The Concert

So one of the things that Harry got me for christmas was a ticket to Christine Lavin and Cheryl Wheeler at The Eighth Step in Schenectady, NY. This was to "make up" for the fact that he was going to get to go to Disneyland while he's out there for the AFCA convention. Now due to a twist of fate, a social he forgot about and bad luck with planes he probably will spend less time in Disney then I did at the concert but I still enjoyed myself. :) (Thanks babe)

The Eighth Step is part of the Schenectady revitalization project. They described it roughly as follows: If you bring arts and business back into downtown then you can't help but revitalize downtown. They said they are seeing progress already. Now I admit I was there for 2-3 hours and all I can say is that I'll be putting myself on their mailing list and I recommend anyone within reasonable driving distance Schenectady (Greater Albany area). The three events I remember were Christine Lavin and Cheryl Wheeler (two folk singer / songwriters), John Gorka, another folk music person of great renown, and someone (sorry... "someone") and Spamalot.

Now originally I said I was going to talk about the concert so...

Harry got me the tickets because he knew I was a Christine Lavin fan but I have to say that I think I enjoyed Cheryl Wheeler more. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy Chris Lavin... The analogy that came to mind at one point during the evening was that Cheryl Wheeler was like a steak dinner and Chris Lavin was like a really good slice of triple layer yellow cake with a rich butter cream frosting. Chris Lavin was more fluff and fun, whereas Cheryl Wheeler was a richer deeper expirence. I highly recommend both of them. I also recommend The Four Bitchin' Babes, a group both of these performers have participated in.

Without wandering too far off subject a brief word on the 4BB. The 4BB is sort of like the Blue Collar Comedy Tour for female folk music. Four independent comedians come together and put on a show. Some individual stuff, some group stuff, some banter back and forth. Similarly, Chris Lavin got three of her friends together for a little "girl power" and they started touring. Over time they swapped in or out Babes because of various other commitments and "life" and I last time I checked there had been over a dozen different Babes (including Cheryl Wheeler...). Some members of note: Janis Ian, Mary Travers and Julie Gold (the author of "From a Distance" the song popularized by Bette Midler).

And on that note... I think I've meandered enough for one night.

Night all!