The BackPorch (02.24.10)

Pics courtesy of Triana Caldera and Kat Claxton

The start of my "New to Me" tour of venues I've never played before was last night's show at the BackPorch. I had a couple of minor concerns going into this show. First was the fact that the venue described itself as being into "country, southern rock, classic rock, soft rock" and so on. While I'm not far from that description, I like to think of myself as also being kind of a hip, sophisticated musician occasionally. Also, the gal that hired me, Kaleena Honi, had one request for me, and that was to keep it clean. Well, I can be clean, but I also tend to get a little risqué in my shows, and usually don't restrain myself from the occasional swear word or naughty topic when conversing between tunes.

But I really needn't have worried. The BackPorch turned out to be a pretty nice place, with a typically cool crowd, and a nice, supportive staff. In fact, my only complaint had nothing to do with the venue... it's that I had an atypically great show in terms of my vocals and guitar playing, and I found myself wishing the crowd of about 15 was instead about double that size. I don't perform that well all the time, and I'd liked it to go that well for my better-attended shows! But that's a silly thing to whine about; I had a great time and played well, and I think they enjoyed me there. Win! I hope to play there again sometime... I'm pretty sure I will.

Here's kind of a funny side note: due to the nature of the venue, I stuck to my softer, more conservative stuff (I'll save the harder tunes for Saturday's show at Grid Rock). When I was talking with Kat after the show, I said, "Oh my GOD! I just did my set from Crystal Sands circa 2007!"

Here's the set list... see for yourself:

Heart of Gold (Neil Young)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Behind Blue Eyes (The Who)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Fire & Rain (James Taylor)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
Rikki Don't Lose That Number (Steely Dan)
California (Joni Mitchell)
Thanks Anyway (Zak Claxton)
Old Man (Neil Young)

Big thanks to the folks who supported my show at the BackPorch!
Kat Claxton, Triana Caldera, Cy Loudwater, Jade Berry, Geos Copperfield, Aurelie Chenaux, and Kaleena Honi!