2015 Firsts: First Wedding & First Concert

Saturday afternoon, I married my first couple of 2015!

Brandy and Shaun are both former coworkers of mine, so it was doubly cool- I recall when they started dating, about 4 years ago.  This was a small family wedding in the side room of a favorite restaurant of the family; proof that weddings need not be over-the-top to be special!  Brandy helped me write the ceremony and we included having Shaun's two children come forward to make their own vows to strive to maintain a healthy and loving family; I'll definitely be keeping that!

(No pictures included; the bride isn't a fan of cameras, so I know she'd not appreciate that!)

Sunday night was a treat, ya'll.

Victoria Williams has been a favorite songwriter of mine since the 90s.  That came about through the "Sweet Relief" album on which Soul Asylum covered her song "Summer of Drugs" - I'd bought the album specifically because I was (and still am) a huge fan of theirs. But the rest of the album was really good, and it inspired me to find some recordings of her actually playing her own music.  I knew she was from Shreveport, but she's lived in California for a long time, and I'd always hear about her having been in town 3 weeks after the fact.

So, Sunday night, the Fairfield House Concert Series hosted a show with her, and I made reservations within about 2 seconds of figuring that out. The opening act, Landon Miller, is the lead of a local band I've seen a few times named Engine.  While I will admit that the band's stylings aren't always what I crave, his solo act was great.  His voice is full of emotion and his short set was a great way to relax and get into the energy of the room.  There was a small break while the audience could sample offerings from Stone's Throw Cafe, and then Victoria took the stage.

Photo Credit: Cassie Chappell

Let's start with her touring band. The bassist and pianist are married, and the drummer also plays guitar on some pieces.  While the band started with a setlist, it soon turned into an "open request" sort of night, and songs got rearranged, and it was amazing and chaotic and soothing.  It was entertaining to note that the pianist would have really preferred to stay on-book, but she had a great attitude about it.

Victoria's voice is absolutely ethereal; in addition to the guitar, she also picked up a banjo, two harmonicas, and-- that awesome item to the right in the photo- a Japanese stringed machine similar to a zither.  Her set involved commentary between herself and the band, and a local fiddler- whose name I didn't catch, sadly- joined in for the second portion of the set and did a beautiful job of adding more depth to the performance, even on songs he didn't know before that night.

The set ran a little long... but was exceptional.  Her rendition of Opelousas (easily my favorite song of hers) was stirring, and creative, and off-book enough to not even remotely resemble Musician Karaoke.  There were singalong portions, Elvis covers, and a number of songs I'd never heard nor heard of, but they were soulful and sweet.

Out til 10 PM on a school night isn't preferred on a Sunday, but it was well worth being up a bit late to get to see.  2015 is off to a great start!