I'm continually amazed by the
transformative powers of music. I can spend an entire morning driving in a terminally pissy mood; tired, sore, frustrated, homesick, and
then suddenly a radio station in West Virginia plays Living Colour's
“Cult of Personality.” By the end of the intro I'm a person
again. By the end of the first verse I'm singing along at top volume.
By the end of the first chorus I'm re-energized and invincible. This
is Pen Pen, future cult of personality.
I was undecided about Philly at first.
The last show I'd played there was disappointing at best. Plus I lost
a mic stand at it. Bah! Driving around in search of a coffee shop to
finish some work, I ended up on a street so covered with cherry
blossoms that it was slippery.
Philly's not so bad. The show that night was actually pretty solid.
It was a small crowd, but warm. Everyone there was participating,
shouting out random covers, singing along. Interrupting my rambling
stories with their own. Though many of us were strangers at the
beginning of the night, the power of a Tom Petty singalong and a
poorly executed impromptu Queen cover transformed us into friends.
Fun fact: Queen sounds dumb on an acoustic guitar. Todd from the
Susan Drangle House showed up. In all my years of touring, exactly
twice has someone I've approached about a show said “we can't do
it, but let me know if you get a show and I'll come check it out and
you can crash with us!” It was seriously humbling. Maybe it doesn't
sound like much to people who don't tour a lot, but it meant a lot to
me. This is Pen Pen warming up to this whole Philadelphia thing.
Delaware,
on the other hand, I had no preconceptions about. I've never gotten
out of my car in Delaware. Sure I've driven through a bunch of times,
but always on the way to somewhere else. It turns out Delaware is
pretty great—or at least Wilmington is. I ended up talking to a
store owner for almost an hour (his son discovered Norah Jones,
apparently!) before one of the other patrons started telling me all
the places I should play next time I'm in town. When I got to Mojo13
it was totally empty. “I'm the featured artist tonight. I was told
to show up around 7:30.” I explained to blank stares. By 9, a few
folks had started to trickle in. By the time the music started, this
group of strangers and acquaintances had become friends. I finished
my set backed up on congas by a bassist who had snubbed me earlier in
the evening and against whom I had nursed a foolish but short-lived
grudge. I don't really understand how playing music together can turn
people into friends without a single word passing between them. I
don't understand how the right song coming on the radio at the right
time can transform you from a cranky tortoise into a real live human
person. And I guess I hope I never do. Magic tricks are diminished
when you know their secrets. The world needs all the magic it can
get. This is Pen Pen crossing the Delaware.
This is a song I wrote one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.
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