibe that come from a solo singer/songwriter and his or her guitar that can not be duplicated regardless of recording’s production or instrumentation. Like seeing Pieta Brown a few weeks ago, it was an absolute gift to be able to experience Gabriel’s solo performance. For that I am quite grateful.
Over lunch went to visit a friend in the hospital recovering from surgery. Was good to see him doing well. Spent a great evening at Capitol Brewery catching up with some out of town and local friends.
